Duncan wandered in the wilderness without any direction.
It had been half a day since he had been dumped here by his senior brother and he wasn't sure where exactly he was. The areas he had passed through were dense with vegetation making it hard for him to orient and walk.
He didn't even know where he was, much less any landmarks in this area to orient himself. His prior experience in hunting wild beasts in the forest helped him a lot currently. The lessons of woodcraft he had learned from Leia were the only thing that was keeping him fed at this point.
If not for that, he would have consumed some poisonous fruit and suffered a bit. While normal poisonous fruits wouldn't affect him much, at most they would give him indigestion, he was still wary of consuming something that would turn out to be lethal.
Duncan could already perceive that the fruits in this place had some spiritual energy in them. It was a welcome find as they helped him to tide over his hunger. Even at the mess hall, Duncan hadn't really eaten his fill. He had merely satiated some of his hunger before getting attracted by the wine.
So, by the time he woke up, Duncan was once more hungry. Luckily, he had come across some spirit fruits and had harvested them for consumption. Unlike ordinary fruits, spirit fruits had rich energy in them. They not only alleviated his hunger but also helped him to maintain his energy.
Speaking of the wine his senior brother had left him with, Duncan took a single sip and found it already too potent for him to handle. Currently, he was only using to wet his throat when it became parched.
Even then, the spirit energy in the wine gave him a pleasant feel.
The richness of spirit energy in it was higher than the energy present in the spirit stones he had in his possession. So, Duncan considered it to be a huge bargain to have the wine with him.
After all, spirit stones could never compare to wines, in his opinion.
He much preferred wines, to be honest. They had multipurpose use as far as he was concerned. See, he was currently using wine in place of water to wet his throat. Spirit stones could never do that. As far as the spirit energy was concerned, the wine had more than the spirit stones as well. It was a win-win in his opinion.
As he wandered aimlessly, Duncan's mind started to drift. He was thinking about random things wondering what he was going to do now. He didn't have any idea as to how to get out of this predicament.
The region around him didn't look too dangerous. As far as Duncan knew only the outer region of Grasslands was free of danger. And the Heavenly Demon Sect was in the interior regions of the Grasslands. He knew that Grasslands were a dangerous region.
So, he was indecisive as to what to do now.
With his strength, it was impossible for him to traverse across the Grasslands and reach the Heavenly Demon Sect. For a moment, he was tempted to turn around and go for the nearest city.
The temptation was really huge.
He had initially joined the sect because he had no other option. Him joining the sect wasn't really something he wanted to do. But, he was forced at the pain of death to join the sect by his master.
The only thing he had wanted so badly was to get to know about cultivation and he had already obtained it. So, there wasn't anything actually tying him to the sect. After all, he had been there for only three weeks.
But, he knew that he wouldn't be able to escape the grasp of his master. The moment he thought about his master's callous disregard while throwing him into the cave filled with cannibals, Duncan knew that his master would definitely send someone to hunt him down.
After all, his master had repeatedly tried to instill in him that being a demonic cultivator was different from righteous cultivator. And from what he knew of his master he wouldn't let someone go just like that.
Moreover, he was now a demonic cultivator. Even if he didn't know much about cultivation in general, he knew that righteous cultivators would never tolerate him. The moment someone finds out that he is a demonic cultivator; he would be hunted down by the righteous sects, in addition to his sect as well.
Duncan knew clearly that he wasn't powerful enough to escape such a hunt. Even the servant disciples in the sect were more powerful than him. So, it would be suicidal to run away from the sect at this point.
As for hiding and living as a mortal, Duncan didn't want to do that either. He had some goals to accomplish. Destroying Wang Clan, taking revenge for the destruction of his town, and tasting a wide variety of wine and women. Being a cultivator was the only way to accomplish that.
So, he had no other option other than to go back.
But, the problem was he didn't know how to get back. So, the only thing he can do as of now was to wander around aimlessly and hope that he came across some other disciple of the sect who could guide him back.
Not that Duncan didn't like wandering like this. In fact, he even enjoyed this much more compared to being cooped up in the sect. Wandering around the wilderness with wine in hand was truly a relaxing experience if he had to say.
Thus, when night fell, Duncan had already found an ideal spot to camp and prepared himself to get some shut-eye, despite being in the wilderness. His earlier experience with mercenaries had helped him out a lot in finding the ideal place to rest. He had also double-checked to make sure there weren't any beasts nearby as well.
The spot Duncan picked was atop a large tree.
He had found a thick enough branch to accommodate him. With the canopy of leaves hiding him from sight, the only thing he had to worry about was some animal in the tree making trouble.
He had already checked the tree for any beasts and found it to be free of them. Even then, he only selected a branch that was relatively high but not at the top. Staying at the top was a clear invitation for flying beasts that hunt at night. It would be akin to waving a red cloth to a bull.
As Duncan settled down to sleep, the wilderness around him also fell silent. There was hardly any sound, making the night a bit creepy for Duncan's taste. But, he knew most forests and wilderness were like this at night, so he didn't mind it much.
After taking a large gulp of the wine, Duncan relaxed on the tree branch amidst the cool breeze that came through the trees. With nothing to do, Duncan started recalling the <Slaughter Demon Sutra> and tried to gleam more insights into it.
With his recent rise in cultivation, his mind was more active. The relaxed atmosphere aided him as well. As Duncan tried to comprehend the mysteries in the <Slaughter Demon Sutra>, time passed by in the wilderness.
Just when Duncan was getting deeply immersed in comprehending the <Slaughter Demon Sutra>, he was broken out of his meditative state by a loud bang in the distance.
Duncan was irritated at first, but soon his face revealed joy and he started climbing to the top. Duncan's mindset was simple. If he could find which direction the noise was coming from, he could try to link up with whoever was there. They would most likely know how to get back to the sect.
Just as Duncan climbed the top, another bang came from the distance. This bang was followed by a large gust of wind that almost threw Duncan off the tree. Duncan clung to the tree with much hardship and somehow managed to reach the top branch despite a strong wind buffeting him.
Looking ahead, Duncan saw a mushroom-like cloud rising in the distance. As strong wind impacted him from that direction, Duncan saw a huge palm slam into the ground from above which made him feel both scared and excited.
Just as it looked like the palm would land, Duncan heard a loud roar in response. Wind gathered together and impacted the palm sending it back. The roar was so loud that the sound almost made Duncan deaf even at the distance he was watching from.
When Duncan heard that roar, he felt as if he was being targeted by a bloodthirsty beast. His body shivered involuntarily and his mind blanked for a moment. He felt as if the beast was right before his eyes.
"Insolent creature!!! I am going to roast you with my fire and feast on you," a bold voice thundered in reply to that roar.
Following that, a fist materialized and slammed into the area where the roar came from. Duncan saw a large paw materialize and attack the fist. But, the fist was obviously stronger and it smashed through the paw.
Duncan shivered uncontrollably seeing the battle raging on in the distance. Both the man and the beast were both incredibly powerful. And the fight didn't stop for a long time.
Fist images, palm images, paw images, beast head, all kinds of images formed one after another as the battle raged on. Along with the battle, the area that was destroyed was also steadily increasing.
Duncan found large trees being uprooted and smashed into pulp by the impact of the energies raging on between two combatants and felt his scalp tingle. This was the kind of power that he had never seen cultivators exhibit.
Until now, he had never known how strong cultivators could actually be. Seeing the range of destruction that was being showcased, Duncan could only watch the battle in awe.
Suddenly, Duncan's eyes shrank.
Next moment, Duncan hopped down from the tree hastily and started fleeing with all his might.
The battle that was raging in the distance was slowly moving toward the area Duncan was in. And the destruction that was being dealt was also slowly enlarging along with it…
*****
A/N: Hey folks!
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