Chapter 9: The Spirit of a Hero
It was a stampede!
Yuan Haoran was frozen for a moment as he looked at the monsters coming towards him at an incredible speed. He could only call them monsters because he had never seen anything like that on earth.
The creatures stood at a height of about four metres each and had a shape similar to a bison. However, their skins were orange and seemed to be covered in glowing coals. No, it was definitely hot coals, based on the wave of heat emanating from them.
The scariest part was that these strange creatures were travelling in a herd of five. And they were angrily snorting as they came right at Yuan Haoran.
After a moment of awe, Yuan Haoran calmed down.
He was a little shocked, but he was still a Saint-level expert despite his inexperience in real fighting. If he wished, he could kill the entire group of monsters with his spiritual energy or one of the weapons he took from the necropolis.
However, he did not like the meaningless destruction of nature, even in a fantasy world.
He was, by no means, a climate activist. He did not deny himself good things while he was on earth for the sake of protecting the environment. But he also did not like meaningless destruction. Killing for the sake of killing, without any benefits, was foolish.
He had killed more than his share of people and animals on earth, but each served a purpose. His motives were not good and ranged from revenge and science to betrayal and protection... and on several occasions, annoyance.
But he always had a reason.
Killing these creatures would be meaningless. It was unnecessary because he could just get out of their way and let them go on their mad stampede. When he was just about to do that, a strong force caught him off-guard and pushed him.
Yuan Haoran realised that someone had gotten him away from the path of the monsters.
The contact repulsed him on a deep level, causing some killing intent to rise within him. He could equate the unpleasantness of it to the discomfort of the side effects of the last chemotherapy treatment he had gone through before he chose to give up altogether and die gloriously.
Every part of him felt like he was itching to get out of his skin.
His instinct made him summon his spiritual energy instinctively. He intended to kill this assailant as they rolled across the forest floor from the force of the push. However, for some reason, he could not summon enough power. He felt weakened.
When they came to a stop, the person released him and jumped up.
"That was close!" The 'saviour' said loudly. "You should not have been standing in the path of a stampede. The Coal-scaled Bison are very dangerous. In a herd, they will take out someone of the Sage level. Do not freeze up in battle!"
Yuan Haoran stood and adjusted the hood of his cloak before looking at the loud man with murderous intent in his eyes. Immediately, he understood the reason he had been weakened as soon as he saw the bright aura.
The man might have as well been the sun. From his red hair held messily to the yellow eyes and tanned skin, it was obvious that this person was an intense yang cultivator. He emitted heat energy that was not fire; it was akin to sunlight at noon.
It was very repulsive to Yuan Haoran.
"I am Long Jingyi." The enthusiastic man declared boisterously. "You do not have to look at me like that. I am not a bad person. I know my cultivation is a little high to be in the hidden domain, but I came to watch out for my junior brothers and sisters."
Yuan Haoran tried to gauge the power level of this Long Jingyi and found that he was probably at the Sage level. That was two levels below him. However, unlike him, his cultivation base was firm, and he was experienced in battle.
The animosity Yuan Haoran felt reduced as he looked at the person before him with the eyes of a scientist. The familiar urge to cut Long Jingyi open and see the things that made him tick rose in him. His scarlet eyes glowed a little with that old desire.
"What is your name, friend?" Long Jingyi asked, stretching his hand as if he did not notice the unsettling stare.
"Yuan Haoran," He replied and stretched his hand in an almost forgotten gesture.
Once again, Yuan Haoran felt the intensity of the spiritual energy filled with sunlight and life... and how it contaminated and drained his energy. It was quite fascinating. If he were on earth, he would have already ordered his people to bring this man to one of his labs.
"My juniors are fighting with the Coal-scaled Bisons, and I must help and protect them. Why don't you join our group? You are too weak and cold to be wandering alone before the domain is opened. You are as white as rice!"
Long Jingyi looked at him with pity.
The temperature of Yuan Haoran's body was lower than a normal human, so to a heat-type cultivator like Jingyi, he was practically an ice cube. The heavy scarlet cloak with a hood covering a pale face reinforced the belief that Yuan Haoran was weak and cold.
Yuan Haoran had never thought of becoming a part of a team.
However, he wanted to study this Long Jingyi for a little longer, especially when it seemed like he could affect his cultivation on contact. It did not hurt that this man thought he was weak and harmless. It would be best if he remained unguarded.
He would never see it coming when Yuan Haoran made his move.
"Alright." Yuan Haoran nodded.
The two rushed to the fight scene where a group of about ten people were battling the five Coal-scaled Bisons. It was obvious they were struggling to hold back the huge beasts. Their cultivation levels were too low to handle the raw power and the fire element.
One of the female cultivators used her water energy to cool the coal scales so that her companions could attack with their weapons. However, the water evaporated as soon as the liquid touched the bodies, causing a cloud of steam.
"Remember your training. You cannot attack randomly." Long Jingyi shouted from the side instead of helping them directly as Yuan Haoran expected.
His loud voice seemed to get through to the group as they looked at each other and nodded with determination. Four of them gathered different elemental energies and directed them at the Bisons while the others ran around the herd with weapons drawn.
Yuan Haoran watched the techniques with fascination. As expected, his training was quite lacking. No wonder his power was useless against someone like Long Jingyi. While he had raw power, he did not have fighting techniques.
He could use his martial skills from his former life, but they would not express his power correctly. He needed techniques that allowed him to maximize the effects of his cultivation. He could not keep depending on his raw spiritual power.
"You must be a mage." Loing Jingyi turned to Yuan Haoran. "You emit so much cold, so you are probably a water element. No, ice!"
Yuan Haoran felt a little confused. "What?"
"There is no way you are a warrior cultivator. You do not have the bulk." Long Jingyi demonstrated by pulling his robe sleeves and showing off his bicep.
Yuan Haoran determined a few things from the short conversation.
One, Old Guo had been way stingier with information about the cultivation world than he thought. But since the ghost planned to take the body, he probably did not see the need to share. Two, cultivators could be either mages or warriors and his 'saviour' thought he was the former. Three, there was no realm in which flexing muscles in someone's face would be fine.
"I am a mage cultivator." Yuan Haoran answered after some consideration.
"I knew it! Even if you look weak, you have some moves, right?" Long Jingyi punched Yuan Haoran's arm lightly with enthusiasm, causing the other man to get irritated again. "Why don't you show off a little? If you play your cards right, you might find yourself in an elite academy."
Yuan Haoran wondered how he had somehow transmigrated through time and space and found a guy who was his antithesis almost immediately. Long Jingyi was everything he hated: bright as the sun, obnoxiously loud, and randomly heroic.
"Go on!" Long Jingyi urged as he indicated for the team of juniors to give his new friend space. If the mage was too weak, he would step in and handle the beasts himself.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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