Pathway

But left for Jufeng, he was extremely happy for elder Cao Wang Xiu joining them. At least, anything seeking their death again, would have to pass through her first. If not for her at the clearing, they would've fell prey to the black demon spider. There was no doubt in his mind what could have happened back then. And now, his mind felt much more peaceful and relaxed. Lately, his mind had been trying to know why death was seeking him. Or him seeking death?

Snapping out of his thoughts, he followed others as they continued using the flash-steps.  Led by the group of the other kids, they came to an open area and stopped. From there, they could see the outskirt of the village of JinJin in the far distance.

"Is that JinJin?"

Lin Da Xia asked, pointing in the direction of the village.

"Yes, that's JinJin. We'll stop here as agreed."

Replied Shi Xiang before turning her attention to her own group.

"We leave now. We've got arrangements to make."

They had only promised to take their group half-way towards the village, which they had done anyway. They thanked elder Cao Wang Xiu for saving their lives. They offered her the extra Eddaros crystal which she rejected, saying she had no need for it since she was already at the late stage of the silver core. They also thanked Jufeng and others for their help before disappearing into the distance.

After the kids had gone, the group gathered themselves and happily intensified their steps knowing their journey was on course. As they got closer to the village, it became obvious that it was a farming village, mainly in rice. Several farms of rice could be seen some kilometers away from the road leading to the village.

As they were approaching, elder Wang Xiu noticed a Steller eagle flying in their direction. She signalled the others, making them reduced their speed too. The eagle was making a muffled sound while locking eyes with the elder. Steller eagles were magical birds with no awareness or reasoning, therefore, it couldn't be making an intelligent connection on its own. And Chi cultivators wouldn't use magical beasts, intricately, like that. For a Chi cultivator, magical beasts were only good as pets. 

There were two types of beasts in existence. The primordial beasts of chaos and the cosmic beasts of the universe. The cosmic beasts of the universe are divided into four groups. The divine, sacred, demonic and magical beasts.

The divine beasts were powerful creatures born with golden cores. And they had divine bloodline which could take them to immortality. But they couldn't attain mortal transformation or cultivation. They would forever remained in their animal forms.

Whereas, the sacred beasts were created with copper cores as the basis of their soul ecistence. However, they could cultivate like mortals and achieve mortal transformation at a certain stage. But unlike the divine beasts, they didn't have any bloodline traits. They had to use cosmic energy to cultivate to reach immortality.

The demonic beasts on the other hand were animals which gained sentience after absorbing large amount of demonic energy over a long period of time. Demonic energy was one of the energies of the Nether plane. But every now and then, the demonic energy would seep into the mortal plane through the occasional cracks in the fabrics of the universe.

Then, the magical beasts. They had neither awareness nor intelligence. They simply had no sentience, and they were the weakest of the lot. Their energy imbued bodies served as sources of nutrients for cultivators.

The steller eagle was a magical beast, but was acting with sentience. A sentient magical beast? That could only mean one thing.

Xue Wu.

Blood cultivator, or simply blood.

Xue Wus, blood cultivators or bloods, were powerful mortals who used the mystical life-force power of blood to gain extreme powers. They were mainly diviners. They used blood essence to power their oracle bones, for seeing the past and future. Unlike Chi cultivators that formed cores in their dantians, blood cultivators were not able to form cores. They would form eternal core bonds with mighty beasts, and the beasts would serve as their cores.

The less powerful Xue Wus, would go for magical beasts. But the more powerful Xue Wus, would make pacts with the divine beasts before forming eternal bonds with them. The divine beasts would be the blood cultivators' cores. Their power would grow as the beasts grew in power.

Generally, blood cultivators would bond with magical beasts and draw energy essence from their blood. That was much more safer, though, there would not be much increase in their power. But for them to really grow in power and advance in their levels, they had to bond with divine beasts and draw from their life-force-infused blood. The reason due to them being innate bloodline beasts.

Although, the divine beasts and magical beasts made them more powerful due to the fact they could draw directly on their power. However the more powerful divine beasts could also be their death. If the beasts died, they would no longer have any source of power. They would no longer be able to bond with any beasts. And unless they could find the Jade Dragon spirit fruit, they would be stuck in their advancement. 

Blood cultivators who were satisfied with their states of existence would settle for magical beasts. But more ambitious blood cultivators would go with the divine beasts since it was only through them they could attract the heavenly tribulations. And both the blood cultivator and the beast, would have to undergo the tribulations together. Hence, increasing their slim chances. 

Over the years, the heavenly tribulations had been incredibly strong against the Xue Wus, especially the ascension tribulations. Most of them had died from the effects of the tribulations. Only a handful had ever made it to ascension. Due to the fact that here was no other way for them, many blood cultivators had decided against attracting the tribulations.

Life was better than the samsara cycle.