Yan Mo rested his foot on top of the burly man's head, he leaned in, pressing down harder, "You're willing to risk your life for loyalty?"
The chieftain just laid there, silently. Yan Mo sighed, he was given no choice, and no other fodder around the encampment knew about the whereabouts of the captain.
"One way or another, that fight will be mine, I can feel it..." He muttered to himself, a smile creeping on his face.
He cleaned the blood off his blade as he headed back to the caravan, dismissing the bandit crowd who had diligently stayed there. He was ready to just hop back on top of the caravan and rest again for the rest of the trip, but he was suddenly showered in embrace and gifts.
The merchants and caravan drivers all hugged Yan Mo tightly to the point where even his trained body was feeling the pain. He was then showered with silver, lots and lots of silver that made Yan Mo forget all about the pain!
He smiled at the merchant, truly, this was their language, and it was quite the effective one. After some nods and small talk with the other guards, he was given permission to head inside the caravan, and most importantly, SLEEP!
He slouched over in a doze almost seconds after entering the caravan and entered his dreamscape. There were some major advantages that he had learnt after fighting with the mysterious swordsman that he's going to start taking full use of.
Of course, what he means is that the dreamscape is a hundredfold better for training of nearly all sorts. Not only is there a time dilation, but there's less fatigue and practically infinite resources since it's a dreamscape! The only true fault of the dreamscape is it unable to train Yan Mo's physical body, but that means all other types of training can be done in sleep, not to even speak of the multitasking by meditating and recovering real life Qi as well!
He thanked the heavens again for his talent and gift before focusing on his task. He had 4 days of travel to the Snow Peak Fortress to finish his escorting mission, in the dreamscape, however, that could last anywhere between 4 day to over half a year.
He sat in the void, slowly recreating his most recent encounter. He explored a new focus of the dreamscape he hadn't focused on much before. The environment.
Though it wasn't used at all in the fight with the two chieftains, there was lots happening there, so it's good practice. He recreated the dusty ground and dirt, the moisture and humidity of the air, even the sound the fire made as it crackled. Then he focused on the two chieftains themselves. They were significantly weaker than Yan Mo, even if not by that much by cultivation, so it only took a few hours to finish their creation.
He would guess he's spent about 3 days in the dreamscape so far, most of it spent on recreating a highly realistic environment.
But then he also made something new, he recreated himself. Something he'd been wanting to do for a while. He wanted to do two thing with it, the first being to analyze and reflect over his fight.
He recreated every action of the fight, occasionally 'stopping in time' to analyze the movements, the stance. Each minuscule action and movement he did do second by second. But he did get bored soon after. Reflection is important but it's so much boring that actually fighting. Yan Mo scratched the side of his head, looking at the two bandits. Getting an idea.
He created an hourglass in his dreamscape, flipping it over and quickly restarting the arena, him against the chieftains. He watched the hourglass as he dashed to the chieftains. His sword moving fast, his movements swifter than before. He didn't hold back and he didn't try to toy, he wanted to know how long it would take to defeat them if he had gone full out from the start.
He got a time of 15 seconds, a bit slow, it was only a few seconds faster than what had happened in real life. He healed the dreamscape figures and flipped the hourglass over.
13 seconds.
He became more aggressive, aiming only for the most critical points of the chieftains, but he quickly got a sword to the throat when he tried to.
"Right, they're brutes, a dogfight is their specialty," Yan Mo murmured to himself as he dashed again. He tried to ghost step, get behind the big swordsman and cut his back.
Then he ducked under the saber-wielder's inevitable attack, he simaltaneously kicked with his foot while ducking, destroying any chance of the man having offspring. He gripped his sword with both hands and aimed straight for the area between the head and the neck.
6 seconds.
Again, he did the same thing. Yet faster. A bit hurried, but not enough to be sloppy.
5 seconds.
Again. He combined movements, as he slashed the back of the burly man, he used the same slash to block the saber-wielder, then quickly readjusting to stab him in the gut.
4.5 seconds.
Again! Faster!
4.47 seconds
Again! Refine the movements, combine them and better them!
4.465 seconds.
Again!
.
.
.
4.4489 seconds.
Yan Mo laid on the void ground, tired. Even if it didn't show on his perfectly fine, dream form, he was tired. It was mental fatigue. Much different from the willpower needed to fight over long times. What he had done was brainstorm, try, refine, compound, develop, all while not trying to bore himself with the pitiful chieftains.
He turned his head as he lay, looking at the sword beside him. He had reconstructed it over the first three nights of the trip, and it become more familiar as a result. Not just the way any sword becomes more familiar as you use it. This one felt different.
It was like the blade became sharper, the grip became grippier, and the weight became more suitable for Yan Mo's specific movements. It was subtle at first, but after thousands of repetitions, it wasn't a theory any more. It was truth.
He guessed it to be some kind of special material within the blade, meant to modify itself lightly over time. It was a special sword for sure, but not exactly rare. Many high level masters had one, the changes would be subtle and over decades of use, some likely wield similar weapons without even realizing it. The only reason Yan Mo had noticed so early was his countless fights within the dreamscape using it, naturally it became more of his own frequency.
Skill. Who else has skill that he can practice with? Of course, only one name, or person, could come to mind. The mysterious swordsman. As soon as he thought of it, the swordsman materialized himself infront of Yan Mo. Yan Mo could only smile as he gripped his sword tight with both hands, looking out to his opponent.
At the time, Yan Mo could only form the swordsman to be of the 6th layer of Body Tempering, and then he was only able to directly hit his sword. Now Yan Mo wondered how much an advancement would bring. He twirled the sword in his hand. He'd improved quite a bit, right?
The swordsman was as still and calm as ever. There was no taunting, no boasting, no reaction. He was waiting for the first strike. Yan Mo sprinted forward, a quick horizontal strike that was easily evaded.
Ghost Step.
He appeared behind the swordsman, temporarily catching off guard but still not landing a full strike.
He disappeared and reappeared again, then again. Each vanishing followed with the clash of steel before it repeated.
Then both figures starting moving with elegance in the void of Yan Mo's dreams. To any average bystander, it would look like fleeting winds clashing with each other. It was a symbol and testament of strength, both unknowingly were fighting several levels above their strength.
Yan Mo only likes to fight against exceptional and exciting opponents, but if he decided to turn and bully any average peak Body Tempering Realm cultivator, it would be a close match. Yan Mo's skill was simply at that level, which is only amplified in the ideal fighting conditions of the dreamscape.
Sadly, Yan Mo could only finish a single fight before he was forcefully pulled out of his dreams. The void slowly transitioned to light and blinded him, he took a few seconds to adjust before looking at who waked him. It was the merchant himself.
"Revered Guard, we have arrived at Snow Peak Fortress," the man said, his voice annoyed Yan Mo slightly. He wasn't sure why but he felt like it was a difference in life priorities. One cared for battle, the other for coin.
Yan Mo only nodded and slowly stretched out of his 4 day sleep. This time was a little shorter than usual. He carefully stepped out the caravan and was instantly hit with a gust of chilling wind.
He felt his skin drop in temperature drastically before Yan Mo had to forcefully pour Qi into his entire body to warm it up. It wasn't efficient however, he wouldn't be able to keep this up for more than ten minutes. So he changed strategies, he started moving his Qi like a river. It was cycling through his body, constantly warming it without much loss.
Instantly he felt better and was quite happy with his control of Qi. He looked around, only to see an endless white blanket the land. He saw another pair of eyes in him. Somebody dressed in metal with quite the bit of medals on them, one of them Yan Mo recognized quickly.
"This one meets the Captain of Snow Peak Fortress," Yan Mo bowed and said, quite like the gentleman he was.
The Captain smiled lightly and only returned the bow, "I should be the one meeting you, Revered Guard, you saved us quite a bit of hassle by removing the hidden bandit encampment a few days away."
Yan Mo's eyebrow rose, he was interested, "Is it so hard to do? I can feel your level, senior, you must outclass me by atleast a realm or two," He was truthful, he really couldn't sense the level of the captain before him, but he knew he was strong, somebody he wanted to beat.
"I have many duties, some of which are quite boring and time-consuming, yet nonetheless crucial. I can barely afford to leave my office, much less the fortress. "
Yan Mo only nodded, that's the reason he would never join the military. At a certain point, you only do paperwork. He shuddered at the thought.
"I must not take up too much of your time, Captain. Just one thing, are there beasts in these mountains?" Yan Mo smiled. The merchants would need several days to do whatever paperwork, yapping, and cargo transport that should give Yan Mo enough time to do some hunting!
"Of course, just be wary not to go too high up the peak. There is forbidden land up there."
"Forbidden by the Dao?" Yan Mo questioned, an idea popping into his head, "Or forbidden by the military?"
The Captain sighed, I could tell from his eyes. Just like me when I was younger, thinking I was invincible. Perhaps though, the young kid before him was more talented than even he when he was so young.
"I feel like my answer won't change your mind either way, will it?"
Yan Mo shook his head, already looking up to the peak.
Snow Peak…a fitting name.