Transcendent

Chapter III: Foreboding

Just as humans hunt animals for food and sport, the demon younglings, too, enjoy hunting in the wilderness of their realm. For the youths of a demon clan, finding strong monsters to fight and test their skills against was even more interesting than simply chasing down birds and rabbits to eat. It served as a training for them, just like how human cultivators grew stronger the more experiences they obtained through night hunting.

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were of course not an exception. Albeit being raised in a noble family, they shared the same heart and youthful spirits as other younglings of their age, even more so because they needed to be so much stronger than others as ones who would one day manage their clan. They often raced to faraway jungles and grasslands at Yunmeng's border and beyond, competing between themselves as who could defeat more beasts, who could land the killing blow on a powerful monster.

Sometimes it was just the two of them, sometimes they would venture together with fellow younglings from their clan. That day, it just happened that the two young masters did not invite anyone on their regular hunting trip.

They had heard of a type of nimble, ferocious predators inhabiting the forest in the mountainous region of Yiling. These creatures usually hunt in packs, and their population had been increasing steadily over the past few years that they were starting to cause trouble for the residents of surrounding areas. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng had departed from Lotus Pier in high spirits, bantering between themselves along the way on who could take down the most of these animals. It would be yet another interesting competition between them.

However, upon their arrival in the Yiling woodland, the sight they witnessed turned out to be more interesting than a mere hunting race they had been planning.

A huge black hawk was engaged in a fierce battle with a pack of those predators. This hawk was much larger than other birds of his kind, and the fact that his feathers were enveloped in pitch black shadows trailing his every move like mist was proof that he was actually none other than a demon in his true form. His talons were strong enough to rip a huge chunk of flesh from possibly any creatures, and the fighting prowess this demon hawk possessed was so impressive that he could stand his ground despite being surrounded by no less than a dozen feral beasts.

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng could only watch in awe from their hiding spot as the hawk shredded the predators one after another, eventually chasing away the remaining members into the depth of the forest. Ensuring that there were no more dangers lurking around him, the demon hawk then reverted into a more human-like form, a young man of pale complexion dressed in black, not older than the two of them. Just like how the native of Yunmeng had fins in what should be ears on humans, this foreign youngling possessed a pair of black wings on both sides of his head, the same raven color as his hair and eyes.

"I've chased them all away. You guys can come out now."

Despite the ruthless fight he put up mere moments before, this youngling's voice was soft and gentle. The two young masters of Yunmeng Jiang Clan almost thought he was speaking to them had that demon not been facing the opposite direction. And then from the bushes in front of him, two small creatures perked up, slowly walking into the light.

They were a pair of little fawns.

"Come here. Let me treat your wounds."

The young demon squatted before the injured fawns, pulling out a small pouch of medicinal herbs. If one did not witness with their own eyes the way he fought before, nobody would believe that this youngling was capable of facing enemies far greater than him in numbers and still emerged victorious without so much as a scratch. His face was childlike and kind, almost naive. He treated the fawns carefully as one would to a newborn, and what's even more surprising was that he was extremely skilled in it.