Rise of the White Dragon

(Author: Due to the 6 that have not been published, it will be added on to the 6 for this week and will now have 12 during this week)

- Almost 2 hours later -

"I am now 11 times stronger than an ordinary man..." Catharina murmured.

"I've already become 12 times stronger than an ordinary man," said Maira.

"I am also 12 times stronger," Cristina smiled and said.

"Very good. I'm happy for your improvements," Luan said with a smile, "I also managed to make progress. I have become 41 times stronger with just my body."

"I am 22 times stronger with my body and 27 times stronger than an ordinary man with Qi." Ingrid was surprised by her progress.

"The comparisons are really hurtful," Catharina sighed, "There is still a long way to go to be as strong as you two."

"Stop it, if you keep trying, you'll soon be as strong as us... Well, you'll be strong soon," Luan joked, which made Catharina snort and pout.

"What are we going to do now? Is there still anything useful here?" Maira asked looking at the distance. They were now in an open field with not much around them, but in the distance, there was a forest. "Maybe there is something good in this forest?"

"There must be," Luan said, "I feel energy from different types of things from that direction, be it monsters or medicinal herbs. Anyway, I want to get as many rare plants and herbs as possible. So we are going over there."

Not far from them was a bloody scene. It was the place where Luan had dismembered the imp. Cristina asked while looking at this scene, "And these imps, are there more of them in this place?"

"It's possible. I believe the Imp Mother still exists and there may be more imps along with her. They may even be stronger than the ones we fought since the strongest among them are probably protecting the Imp Mother," Luan explained.

"Since that's the case, let's leave this place at once." Maira did not pay much attention to this, but now that she had stopped meditating, she was a little nauseous looking at the bloody scenery that served as a slaughterhouse.

"Yes, we better go, so as not to stay here overly long." Luan agreed and lifted up the large travel backpack that was now filled with the remains of the imps and some rare herbs he had found while they meditated.

As they walked towards the forest, Cristina asked, "Big Brother, I read a cultivation book recently. This book is very similar to some of the things we're doing... Was it written by a cultivator?"

"Not necessarily. He must have read a lot of history, and so the knowledge on that subject sometimes makes sense," Luan said.

"I understand." Cristina asked another question as she walked and looked at Luan, "Big Brother the MC of the novel says he loves his family, but why doesn't he help them get stronger? I mean, in the book I read, he stayed over a year with them and his family were still normal people, and his sister was still raped and killed by the enemy of the story's MC... I don't understand why he did it; why didn't he help and teach his family to get stronger? Did he really love his family?"

"Yes, I agree, it doesn't make sense," Luan said, "It would only make sense if he was too afraid to tell his family, but I think it is unlikely since there is no reason to fear telling one's family about something like this. Or he thought it was better not to involve his family in problematic things like cultivation, which also doesn't make sense, since if they can't protect themselves and his enemies want to take revenge, he will be harming his family even more, and lastly, there is the plot issue: In doing so, the author would give him a reason to take revenge and create a plot that holds people to read his story and see him take revenge."

"Mm... Maybe that's it, but Big Brother, I think deep down, he just doesn't love his family, just like my old one..." When she brought up the subject of her blood family, Cristina was sad. She was sensitive when it came to when a family did not love each other, just as she was not loved before.

"Don't think about it too much. Now you have a family that loves you very much." Luan understood where she was going; even if a little, she identified with the story she read. "Know that I love you, and that mother and Catharina and Ingrid also love you. Besides, not all stories are like the one you read. I will recommend a better one for you later."

"Thank you, and I know that I am loved now." Cristina gave him a bright smile full of happiness and joy.

"See, now you are even able to smile like that," Catharina rubbed Cristina's head and said softly.

"Returning to the previous subject, Luan." Maira looked at him. "Want to hunt the Imp Mother?"

"No, we're just going to attack whoever attacks us. It would be problematic to go to her," Luan said, "As I said before, wherever she is, it is possible that there are thousands of imps protecting her. That would just be a headache with little reward."

"Oh, then forget it. These small monsters were not afraid to die. That would make them scary adversaries if there are even more than the ones we faced already," Maria said with a forced smile. It was scary to imagine a place full of imps.

When they passed the trees and entered the forest, Luan had already identified some rare plants and herbs and began to harvest them carefully.

"Something is coming from that direction," Luan said, on alert.

In the air, something came flying towards them. It took some while for them to see what it was since the place was very dark. Only the faintest glow from the moonlight reflected over the whole place.

When it was a few feet away, everyone was able to see. The creature was a skeleton with clumps of rotten flesh on its chest, arms, legs, and jaw. This skeleton had a pair of aged wings, looking like old cloth with bones, and a tail of bones, very similar to the shape of a scorpion's tail. The skeleton's eyes for some reason shone in neon yellow, and his mouth was opened with a red tongue hanging out, looking like a dog when it drapes itself out of the car and hangs out the window.

When Luan prepared to attack, this skeletal monster flapped its wings and flew away from the place.

"Why did he run away? Did he see that you were going to attack and run away in fear, Luan?" Catharina, who saw Luan's actions, asked.

"Yes, his instincts are good, despite his appearance," Luan said. "He will probably come back and bring others of his kind with him."

"And what would that species be? Skeletons?" Cristina asked, innocently.

"Undead. Not all are skeletons like that... Well, let's hide and wait. I'm going to create a concealment spell and set a trap. Their bones in general are very good for creating pills and artifacts." Luan's eyes lit up at the thought of those bones nourished by the skeleton that flew away.

"Okay."

They moved a little away from where they were, and Luan opened the backpack and took a pot of imp's blood and started drawing circles and old letters on the floors and trees. When a configuration of a pentagram was formed, the entire location within the circle became hidden.

"Stay here. I will create the traps now." Saying this, Luan left the hidden circle, and only by special means could he know where it was.

After that, he started setting traps with spells and diagrams, and runes throughout the forest near the site.