The days passed by quickly, the slavers moving through the Immortal Forest by day, resting at night to hide from the Serpent of the Forest. Without pause, John focused on healing his body, which slowly but surely recovered from the grievous wounds he had sustained.
During the day, he used his Life Qi to heal his body, mending parts torn and broken. During the night, he focused on replenishing his dantian, ensuring he could replenish his spent Life Qi before the start of the next day.
The process continued day by day, his condition improving at a visible rate. The slavers had checked up on the slaves several times during the trip, ensuring there was no problem with their 'wares'.
They had eventually noticed John's rapidly improving condition, and some had even entered the cart to inspect him closely, asking him questions. John shrugged and remained silent, his responses receiving glares of displeasure from his captors.
Several had smiled and said some nasty words to him, mostly about his soon to be miserable fate on the Devil Continent. John ignored those comments, as there was no point in getting upset by those soon to be dead by his own hands.
The healing process was steady but slow due to just how injured he was, giving him some time to think about things he had not considered initially. The first was the surprising fact that the inhabitants of this world spoke the same language as him, despite being an entirely different world separated by an unknown distance.
It seemed bizarre that this would be the case, and had perplexed him for the reason why. There was surely a reason the two worlds shared a language. Perhaps the transportation formation he had used had been used far more often in the past, and the two worlds were far more connected than they were now, making them one world essentially.
Or perhaps there was another reason. He couldn't know for sure, and so he gave up trying to figure it out after some time. His thoughts then shifted to the Asura, and the injury on his body.
The wound on the Asura's body was gruesome looking no doubt, but the fact that it had yet to heal despite the passage of hundreds of thousands of years perplexed John. Asura's no doubt had something similar to the Limiter of Healing and Life, and most definitely had an extraordinary healing ability.
And yet, it had remained injured for so long, requiring extraordinary healing means to recover. It perplexed him, as it seemed to not make sense. There was obviously a reason for it, but John could tell he was missing some information, information about the Asura's. After thinking about this for some time, he cast it aside as well, returning his focus to his healing.
Time continued to flow by quickly, the slave caravan approaching the coast; the point of no return. John could notice the worry on Luri and Suri's face grow by the day as John remained silent and chained, and he gave them reassuring smiles each time. They seemed to believe the confidence behind that smile, their worries slightly fading each time.
The morning sun rose on this day, casting a warm light onto the caravan, a light that had not been seen for weeks. John opened his eyes to look all around him, taking in the bright glow.
'We've left the forest?' he thought, studying his new surroundings which no longer obscured the bright light above.
All around them was an expansive land, filled with plains, hills, streams, and life. It was a beautiful scene, one that made John's mind feel at peace, despite the fact that today was a day for slaughter.
He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, the air containing the scent of a distant ocean. After two and a half long weeks, his body had finally been fully healed. With the scenery around him and his body fully healed, this was the first time in nearly a month that he had felt any sort of peaceful ease.
His eyes opened at the sound of the cage's door opening, a frown appearing on his face as his brief moment of peace and respite was disturbed. He eyed the cultivator who entered the cage, one of the men of the group.
The man appeared to be in his late thirties, and had a cultivation at the Late Dao Transformation Realm. He had long black hair, which was disheveled and unkempt, as if he didn't care about his appearance. He wore plain style robes, and had a perpetual scowl on his face.
He would have been a decent talent back on the Divine Martial Continent, a leader of a third rate sect. Here however, the man was nothing more than a slaver.
His eyes swept over the captured slaves within, pausing on John for a brief moment, a tinge of surprise appearing on his face.
'No doubt surprised I'm fully healed already,' John thought, remaining in place.
The slaver eyed him for a short while, then shifted his gaze to the side, towards Luri and Suri. His scowl turned into a malicious smile as he stared at the two of them.
"I'm sure you were hoping for your daddy to run here and save you," the man said, his voice nasally and unpleasant to the ears. "But unfortunately for you, that didn't happen. Today's the day your fate is sealed. Especially for you," he said, eyeing Suri up and down lecherously.
"A talented High-Prince of the Devil Continent specifically requested a young and…vibrant female youth," the man said, "and I'm more than certain he will be quite pleased with you. A shame I couldn't taste you first, but the request was for an unspoiled female, so it can't be helped," the man sighed.
Luri stared at the man with fury on his face, as if he wanted to kill the man right there. The man noticed the gaze and smiled at Luri, then raised his foot and slammed it into Luri's face. Luri cried out in pain as he slammed against the bars of the cage, his nose broken, blood trailing down his face.
"Luri," Suri rushed to her brother's side, embracing him. She looked at his broken face, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm fine," Luri said through the pain, trying to comfort his sister. He looked up as the slaver stood over the two of them, a satisfied smile on his face.
"You Dao-Sect geniuses have no idea how good you have it," he said, another kick slamming down onto Luri's stomach, who groaned again in pain. "This is not nearly what you pompous bastards deserve, but I'll take what I can get. This is just the beginning, boy. By the time I'm done, you'll wish you were with the Devil's already."
