Luo Zheng stood at the edge of the cave and quietly his thoughts.
"My luck really feels strange," he thought. "Sometimes I feel like I'm chosen by heaven. If there is no so-called heaven's chosen one, then maybe it's me. But sometimes… my heart feels uneasy, like something bad is waiting ahead."
He shook his head lightly.
"Whatever. First, I need to explore this area. I still don't know exactly which time I've reincarnated into. Yang Kai hasn't appeared in the Tong Xuan Realm yet. And in the original story, there was no earthquake like this."
"If I'm really in the small world stage, it will be easy to confirm later."
He took a deep breath.
"For now, I should leave this cave. I don't know what the outside world has become. Did the Holy Sect really force all sects to submit?"
After thinking this, Luo Zheng no longer hesitated.
He used a secret technique.
Mist instantly rose around his body, thick and white. In the next moment, his body became light, turning blurry, then slowly transforming into fog. The fog gathered, changed shape, and became a small cloud.
In a blink, the cloud shot upward.
When it appeared again, it was already outside the deep crack.
The cloud slowly condensed and turned solid. Luo Zheng's body appeared once more, standing steadily on the ground.
He looked around, then chose a random direction and started walking. His plan was simple—find a city first and gather information.
But just as he took a few steps, something unexpected happened.
The space beneath his feet suddenly twisted.
A dark void corridor opened silently.
Before Luo Zheng could react, his body fell straight down.
"What—?!"
His mind went blank for a moment.
The next second, a thought flashed through his head.
"Space corridor?!"
His body spun as he fell through distorted space. After a short but dizzying moment, everything suddenly stabilized.
Luo Zheng was thrown out.
He landed on the ground and quickly regained balance. When he raised his head, he saw a shocking scene.
Not far away, a young man was lying on the ground beneath a tree. His aura was extremely weak, clearly badly injured. Beside him, a young girl was kneeling, crying anxiously.
At first, Luo Zheng didn't recognize the injured man.
But then his eyes moved to the girl.
Her clothes… her token…
"Sky Word Pavilion?" Luo Zheng's pupils shrank slightly.
His heart skipped a beat.
"Yang Kai?"
At that moment, a cold voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Kill the person in front of you. If you kill him, heaven will reward you."
Luo Zheng froze.
"What?" he thought. "Did I hear wrong?"
For a moment, he thought it was just the aftereffect of traveling through the space corridor.
But then another thought appeared in his mind.
"I've read so many Martial Peak fanfics… stories where people reincarnate and kill Yang Kai early, stealing all his opportunities."
His gaze fell back on the scene in front of him.
"The girl… she must be Xia Ning Chang. One of Yang Kai's future wives."
Luo Zheng hesitated.
"This really is the best chance."
After a short silence, his eyes hardened.
He moved.
With a simple palm strike, he knocked Xia Ning Chang unconscious. She collapsed softly to the ground.
Before anyone could react, Luo Zheng took out his sword.
Without hesitation, he stabbed forward.
The sword pierced straight through Yang Kai's chest.
Blood spread across the ground.
Luo Zheng stood there, stunned.
"Why… was it so easy?" he thought. "A heaven's chosen one shouldn't die like this."
He didn't understand it.
But he didn't dare to stay.
"I need to leave now. Xia Ning Chang's master will arrive soon. If he sees this, I'll definitely die."
Just as he was about to move—
A terrifying pressure descended.
An old man appeared silently.
His gaze was cold.
"How dare you attack my disciple?" the old man said slowly.
Luo Zheng's heart sank.
"Old Meng!"
He didn't hesitate for even a breath.
Before the old man could act, Luo Zheng activated his technique again.
"Cloud Merging Technique!"
Mist exploded around his body. His form turned into fog, then into cloud, and vanished in an instant.
Old Meng's expression darkened.
Even with his cultivation, he couldn't stop it.
He only muttered one sentence.
"Only a True Foundation stage cultivator…"
He turned and quickly checked Xia Ning Chang. After confirming she was safe, he let out a sigh of relief.
Then his eyes moved to Yang Kai's body.
Suddenly, dark mist surged out.
Golden light followed.
A strange black book slowly floated out from Yang Kai's body.
Old Meng was shocked.
He released his divine sense to examine it, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't understand its origin.
In the end, he put the book away.
He inspected Yang Kai one last time.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
Yang Kai's soul… was still there.
It had not dispersed.
Old Meng fell silent.
Something was clearly not over yet.
*****
On the other side, Luo Zheng ran. He ran as fast as he could, pushing his body to its limits. This time, he did not care about fatigue. He knew too well the true identity and terrifying power of Old Meng.
"I need to put as much distance as possible," he thought. "If he catches me, I'm done. One move from an Immortal Ascension stage cultivator… and I wouldn't even have time to scream."
The Cloud Merging Technique was incredible. Luo Zheng felt the air parting around his body, his form blending with the mist, moving like a cloud carried by the wind.
"This… this technique is amazing," he murmured to himself. "I can actually escape an Immortal Ascension stage cultivator… What speed, what power. My body becomes untouchable for a moment. I can't believe I have this chance."
He allowed himself a brief smile, but it was quickly replaced by focus.
"Still… I can't let my guard down. In this small world, no one has seen such a technique. Old man probably thinks I'm weak, so he underestimated me. I'll take advantage of that. If I don't… I would have died just now."
After running for what felt like hours—but was only a few miles—he finally slowed down. The forest stretched around him, dense and quiet. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, painting the ground in patches of gold. The sound of his own breathing was loud in his ears.
"Phew…" Luo Zheng exhaled, letting his body relax for a moment.
He looked around carefully. Trees surrounded him on all sides. No signs of roads, no cities nearby. Only forest stretched as far as the eye could see.
"I'm… still alive," he said softly, more to himself than anyone else.
His stomach rumbled. Hunger reminded him that he hadn't eaten in a long time.
"I need food… I have to find a city or hunt a beast," he muttered. "Originally, I wanted to gather information about the current state of the Tong Xuan Realm… but luck isn't on my side. First, I fall into a space corridor. Then… this."
Luo Zheng shook his head. "Whatever. I can't change it now. Survival first. Everything else… comes later."
He adjusted the strap of his bag, took a deep breath, and stepped forward into the forest. Every sound—the rustle of leaves, the call of distant birds—made him alert. He didn't know what dangers lurked nearby, but he knew one thing clearly: he couldn't stop moving. Not yet.
Every step forward was cautious, but steady. The world outside the cave was vast, and Luo Zheng understood that for now, his only task was to survive—and to find his next opportunity.