Chapter 23 – After the Crater
The forest was quiet.
Not the ordinary kind of quiet that came with dawn or dusk, but a deeper, heavier silence—one that felt as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Hao Tian sat with his back against a broken tree trunk at the edge of the crater, his eyes half-closed as he regulated his breathing and guided his qi through his battered body. Every circulation brought a dull ache. His ribs still protested, his shoulder throbbed faintly, and there were several places where even a slight movement sent sharp reminders of the battle from the day before.
But he was alive.
That alone felt unreal.
The strange pressure that had once permeated this area was gone completely. No invisible weight pressed against his mind anymore, no subtle sense of being watched or rejected. The air was ordinary again—perhaps even too ordinary.
Yet the forest around the crater still felt… wrong.
Hao Tian opened his eyes and looked toward the center of the impact site.
The eight-meter-wide pit lay silent and dead. The soil around it was still gray and dry, and not a single blade of grass had dared to reclaim the area. More strangely, no beasts came close. Not even insects crawled near the center. It was as if this place had been quietly marked as forbidden by the world itself.
He watched for a long moment, then slowly stood.
His body protested, but it held.
"That thing…" he murmured.
His gaze drifted to his right hand.
Around his finger, the dark, unremarkable ring rested quietly, cold and solid, as if it had always been there. No light. No pressure. No strange aura. If not for everything he had gone through, he might have thought it was nothing more than a piece of oddly colored iron.
Hao Tian clenched his hand slowly.
Nothing happened.
He exhaled and looked back at the crater.
Whatever this place was, it was no longer something he could—or should—stay near.
He memorized the general direction, not with any intention of returning soon, but out of instinct. Some things were better remembered than forgotten, even if they were to be avoided.
Then, without lingering any longer, he turned and began to leave.
The forest felt different as he moved away.
Not hostile.
Just… empty.
The oppressive silence gradually faded, replaced by the faint rustle of leaves and the distant calls of birds. After some time, even insects began to reappear. Life, ordinary and unremarkable, slowly reclaimed the space.
Only then did Hao Tian realize how tense he had been.
He did not relax completely, but the tightness in his chest eased.
After traveling for more than an hour, he finally stopped beside a stream and sat down to rest.
He leaned against a rock and closed his eyes.
"Status," he said quietly.
A familiar, faintly glowing panel appeared before his vision.
It listed his cultivation, physical condition, and the various injuries that had yet to fully heal. Several internal strains. Two partially healed fractures. Heavy exhaustion.
He frowned slightly.
"So I really am in this bad of a state."
He let the panel fade and looked at his hand again.
"The ring."
"What is this thing, exactly?"
[Bound artifact. Cannot be removed.]
The response appeared instantly, emotionless and direct.
He stared for a moment.
"…And the trial?"
[Completed. No further information available.]
That was that.
No explanation. No elaboration.
He did not ask further.
Somewhere along the way, Hao Tian had begun to understand something: this existence that now accompanied him was not a guide, nor a teacher. It was more like a cold, quiet tool—one that would answer questions when asked, but would never offer more than necessary.
It would not carry him forward.
He would have to walk the path himself.
He pushed himself up and continued on.
The journey back toward the outer forest was slow.
Hao Tian deliberately avoided any signs of strong beasts. In his current condition, even a slightly difficult fight could easily turn fatal. Several times, he altered his route to avoid suspicious areas or fresh tracks.
Still, not all encounters could be avoided.
Near a shallow ravine, a weak, wolf-like beast blocked his path. Its aura was thin, its movements sluggish. Normally, it would not even be worth noting.
Hao Tian did not hesitate.
The fight was short and unremarkable.
One clean strike.
The beast fell.
As its body hit the ground, Hao Tian suddenly felt something strange.
A faint, fleeting sensation passed through his chest—like a thread being pulled, or something invisible being quietly absorbed. It was subtle, so subtle that he might have thought it was an illusion.
He frowned slightly and looked at the corpse.
"…Huh."
The feeling vanished as quickly as it came.
His body still hurt. His mind was still focused on leaving the forest as soon as possible. He did not dwell on it, and soon pushed the thought aside.
Whatever that was, it wasn't important right now.
He cleaned his blade, took what little usable material he could, and moved on.
By the time the town gates came into view, the sun was already beginning to set.
The familiar sight stirred something in his chest.
Relief, perhaps.
Or simply a sense of returning to something solid and real.
He passed through the gates without incident.
No one paid him much attention. He sold the few small materials he had gathered, restocked basic food and water, and returned to his broken house.
He did not mention the crater.
Did not mention the puppet.
Did not mention the ring.
But some of the people who knew him still noticed something.
Hao Tian moved differently now.
Quieter.
More composed.
Less like someone being pushed forward by desperation, and more like someone who had chosen a direction and was simply walking it.
That night, he sat on his bed in the dim room, the oil lamp flickering softly nearby.
He raised his hand and looked at the ring again.
Then, he opened the status panel once more.
His gaze lingered on his cultivation.
Body Refining Realm: 7th Stage (Peak)
He could feel it.
That barrier.
Close enough to touch.
Yet still unbroken.
He closed the panel and slowly clenched his fist.
"Next step…" he murmured.
His eyes sharpened.
"Break through."
.......
The days that followed were quiet.
Almost painfully so.
Hao Tian did not leave town. He did not hunt. He did not seek trouble or opportunity. He stayed in his broken house, focused entirely on one thing—stabilizing himself.
His injuries needed time.
Every morning, he cultivated slowly, guiding his qi through his meridians with care. Every afternoon, he rested. Every night, he repeated the cycle. There were no pills, no medicinal baths, no shortcuts.
Progress was slow.
Painfully slow.
This was what true cultivation without resources looked like.
Even at the peak of the 7th stage, Hao Tian could feel how stubborn the barrier to the 8th stage was. His qi moved more smoothly than before, his body felt stronger and more stable, but the invisible wall ahead did not loosen even a little.
Several days passed.
His condition gradually improved.
The dull aches faded. His breathing grew steadier. His strength returned to its usual reliability.
But his realm did not move.
One evening, as he was returning from buying simple food, he noticed a rat scurrying near a pile of trash behind one of the houses.
Without thinking much, he crushed it with a stone.
The moment it died, that strange sensation appeared again.
A faint, subtle pull.
Something passed through him—so light that it was almost impossible to describe.
Hao Tian froze.
This time, he felt it clearly.
He frowned and closed his eyes.
"…System."
[Awaiting query.]
"Just now," he said slowly, "that feeling… was that the Fate-Devouring ability?"
[Confirmed.]
He stood there for a long moment, silently digesting that answer.
"So it really is working… even on something like that."
He looked at the dead rat, then at his own hands.
"Where did it go?"
[Stored. Conversion unavailable. Metric function locked.]
That matched what he had been told before.
It devoured.
But it did not yet transform.
He did not feel any immediate change. His qi did not grow stronger. His cultivation did not become smoother.
It was simply… taken.
He exhaled slowly and continued on his way.
A few more days passed.
Hao Tian's injuries were finally gone.
His body was fully stable again.
But his cultivation still refused to budge.
Sitting in his room one night, he opened his eyes and stared at the wall.
"…This won't work."
He already knew the answer.
To break through, he needed resources.
He calculated silently.
To push past the 8th-stage barrier, he would need either pills, medicinal baths, or a better technique.
Preferably more than one.
He checked the money he had left.
Just a little over five hundred silver.
It was a large sum by ordinary standards.
But for cultivation?
It was barely enough.
The next day, he went out.
After asking around and visiting several shops, he finally made his decision.
He bought:
Two Muscle Restructuring Pills — used to optimize muscle fibers for better qi conduction.
Two Nerve Stimulating Pills — used to widen and strengthen the nervous system, allowing faster and more efficient qi circulation.
He also purchased the materials for two medicinal baths of better quality than anything he had used before.
By the time he left the shop, his storage pouch felt much lighter.
So did his coin pouch.
He returned home without delay.
He did not waste time.
The first medicinal bath was prepared carefully. The water turned a deep, bitter-smelling brown.
He swallowed one Muscle Restructuring Pill and one Nerve Stimulating Pill, then stepped into the bath.
The pain came almost immediately.
It was not explosive like before.
It was deeper.
More pervasive.
His muscles felt as if they were being slowly twisted and pulled apart from the inside. His nerves burned with a dull, persistent heat.
Hao Tian clenched his teeth and sat still.
He cultivated.
He endured.
He did not scream.
After more than two hours, he finally stepped out, his body drenched in sweat, his skin faintly red.
He did not rest.
He repeated the process the next day with the remaining pills and bath.
This time, something changed.
During cultivation, he felt it.
A shift.
A loosening.
With a dull, internal shock, the barrier gave way.
His qi surged.
His bones hummed.
His blood roared.
When he opened his eyes, he was breathing heavily.
Body Refining Realm: 8th Stage (Mid).
He had broken through.
He spent the next few days consolidating, stabilizing the new realm and familiarizing himself with the changes in his body.
He was stronger.
Faster.
More solid.
But the cost had been heavy.
Most of his money was gone.
Sitting in his room one night, he stared at the ceiling.
"The sect recruitment is only a few months away…"
He clenched his fist slowly.
"At this rate… it won't be enough."
He needed more.
More resources.
More battles.
More danger.
He turned his gaze toward the window, toward the distant outline of the mountains and forests.
This time…
He would go deeper.
Smarter.
And far more prepared.
Before sleeping, he looked at the ring and spoke softly.
"How much longer until I can break through again?"
[Estimated time without resources: 4 to 5 months.]
He closed his eyes and thought to himself; "it truly gets more difficult to advance as you go higher..."
Then, quietly, he said:
"Then I'll just have to steal time from the mountains and forests."