After days of groping his way through the depths of the abyss, when he finally stepped out of the last narrow rock crevice, Văn Tân lifted his head and gazed at the vast blue sky. The breath of the mountain forest rushed toward him the scent of tree resin, damp mountain winds, and a faint, pungent trace of beast blood. Having walked the line between life and death, he had returned to the human world, his body and will both utterly transformed.
Standing atop a high rocky outcrop, Văn Tân's gaze swept across the dense canopy in the distance, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"Black-Scale Wolves… today, I will definitely find you."
He activated his spiritual perception. Every detail of the forest became vividly clear tufts of wolf fur snagged on shrubs, claw marks gouged into tree bark, dried blood stains pressed deep into the wild grass.
The air was thick with a pungent, bloody stench. They had clearly passed through not long ago. Văn Tân pushed off the ground, his body light as a swallow, gliding forward along the trail they had left behind.
After crossing a low mountain ridge, he suddenly heard savage growls mixed with the clash of weapons, accompanied by hurried human shouts.
Standing on a high tree branch, Văn Tân looked down into the small valley below.
A pack of nearly twenty Black-Scale Wolves was besieging three young cultivators.
The first was a gray-robed youth wielding a sharp sword. His clothes were in tatters, and one arm was already stained with blood.
The second was a woman holding a bow. Sweat soaked her forehead as she continuously fired arrows infused with spiritual energy, yet she could barely restrain the wolves' ghostlike speed.
The last was a boy with an even more youthful face, his hands trembling as he clutched a defensive magical artifact. His spiritual energy fluctuated weakly; it was clear his cultivation was lower, and he was only barely holding on.
The Black-Scale Wolves were extremely cunning. Several of them repeatedly rushed in to harass and disrupt, throwing the trio's formation into chaos, while the others silently circled around from behind, waiting for the chance to strike. Long, chilling howls echoed through the forest, making the dusk-darkened sky seem even more oppressive.
Seeing this scene, Văn Tân could no longer suppress the killing intent surging within him.
"Those beasts… daring to bring disaster upon others again.
For me to run into you once more this must be the will of heaven."
He clenched his fist. The Void Battle Body quietly activated, a vast and powerful aura spreading outward, pressing down until even the mountain wind seemed to falter. His eyes flared with golden light, and behind him the phantom image of the White Tiger faintly appeared, as if ready to tear through the void with a thunderous roar.
He narrowed his eyes, weighing whether to leap down immediately or remain hidden a while longer to observe and seize the right moment.
Concealed atop a high tree branch, Văn Tân held his breath, his cold gaze fixed on the chaotic battle below.
The three cultivators were fighting with everything they had.
Sword light flashed, arrows struck true, waves of spiritual power erupted again and again but in Văn Tân's eyes, it was nothing more than desperate struggling amid a pack of frenzied beasts.
"One at late-stage Qi Gathering, one at mid-stage, and the last only at the early stage…"
"Their techniques aren't bad, but their coordination is lacking. Facing a pack of Black-Scale Wolves that already possess intelligence, they're afraid they won't all make it out alive."
The black wolves' cold, gleaming scales shimmered in the light of the setting sun.
One after another, they lunged forward in turn, moving as fast as lightning.
A Black-Scale Wolf nearly as large as an elephant stood out among them. A silver pattern rose upon its forehead clearly the Wolf King, its aura comparable to a mid–third-rank demonic beast.
It let out a long howl, the sound carrying a shockwave that made branches and leaves tremble. Immediately after, nearly a dozen more wolves rushed out from the forest, their eyes blazing red like fire.
The pack formed a half-circle encirclement, cutting apart the formation of the three cultivators.
The female archer, Yu Ruo, clenched her teeth and fired three spiritual arrows in rapid succession. Silver light tore through the air, striking a wolf squarely in the flank but it only staggered for a few breaths before letting out an even more ferocious roar.
"This is bad! They've called in reinforcements!" she shouted.
The swordsman, Chen Xing, ground his teeth. "Hold on and fight! If we can't advance or retreat, then death is the only path!"
He spun and slashed hard, sword qi flying but the wolves were simply too many. Each time he forced one back, two more immediately pounced forward in its place.
From above, Văn Tân took everything in at a glance.
In his heart, he spoke in a low voice:
"The Wolf King's aura is extremely steady at the very least mid–third rank. The rest are fluctuating around peak second rank. With my strength alone, if I don't use the Void Battle Body, it would be difficult to face them all head-on."
He frowned slightly, his hand brushing the faint scar on his chest the place where he had once been torn apart by this very species of wolf.
"To think I'd encounter these beasts again. If not for them, I wouldn't have fallen into the abyss… nor would I have encountered that fortuitous opportunity."
His gaze grew heavy, yet instead of acting immediately, he continued to observe in silence.
His spiritual sense spread out like a thin mist, probing the entire battlefield layout.
"There are at least ten more that haven't shown themselves yet, lying in ambush on the outer perimeter. These wolves are far too cunning they know how to coordinate, how to rotate their attacks, and even how to lure their opponents into exhausting their spiritual energy before launching a full assault."
He let out a soft, cold chuckle.
"Demonic beasts that are too intelligent… deserve to die early. That makes the formation much easier to break.
As long as the Wolf King is dealt with, the pack will inevitably fall apart."
From his hidden perch among the treetops, Văn Tân's eyes sharpened like blades.
The Black-Scale Wolves had already split into units, tightening the encirclement layer by layer. The Wolf King stood at the center, its posture proud, golden eyes reflecting a bloody red glow. It did not enter the battle personally, but commanded the pack through low, rumbling growls, guiding their movements in a precise rhythm.
"These wolves… not only are they fast and powerful, they also know how to coordinate."
"If the Wolf King doesn't die, they won't scatter. No matter how long one fights, it only means sinking deeper into its trap gradually draining one's strength until being helplessly torn apart."
The corner of Văn Tân's mouth curled upward slightly. He decided to circle around.
His figure gradually vanished from the shadows of the trees. Step by step, he glided lightly along the branches, his toes making no sound at all. Ever since absorbing the White Tiger bloodline and entering the initial form of the Void Battle Body, he could completely conceal his aura, blending seamlessly with heaven and earth.
Not a single wolf noticed. Only the forest wind stirred softly, and a faint human shadow slipped closer and closer to the Wolf King's rear.
The Wolf King suddenly lifted its head, a flash of vigilance crossing its eyes.
It turned and let out a low growl, intending to order two guard wolves to spread out and patrol but in the very next instant
Pfft!
A stream of black sword qi tore through the wind, piercing straight through the head of one of the guard wolves.
Black blood sprayed outward, the howl dying in its throat.
The Wolf King whipped around, letting out a furious snarl, yet it couldn't clearly see its attacker.
"So fast…"
"What was that thing that just flashed past?"
A chill wind brushed past the back of its neck it was Văn Tân.
In that instant, his eyes gleamed with a cold, silvery light, sharp as steel. His entire body was shrouded in a strange, fluctuating aura, half real and half illusory, as if he had stepped out from another dimension of space.
Văn Tân's voice was low and icy.
"So you wolves were the ones who forced me to leap into the abyss…"
He raised his hand. Spiritual energy gathered in his palm, forming the phantom of a white tiger that roared to the heavens, merging with sword light that tore through space itself.
"Void Shattered Afterimage — Third Slaying Form!"
A thunderous explosion erupted.
The air around the Wolf King convulsed violently, the ground split apart, and a pitch-black rift cleaved across space, swallowing the Wolf King's figure whole.
The surrounding wolves let out shrill, panicked howls, their formation instantly thrown into chaos.
In the distance, the three cultivators who had been fighting for their lives froze in shock at the sight before them
With a single strike, the Wolf King was torn apart: half its body crashed to the ground, while the other half vanished into the void without a trace.
With their leader gone, the Black-Scale Wolf pack descended into complete disorder.
They howled in terror, then gradually scattered like a retreating tide.
The battle ended amid the whistling cold wind and the thick, choking stench of blood that filled the forest.
Văn Tân straightened, his calm gaze resting on the Wolf King's corpse, now severed into three pieces. Beneath it, a black-silver core was exposed on the ground. He reached out, collected it into his spirit pouch, and murmured softly:
"One debt settled. Now it's the turn of the others…"
He stepped out of the shadows and walked toward the three cultivators.
After the battle, the mountains and forest returned to silence.
A faint smell of blood lingered in the air, wild grass stained with a crimson sheen. The corpses of demonic beasts lay scattered everywhere, and the fading remnants of spiritual energy hung like thin mist.
The three rescued cultivators were still gasping for breath, their faces deathly pale. They looked around, eyes filled with lingering terror as the memory of that strike replayed in their minds a single sword slash that cleaved through space itself and annihilated the Wolf King in an instant, so overwhelming that they could not even be certain whether what had saved them was… human.
A lone figure emerged from the hazy mist. His clothes were plain, his hood and robes dust-stained, his eyes deep and unfathomable. A few drops of wolf blood, not yet dried, still clung to his brow.
One of the three hurriedly clasped his fists and bowed in deep respect, his voice trembling:
"Many thanks, Daoist friend, for your timely assistance! Without you, I fear we would have been unable to hold on and would have lost our lives here."
Văn Tân cut him off, his voice low, cold, and concise.
"I merely acted on a whim. It just so happens that there is some karmic debt between them and me."
His gaze swept over the three, utterly devoid of emotion.
"You… which sect do you belong to?"
One of them answered hastily:
"We are inner-sect disciples of the Tianmu Sect, here to hunt demonic beast cores for a mission."
"Tianmu Sect, is it…"
Văn Tân gave a slight nod, his gaze passing over them like a fleeting breeze.
Then he turned away.
"You should stay and tend to your injuries… then leave this place as soon as possible. There are still Black-Scale Wolves in these mountains that haven't given up yet.
I still have matters to attend to. If fate allows us to meet again, then so be it. Farewell."
The three of them froze.
Before they could speak another word of thanks, Văn Tân's figure had already dissolved into the air, as if merging with the night mist, leaving behind only a few swirling eddies of wind where he had stood.
On a massive boulder several hundred zhang away, he came to a halt and lifted his gaze to the night sky.
The moon emerged from between the clouds, its light reflecting faintly blue in his deep, unfathomable eyes.
"Tianmu Sect… one of the four great sects of West City. I didn't expect them to have set foot in the Wuwei Mountain Range as well…"
His voice faded like the wind.
He slowly opened his palm. Resting there was the black-silver core of the Wolf King, spiritual energy surging within it like rolling waves as he gradually absorbed it.
The energy flowed from the core into his dantian, merging with the Void Battle Body, making his breathing increasingly steady, profound, and powerful.
"The next step… is breaking through to the mid-stage of the Qi-Gathering Realm."
His figure gradually vanished into the forested night, leaving only the rustling wind and the faint glimmer of the core flickering among the treetops.
After leaving the battlefield, Văn Tân followed the mountainside deeper into a quiet region.
The moon hung high in the sky, its pale light spilling across the uneven ground.
At last, he stopped beside a narrow rock crevice where a small underground stream murmured softly. The spiritual energy there was dense and convergent an ideal place for meditation.
He sat cross-legged and set up several simple formations around himself:
a Spirit-Gathering Formation to draw in the天地 spiritual energy ,and a Concealment Formation to mask his own aura.
Within his sea of consciousness, the incense burner began to glow softly. Its golden patterns gradually turned a deep crimson, as if imbued with life of their own.
Drops of shimmering blood-qi slowly seeped out, merging into the spiritual energy within his body.
They were the refined blood essence of the White Tiger and the demonic beasts previously absorbed by the incense burner.
His body became like a vast smelting furnace.
Each strand of dark-red blood vaporized the moment it touched his meridians, transforming into dense vital essence that spread throughout his entire body.
Boom!
A surging wave of energy erupted from his dantian, only to be forcibly pressed back down by his will.
Phantom patterns of the White Tiger emerged across his skin, intertwined with the auras of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth the five elements melding together as if reconstructing his body and bloodline.
Within the sea of consciousness, the mysterious incense burner slowly rotated, releasing wisps of golden mist that enveloped the demonic beast core he had obtained.
It gradually melted, transforming into pure essence that flowed into his spiritual meridians, causing the spiritual energy within his body to condense to a liquid-like density, far thicker than before.
Time passed, who knew how long.
The moon waned, and dawn began to break.
At this moment, a faint radiance surrounded Văn Tân's entire body, both real and illusory.
The space around him trembled gently, rippling like water before gradually tearing into countless tiny void fissures.
A chilling wind blew out from the emptiness, sending the surrounding leaves flying.
"Is this… a sign of integrating spatial laws?" he murmured softly, surprise flashing in his eyes.
The spiritual energy within him spiraled, converging in his dantian and forming a vague phantom of a miniature world
the hallmark of the second stage of the Void Battle Body.
A soft rumble echoed within his body.
All the violent fluctuations gradually settled.
When he opened his eyes, his gaze was as deep as an abyss, while the spiritual energy around him continued to surge unceasingly.
"This feeling… it's at least three times stronger than before."
He stretched out his hand. In the center of his palm, a hair-thin spatial fissure appeared, within which faint violet-blue light shimmered the primal energy of the Void.
In the next instant, he lightly flicked his finger.
A boulder half a zhang in size, more than ten zhang away, instantly crumbled into dust, utterly soundless.
Văn Tân frowned slightly, then rose to his feet and brushed the ash from his robes.
"This power is enough to deal with a fifth-layer Qi-Gathering cultivator… but it's still not enough to reopen the passage home."
After several days of secluded cultivation to digest the spiritual blood and beast cores, Văn Tân felt his body brimming with strength, his spiritual energy surging like the tide.
Unwilling to waste time, he decided to complete the task assigned by the sect collecting second- and third-grade demonic beast cores.
As dusk fell, he left his place of seclusion and followed a narrow path deep into the forest.
The air was damp, spiritual energy mixed with the scent of blood and wet earth unique to demonic beasts.
Each step he took was as light as the wind, his figure hazy, as if merging with the shadows of the trees.
After observing for about an hour, Văn Tân discovered claw marks on a tree trunk familiar signs of demonic beasts marking their territory.
Dark red blood stains still lingered below, not yet dry.
"A second-grade beast… and one with a wood attribute," he murmured softly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
A low roar echoed from afar. Then a Forest-Plated Leopard burst forth like a bolt of lightning, its body covered in jade-green scales, claws sharp as blades.
Văn Tân did not panic. Activating the Void Step, his figure blurred and seemed to dissolve into the air, narrowly avoiding the lethal pounce.
He counterattacked at once, swinging his arm to release a crescent-shaped arc of spiritual energy the Five-Element Chain Slash, a technique he had comprehended on his own through basic cultivation manuals and real combat experience.
Shrrk!
The slash cut across the beast's flank, blood spraying everywhere.
Yet the leopard did not die immediately. It roared madly as a thick layer of wooden armor formed over its body, spiritual energy surging violently.
"As expected a wood-type beast with strong defenses."
He circulated his spiritual energy, mobilizing the metal-element laws within his body and condensing them into a dazzling blade.
With a single strike of Metal Radiance Cleaves Wood, an explosion rang out. The beast's body collapsed to the ground, blood soaking the tree roots.
From the corpse, he carefully extracted a fist-sized, emerald-green core, spiritual energy flowing within it like a living current.
Without stopping, he pressed deeper into the forest, where demonic beasts appeared in ever greater numbers.
In just one afternoon, he consecutively felled three second-grade demonic wolves and one early-stage third-grade Earth-Element Python.
In every battle, he fought not only with brute force but also refined his Void Step
each movement leaving behind countless afterimages, rendering the beasts unable to pinpoint his true position.
His techniques, footwork, and combat power meshed together more and more naturally, utterly unlike the menial servant he once was.
When dusk finally settled, seven demonic beast cores lay within his storage pouch
two third-grade and five second-grade, far exceeding the mission's requirements.
As he glanced back, demonic beast corpses were scattered across the ground, the faint stench of blood lingering in the forest.
"Each of these cores… is a small step forward on the path to Foundation Establishment."
After tidying up, he activated the Void Step once more. His figure gradually faded into the night, returning toward the sect on the cold wind.
High above, the bright moon hung in the sky, silver light blanketing the mountain range, illuminating the silhouette of a cultivator steadily walking deeper into his own destiny.
After many days roaming through the mountains and forests, Văn Tân finally emerged from the Wuwei Mountain Range.
The evening sky was dyed a pale orange, the wind brushing against his robes with a faint lingering scent of blood the residue of countless battles.
A bulging storage pouch rested on his shoulder, filled with second- and third-grade demonic beast cores, proof of his efforts on this first expedition.
"It seems this trip… was not in vain."
He smiled faintly, a resolute gleam flashing in his eyes.
Upon returning to the sect, he went straight to the Heaven-Inquiry Hall, where all inner- and outer-sect missions were managed.
The hall's massive gates stood wide open. Before the steps, a long line of disciples waited to report their results voices conversing, the clinking of spirit stones, all echoing throughout the hall.
Văn Tân quietly stood at the very back, glancing around. Most were outer-sect disciples of similar cultivation, some still bearing injuries from their missions.
When his turn came, he stepped forward to the spirit-inscribed stone counter, took out his outer-sect token, and placed it gently on the table.
A middle-aged steward named Yu Ci, who had been recording entries, looked up and asked in a steady voice,
"What is your name?"
"Outer-sect disciple Văn Tân."
"Mission No. 0421: collecting second- and third-grade demonic beast cores… hmm, let's take a look."
The steward accepted the storage pouch and opened it to inspect its contents.
At once, a surge of spiritual light spilled out, reflecting the brilliant glow of the beast cores within.
He froze for a moment, astonishment flashing across his eyes.
"Seven cores… and two of them are early-stage third grade?"
"A Qi-Gathering cultivator, and only an outer-sect disciple?"
"Yet you're merely at the second layer of the Qi-Gathering Realm, and you managed to complete a mission that even inner-sect disciples would find difficult on your own?"
Văn Tân simply lowered his head slightly, his voice calm and even.
"It was just luck. My fortune happened to be good.
I ran into a wolf king that was already badly wounded, fleeing from someone else. I merely added one more strike along the way."
The steward shook his head and chuckled softly.
"Calling it luck to take down a third-grade demonic beast?
Impressive, kid your luck is practically heaven-defying.
Are you a newly joined outer-sect disciple? I don't recall seeing you before."
"Yes."
The steward studied him for a few more moments, then wrote several lines onto a jade slip.
"Mission completed beyond the required rank.
Reward: twenty low-grade spirit stones, plus two sect contribution points.
You may accept higher-level missions next."
Several nearby disciples who overheard the exchange couldn't help but turn to look, curiosity and surprise evident in their eyes.
"I know this guy. I saw him receive his outer-sect identity token just a few days ago."
A cultivator who had only recently risen from menial service to the outer sect, yet could independently kill a third-grade demonic beast this was anything but ordinary.
"Didn't he join the outer sect less than half a month ago?"
"He must have encountered some kind of fortuitous opportunity. Looks like his strength is no joke."
Those murmurs drifted past his ears, but Văn Tân merely smiled and paid them no mind.
He took back his token, bowed respectfully to the steward, and quietly left the hall.
Night fell. Back in his quarters, he took out eight dimly glowing spirit stones and placed them before him.
Spiritual energy filled the room, as if responding to his progress along the path of cultivation.
"A small step… yet it opens the way to a long road ahead."
He closed his eyes and circulated the Void Art, absorbing the pure spiritual energy from the spirit stones.
A faint, elusive glow spread from his body half-seen, half-hidden as he prepared for the next stage of his cultivation journey.