Smoke and dust from the explosion still hung in the air, yet the silence that followed was far more terrifying than the previous blast. Mu-mu remained seated on the ground, her breath caught in her throat. Her wide eyes stared blankly at the massive trench that split the forest, the result of a single casual swing from the young man before her.
Jue Yan stood upright, his back facing the moonlight that pierced through the gaps in the purple clouds. He stared at his palm, his brow furrowed.
"This world…" he muttered again, his voice sounding like the friction of precious stone. "…feels like a soap bubble. One wrong touch, and everything will burst."
He tried to take another step toward Mu-mu.
KRAK!
The ground beneath his feet did not merely crack; it sank thirty centimeters deep, forming a perfect footprint. His athletic and slender body seemed to carry the mass of an entire planet compressed into human form.
Mu-mu trembled, not because of the demon that had already turned to ash, but because of the aura of dominance radiating from Jue Yan. "W… who are you? Are you… the Mountain God?"
Jue Yan shifted his gaze. His sharp eyes fell upon the wound on Mu-mu's shoulder. Her blood was still flowing. Seeing that red color, a strange pulse emerged in Jue Yan's mind, a fragment of muscle memory from a past buried for a million years.
This blood… the one that awakened me.
"I am not the Mountain God," Jue Yan replied briefly. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the core of his existence. Inside his body, there was no flow of Qi circulating like that of ordinary cultivators. There was only a Gravity Core pulsing at the center of his chest.
He tried to "loosen" the density of the atoms within his cells. He imagined himself becoming as light as cotton, as light as the air he breathed.
Slowly, the air pressure pressing around Jue Yan began to subside. The grass beneath his feet, which had been shattered into pieces, now gradually managed to stand upright again.
Jue Yan stepped forward once more. This time, there was no explosive sound from the ground. His feet touched the surface of the earth gently, though each step still left an imprint slightly deeper than that of a normal human.
He crouched in front of Mu-mu. They were so close that Mu-mu could smell the scent of damp soil and pure energy emanating from his body.
"You are bleeding," Jue Yan said. His large hand lifted, hesitated for a moment, then very slowly, as if afraid of crushing a fragile crystal, he touched the wound on Mu-mu's shoulder.
Instantly, warmth flowed into Mu-mu's body. The torn wound from the demon's claw closed within seconds, leaving behind only smooth, unscarred skin.
Mu-mu was stunned, touching her own shoulder. "Thank you… Big Brother."
Jue Yan fell silent upon hearing that form of address. Big Brother? A word unfamiliar to someone who for ten thousand eras had known only solitude and war above the heavens. Yet something warm stirred in the corner of his frozen heart.
"My name… is Jue Yan," he said, his voice slightly softer yet still carrying an unshakable tone of arrogance. "Lead the way. This place is no longer safe. The scent of your blood will attract other predators more disgusting than that lizard."
Mu-mu nodded quickly and rose to her feet, hugging her basket of herbs. "My name is Mu-mu! Our village is below this slope. If Big Brother Jue Yan does not mind… you can rest there."
Jue Yan stood up, gazing down the mountain where the flickering torchlights of the village appeared small and weak. In his eyes, the village looked like an anthill that he could crush unintentionally with a single step.
"Very well. But do not blame me if the floor of your house is not strong enough to bear my presence."
They began walking down the path. Mu-mu walked ahead with light steps, while Jue Yan followed behind with the vigilance of a supreme predator.
However, after only a few steps down the steep descent, Jue Yan forgot to maintain his concentration. His thoughts drifted to the image of the nine serpent heads he had seen on the horizon earlier.
BOOM!
Jue Yan's right foot struck a large rock at the edge of the path. Instead of his foot hurting, the rock, as large as a buffalo, exploded into gravel merely from being nudged by his toe.
Mu-mu jumped in shock. "Big Brother! Please… a little slower! This mountain could collapse!"
Jue Yan snorted, trying to hide his embarrassment behind a cold expression. "That rock was blocking my path. It was too weak to be there."
Despite his arrogant words, Jue Yan began to realize something important. To live in this era, he had to learn to be "small." His absolute power was both a blessing and a curse that could separate him from the world he wished to protect.
At the end of the path, the village gate began to come into view. However, Jue Yan's sharp eyes caught something amiss. There was black smoke rising not from cooking stoves, but from the roofs of burning houses.
His ears caught the sound of human screams and a coarse, familiar laughter.
Jue Yan stopped, his eyes narrowing into cold vertical lines. "It seems my training to become 'gentle' must be postponed for a moment, Mu-mu."