Hanyuan leaned against a damp mossy trunk, clutching his side. Each breath sent a sharp, biting pain through his torso. He poked his side experimentally; his ribs weren't snapped, but they were definitely cracked, the bone groaning under the slightest pressure.
He hadn't been walking for more than five minutes when the metallic scent of fresh slaughter hit his nose. He rounded a cluster of giant ferns and froze.
In a small clearing lay the carcass of a Gale-Stalking Wolf—a beast known for its terrifying speed. Its throat had been opened in one clean, surgical stroke. Standing over the body was a girl who looked no older than twelve. She had striking pink hair tied in a high ponytail and piercing blue eyes.
Hanyuan's heart did a slow, heavy thud. He didn't even need a technique to sense it—the aura radiating from her was suffocating.
8th Layer of the Qi Refining Realm... Hanyuan thought, his obsidian eyes widening. How is that possible? We are the same age!
The girl glanced at him, her blue eyes filled with effortless disdain. She didn't even raise her sword. "Fuck off. These are my spoils, weakling," she said, her voice dripping with the casual arrogance of the truly powerful.
Hanyuan didn't waste a heartbeat on pride. He didn't snarl back or draw his spear. He simply nodded, turned on his heel, and sprinted in the opposite direction.
There is no time to waste on a fight I can't win, he told himself, his mind calculating rapidly. Pride doesn't pay for techniques. If I lose my breath arguing with geniuses, I'll end up working as a Work Disciple.
He kept low to the ground, his senses heightened by adrenaline. Within twenty minutes, he managed to gather a handful of low-level Earth-Root Ginsengs—common, but every point counted. Seeking a place to catch his breath and stabilize his cracked ribs, he spotted a jagged opening in a nearby cliff face.
He had just reached the mouth of the cave when the ground began to vibrate.
A low, guttural grunt echoed from the darkness. A four-meter-long Tusked Boar erupted from the cave, its eyes burning with a crimson, territorial madness. It was twice the size of the Red-Scale Boar he had killed long ago.
"Shit!" Hanyuan cursed, dropping into a defensive stance, his blackened steel spear whistling through the air.
The boar lowered its head, prepared to turn him into a red smear against the trees. But before it could charge, the sky above them screamed.
SCREECH!
A massive shadow blotted out the dim forest light. A set of obsidian talons, each as long as Hanyuan's spear, dropped from the heavens. With a sickening sound of rending flesh, a huge Eagle slammed into the boar's back. The 4th-meter beast didn't even have time to squeal before the eagle's claws shredded its spine.
With one powerful beat of its wings, the Eagle hoisted the massive boar into the air as if it weighed nothing, disappearing back into the canopy.
Cold sweat poured down Hanyuan's back, his legs nearly giving out. Peak of the Qi Refining Realm... He had felt the bird's aura for only a second, but it had felt like standing before a hurricane. If that Eagle had wanted him instead of the boar, he wouldn't even be a memory by now.
Realizing the cave was now empty, Hanyuan scrambled inside, desperate for cover. The air inside was cool and heavy with the scent of damp minerals. He pushed deeper into the winding tunnels, and as he turned a sharp corner, the darkness was suddenly dispelled by a brilliant, honey-colored light.
Growing near a subterranean stream was a small, gnarled tree. Hanging from its lone branch was a single fruit that pulsed with a golden radiance.
Hanyuan's breath hitched in his throat. "This..."
He recognized it from the secret archives his father had shown him once. This was a Golden River Spirit Fruit—a genuine Tier 2 Spirit Ingredient.
Back in the plaza, Elder Su had said a single Tier 2 item could outweigh dozens of Tier 1 herbs.
With trembling, respectful fingers, Hanyuan plucked the fruit. The moment it left the branch, a soothing warmth flowed through his palms, dulling the pain in his ribs. He carefully wrapped it in silk and stashed it deep in his pack.
He didn't linger to celebrate. He moved like a ghost, slipping out of the cave and back into the treacherous green maze of the Myriad Herb Wilderness.
Hanyuan didn't stop running until the cave was a distant shadow and the adrenaline in his blood began to cool, leaving behind a throbbing ache in his side. He leaned against the silver bark of a moon-willow, his breath coming in shallow hitches. The sun was beginning to dip below the jagged horizon, painting the sky in bruises of purple and gold.
The Myriad Herb Wilderness was not a place for the weak to travel in the dark.
Knowing he needed to maintain his strength, Hanyuan found a narrow, fast-flowing stream nearby. With practiced ease, he caught two silver-finned fish and gathered a handful of wild, spicy mushrooms and spirit-moss. He dug a small pit to hide the light of his fire and set a small pot to boil.
The aroma of the soup, enriched by the mild medicinal herbs he'd found, filled his nostrils. As he took the first sip, a warmth blossomed in his chest, radiating outward to his chilled limbs.
"Good soup," Hanyuan whispered, a small, genuine smile tugging at his lips. It was a fleeting moment of peace.
He didn't dare sleep on the forest floor. He climbed a massive cedar, wedging himself between two thick branches high above the reach of ground-dwelling predators. He fell into a light, restless sleep, his hand never leaving the grip of his spear. Every few hours, his internal senses would prickle, forcing him to open his eyes and scan the shifting shadows, ensuring no feathered or scaled nightmare was closing in.
When he finally descended four hours later, the forest was bathed in the silver-blue glow of the moon. He stretched his stiff limbs.
"One day left," he mused, his obsidian eyes hardening.
Rather than slack off, Hanyuan pushed through the night. He used the moonlight to navigate the riverbank, picking two Frost-Blue berries and a cluster of Iron-Skin ginger. But as he turned a bend in the river, his foot caught on something slick and cold.
He looked down, and his heart nearly stopped.
Tangled in the driftwood was a mass of gold and brown feathers. It was the Eagle. The Peak-stage Qi Refining beast that had treated a four-meter boar like a mere snack was now a tattered corpse. Its magnificent wings were broken, and a massive, cauterized hole was punched clean through its chest.
"This..." Hanyuan felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine.
What kind of power could kill a Peak-stage beast so effortlessly? Was it the pink-haired girl? Or was there a monster in these woods that the Sect hadn't warned them about?
Suddenly, the air over the water grew heavy. A chilling, powerful aura surged from the center of the river, an ancient pressure that felt like the weight of the deep ocean. Hanyuan didn't stay to investigate. He didn't even look back. He turned and sprinted into the treeline, his lungs burning and his clothes drenched in a cold sweat.
He spent the rest of the night in a feverish hunt, gathering everything he could—low-level grass, spirit bark, and roots—refusing to let his mind dwell on the thing in the river.
As the first golden rays of the sun pierced the canopy, the forest around him began to shimmer. The green of the leaves dissolved into white light, and the humid air was replaced by the crisp, mountain breeze of the Sect.
Voom.
Hanyuan's boots hit solid stone. His head spun for a moment as the world stabilized. He was back on the Great Plaza of the Mystic Sky Sect.
Elder Su stood atop his jade pillar, his blue hair fluttering as he looked down at the thirty-five exhausted, blood-stained youths. Some were missing sleeves; others were leaning on their weapons just to stay upright. To Hanyuan's left, the pink-haired girl stood perfectly composed, though a single drop of dark blood adorned her cheek.
"The trial is over," Elder Su announced, his voice booming with the weight of dignity. "Present your spoils for the ranking.