The morning light was grey and tasted of soot. Han Sen woke to the sound of a beggar coughing: a wet, rattling noise that echoed off the damp shrine walls. The grit of brick dust coated his tongue, a bitter reminder of where he had spent the night.
[HP: 8/10]
[Status: Stable. Eternal Fountain of Life is active.]
He felt stronger, but the number was a lie. He was still a single strike away from death. He sat up, ignoring the predatory stares of the three men in the corner. They had seen his eyes the night before; they stayed in their shadows, clutching their rusted tools.
Han Sen pulled the iron-bound chest into his lap. He needed to know what he was up against. The scrolls were written in an ancient, flowing script used by high-level sects. To a normal person, it would take years to decode.
He opened his system, his mind focusing on a skill he had ignored: [Basic Reading].
[Allocating Skill Points: 1,500,000]
[Basic Reading has evolved into: Akashic Record Comprehension (Max Level).]
Han Sen touched the first scroll. There was no sound, only a faint hiss like steam escaping a pipe. The ink on the parchment seemed to lift off the page, flowing into his eyes as pure information.
The world around him blurred. In seconds, he knew everything the City Lord had collected. The Abyssal Gold-Maned Lion was not just a beast: it was a Shadow-Type Calamity. It fed on the life force of divine creatures to evolve its mane into "Void Silk."
The Heavenly Beast Sect wanted the Phoenix egg to force the Lion into its final form. If they succeeded, the Lion would become a Level 200 Sovereign. It would be able to erase entire cities just by walking through them.
"They aren't just hunting a bird," Han Sen whispered. "They are building a weapon."
Nixi stirred beneath his cloak, her heat flaring in response to his rising tension. She was the final ingredient for a disaster.
A sudden vibration shook the ground. It was faint, like a distant hoofbeat, but Han Sen felt it through the soles of his feet. He closed the chest and stood up.
[Warning: High-intensity Mana pulse detected.]
[The Huntsman has activated a 'Blood-Scent' Array.]
The Huntsman was no longer using a compass. He was burning the blood of the disciples Han Sen had turned to ash in the cave. It was a forbidden technique: it tracked the "Weight" of a killer's soul.
Han Sen looked at the entrance of the shrine. The rain had stopped, but the air was heavy with the smell of ozone. He could feel a piercing gaze searching the slums: a heavy, predatory focus that was drawing closer.
"He found the link," Han Sen thought. "He knows the Level 1 boy from the Guild is the same one from the mountain."
He looked at the beggars. They were shivering, their instincts telling them that something terrible was coming.
Han Sen didn't run. He had 10 HP, but he had a mind that could rewrite the laws of the world. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of silver coins. He threw them toward the men in the corner.
"Leave," Han Sen commanded. "Now."
The men didn't hesitate. They scrambled for the coins and bolted into the alley. Han Sen was alone in the ruins. He sat back down in the center of the shrine, his legs crossed and his eyes closed.
If the Huntsman wanted a killer, Han Sen would give him a God. He began to dump points into a new skill: [Basic Trap Setting].
The air in the shrine began to hum. It was time to see if a Level 55 Beast Tamer could survive a Level 1 genius with infinite resources.