ã€ŠAscendant of Paradox - [Litrpg Progression Fantasy]ã€‹


 Chapter 1 - The End and Beginning.

    Riyue stepped on grass that let out a crunching noise. Trees blurred as he ran through the forest, gasping for breath and clutching an egg-shaped artifact.

    How did this happen? Riyue did not know. However, he knew he had to run, for he was being chased. Riyue looked back and could see three blurry figures amidst the thick fog of the forest, all chasing him, swords in hand. Fighting was not an option; each one of them was at least a Stage 3 practitioner, while he was only a Stage 1.

    Thinking that, Riyue continued to run. His legs felt stiff as if weights had been tied to them, and exhaustion threatened to overcome him, but he endured, because as weak and talentless as he may be, now, he was the only survivor of the Zhang Clan.

    ¡®Fortunately, they do not know much about the forest terrains, and the thick fog has special properties that not even a Stage 3 practitioner could see through easily. Therefore, if I hid in that cave, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find me.¡¯

    As someone who often sneaked out into the forest and had expeditions with his family, he was quite knowledgeable about the forest terrains. Riyue took a deep breath, used the last bits of his Qi to further enhance his body, and headed towards the cave in his mind.

    Riyue then felt chills as he dropped to the ground immediately. Daggers filled with Qi flew by, piercing through the trees in front of him. Even if there was thick fog, and they were unaware of the terrain, and even if Riyue was good at hiding, they were still Stage 3 practitioners and professional assassins at that.

    Realizing that anew, Riyue gritted his teeth as he moved on. Still, the situation wasn¡¯t hopeless. The fog surrounding the Mi Zong Forest was special, and unless it was someone like Riyue who held the badge of the Zhang Family, others would be considered intruders, have their senses distorted, and get lost in the forest. That was why he had fled here in the first place.

    After looking back briefly and confirming that the assassins had disappeared, Riyue calmed his breathing and slowly walked. The entrance to the cave had many fearsome monsters surrounding it, but there was one relatively safe path. He still had to fight, but it was manageable.

    As he walked through the path he memorized, wolves the size of a human started appearing throughout the foggy forest. There were three of them. Riyue gritted his teeth and unsheathed his sword.

    As a mere Stage 1 practitioner, he could only enhance his body with Qi and not his weapon. Fortunately, his sword was of the highest quality; therefore, he wouldn¡¯t have any trouble slicing the wolves.

    The wolf in the front, whose mouth was dripping with saliva, lunged at Riyue, and the other two followed. Riyue¡¯s robes fluttered as he enhanced his body with Qi and stabbed through the head of the first wolf with precision. Blood splurted out of the wolf¡¯s head, it''s body grew limp and collapsed to the ground. The other wolf disregarded its comrade¡¯s death and opened its mouth wide to chomp down on Riyue¡¯s left hand.

    Riyue swiftly retrieved his sword and jumped back. He then deflected the claws of the attacking wolf before slicing its head. The last wolf remaining looked as if it had realized that they had made the wrong choice, but it was already too late. With a clean swing, the wolf¡¯s head flew through the air. Riyue looked at the wolves¡¯ corpses before wiping off the blood and grime from his sword with his loose sleeves. He sheathed his blade and moved on. After a while of walking, a familiar cave entered his sight, and he breathed out in relief as he entered.

    This cave was surrounded by fearsome monsters, and without prior knowledge of their movements, habits, and who they were, it was not easy to enter this cave without fighting. Of course, the cave itself was not dangerous, which is why the practitioners of his family often used it to rest.

    Suddenly, Riyue crumbled down onto the cavern floor, tears streaming down his face as the egg-shaped artifact dropped and rolled on the floor.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ¡®Why? Why did this happen? Oh heavens, what wrong did the Zhang Family, my mother, my father, my siblings do?¡¯

    As someone born in the prestigious Zhang Family of the Shen Lei Kingdom, he was, of course, very proud of his identity. It was not due to his high position but due to the attitude of his family. He thought of his father as honorable, his mother as caring, and his siblings as lovely children, all of them whom, despite Riyue lacking talent in martial arts as the eldest son, kept caring for him like a true family.

    Not only that, the Zhang Family was also renowned throughout the area as a well-reputed ruler, a family of principles, and many more by the citizens. They were fair and just¡­ Yet despite that¡­

    ¡®Those Jin family bastards!¡¯ Riyue¡¯s fist clenched as he struck the floor many times until his hands bled and his eyes became bloodshot.

    Overnight, his family had been branded as a family who follows the Demon Sect, a preposterous statement. Yet, the royal family they all had been loyal to sent their Royal Guards, as well as their assassins, and the Jin Family also assisted in the eradication of their family. Due to a surprise attack, none of his family members could resist well despite their strength, yet, despite it, they still managed to let Riyue run away.

    As for why it was Riyue in particular, it was because he was the eldest son and because he was weak. He would be no help in a fight, so they had him run away, for it was one of the things he was good at.

    Thinking to that moment brought shame to him and sadness threatening to rip his heart apart. Many thoughts and what-ifs came through his mind, but what does it matter, when his family was already dead?

    ¡®I too, why should I keep on living when my family are all dead?¡¯

    He had lost everything and everyone he had cared for, so why must he keep on living?

    His eyes then flickered as he caught sight of the egg-shaped artifact. It was a peculiar artifact with black on one half and white on the other. It was made of unknown materials and also had delicate carvings throughout it depicting the sun and moon.

    Yet despite the peculiarity of its looks, he knew of its importance. It was the Divine Artifact called God of Sun and Moon¡¯s Heavens Blessing. It was said that a long time ago, the honorable family blessed by the God of Sun and Moon were the ancestors of the Zhang Family. They were an illustrious family rivaling the Li Imperial Family from the Jin Long Empire, and the Gu Royal Family from the Cang Qiong Kingdom.

    Time passed, and the once illustrious family slowly fell from prominence and became a mere vessel of another family. However, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they were an illustrious family once, and had a Divine Artifact given by the God of Sun and Moon itself.

    Riyue¡¯s eyes shone as he looked at the egg-shaped artifact.

    It was said that whoever used the Heavens Blessing could call upon an extremely strong Ancestor and be granted powers that could rival the heavens itself. However, it came at a steep cost of sacrificing one¡¯s own body and life.

    But in exchange, he could make one wish towards that Ancestor, and that wish would be fulfilled even after his death. As he thought about the powers of the Divine Artifact, Riyue¡¯s lips curled up into a smile.

    It was not as if he had not thought of committing revenge. However, he was just too weak to do any real damage, and as for becoming a practitioner of the Demonic Method and becoming a Demon¡­ Such a thing had not even crossed his mind due to how shameful it was for his family. Not to mention, he suspected the Demon Sect to be behind the ruin of his family, so how could he even join them?

    However, this Divine Artifact was perfect in that regard. He would only be calling out an Ancestor and, by sacrificing his life, he could take revenge on the demons.

    ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Father. You told me to live, but¡­ I just can¡¯t.¡¯

    With trembling hands, he grasped the Heavens Blessing as he kneeled on the ground. With tears streaming down his face, he prayed. He didn¡¯t know how to use the artifact exactly, but despite that, he could feel it reacting. The carvings started to light up as a bright golden and purple light emerged from them.

    ¡°Oh great Ancestor, I call upon you by my name. I shall sacrifice this body of mine to you, and I ask for you to fulfill a wish of mine¡­ Please, please, avenge my family with the blood of the perpetrators!¡±

    The Divine Artifact glowed with a golden and purple radiance as it enveloped Riyue¡¯s body and the surroundings. He could feel his consciousness slowly dimming as a warm feeling enveloped him like an embrace from a loving mother.

    Slowly, he felt his vision darken, and his life slipping away as his body plunged hard onto the cold ground. After a while, his fingers twitched, and his upper body rose. Riyue¡¯s eyes widened as he looked around, up, and down at his outfit.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡±

    Riyue, or rather Joshua, said, as he woke up in a completely unfamiliar body.

 Chapter 2 - The Heavens Are Cruel yet Fair

    The beeping noises of the machines were like a melody of death to Joshua as he lay in bed, IVs strapped throughout his entire body. In this particular private ward, there was silence all around except for the occasional noises from outside the ward and the beeping noise of the monitors.

    There was nobody around the bed except for Joshua himself as he lifelessly stared up at the ceiling. He thought about his life leading up to this moment. He didn¡¯t know who his parents were, where he was born, and such, but he knew that by the time he came to, he was working in a factory, eating rice and slightly spoiled meat. Fruits were a luxury, and brutal work awaited every time he woke up.

    Despite being in the modern day and age, there were still many such incidents of children being taken advantage of. Even if it has decreased by a lot, it is not something that will disappear for as long as people live in this world.

    For the earliest part of his childhood, he lived in the factory, not knowing of the sun outside or joy in life. He just worked to live, to eat scraps, and to sleep. One day, the factory was raided by the police, and he was rescued. It was then that he was exposed to a whole new world outside of the factory and room he lived in.

    Children ran around in happiness as they held their parents'' hands, the delicious smell of food, tall, not-rusted buildings, cars, and machines of various kinds. It was a whole new world, and it lit a kindle of flame in his heart. A flame that would never be burnt out.

    ''I want it too.''

    ''I want to experience such things too.''

    ''Delicious food, clean water, great house, great car, everything¡­ I want it.''

    Yet, reality was not so easy, even more so for an orphan and not-so-handsome boy like Joshua.

    However, he persevered. He overcame many struggles, and finally¡­ he reached a certain point where every part of his life would go for the better. He would have everything that he wanted. But life was cruel, and fate a miser. He got cancer at the peak of his life. It was suspected to be due to the working conditions inside the factory when he was a child. He didn¡¯t know why it had only manifested now and not earlier. But it wouldn¡¯t change a thing.

    Joshua gritted his teeth as tears flowed out.

    ''Why? If they wanted to kill me, why not do it earlier? Why make me work so hard before taking it all away?''

    The beeping noise of the monitor accelerated, and the sound of footsteps from doctors and nurses rushing towards him could be heard as Joshua raised his trembling hands up.

    He didn¡¯t want to die like this.

    ''It¡¯s fine if fate throws me in the gutter. As long as I am alive, I can change anything I want. But if I die, even trying is no longer possible.''

    ¡®Oh God, please, give me another chance!¡¯

    It was right at that moment, the peculiar egg-shaped item right next to him shined with a golden and purple glow. Joshua looked to the right in shock. It was an egg he bought from a mysterious peddler down the streets. He had a random urge to buy the egg as soon as he laid eyes on it, so he did, and he kept it on his side at all times.

    ''Why is it shin¡ª?''

    Before he could finish his thought, his consciousness flew away as the monitor lines went horizontally straight. His consciousness disappeared, and after what felt like both a short and long time, he felt the cool ground on his back, and his eyes shot open.

    A rocky ceiling entered his sight, and he widened his eyes. He raised his body, looked around, and saw that he was wearing a loose black Chinese-styled robe layered together. It had intricate golden patterns adorned onto it, and overall it seemed luxurious if not for the many bloodstains and dirt covering it.

    ''I think this is called a hanfu¡­ What is going on? Why the hell am I wearing this thing?''

    Joshua blinked his eyes in confusion before a severe pain pierced his head. It felt as if a knife was stabbed into his brain and was rotated around inside.

    Joshua crumbled down again onto the floor, clutching his head, before memories of Riyue flashed through his mind, from the earliest moment of consciousness to the wish of Riyue.

    Soon, the pain went away, and Joshua, or rather Riyue, understood the situation. He was transmigrated into Riyue¡¯s body due to the late Riyue''s wish and the Divine Artifact that was exactly the same as the one Joshua had.

    Meaning, this is the so-called transmigration to another world.

    ''To think that such a thing could really happen¡­ But why was I the one called? Isn¡¯t it supposed to call for an Ancestor?''

    Riyue didn¡¯t know for sure who his kin was, but he remembered buying the peculiar egg-shaped artifact on a whim, not from some family inheritance. Therefore, it was highly unlikely for him to be blood-related to the Zhang Family.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ''Perhaps the original Riyue mistook the abilities of the Divine Artifact, and the real usage is to perhaps call upon someone who has the artifact in another world¡­ Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. What is important is not how but the fact that I now have another chance.''

    Riyue clenched and unclenched his fist. Though his body was exhausted, it was a healthy body devoid of any terminal illness. Gratitude and happiness filled his heart before he frowned.

    ''As thanks for giving me a healthy body, I intend to fulfill the wish of the original Riyue¡­ But how the hell do I do that?''

    It''s one thing if he was transferred into a modern world. He could use his wit and knowledge to rise back up again. But this was a martial artist world. The original body doesn¡¯t have any remarkable talent, and Joshua for sure wasn¡¯t some kind of genius in martial arts.

    Therefore, how exactly should he get stronger and take revenge? Joshua hasn¡¯t fought once in his life apart from minor scuffles!

    As he was thinking that, a mysterious sound popped into his mind with a resounding ding. In front of him, a translucent rectangular blue screen appeared as words formed inside it.

    [Welcome, Apostle of the God of Sun and Moon.]

    [This System shall help you on your journey. Would you like to start the System Integration and Body Reformation now?]

    [Yes] [No]

    Riyue¡¯s eyes widened as he rubbed his eyes to confirm whether it was an illusion or not, and it turned out, it wasn¡¯t an illusion. Riyue also tried to touch the translucent screen, but his hand just went through.

    ¡®What the hell? Did I wind up in some kind of game instead of another world?¡¯

    In his confusion, Riyue clicked [Yes], and immediately after that, he felt pain in his entire body as if it was a piece of glass that had been shattered and each piece of skin was being pricked by thousands of needles. He didn¡¯t even have the energy to scream as his body lifelessly fell again to the ground.

    ¡®Fuckkk! Give me a break already!¡¯

    From the headache of before and the current pain, it felt as if he had gone through the worst pain of his life in just a few minutes. Yet, even as saliva unintentionally dropped out of his mouth and his body twitched in agony, he somehow endured the feeling of transformation and pain inside his body. After his pain receded, the blue screen flickered.

    [The System Integration and Body Reformation has been done.]

    [Please check your status screen for confirmation of your current abilities.]

    With trembling hands, he supported his body as he stood up. His body still twitched from the pain of before, yet despite the lingering pain, his body felt far better than before. It was reinvigorated and even felt stronger than normal. He also felt that something had changed inside his body.

    Riyue frowned before he punched the screen in front of him, yet his hand just passed through.

    ¡®Damn it¡­ Uh, check the status screen?¡¯

    The screen immediately changed after Riyue thought of the status screen word, which also made him flinch and step back.

    Name: Zhang Riyue

    Age: 20

    Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Attribute

    Qi Stage: 1

    Qi Purity: 73%

    Qi Amount: 507/507 (recovery 3/minute), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge: None (Unlocked in the Training Room)

    Training Room

    ¡®Hahaha¡­ Damn, this is crazy. It really is like a game.¡¯

    Riyue looked up and down through the system as he chuckled. Although he had not read many novels before, he did play a game or two and generally understood what this status window in front meant.

    ¡®To think that Qi amount could be expressed numerically¡­ It¡¯s quite ridiculous. Is 2000 the general threshold for others to break through to Stage 2 as well? Or is it just for me? It¡¯s probably the latter. I never heard of there being a certain amount of Qi that guarantees advancement to the next stage.¡¯

    Riyue, having the memory of the original Riyue, was able to know various things about the current world he was in as if he had lived here for 20 years.

    ¡®Sun and Moon Qi Attribute¡­ I have gotten quite an amazing thing.¡¯

    In this world, there are people born with special types of Qi that allow one to wield certain attributes starting from birth despite not being of a higher stage. Usually, the people with unique constitutions or powers were the people from the noble families, and amongst them, he had never heard about an attribute of Sun and Moon Qi.

    ¡®Not to mention, it is a two-attributed Qi! Opposites as well. I have to test it out later.¡¯

    Riyue then looked around. He saw a small lake inside the cave he was in, with moonlight shining through the exposed ceiling. He walked towards it, crouched down, picked up some water with his hands, and splashed it on his face.

    A lot of things had happened in a short period of time; therefore, he needed time to calm down. Riyue closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them again. Reflected on the water¡¯s surface was a handsome male with messy black hair that reached the back of his neck, blue eyes, with a mole underneath the right eye.

    ¡®If I had this face in my past life, would I have been adopted by someone instead of being an orphan?¡¯ Riyue chuckled before he splashed his face with water again. Water dripped from his face back to the lake as his eyes glowed with determination.

    Though he would try his best to fulfill the wish of the original Riyue, that is not what he himself wanted to do. Ever since the past, he had worked hard to be special, to be at the top, not out of greed nor arrogance, but out of a pure desire of want and to see how far he could go.

    And that innate desire of his wouldn¡¯t change even in a different world. Riyue looked up at the sky with the moon shining amongst the stars.

    ¡®Well, thinking about it, it is not so bad that I got dropped into this world. After all, I don¡¯t have cancer here¡­ Heh, martial arts, and Qi, this might be fun.¡¯

    Riyue then remembered a certain phrase that a certain main character of a novel he read had said. It was a cultivation novel. He mimicked that character and reached his right palm out towards the moon and clenched his fist as if engulfing it.

    ¡®I shall reach for the heavens.¡¯

    Riyue then laughed, half out of embarrassment, half out of joy of having a second chance.

 Chapter 3 - The Training Room

    ¡°Hehehe, well, though I now have a grand goal, I still need to think about how the hell do I get out of this forest.¡±

    Riyue then stopped the embarrassing action and sat down in a cross-legged position as he scoured through the memories of the original Riyue before he made a plan. After a while of brainstorming, he decided on one.

    First of all, he decided not to get out of the forest, at least not instantly.

    ¡®I need to wake up the sleeping Qilin and inform him of the weird movements of the Jin and royal family.¡¯

    The sleeping Qilin is a legendary Divine Beast that is worshipped as a guardian deity of the Zhang Family. Though others would think of it as a mere legend, the Zhang Family alone knows that the Qilin is real and has been sleeping for the past 50 years.

    As for the reason why he bothered to wake up this sleeping beast at the cost of escape, it is simple.

    ¡®Even if I escape the forest, I will just be caught by the assassins currently patrolling around the forests. If they have a sliver of intelligence, there is no way they wouldn¡¯t have thought of such a simple thing.¡¯

    Of course, he could always take risks and try to escape with luck when the patrol wasn¡¯t there coincidentally, but as someone who has below-average luck, it might as well be suicide. Of course, sneaking through the many guards that are two stages higher than him or fighting through is also unrealistic. In the first place, he was only able to get away due to the fog surrounding the forest that has a certain power of disrupting the senses.

    Therefore, rather than that unreliable plan, he would rather go through the forest he was familiar with and head towards the Divine Beast to wake him up, inform him, and plead for his help to go outside. Since the Qilin is amiable towards the people of the Zhang Family, Riyue believed that his plan would work or at least be feasible.

    ¡®Well, now that I have a plan, I need to prepare for it.¡¯

    As for how he will do that, it is of course by relying on the status window he had!

    Ignoring the status section of his Qi, he immediately headed towards the [Training Room] section.

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge: None (Unlocked in the Training Room)

    Training Room

    Considering how the martial art the original Riyue learned wasn¡¯t recorded onto the status screen, Riyue deducted that perhaps only the martial arts gained in the Training Room will be recorded, and a martial art from the System would probably not be weak.

    Riyue then clicked on the Training Room and his screen flashed as additional words appeared.

    [Would you like to enter the training room now?]

    [Yes] [No]

    Riyue clicked on the [Yes] button, and the surroundings trembled and distorted as if it was being overlaid by something else. The cavern walls turned into a pure white room with no ends in sight. Riyue¡¯s mouth gaped open at the area that could make one develop a mental illness.

    ¡®I did expect a gamelike thing to happen but seeing it firsthand is¡­ sort of disconcerting.¡¯

    Riyue then gained a sudden urge to see how long this seemingly endless space could go. Would he smash into the cavern wall if he walked far enough to the left? Or is this truly another space altogether, and not just an illusion?

    Riyue then decided not to do such a stupid thing and saw the blue screen displayed next to him.

    [Welcome, Apostle. Here are the list of martial arts you could learn at stage 1.]

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Art</li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Sun and Moon Breathing Method</li>

    </ul>

    Riyue looked upon the list and slightly frowned.

    ¡®Just two techniques?¡¯

    ¡®Shouldn¡¯t a game give you a list of techniques for you to choose from?¡¯ Riyue sighed and clicked his tongue before pressing on the Mountain Tiger Martial Technique.

    [Mountain Tiger Martial Art]

    The Mountain Tiger Martial Art is a basic martial art that aims to imitate the movements and techniques of a Mountain Tiger. It is the foundation of various other martial arts that use the body as a weapon. The technique emphasizes explosive prowess, destructive strength, and predatorlike movements.

    [Would you like to start learning this technique?]

    [Yes] [No]

    ¡®It¡¯s a martial art that uses the body¡­ Damn it, how primitive. Why use the body when you have a sword!¡¯Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Riyue sighed. Now the sword he had is just a useless lump of steel. He then tried to think of the positives to calm himself down.

    ¡®...A martial art given by the system is probably not weak. I have no choice but to learn it if I want to survive.¡¯

    Riyue clicked on [Yes], and a familiar headache coursed through his mind as information was forcefully inserted into his brain. This time, the pain was less than before, so Riyue didn¡¯t fall to the ground and stood tall, enduring it. Only a couple of seconds passed by before the pain reduced and eventually disappeared.

    Now, Riyue had understood quite a bit about the Mountain Tiger Martial Technique. He understood the movements, the various techniques, and such about the martial art. However, there was one problem. The system had only given him the theories of the Martial Technique. In terms of actually applying it, there were no changes whatsoever. Riyue then opened his status window again to try and confirm something.

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge: None (Unlocked in the Training Room)

    Riyue let out a stiff smile.

    ¡®...I guess it¡¯s telling me to learn on my own.¡¯

    Riyue sighed, then bent his legs in an attempt to imitate the Mountain Tiger Martial Technique he knew of inside his mind.

    Tiger¡¯s Pounce

    Qi flowed from within his Qi core into his legs, arms, and his entire body, giving it a newfound strength. He then lunged straight at the empty air and, with precision, struck his fist at a spot he had been eyeing.

    He then tried out a couple more moves before smiling in satisfaction. He already felt his body adapting to the moves despite the short time.

    Ever since the so-called body reformation, Riyue felt that his current body is leaps and bounds better than the original Riyue, who had been called talentless.

    ¡®If it¡¯s like this, I think I will master it pretty fa-¡¯

    As a result of being distracted, Riyue had forgotten that he was a mammal on two legs rather than a tiger with four. As a result, he tripped due to not considering the landing and a lack of balance, as his body struck headfirst into the ground.

    ¡®...Maybe it will take some time.¡¯

    However, Riyue was not discouraged nor impatient. He knew that mastery takes time and learning as well. Just the fact that he had a chance to learn the martial art through the system was something he was grateful for.

    Riyue then stood back up and proceeded to train. It was quite hard to mimic a tiger¡¯s strength and movements, but with Qi, various things that were impossible in his past life were now possible. Although he had failed quite a lot, he had also learned a lot; therefore, his next movements had become better and smoother. This process of learning and growing was extremely fun to Riyue, and in turn, also helped him master the movements faster.

    After an unknown period of trying out the moves of the Mountain Tiger, as well as experimenting with some things, a system message he had been waiting for finally appeared.

    [Mountain Tiger Martial Art acquired.]

    Riyue smiled as he pumped his fist in happiness. He then took a look at the status screen of the martial art section.

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Technique: 0%</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®0%, is that the mastery gauge? Will the technique become stronger the more I master it?¡¯ Riyue smiled in satisfaction before he remembered a vital thing he had overlooked.

    ¡®...Is my real body safe?¡¯

    Because he did not get tired in the Training Room, he had forgotten about his real body that he left in the real world. Heck, he even thought unconsciously that his body was also transferred here, but is it really like that?

    ¡®Shit!¡¯

    ¡°System, I would like to leave this Training Room!¡±

    Immediately after he said so, the surroundings distorted as the white room turned back into the familiar cavern walls. His completely fine body suddenly felt extremely exhausted, his stomach growled in indignancy, and his throat felt like he had swallowed sand.

    ¡®W-water.¡¯

    He immediately went towards the lake without thinking, brought his empty leather bottle to the lake, and immediately downed the water. He had remembered from the Original Riyue¡¯s memories that the lake water here had a natural purifier, and though it was not the cleanest water, it was still somewhat good enough.

    ¡®Thank you, natural cave purifier. Had it not been for you, I would¡¯ve needed to battle stomach pains throughout the journey.¡¯

    After finishing the water bottle and wiping off his lips, he immediately filled the leather bottle again. Now that he had learned the martial arts, it was time to finally embark on his journey. He was tempted to eat but decided to do it later, as he felt that fighting on an empty stomach would be better. With that said, he couldn¡¯t help but rest first for a couple of hours before he embarked due to exhaustion.

    At that point in time, the Qi that had been expended during the Training Room also recovered as the amount of his Qi increased to 511.

    After he had sufficiently rested, albeit with a bit of sleep deprivation, Riyue exited the cave and greeted the morning dawn. He then thought about the route he needed to take for the place where the Qilin slept and the plan for it. He needed to avoid the wandering assassins, and monsters stronger than himself. He also needed to find some kind of food as well since he currently only had a few jerkies left.

    Riyue headed into the forest surrounded by an everlasting thick fog. He carefully went forward as he used the thick fog to his advantage and hid between trees in caution of his various enemies. Even if the fog could make others lose their way, he still had to be cautious.

    After traveling at a relatively fast speed, Riyue¡¯s eyes shined as he spotted a certain prey.

    It was a boar. Riyue, whose stomach had been famished, licked his lips as he snuck around the forest, hiding between the trees, as he slowly got closer to the boar, until eventually, he lunged straight at the boar.

    Tiger¡¯s Pounce.

    Sun Qi surrounded Riyue''s body and strengthened it as he pounced straight at the boar. The boar flinched in surprise and turned around to run away. However, Riyue got to it first and leapt upwards in an aerial somersault over the boar. After landing on the ground and blocking the boar¡¯s path, he immediately spun his body around and kicked the boar straight in the head.

    ¡®Heh, headshot.¡¯

    The kick crushed the boar¡¯s skull as a crunching noise resounded. The boar¡¯s body stopped and lifelessly fell down.

    Satisfied, Riyue then walked toward the boar corpse, intending on making dinner when he suddenly sensed the presence of others. Riyue looked around before he smiled.

    ¡°There are a lot of you guys in this forest, damn it, you guys aren¡¯t frogs.¡±

    Four Dire Wolves appeared as they surrounded Riyue from each side.

 Chapter 4 - First Fight

    Riyue took a deep breath as he went into his stance.

    If it were some other stronger monsters, perhaps he would¡¯ve run away, but mere Dire Wolves were not a threat to him, even if there were a lot of them.

    ¡®It¡¯s also a good test to see my current combat capabilities, and I would hate to relinquish my dinner to them.¡¯

    It was also a good chance to see what exactly the Mastery Gauge in his status window meant. Would it simply increase with mere training, or did he need to fight? If so, did he need to fight a monster or a human to increase his mastery?

    Riyue constantly rotated his body and stance to make sure not to lose sight of any wolf. With that said, he didn¡¯t have eyes on the back of his head, so it was inevitable for him to lose sight of some since the wolves were located in four separate directions.

    As soon as his eyes arrived at the wolf in front of him, he could hear the sound of the wolf behind him lunging. As Riyue looked back in reflex, the others also made sounds of footsteps.

    ¡®Cunning bastards.¡¯

    Riyue grinned as he took a deep breath and waited. As soon as the nearest wolf was within his range, Riyue enhanced his body with Sun Qi, jumped, spun, and delivered a spinning kick straight to the first wolf¡¯s snout, breaking it and killing the monster with one hit.

    Riyue immediately changed his energy to Moon Qi as he dashed away from the middle of the joint attack from all four sides as soon as his feet touched the ground. The wolves nimbly landed on the ground before the three of them ran and surrounded the boar. It was as if they were the ones to catch it.

    ''How shameless.''

    Riyue leapt toward the wolves using Tiger¡¯s Pounce. The Sun Qi moved from his Qi Core inside his heart into his right palm, and the Moon Qi followed. Just as how fire and water do not get along, the same is true for Sun and Moon Qi.

    At least, usually, that¡¯s how things work.

    The Sun and Moon Qi, instead of repulsing like magnets of the same pole, converged together, combining to create a Chaotic Qi that was neither Sun nor Moon. Riyue grinned at the wolves¡¯ reaction to the overwhelming energy inside his right palm.

    During the Training Room, there were a couple of other things he had tested beyond just acquiring the Mountain Tiger Martial Technique, and during one of the tests, he had accidentally combined both the Sun and Moon Qi. The result of it was¡ª

    Tiger Paw Strike.

    Utter destruction.

    With his palm, he struck the closest wolf, and its body exploded into pieces.

    The Yin and Yang do not combine naturally, yet when they do, they create an energy far surpassing the others, an immense energy of utter chaos and destruction that was much more than simply one plus one, two plus two. Such is the Convergence technique Riyue discovered.

    ¡°Urgh.¡±

    But of course, how could a great technique not have its consequences? Riyue¡¯s face winced, yet he ignored the extreme throbbing pain of his right palm as he enhanced his arms with Sun Qi and ravaged the remaining wolves.

    Palm strikes, punches, claws¡ªeverything he had briefly learned from the Mountain Tiger Technique¡ªhe used in this fight. In just a few seconds, the wolves turned into extremely battered and bloodied corpses. Riyue breathed out and frowned inadvertently after looking at the remains of the wolves.

    ¡®How come fist arts are even more brutal than sword arts? The world of martial arts is scary.¡¯

    Ignoring the fact that he was the one who made the wolves like that, Riyue shook his hand, which was throbbing in pain, before grabbing the boar corpse and immediately leaving. He was worried that the smell of blood would attract other beasts. As for the blood that had gotten onto his clothes, he ripped them off and threw them away. If someone were to look at his current state, they would think he was a beggar rather than a former young master of a great family.

    While carrying the boar corpse, he continued to head toward the Qilin using the confirmed path used by the Zhang Family in the past to give offerings to the sleeping Qilin. He also checked his remaining Qi amount after the battle.

    Qi Amount: 342/511 (recovery 3/minute), (Next Stage requires 2000).Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡®I still have quite a lot, not bad. The recovery is somewhat fast as well.¡¯

    Riyue traveled cautiously while carrying the boar corpse. It surprised him that despite not using Qi, the body of his current self was strong enough to carry the huge boar effortlessly.

    ¡®Body reformation for the win.¡¯

    Riyue decided not to think too much about it and continued to walk until he arrived at another small cave. This is also one of the resting spots on the way to the Qilin, but it¡¯s not as good as the one from before due to not having a natural water spot.

    ¡®But it can¡¯t be helped; beggars can¡¯t be choosers.¡¯

    After settling at the cave and dropping the boar corpse there, Riyue destroyed the nearest small tree with his bare hands and dragged it toward the cave. He intended on making a primitive-style hanger to grill and smoke the boar, but he was not a carpenter. After hours of struggle, he finally managed to make a small campfire. As for the boar, he first cut off the skin using the sword, sliced a big pile of meat, and stuck many branches into it like marshmallows before grilling it atop the campfire.

    ¡®Having a sword is really convenient.¡¯

    Since the meat was tougher than the branches, he had to make a hole first using the sword before putting it on the branch and cooking it. It was a whole load of work, but at least he got to eat. Once the boar had finished cooking, Riyue ate the pieces of meat. It was gamey and tough, but it had fat, so it made it somewhat good.

    ¡®It¡¯s a shame that I don¡¯t have any salt.¡¯

    Riyue thought as he began eating the boar. As for the rest of the boar, he made a makeshift hanger with his limited skill and smoked a big part of it using the campfire. As for the rest, he discarded it. He didn¡¯t need that much food.

    ¡®Rather than food, I need water more. I only have a little left in my bottle.¡¯

    Riyue sighed and checked his status window.

    Name: Zhang Riyue

    Age: 20

    Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Attribute

    Qi Stage: 1

    Qi Purity: 73%

    Qi Amount: 514/514 (recovery 3/minute), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Technique: 2%</li>

    </ul>

    Training Room

    Riyue looked at the Qi Amount and the percentages that changed.

    ¡®Mastery increased by 2%. It is a lot faster than I expected. I need to check what exactly changes with the increasing of mastery and what exactly helps one master the martial arts.¡¯

    Riyue then looked at the Qi Amount and smiled bitterly.

    ¡®No wonder that the strong ones in cultivation are about thousands of years-old cultivators. Though this world is probably not that nuts, I should still consider getting some Qi-increasing pills.¡¯

    In this world, what is considered talent is the efficiency with which the body absorbs Qi from the surroundings to grow their Qi Core. If he were to use himself as an example, the reason why the original Riyue thought of himself as talentless is that, despite being fed tons of Qi Increasing Pills and training ever since he was a child, he was still stuck at Stage 1. This meant that his body was not compatible with Qi, and the absorption rate was very low.

    It¡¯s like if he absorbed a Qi Pill with 500 Qi Amount, the original Riyue would only be able to absorb around 30 or 20 at a time, maybe even less. He was truly devoid of talent.

    ¡®Fortunately, after the body reformation, my body absorption rate is probably going to be insane. I haven¡¯t even used all of my Qi, but I already gained around 3 points of Qi. I also gained 4 points after expending all my Qi and letting it recover after the Training Room¡­ This is already considered fast, but if I wanted to get revenge in the next 10 years, I would need to resort to pills.¡¯

    With that being said, Qi Increasing Pills are considered extremely precious commodities that every martial artist would be willing to die for. As with any other product with limited supplies but outrageous demand, they are ridiculously expensive or hard to get.

    ¡®Ahh, the nostalgic problem of being poor. Tsk, damn it. If the Jin Family hadn¡¯t attacked, I would¡¯ve been enjoying myself as a young master! Though I guess I wouldn¡¯t have been transmigrated if that were the case¡­ Then I would have died of cancer.¡¯

    Riyue sighed again. He had decided to work hard in this life, but being poor again still sucked. It was then Riyue frowned and clutched his head; a surge of dizziness, exhaustion, and sleepiness appeared in Riyue¡¯s psyche.

    ¡®Right¡­ I haven¡¯t slept for a day, and I have been battling all those monsters and running away the entire time.¡¯

    Riyue yawned but still kept his eyes peeled as he thought.

    ¡®Will it be safe if I sleep here? Hm¡­ should be safe. The original Riyue had slept here without any problems. Even if it was with guards around, there was not a single attack¡­¡¯

    Riyue decided to extinguish the flames of the campfire as a precaution and sleep further back into the cave. Unlike in the past, where the original Riyue had guards keeping watch and surrounding him, he was now alone.

    ¡®Honestly, I prefer not to sleep, but if I were to make a mistake due to fighting without sleep¡­ That would be a lot more dangerous.¡¯

    It¡¯s not like he could just not sleep at all.

    At least in sleep, he had a chance of waking up when footsteps drew near or when he sensed something wrong. Riyue eventually decided to trust and pray to his body to wake itself up if it¡¯s in a dangerous situation.

    As Riyue¡¯s eyes closed and consciousness eluded him, he opened his eyes to see a pure white space that didn¡¯t seem to end. Riyue tilted his head.

    ¡®Isn¡¯t this the Training Room? Why the hell am I here?¡¯

    Riyue tried to think about the reason for him being here despite clearly sleeping.

    ¡®Perhaps the Training Room occurs when I am unconscious? Right, this Training Room is quite the mystery now that I think about it.¡¯

    Riyue then decided. Tonight, he shall explore this Training Room and learn of its secrets and rules.

 Chapter 5 - F My Luck

    ¡®I remember that despite my body being fine in the Training Room, hunger gnawed at my stomach immediately after I got out, and extreme thirst also hit me¡­ Why is that?¡¯

    Riyue put his hand to his chin in thought.

    He didn¡¯t know for how long he had trained exactly in the Training Room, but he deduced that it must¡¯ve been several hours.

    ¡®...Right, come to think of it, if I had spent several hours in the Training Room, why was it still night when I came back from it?¡¯

    Riyue remembered that the moonlight was still shining when he finished his training session, meaning that it was still nighttime, as if only one or two hours had passed despite his training for several more hours inside the Training Room.

    ¡®Is the time here and the outside reality different?¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s eyes lit up.

    If that is the case, then it was a huge advantage. However, Riyue soon remembered his hunger and thirst and concluded:

    ¡®If my hypothesis is correct, although I am in perfect form every time I am in the Training Room, the burdens of the training, food, and water are transferred over to my real body. For example, if I spend 8 hours in this Training Room in perfect form, my real body will feel as if it had been deprived of water for 8 hours even if only 2-3 hours have passed in the real world.¡¯

    Riyue frowned, realizing something.

    ¡®Wait¡­ Does that mean I could just unknowingly die of starvation and water deprivation?¡¯

    Riyue then felt chills on his body.

    ¡®Damn it, things would be easy if there was a time tracker here somewhere!¡¯

    Ding!

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    [00:00:00]

    [Start]

    ¡°Oh¡­ Right, you are not a hyperbolic time chamber but rather a system.¡±

    Riyue felt his frustrations immediately fly away after the time tracker appeared, and he grinned.

    ¡®...Hmm, this is good, very good. But after confirming that the state of exhaustion, hunger, and thirst of the Training Room version of me is transferred to the one in reality, I cannot really test the system now. After all, I need to sle-!¡¯

    Riyue''s eyes widened before he slapped his thighs in excitement.

    ¡°Can¡¯t I just sleep here!?¡±

    Wouldn¡¯t the benefits of sleep transfer to the real world if he did so?

    ¡®Holy shit, this is the workaholic¡¯s dream!¡¯

    Riyue didn¡¯t spend any more time before he immediately lay on the white floor and started the time tracker. Though his body was always energized in the Training Room, after he decided to sleep, as if a switch was flipped, his body immediately felt heavier and warmer until Riyue fell asleep.

    ***

    Waking up in the white room, Riyue immediately checked the time tracker.

    [08:32:07]

    Immediately after checking the time, Riyue exited the Training Room while internally praying that his real body didn¡¯t die while he was sleeping.

    After he went back into reality, he felt extremely refreshed. The familiar campfire came into his sight, and Riyue exited the room. Since he didn¡¯t have a clock, he looked at the moon¡¯s position to roughly tell the time. Though he wasn¡¯t an astrologer, he was able to roughly tell the time¡ªwell, at least he thought so before looking at the moon in confusion.

    ¡®Hmm, I really can¡¯t tell. The moon didn¡¯t move as much as I thought it would.¡¯

    As he slept just when nighttime arrived, it was normal for it to still be nighttime when he woke up 8 hours later. However, the moon in his sight had only moved a little bit, meaning only a few hours had passed as opposed to 8 hours, or at least that was his theory.

    ¡®For a more precise calculation, I would need to have a clock¡­ Come to think of it, I don¡¯t really need to check it now.¡¯

    He had gotten so excited at the advantage he discovered that he didn¡¯t think of checking it later.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡®I also need to check whether the system has some sort of danger sense or not. Or if my body can react when there is danger or not. I can just use other people to emit hostility toward me when I¡¯m sleeping. Surely in this world, there is such a thing as hostile intent, right?¡¯

    Riyue chuckled before he got up. Confirming that he could reduce his sleep time was good enough already.

    ¡®Though it does makes me hungry and thirsty, gosh.¡¯

    Despite that, Riyue decided to fast and save his water and continued walking through the night. Considering how there were roughly 2 days'' worth of journey left, Riyue intended on arriving as fast as possible, preferably within one day if he also traveled during the nighttime. After all, the Mi Ying Forest, the forest he was in currently, is not the most comfortable place out there, and as a former modern man in the 20th century, the feeling of discomfort was even stronger than normal.

    ¡®Fortunately, I haven¡¯t encountered any monsters that were too strong nor any assassins¡­ Shit, did I just curse myself?¡¯

    As if confirming his thoughts, the surrounding fog suddenly grew thicker, and to his side, a male figure clad in a black robe and hood appeared, with a sword in hand.

    ¡®Fucking hell!¡¯

    The figure looked around in confusion, but once he laid eyes on Riyue, his sword suddenly shined with a blue hue as he dashed toward Riyue. Without hesitation, Riyue converged his Sun and Moon Qi onto both of his legs and immediately ran toward the path to the Qilin.

    His legs trembled in agony as pain coursed through them, but pain be damned, he was about to die if he didn¡¯t run. Every figure dispatched by the Jin Family was at least a Stage 3, with some even at Stage 4 or Stage 5! The reason for the high level was due to them being elite assassins trained by the Shen Lei Kingdom personally. Fortunately, the one he encountered was a Stage 3, but he still cursed his luck. After all, the chances of an assassin becoming ¡®lost¡¯ in the forest and appearing right next to him were abysmal, yet that was what happened.

    At the subtle sound of wind being cut, goosebumps appeared throughout his body as he immediately threw himself down. An energy blade swished past and cut the tree in front of him. Immediately after that, he rolled sideways and dodged the assailant¡¯s blade.

    While rolling, Riyue grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it toward the assassin¡¯s eyes. The assassin flicked the dirt away as he chased after Riyue, his figure closing in on him. Seeing this, Riyue clicked his tongue. At this rate, he would get caught and killed. Dodging the energy blades themselves was feasible, but fighting and running from someone two stages higher was almost impossible.

    Emphasis on almost.

    Riyue swerved around the trees, with the assassin trailing behind him. Once the assassin got close, he used a sword style specialized for assassination as he aimed toward Riyue¡¯s vitals. However, unlike the movements of a regular assassin, this guy¡¯s movements were somewhat weird, funky, and messed up due to the sense disruption of the fog. Because of it, Riyue managed to barely dodge, but shallow cuts appeared on his neck and shoulder, as blood dripped from them.

    ¡°Damned demon worshipper.¡±

    The assassin clicked his tongue as he resumed the catch-the-mouse game. Riyue didn¡¯t reply as he climbed up a tree fast and used the branches as a foothold to jump around. The assassin seemed quite surprised at his movements, but he managed to follow effortlessly with his superior Qi amount and stage.

    As the assassin jumped from branch to branch while spewing energy blades many times, he got closer again. Right after Riyue landed on the next branch at the same time as the assassin jumped, Riyue crushed the branch before jumping toward another tree, making the assassin¡¯s foothold fall to the ground alongside the assassin himself.

    ¡°Damn you!¡± In a last-ditch effort, the assassin¡¯s blade glowed the brightest it had been before firing toward Riyue. The fog below was thickening, and Riyue also dropped from the tree to the ground to dodge the energy blade and hid himself from the assassin. As the fog covered both him and the assassin, the latter mysteriously disappeared while Riyue stayed in the same position.

    After confirming the assassin was lost again through the fog and the surroundings were safe without any monsters, Riyue gasped for breath, trying to calm himself down and his relentless heartbeat.

    ¡°F-fuck, that was scary as hell.¡±

    If he didn¡¯t have the Mountain Tiger Martial Technique, which specialized in leaping and movements akin to an agile tiger, the Convergence of the Sun and Moon Qi, as well as the fog that disturbed the other¡¯s senses in combat and made them lost, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape the assassin.

    Riyue then collapsed, his butt smashing into the ground, his legs shivering, trembling, before they got a cramp due to overuse. If he had pushed any longer, perhaps a muscle would¡¯ve been ripped off. However, without minding it, Riyue looked toward his own hands, which were trembling and dripping with cold sweat. It was the closest he had been to death by another and not some terminal illness.

    Riyue placed his hands to his rapidly beating heart before he took a deep breath and exhaled.

    ¡®This is that kind of world after all. I have to get used to it. This is a precious second chance I have gotten, and I cannot afford to waste it by being a coward!¡¯

    Riyue then placated himself by remembering the close bouts with death he had throughout his entire life. After all, whether it was death by starvation, cancer, or by a blade, all of them were death in the same meaning. Therefore, why should he fear death when he was already familiar with being close to it?

    After calming himself down and stifling the fear inside, Riyue crawled to a nearby tree and leaned back on it before checking his Qi amount and Martial Art Mastery.

    Qi Amount: 54/514 (recovery 3/minute), (Next Stage requires 2000)

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Technique: 8%</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®Wow, running away from a life-threatening danger increased the mastery by a whole lot.¡¯

    As for the Qi amount, Riyue thought it would probably increase once he recovered it fully. After all, one of the ways to consistently increase Qi bit by bit is to expend it all before waiting for it to recover and steadily build it up.

    ¡®I should rest here for an hour or two and wait until my Qi recovers. The same for my legs.¡¯

    Riyue sat down as he covered his legs with an expensive balm that the Original Riyue always carried with him. He didn¡¯t use it for his hands due to wanting to save it up for more serious injuries or usage, such as the current condition of his legs.

    Riyue laughed bitterly at the sorry state he was in right now.

    ¡®...Perhaps this wasn¡¯t the best world to get a second chance in.¡¯

    Still, what else could be done? At least he still got a second chance. Riyue rested for an hour or so before he began moving again.

 Chapter 6 - You Damned Mogwai

    Around a day had passed since the battle with the assassin, and Riyue, who remembered the relatively safe path to the Qilin, recognized that he was now about an hour or two away from his destination.

    This fast speed of travel was because he could function with far less sleep using the Training Room, ensuring that he too could move during the night. Of course, moving through the night was far riskier than during the day, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. Riyue needed to get there as fast as possible. Rather than the monsters whose patterns he memorized, he was more scared of another unlucky encounter with the assassin who got ¡®lost¡¯ right next to him.

    ¡®Fortunately, I am now very close to the Qilin. Shit, I did all this work to wake that guy up, so I should get a reward, right?¡¯

    Riyue thought as he kept on moving. After around 20 minutes of walking, however, he felt a sense of deja vu.

    ¡®Wasn¡¯t I here just a few minutes ago?¡¯ Riyue tilted his head.

    Riyue had not paid any attention to remembering the forest terrains, but his subconscious thought that he had been here before. The forest trees and the terrain all felt eerily similar to the ones he had been through.

    ¡®...Somehow, I¡¯ve got a bad feeling.¡¯ Riyue frowned.

    Riyue decided to walk again, considering how there was no danger currently, in the same direction that he had set off previously. Despite his feet clearly traveling away from the same spot, when he came to, he was in the same spot as before.

    Riyue gritted his teeth before calming down. He thought about some monsters or plants that could¡¯ve caused this wide-scale illusion, and he only thought of one.

    ¡®Mogwai, the mischievous spirits that roam around the forest, pranking unsuspecting travelers. They do not hold any hostility toward humans in particular, yet, due to their desire for pranks, they would often bring them into danger just for fun, or they would just annoy them during their journey.¡¯

    In Riyue¡¯s case, it seemed like this particular Mogwai just wanted to annoy him with its wide-scale illusions.

    ¡®Well, as long as the bastard doesn¡¯t bring me to danger, I am quite fine with it¡­ But how do I get out of this situation?¡¯

    Fighting an opponent whose location he didn¡¯t even know was impossible. In the first place, Mogwais are rare spirits that are Stage 5 at minimum. It would be suicide to fight them.

    Riyue went through his memory and eventually decided on one method.

    ¡®To give tributes and sacrifices.¡¯

    It was one way to please the mischievous Mogwais, whose favorites are pranks and food. As Riyue didn¡¯t have much on hand, he could only place a few pieces of the smoked boar he had on the floor as he kneeled down and prostrated.

    ¡°Oh, great Mogwai, please accept this offering and give mercy to this humble traveler.¡±

    Honestly, Riyue didn¡¯t know whether the Mogwai could understand human speech or not, but it could probably understand the intent behind Riyue¡¯s prostration.

    ¡®Though you may see my prostrating self right now, when I reach Stage 5 or 6, I swear that I will kill this Mogwai bastard.¡¯

    Riyue knew that Mogwai were great monsters for pill ingredients. After Riyue had repeated his words two or three times, like a mirage, a figure started to form in front of him. It was a small creature standing on two legs, with fur all over its body, three eyes, an extremely big ear on each side, and hands with claws.

    Riyue trembled at the sight of the Mogwai. The differences between stages could be clearly felt, even if the Mogwai had no intention of doing anything.

    ¡®No wonder they are called one of the stronger Mythical Creatures that exist.¡¯

    Mythical Creatures and Monsters were not that different from each other, except for the fact that the former had Pure Qi and were used by the Orthodox Practitioners for pills and various other things, while the latter had Demonic Qi, which only the Demons would use.

    ¡°Oh, great Mogwai! Please accept my offering.¡±

    ¡®And just fuck off.¡¯If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Riyue kept prostrating while slightly peeking at the Mogwai. The Mogwai looked at the boar meat and then to Riyue. He was scared that the Mogwai would try to eat him, but he remembered that Mogwais had a similar sense of taste to humans, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about that.

    After an uncomfortable two to three minutes, the Mogwai suddenly grinned. It grabbed the boar meat and immediately disappeared. The surroundings twisted, and the terrain changed into a similar yet different forest terrain.

    ¡®Nice, now I¡¯m bac-¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s thoughts ceased as he saw a tall humanoid figure through the thin fog. The figure¡¯s body was made of wood, twigs, and plants. Its hollow eyes met with Riyue¡¯s own.

    It was a Corrupted Twig.

    ¡®Oh, you Mogwai cunt!¡¯

    The Corrupted Twig dashed at Riyue, and as Riyue was about to run away, he immediately thought:

    ¡®Wait, why should I run?¡¯

    The Corrupted Twig is a Stage 2 monster that can grow its arms with twigs and swing them around with great power. It also has quite a high defense.

    ¡®However, it is also very slow and predictable.¡¯

    Which is why it is considered barely a Stage 2¡ªjust because of its power. It is even easier to defeat than some troublesome Stage 1 monsters.

    Riyue¡¯s eyes gleamed as he grinned. Instead of running, he chose to dash toward the Corrupted Twig. The Corrupted Twig¡¯s arms burst as they grew in size, and it swung them toward Riyue. If it hit, it would kill Riyue instantly or break a lot of his bones.

    But those things don¡¯t matter if it didn¡¯t hit, not to mention, the swing was too slow.

    Riyue moved sideways to dodge the arm that was used akin to a hammer and spun his body to deliver a kick toward the twig¡¯s joint.

    Tiger Leg Sweep.

    The kick filled with Sun Qi dislocated the Twig¡¯s leg, and it almost fell to the ground. However, its hard wooden leg and its body structure, which were very different from humans despite the similar look, enabled it to stand tall again as it swung its arms toward Riyue.

    ¡®Being a Stage 1 really sucks. If I were a Stage 3, I would¡¯ve long destroyed this dude.¡¯

    Yet despite his complaints, Riyue grinned. He felt his Mountain Tiger Martial Technique grow a bit stronger as he fought. Although 2% didn¡¯t make much difference, once it reached 9%, he sensed quite a big difference in the effectiveness and efficiency of his movements.

    ¡®It¡¯s still far from good, though.¡¯

    Riyue then ran as he swerved around the trees near the Corrupted Twig. With a forest full of trees, it was hard for the twig¡¯s gigantic arm to hit Riyue precisely. Yet, it seemed as if it didn¡¯t care about such things as it started smashing the trees around, crashing them to the ground.

    ¡°No mercy for your own kind? How heartless!¡± Riyue grinned as he shielded himself behind an extremely big and old tree. The Corrupted Twig mindlessly smashed through it, and as the tree was about to fall after having half of its trunk smashed, Riyue kicked the tree with full force, causing it to fall in the Corrupted Twig¡¯s direction.

    The Corrupted Twig mindlessly looked at the falling tree before it twisted its body and arms and smashed the tree, ensuring it did not fall upon itself.

    ¡°Wow, power alone you really are amazing, at the cost of intelligence and speed though.¡±

    Riyue grinned. The Corrupted Twig was not fast enough to dodge the falling tree, so it just smashed through it with full power, leaving a very big opening.

    His right hand filled with Sun Qi, and his left hand with Moon Qi, Riyue dashed at the Corrupted Twig, which was losing its balance.

    Tiger¡¯s Pounce.

    Tiger¡¯s Fist of Fury.

    Riyue pulled back his hands and proceeded to lay out a barrage of fist attacks on the Corrupted Twig. Each attack was not strong individually, but when combined, the fist managed to pierce through the high defense of the twig. As a result, the Corrupted Twig¡¯s body crumbled and fell to the floor.

    Once finished, Riyue took a deep breath and rummaged through the corpse. He then took out a dark red, murky crystal before storing it. It was the Qi Core of the Monsters. Though it wouldn¡¯t fetch a high price for anyone other than the Demons, it wasn¡¯t useless either. It could be used for various things such as artifact energy sources, crafting, and more.

    Riyue then checked his status screen, specifically for the Qi Amount and Martial Arts.

    Qi Amount: 258/522 (recovery 3/minute), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    ¡®The Qi amount is steadily growing, though not much. On the other hand¡­¡¯

    Riyue smiled after seeing his Mastery Gauge.

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Technique: 20%</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®Hehehe, a whopping 11% increase for beating a monster. This is extremely fast progress.¡¯

    In this world where Qi stages determine the weak and strong, there were not many things that could be done to close the gap between the higher and lower stages. However, it was not impossible, and one such method was the mastery of martial arts.

    People with lower stages, yet high in terms of martial skills and fundamentals, could very well defeat someone a stage higher who had low skills and fundamentals.

    ¡®After all, stages are merely that¡ªstages of a person¡¯s Qi Core. If they lack Qi Control or the mastery of fundamentals and martial arts, it is doubtful they can use their own stages to the fullest.¡¯

    With that said, stages were still the biggest factor in winning or losing.

    Riyue then looked around at the damage to the forest and the corpse of the Corrupted Twig.

    ¡®Shadow Panthers will probably come here soon. Yeah, I don''t want to fight with them.¡¯

    Riyue smiled before he ran, finding the path he was familiar with, and resuming the journey.

 Chapter 7 - The Qilin

    The 1-hour journey could be said to be short and long at the same time. In terms of the overall journey, it was definitely short, but considering his wariness of the Mogwai appearing again, the assassins, and the many monsters, each minute felt like an hour, and an hour felt like a day.

    Fortunately, no enemies appeared, and he had finally arrived at the place where the Qilin was slumbering.

    ¡®Thankfully, the Mogwai didn¡¯t take my water away back then,¡¯ Riyue thought as he downed the last water he had in his leather bottle. On the one-day journey before meeting the Mogwai, he had refilled his water bottle after encountering a lake. It was a lake he didn¡¯t know was clean or not, but he would rather have a stomachache than die of thirst.

    And since there were no such stomach pains even now, he concluded that the water must¡¯ve been clean.

    ¡®If the original Riyue had prepared for a long journey, I wouldn¡¯t have struggled like this, damn it.¡¯

    Of course, Joshua understood that the Original Riyue couldn¡¯t have prepared to flee a sudden ambush from the Jin Family. It probably took him all he could just to get away with the Divine Artifact. Joshua understood it, but he just couldn¡¯t help but complain about his hardships.

    ¡®But now, it will be all over. Dumplings, meat, xiaolongbao, here I come!¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s mouth curled up as he thought about the delicious Chinese foods he knew of. As he walked through the foggy forest, the green trees became greener, and the tree trunks became bluer as he walked closer and closer to the middle of the mystical forest.

    The green leaves glowed like luminescent light alongside the blue wooden trunks, creating a landscape that would only exist in fantasy. The fog grew thinner and thinner the more he walked until it ceased to exist when he reached a slumbering figure.

    Its body was that of a majestic steed, covered with beautiful scales of dark green. The head was that of a dragon, with two horns flowing upward from above its head. Its tail was covered with fur like a blazing flame. Though it was asleep, Riyue could feel a great, divine power emanating from it¡ªa power that a mere Mogwai wouldn''t be able to match even if given centuries to live.

    It was truly worthy of its title as a Divine Beast, the Qilin.

    As Riyue approached, he kneeled with one knee and put his fist against his palm in front as he greeted the Qilin.

    ¡°I, Riyue, a member of the Zhang Family, greet the Divine Beast, the Great Qilin.¡±

    The slumbering Qilin¡¯s eyes opened as its figure rose while its eyes locked onto Riyue¡¯s. It scrutinized Riyue¡¯s body before smiling.

    ¡°Child, for how long have I been asleep?¡±

    ¡°If my memories have not forsaken me, then it would¡¯ve been around 15 years since you last woke up, 50 years after you decided to sleep for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Fifteen years, a short time yet enough for a child like you to grow up well and healthy.¡±

    ¡°I am honored by your praise.¡±

    The Qilin looked around, confusion etched on its face.

    ¡°Where are your kin?¡±

    ¡°They are dead, oh great Qilin. It is a part of the reason why I have come to wake you up.¡±

    ¡°Dead? All of them, except you?¡± The Qilin¡¯s eyes widened before it frowned.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It is a long story. Is that fine with you?¡±

    ¡°That is fine, do speak.¡±

    Riyue recounted each and every experience he had gained from the Original Riyue¡¯s memory: when the Jin Family had asked to meet with every single member of the Zhang Family, escaping with his father back to the Zhang Family¡¯s territory, retrieving the Divine Artifact, and Riyue¡¯s father¡¯s sacrifice to ensure Riyue could get inside the forest, and then the journey toward waking the Qilin.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Those scoundrels of the Jin Family!¡± The Qilin¡¯s anger shook the forest. The fear of the wolves could be sensed through their howls, the scattering birds, and even the trees swayed unnaturally. Riyue himself turned light-headed and almost collapsed due to the pressure.

    ¡°I apologize. Despite being old, it seems that I still lack control of my emotions,¡± the Qilin said.

    ¡°Not at all.¡±

    The Qilin then looked Riyue in the eye silently. Riyue felt uncomfortable, but he didn¡¯t move or speak. He didn¡¯t tell a thing about the transmigration and the fact that the Original Riyue had died and he had replaced him. Not only was it unnecessary, but it was also risky to tell. What if the Qilin thought of him as an imposter and killed him?

    That thought of his lasted only for three seconds.

    ¡°I sense that there is something more to the story than what you have described. Speak truthfully, child. I will not condemn you¡­ Not because your soul is different than that of the child¡¯s.¡±

    Riyue flinched.

    ¡®Damn, are Divine Beasts able to casually look at one¡¯s soul? Guess I don¡¯t have any privacy in front of him.¡¯

    Riyue decided not to lie due to being afraid of angering the Qilin and explained everything from start to finish again, even the thoughts of the Original Riyue. He even showed the Qilin the Divine Artifact.

    ¡°I see. It is a shame to hear what happened to that child.¡± The Qilin sighed. Seeing how the Qilin didn¡¯t seem to be hostile toward him, Riyue breathed a sigh of relief. The Qilin then looked at the egg-shaped Divine Artifact placed in front of him.

    ¡°Boy, I thank you for informing me of these matters. I could tell just how hard it is for you judging from your wretched state. As a reward, I shall give you a part of my horn.¡±

    ¡®...A Divine Beast¡¯s horn!?¡¯

    Divine Beasts, just like what their names suggest, are creatures holding power akin to the divine. Though their numbers are extremely low, each and every one of them is at least Stage 8 at the weakest, with most being in Stage 9, the highest recorded Stage that a human could achieve.

    ¡®As for this Qilin, though I do not know for sure, judging by the records of its strength in Riyue¡¯s family, it seems like he is even beyond Stage 9. A horn from such a creature would undoubtedly be precious.¡¯

    Of course, it¡¯s unlikely that Riyue could make use of it now. Still, it will help a lot in the future. The Qilin then used its tail to cut off a part of its own horn before giving it to Riyue. With his head bowed deeply in reverence, Riyue accepted the horn with a happy heart.

    ¡°I thank you for your generosity, oh great Qilin!¡±

    As Riyue received the white horn from the Qilin¡¯s tail into his hand, he could feel the horn resonating with Riyue¡¯s own Qi Core, indicating that it now knew its owner. Riyue¡¯s head tilted at the strange sensation of foreign Qi entering his body.

    ¡°Pay no mind to it. For now, the horn could only be used to increase the Qi inside your body and nothing else. For now, that is. The higher the stage you become, the more you will be able to do with that horn.¡±

    ¡®Isn¡¯t it like an artifact then? Despite only being a horn, that¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Riyue then sneakily checked using the status window.

    Qi Amount: 258/822 (recovery 3/minute), (Qilin¡¯s Horn +300 Qi) (Next Stage requires 2000).

    ¡®A whopping 300, and it will grow even more in the future!¡¯ Riyue suppressed his grin as he listened to the words of the Qilin.

    ¡°I do not mind whether you craft it into an artifact or if you just keep it as it is. However, I would advise you not to sell it, for it also serves as a way for me to know where you are at all times.¡±

    ¡°I shall not sell it and will keep it with me at all times!¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± The Qilin nodded before it sighed.

    ¡°Truthfully, as an apostle of the Sun and Moon God, I would¡¯ve loved to help you more, but unfortunately, I cannot do that.¡±

    ¡°Why is that so?¡±

    Riyue asked, half out of curiosity and half out of a desire to try and convince the Qilin otherwise. The Qilin looked up at the sky as he spoke.

    ¡°Before I went to sleep, I sensed that the changing of times would not be long. Demons have risen in numbers as they started to broaden their activities, causing chaos throughout the world. I also suspect that the purging of your family this time is also related to them.¡±

    ¡®Demons¡­¡¯

    According to his memory, Demons are humans who have chosen to cultivate by absorbing the powers of monsters and following the Demonic Method. Unlike the Orthodox Method, which cultivates Qi to be as pure as possible to get closer to nature, Demonic Method users cultivate their Qi by absorbing anything and everything, including monsters. As a result of their Qi Corruption, their minds are affected as they become more and more like monsters, with aggression towards humanity, and are usually overcome by madness.

    Unlike the first generation of demons, the current Demon practitioners have found a way to control their emotions so as not to succumb to madness. However, most of them are vile humans, finding great pleasure in destruction and committing various sins. This is a result of their Qi Corruption, which make them more and more like monsters due to absorbing Qi from the wrong sources.

    ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t good Demons, but such people are rare.¡¯

    Riyue then asked something he was curious about.

    ¡°Oh great Qilin, it might be presumptuous for me to ask this, but how could mere Demons trouble someone like you?¡±

    The Qilin then laughed.

    ¡°Hahaha, you ask good questions, boy. Then, to answer your question, I shall ask you something.¡±

    The Qilin grinned.

    ¡°Do you know why Divine Beasts seldom interfere with humans?¡±

 Chapter 8 - Meeting Rong Yu

    ¡°I do not know.¡±

    Though humans believe in the existence of Divine Beasts, the Divine Beasts themselves rarely interfere with the affairs of humans. Sometimes they will linger around human territories, teach them a few things, and that¡¯s it. It is rare for them to interfere with humans directly, such as going to war on their behalf. Sometimes they will also offer protection to humans they are fond of or watch and look out for them, just like the Qilin and the Zhang Family.

    ¡°There is an unwritten rule between the Divine Beasts and the Devils. We shall only fight amongst each other and involve the humans to a bare minimum. It is fine for us to offer a certain amount of protection, care for them, and such to humans we are fond of, but enlisting them and leading them to go to war with each other is forbidden. Of course, helping the humans above the bare minimum threshold too is forbidden.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    The Qilin¡¯s eyes gleamed.

    ¡°Because then, there will be a great war. Though humans are weak individually, together, they could even kill a god, but with severe consequences. Simply put, it will be a loss for everyone¡­ Though it seems like the time is near when a great war is inevitable.¡±

    Riyue couldn¡¯t quite hear the last words of the Qilin. As for the previous ones, he somewhat understood, which also made him decide against trying to convince the Qilin to help him more.

    ¡®Honestly, the horn is already a great help, so I¡¯m satisfied.¡¯

    Seeing how the Qilin had stopped talking, Riyue took the initiative to speak.

    ¡°Oh great Qilin. May I ask for a favor?¡±

    ¡°Speak.¡±

    ¡°I am currently being chased by many assassins of the Jin Family. As such, escaping this forest would prove to be immensely difficult¡­ Is it possible to receive your help in any way regarding this situation?¡±

    The Qilin went silent before speaking in a majestic voice.

    ¡°Though I cannot kill the assassins sent toward you, I could help you escape. Is there any place you would like to go?¡±

    ¡°Then, please help me get to Luo Yen City.¡±

    Luo Yen City is a port city at the edge of the Shen Lei Kingdom, primarily used for trade and commerce with other countries. It is also home to many smuggling ships and illegal travelers. The Original Riyue had connections with one of the smugglers there and would be able to escape to the Jin Long Empire, where he would be relatively safer than in the Shen Lei Kingdom.

    ¡®I wanted to ask him to straight up transfer me to the Jinlong Empire but¡­ It might annoy the Divine Beast.¡¯

    As such, Riyue chose to take the long route, prioritizing maintaining a great relationship with the Qilin.

    ¡°That is not a problem. Then, we shall go now.¡±

    ¡°Now?¡±

    Riyue¡¯s eyes widened before an immense amount of Qi emerged from the Qilin. It made Riyue¡¯s body tremble, and it pricked his skin just by being near it. Soon enough, he could see the space itself being distorted, as a circular blue portal emerged right next to him.

    ¡®...Don¡¯t tell me. Is this spatial travel?¡¯

    ¡°Go inside. It will transfer you to Luo Yen City.¡±

    Riyue blankly stared at the portal before he stood up and bowed his head deeply toward the Qilin.

    ¡°I thank you for your help, oh great Qilin.¡±

    ¡°As I said before, this is of little problem to me. Go now, boy. Let us meet again in the future.¡±

    Riyue nodded before he went through the portal. Immediately, the scenery changed from the luminescent foggy forest to a bustling city landscape. Riyue could see a bunch of people wearing similar robes to his own, albeit a lot simpler. They seemed similar to cheap-looking hanfus. The buildings were reminiscent of ancient China, and despite a portal being in the middle of the city, the people paid it no heed as if they couldn¡¯t see it. However, right after Riyue arrived, they started looking at him with wariness and confusion.

    Riyue then looked down at his current outfit.

    The previously luxurious black hanfu with intricate golden patterns had some parts ripped off, while the rest were covered in blood, dust, and dirt.

    ¡®I could pass as the king of beggars wearing this.¡¯ Riyue sighed and decided to buy some clothes first.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Riyue then put his head down and tried not to draw attention to himself. Although Luo Yen City was very far away from the Lost Forest due to being at the edge of the kingdom, it was still the Shen Lei Kingdom after all. He needed to be careful so that no goons of the Jin Family or the Royal Family caught wind of him.

    ¡®With that said, there is no need to be overly careful either.¡¯

    The assassins were probably still waiting at the Lost Forest, searching for him. They wouldn¡¯t know that the Qilin is real as it is a secret that even the Royal Family didn¡¯t know, and even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to intrude. They wouldn¡¯t expect Riyue to get the Qilin¡¯s help and head over here. As for Luo Yen City itself, the news framed by the Jin Family about the Zhang Family being a part of the Demon Sect shouldn¡¯t have spread yet, at least to the general population.

    ¡®...Though even if it had spread, that smuggler wouldn¡¯t care whether the news was true or not.¡¯ Riyue thought as he entered a store that sold clothing. The Original Riyue always carried quite a lot of money with him. Therefore, though it was not a humongous amount, it was enough to get a new set of clothes and pay for the smuggling ship.

    Riyue changed his clothes into a simpler form of black robe with sashes and arm guards, which made him look like a wandering martial artist rather than a young master. Riyue then slightly changed his hairstyle by adding a short ponytail to his messy shoulder-length black hair. This was to make him look as different as possible from the Original Riyue.

    Of course, without makeup, hair dye, and many more tools, it would be hard for a full transformation. But right now, this was good enough for a disguise.

    After Riyue secretly burned the formerly luxurious hanfu he was wearing, he immediately headed toward a certain part of the city, stopped in front of a certain building, and looked at the sign.

    Purple Lotus Inn.

    After confirming that this was indeed the right place, Riyue headed inside. The building was five stories tall, with the first floor being a restaurant while the second to fifth floors were full of guestrooms. Riyue didn¡¯t sit at the restaurant tables and immediately headed to the counter.

    The receptionist was a rough-looking middle-aged man with black hair that had some whites on it. He sat with his arms crossed.

    ¡°Room or food?¡± he said while frowning at Riyue.

    ¡®That kind of attitude would¡¯ve gotten you a 1-star in Indonesia.¡¯

    Riyue smiled.

    ¡°Three fish, five hot pots, ten dumplings, seven wine bottles.¡±

    He then pointed upwards.

    ¡°To room 509.¡±

    There was no room 509 in this inn.

    The man looked at Riyue up and down before he sighed, got up, and headed to the back of the inn. After a while of waiting, the man came back and gestured for him to follow.

    ¡°Go in. The boss wants to talk with you.¡±

    Riyue nodded as he walked into the back of the receptionist¡¯s table and followed the man. After a few steps, there was a door, and the man opened it for Riyue. As he went inside, he saw a room with two couches, a table between them, a fancy rug, and a fireplace. There was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed male sitting on one of the couches, his hair groomed, and he was dressed in an expensive white silk robe layered together with wide sleeves.

    ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m seeing a foreigner cosplay as a Chinese man.¡¯

    The man turned towards Riyue and signaled for the other man to close the door. Once the door closed, the man smiled.

    ¡°Oh my, why is the wanted criminal sought by the Royal Family and the Jin Family here?¡±

    ¡°Stop playing around, Rong Yu.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m not though. The news hasn¡¯t spread here yet, but it¡¯s raging like wildfire all throughout the capital. The high and noble Zhang Family has fallen straight into the dumpster hole! What a riot!¡±

    The man then laughed again. However, Riyue was not laughing, as he stared at Rong Yu with a cold gaze.

    ¡°I will give you some advice. As a smuggler, you should be careful of what you say.¡±

    Rong Yu raised both of his hands. As someone who liked to irritate others but knew how to barely not cross a line, he recognized that it was time to pull back.

    ¡°Hehehe, alright. So, what is your business here?¡±

    Riyue threw a bag of gold coins onto the table.

    ¡°Get me a smuggling ship to Baizhu City, as well as a new identity for me. Ah, right, get me some disguise tools as well.¡±

    Rong Yu grabbed the bag of gold coins before he rummaged through it.

    ¡°Hmm, this amount would only get you to the edge of the empire instead of Baizhu City and the identity card, but¡ª¡±

    Rong Yu smiled after seeing the slight frown forming on Riyue¡¯s face.

    ¡°As a special service, I will give you a discount and just take this. I am still grateful to your parents for sparing me back then. Therefore, isn¡¯t it right to pay back the favor?¡±

    ¡®If you are grateful, then why try to pick a fight with me?¡¯ Riyue sighed in his mind. The only reason his parents had spared him was because he was not worth the trouble, and all he did was smuggle items. If he were in the illegal slave business, well, he wouldn¡¯t be sitting here in front of him right now.

    ¡°To show more of your gratitude, give me a free room and food for the day. Or include the payment in that bag of gold coins as a ¡®special discount.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, after falling to the gutter, you have changed, Young Master. No, former Young Master, isn¡¯t it? You have gotten more cunning and resourceful¡­ Sure, order anything you want.¡±

    After recognizing that his taunts were no longer working, Rong Yu ended the conversation with a smile, while Riyue, who had been ignoring Rong Yu¡¯s words, simply headed back out, grabbed a room key, and went to his room.

    Riyue then sighed. Talking to Rong Yu was exhausting, and he was even more annoying than usual due to Riyue¡¯s fall from grace. Though Joshua was not entirely Riyue, after receiving the entirety of the Original Riyue¡¯s memory and his body, it couldn¡¯t be helped that he was affected in certain ways.

    ¡®Well, fortunately, he didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of reporting me¡­ Well, a smuggler who does that would be extremely untrustworthy, so no wonder¡­¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s eyes drifted onto the bed in the room he was in, and as if enchanted, he walked over to it and dropped his body onto it. The memories of the last few days rushed into his mind, and he was filled with happiness after finally obtaining a bed.

    ¡®However, I can¡¯t sleep yet. Every second is precious, and considering how I got free food for the day¡­ Let¡¯s try out the Training Room for the day.¡¯ Riyue smiled. As revenge for Rong Yu¡¯s taunts, he was planning on taking full advantage of the free food for the day.

 Chapter 9 - New Skills, Happy Stomach

    In the seemingly endless white space, Riyue sat down on the floor as he looked at the screen in front of him.

    [Here is the list of martial arts you could learn.]

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Sun and Moon Breathing Method</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®I do not get how exactly will a Breathing Method be useful for me, but I suppose it wouldn¡¯t hurt to learn it.¡¯

    Riyue then clicked on the Sun and Moon Breathing Method and then on Yes to learn it. Just like before, knowledge of how to do the breathing method, what counts as success, and what its benefits are assaulted Riyue¡¯s head, causing a brief headache.

    After organizing the knowledge, Riyue thought that the Breathing Method was much better than he had thought. Riyue immediately sat down in a cross-legged position, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. It was easy to focus inside the training room due to the lack of noise around, and also because he was always in peak condition in this training room.

    As he felt around his inner body and eventually arrived at the Qi Core, Riyue could visualize a golden-colored Qi and a purple-colored Qi spinning around in tangent like that of a Yin Yang symbol. Riyue then tried the Breathing Method.

    He visualized the Sun Qi flowing to the right side of his body, with the Moon Qi to the left side of his body. He imagined them flowing into his blood, the golden Sun Qi and the purple Moon Qi nourishing the organs, meridians, and blood flow. Then he imagined them flowing back together to the Qi Core, lightly crashing into each other, and converging. Using the bits of chaotic energy created using Convergence, Riyue expelled some of the impurities inside his body.

    As Riyue imagined a dark vapor rising from his body and impurities being expelled, he then imagined the absorption of the surrounding Qi. Riyue didn¡¯t realize it at first, but he felt that this pure white Training Room was full of extremely pure Qi, which made it easy for him to absorb and change into the Sun and Moon Qi he had.

    After a while of absorbing and focusing, his head started pounding as severe pain brought him out of focus, and eventually, he opened his eyes and gasped for breath, sweat covering his entire body.

    ¡°Damn! That was, phew, a lot harder than I thought, but I actually succeeded in one try¡­ Probably because it was just a breathing method instead of martial arts.¡±

    With that said, it still pleased Riyue, and he smiled in satisfaction and took a look at his status screen.

    Name: Zhang Riyue

    Age: 20

    Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Attribute

    Qi Stage: 1

    Qi Purity: 73%

    Qi Amount: 852/852 (recovery 3/minute), (Qilin¡¯s Horn +300 Qi), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Technique 20%</li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Sun and Moon Breathing Method 0%</li>

    </ul>

    Training Room

    ¡®Whoa, my Qi grew quite a lot. If I simply expend my Qi, I would gain around 4 or 5, but using a breathing method I hadn¡¯t mastered gives me around 20 per session¡­ This is amazing.¡¯

    Of course, it was not entirely due to the Sun and Moon Breathing Method. Although the Zhang Family¡¯s Breathing Method is inferior, it is still a top-class method, yet Riyue was still stuck at Stage 1 even after many years. As for how the current Riyue was able to suddenly gain immense talent, it is due to one thing.

    ¡®Body Reformation. Though I was thrown into this world abruptly, at least the Sun and Moon God still have some kind of conscience by giving me talent.¡¯

    Riyue smiled and then checked the timer. It was at [07:13:46]. Prior to this, he wanted to check how much time passed in this room compared to the outside world.

    ¡®Ah right, I almost forgot.¡¯

    Riyue then took out the sword and made a shallow cut at the back of his forearm. He wanted to test out whether injuries also traveled to his original body. After that was done, Riyue left the Training Room, and a wave of exhaustion, hunger, and thirst immediately hit him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    After drinking the water he had set aside, Riyue checked the clock in the room. After some calculations, the difference in time between reality and the Training Room is roughly 1:3.

    ¡®Not bad, hehehe, I now have 3x the time to train compared to an average person.¡¯

    Riyue then checked his forearm to see that it was completely fine; the shallow cut from the Training Room hadn¡¯t transferred over.

    ¡®So only exhaustion, hunger, and thirst travel.¡¯

    Riyue smiled. After figuring out that the Training Room had a time tracker there, he was no longer afraid of dying of hunger without knowing.

    ¡®Now all I have to test out is whether or not the Training Room has some kind of self-preservation feature to it¡­ I can befriend someone later and have them act like they are going to kill me when I am in the Training Room and see whether I am notified or not inside the Training Room.¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s stomach then growled, and he smiled as he recalled a memory and a fact.

    That is, when he was in an All You Can Eat restaurant, he would never come out as the loser!

    With the same determination, Riyue went outside and down to order a lot of food and enjoyed his time in the Purple Lotus Inn.

    ***

    After repeatedly eating, and going to the Training Room to train his martial arts skills, Sun and Moon Breathing Method, as well as sleeping inside the Training Room, Riyue was faking sleep as he waited during midnight. His hair was now white-colored, and the mole under his right eye had disappeared. He had already employed the basic disguise in the meantime, as Rong Yu had given it to him in advance.

    Soon enough, Riyue heard knocks on the door. He immediately got up and opened it to see Rong Yu standing with a smile.

    ¡°Young Master, oh my, you look quite different.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    After being ignored by Riyue, Rong Yu just smiled and continued.

    ¡°Ahem, it is time for us to go to the smuggling ship, so please prepare¡­ Well, looks like you already did,¡± Rong Yu said as he peeked inside the room. Riyue had already prepared and organized all his belongings in advance and packed them into a cloth bundle.

    ¡°This makes things fast, then let us go now.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Riyue and Rong Yu sneakily went out of the inn and walked outside. The purple-colored moon shone through Luo Yen City, lighting it up. The streets were silent, and there was no one other than Riyue and Rong Yu.

    As they walked through the dark streets, Rong Yu opened his mouth.

    ¡°Young Master, may I ask something?¡±

    ¡°Stop with the Young Master business.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I can¡¯t, I am used to this style of speaking when I¡¯m with you, Young Master.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit, I only met you two times in my life.¡±

    Rong Yu smiled.

    ¡°Still, Young Master, I didn¡¯t expect you to be such a glutton¡­ It surprised me quite a bit. How is it possible that one man ate four days'' worth of food in one day?¡±

    ¡°Be grateful I even ate those greasy foods.¡±

    Although Riyue said that, the food in Purple Lotus was actually quite good despite its greasiness. Not to mention, since he had only ordered the most expensive foods and finest wines, he had quite the fun time. It also made Riyue happier when he thought of draining the Purple Lotus¡¯s finances.

    ¡°That¡¯s too much, Young Master. I think the Purple Lotus¡¯s earnings will be in the minus this month.¡±

    Riyue became happier as he heard Rong Yu¡¯s words. However, he still kept on a stoic face as he spoke.

    ¡°Stop the chitchat and get straight to the point.¡±

    Rong Yu chuckled before saying,

    ¡°Well, I doubt that someone as civilized as you needs a reminder, but I would like to talk about the rules of the smuggling ship.¡± Rong Yu walked without looking back before putting up a finger, the middle one.

    ¡°First, no asking about each other¡¯s identities. Some are like you who will get a new identity, so it¡¯s futile anyway even if you ask. As for the others, well, privacy is a bare minimum right for everyone.¡±

    He then raised his left hand and raised the middle finger.

    ¡°Second, no fighting. Elementary, isn¡¯t it? If you cause trouble inside the ship, we will kick you out to the sea¡­ Well, that is only for the extreme ones. Some insults and punching are fine as long as you don¡¯t make trouble for the rest of the passengers. Fight in the corner if you like.¡±

    He then put his left hand down and raised three fingers.

    ¡°The third is¡­ There is no third rule, hahaha!¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Ahem, well, if I had to say, just don¡¯t cause any trouble, seriously. Just sit tight, enjoy the journey, and you will get what you have paid for.¡±

    After that, neither Riyue nor Rong Yu talked for the entirety of the walk. Soon enough, a red sailing vessel was parked on the edge of the city in an inconspicuous place. Riyue could see some cargo placed above the ship and people standing there. There was also a tall ladder placed by the side of the ship.

    ¡°Now then, please climb the ladder, Young Master.¡± Rong Yu smiled. Riyue climbed the ladder and looked around. As expected of a smuggling ship for items and people, there were cargos placed around the ship with a variety of people standing or sitting on the floor. If there was one common trait for all of them, it would be¡ª

    ¡®All of them look mighty suspicious¡­ Well, not that I¡¯m one to talk.¡¯ Riyue chuckled inside his mind.

    ¡°Feel free to stand around or sit somewhere. You can also go down the ship if you want to, but don¡¯t touch any cargo. Ah, right, that could be the third rule. No stealing.¡±

    Riyue ignored Rong Yu as he headed down the ship. He then ignored the gazes of the others as he went to a spot he liked and sat. After some time passed by, the ship sailed.

 Chapter 10 - Not My Problem

    Since the ship would take a long time to reach Bai Zhu City, around 3 days, Riyue decided to take the chance to strategize for the future.

    Although Riyue¡¯s goals are quite simple, which was to get as strong as possible, he is still aware of the wish made by the Original Riyue, which is to take revenge on the Jin Family as well as the Royal Family of the Shen Lei Kingdom.

    ¡®It¡¯s easier said than done but not impossible¡­ Especially in the Jin Long Empire.¡¯ Riyue then thought of many methods on how exactly he should take revenge, especially as a commoner after his identity change, and he could only think of one that is plausible.

    ¡®The Jinlong Grand Martial Academy¡­ Only in that place could I approach the strong and influential as a mere commoner to aid me in my revenge¡­ However, getting inside isn¡¯t easy.¡¯

    As the only Martial Academy of the Empire, it was, of course, very prestigious. It is akin to having Harvard in your country as the only school, which also meant that basically everyone is trying to get there.

    ¡®Not to mention, in my case, I have to get to the House of Golden Dragon to get a scholarship¡­ Damn it, how am I going to do that as a Stage 1!¡¯

    In the Jinlong Grand Martial Academy, there are five houses that separate each other. One could think of this akin to a class ranking rather than a house that separates the best of the students to the worst. Starting from the best are the House of the Golden Dragon, followed by the Silver Lion, Bronze Tortoise, Iron Serpent, and the Obsidian Crow being the worst of them all.

    Amongst those houses, only the ones from the Golden Dragon will be rewarded a scholarship for everything¡ªthe education cost, food, dorm, and everything. Whether 1 or 10 people got inside the House of the Golden Dragon, the academy is prepared to give a scholarship to each one of them. However, there is a twist to this generosity. The House of the Golden Dragon was extremely hard to get inside, even if a student got a perfect score for everything it is still doubtful whether he could get inside or not.

    It was because the House of Golden Dragons is reserved solely for the ones blessed by the heavens, people who are above everyone else or have the potential to be. Even if their scores are bad, it doesn¡¯t matter, as long as they can prove that they are geniuses in one way or another.

    ¡®Of course, that¡¯s easier said than done.¡¯

    Riyue thought about the various things that he could do to get inside, and what are his plans until nighttime. As everybody was going to sleep, he alone didn¡¯t due to his cautiousness. Rong Yu had said that he would provide a certain degree of protection, but how could he trust a smuggler? He even said that he wouldn¡¯t involve himself in fights that didn¡¯t make him lose out on certain things or destroy his stuff.

    Only after everyone was asleep did Riyue head to the Training Room to go to sleep as well for around 8 hours. Right after Riyue headed to bed and lost consciousness, he then felt as if something was pulling him from the depths of his unconsciousness and he woke up¡ªto be exact, he woke up in reality.

    ¡®What the hell? Wasn¡¯t I sleeping in the training room?¡¯

    Riyue was about to open his eyes before he slightly trembled. He felt that something was wrong, so instead of immediately opening his eyes and standing up, he only slightly opened his eyes, to the point where anyone who sees him from afar and in the dark would still think he was asleep.

    Through his eyes, he could see the other people lying down on the floor to sleep, or them leaning on the wall while sitting with their eyes closed. The darkness and the purple moonlight from the windows converged inside the ship, allowing Riyue to barely see.

    After searching around discreetly, and finding nothing was wrong, Riyue was about to head back to sleep before he heard the sounds of creaking wood from above. Riyue flinched and acted as if he was asleep as he leaned his head into a box beside him while sitting on the floor. However, his eyes were slightly open, waiting for the person to come down the stairs. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t have been a problem even if the person didn¡¯t come down and just stayed above.

    However, as the sounds of wood creaking could be heard as it grew nearer, Riyue prepared himself and waited. Soon enough, a figure clad in a black robe, with a mask covering half her face and a hood, walked down the stairs. Though Riyue couldn¡¯t be sure in the dark, he suspected that it was a woman considering her lean figure and curves. Riyue noticed how there weren¡¯t any sounds of her footsteps, but the old ship¡¯s creaking wood allowed for her presence to be noticed.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡®But she doesn¡¯t seem concerned about it. Had she employed some kind of other means to make other people asleep?¡¯

    However, Riyue was somehow awake, meaning it wasn¡¯t a sleeping poison that stayed in the room for a long time, probably a sleeping poison that would disperse after only a few minutes. That way, it would allow the infiltrator to then go inside without any antidote.

    ¡®As for the reason I am conscious, it¡¯s probably because of the system¡­ I¡¯m not immune to poison, so it¡¯s probably due to the difference in time of the Training Room.¡¯

    Even if his real body was poisoned to sleep, all he needed to do was sleep for a while in the Training Room, and he was back to consciousness only after an hour or two in reality.

    ¡®The system is very useful, and even its weakness can be used for something like this¡­ I suppose this also counts as a yes to the test of whether the system had some kind of danger sense while I was sleeping.¡¯

    Riyue kept observing the woman walking around. Only after Riyue got a good angle on her could he finally see her. With long black hair and purple eyes, her beauty could be seen even when hidden with the mask due to her refined features. Riyue then looked down before he stiffened. He hadn¡¯t realized it before, but she used two daggers.

    Usually, it wouldn¡¯t have been a problem whatever she used. However, Riyue thought about the assassins sent by the Jin Family or Royal Family; they either used swords or two daggers. Once he looked closer with better lighting, her clothes seemed eerily similar to the ones the assassins wear, though it was not the same.

    Riyue¡¯s heart then started to beat fast, but he kept acting like he was asleep.

    ¡®Is she an assassin? How did she find me here? No, wait, it¡¯s also possible that she is not sent here for me specifically¡­ Besides, I¡¯m in disgui¡ª¡¯

    At that moment, the woman¡¯s head turned towards Riyue.

    Riyue closed his eyes and acted as if he was already asleep. He looked normal on the outside, but his body already got cold sweat. Somehow, he felt that the already silent ship became even more silent as he breathed manually to avoid arousing suspicion.

    After a while, he then slightly opened his eyes again¡­ Only to see the purple eyes staring straight at him.

    ¡®Fucking hell!¡¯

    Riyue flinched, thought for a moment, then acted as if he had just woken up, rubbed his eyes, and then went back to sleep by lying on the ground.

    The reason why he did this and not just attack or escape from her is because he thought that perhaps the woman wasn¡¯t from the Shen Lei Kingdom. As for why, it was obvious.

    ¡®After staring for a few minutes she should¡¯ve known who I am, if she was from the Shen Lei Kingdom that is!¡¯

    Even if he was in disguise, it would only allow minor misdirection in a short time. If someone were to look at his face for a long time, they would undoubtedly figure out similarities.

    Therefore, she wasn¡¯t from the Shen Lei Kingdom if she didn¡¯t attack him immediately. If so, Riyue didn¡¯t need to worry. Besides, the woman didn¡¯t seem like she had come here to kill. She probably also knew that Riyue had woken up, but Riyue kept acting as if he was sleeping in spite of this. He was essentially telling her to just do whatever she wanted in this ship. Whether it was to steal or anything else, either way, it was Rong Yu¡¯s problem and not his.

    Riyue then opened his eyes again in curiosity to see that the woman was going around, rummaging for a few things before she took out items Riyue didn¡¯t recognize but could somewhat guess.

    ¡®Aren¡¯t those¡­ pill ingredients?¡¯

    After finishing her looting spree, the woman turned towards Riyue and nodded at him.

    ¡®???¡¯

    Riyue didn¡¯t respond due to confusion, and the woman simply went back upstairs and disappeared.

    Riyue then stopped lying down on the floor and sat back up straight as he thought over the things that had happened before, but since he couldn¡¯t figure out anything about the enigmatic woman¡¯s actions, he just decided to let it go. As long as no harm came to him, it was fine. It was also relieving that the Shen Lei Kingdom probably didn¡¯t know of his current location.

    After a while, everyone was awake, and he could see Rong Yu with some other guys going down and rummaging through a few things before his face turned pale as he grabbed his companion¡¯s collar and shouted at him.

    ¡°You fool! How dare you go to sleep when it was your turn to keep watch!¡±

    The companion tried to make excuses, such as it was a mysterious power or poison that made him sleep, but Rong Yu didn¡¯t care as he beat the companion up.

    ¡®...Being a smuggler¡¯s companion ain¡¯t easy.¡¯

    Since they were probably involved in theft and many other crimes, Riyue didn¡¯t plan on helping them. However, since he also knew that Rong Yu and his companions never involved themselves in extremely atrocious things, he also didn¡¯t plan on killing them in the future.

    ¡®Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m all that morally correct either. So I shouldn¡¯t act like a judge,¡¯ Riyue thought as he sighed.

    After a few more days, the ship had finally docked in Bai Zhu City, the capital of the Empire.

 Chapter 11 - New Place, New Identity.

    ¡°Thank you for your patronage, young master. Though there were some problems along the way, I would be happy to serve you again.¡±

    Rong Yu said with a smile, though there was a blood vessel popping on his face.

    ¡®He must¡¯ve really lost something precious to still be mad after days passed by¡­ I wonder what item it is.¡¯

    Though he was amused, he refrained from asking Rong Yu.

    ¡°I will come if I need you,¡± Riyue said as he departed, holding a small piece of paper in his hands. It was the place where he would need to go for a new identity.

    As he entered Bai Zhu City, he looked around in awe. Although he had been in the Shen Lei Kingdom¡¯s Capital City before, it could not compare to the grandeur of the strongest and richest country in the world. A variety of majestic buildings stood in organized rows, each exuding its own charms and purposes, forming a harmony. Each of the inns looked far more luxurious than the Purple Lotus, their signs adorned with calligraphy of their own names. Riyue could also see shops selling various things, from items for day-to-day life to weapons, clothing, medicinal herbs, and much more.

    ¡®There are also some renowned sects that I recognize¡­ A lot of them. The White Tiger Sect, Azure Dragon Sect, Falling Petals... Amazing.¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s nose then twitched at the aroma of roasted ducks and spices as his mouth watered. He wanted to go to any one of the restaurants immediately to try them, but he remembered what he had come here for.

    Riyue then walked in the bustling street as he headed to the place Rong Yu had given him. He looked at the small handmade map in his hand. Though he called it a map, it was only some scribbles.

    ¡®Shit, his drawing sucks! Fortunately, there were names of the places listed.¡¯

    Riyue found some of the places designated by the map, while for others, he had to ask people for directions. By the time he reached the place, the bustling city was no more. He had entered an area filled with exhausted lower-class citizens walking around to do their jobs, some vagrants looking at him with wary eyes, and worn-down buildings that filled his sight.

    ¡®Why do illegal workers like these kinds of places a lot¡­ Well, at least it wasn¡¯t the slums.¡¯

    Though Riyue already knew why that was the case, he still sighed as he looked at the old building in front. Above the door was a slightly cracked and old wooden sign that said Broken Blade Bar.

    ¡®Broken blade¡­ Replace the blade with building, and it would¡¯ve been a perfect match.¡¯

    Riyue thought before he went inside. The inside was bustling with life as rough-looking people sat in many seats while drinking cheap liquor. Some of them looked like wandering martial artists, while others resembled vagrants. Riyue walked to the bar counter, bypassing the other empty seats, and sat down in front of the bartender.

    The bartender eyed him from head to toe before asking with a smile, ¡°What would you like to drink?¡±

    ¡®Thought I was a young master disguising myself to drink, huh?¡¯

    Riyue chuckled in his mind before putting a piece of folded paper on the table. The bartender looked at the piece of paper, unfolded it, and his eyes turned sharp before he smiled at Riyue.

    ¡°What name would you like to have on this ¡®drink¡¯?¡±

    Riyue immediately understood the underlying meaning as he smiled and said, ¡°Qing Yuan.¡±

    ¡°I see. The ¡®drink¡¯ would take three days to prepare; therefore, please pay an advance payment, and you can pay the rest later after you receive it.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°How much is it?¡±

    Riyue then took out another note. This too, was given by Rong Yu. After all, he had already paid for the identity, no way in hell is he paying again.

    The Bartender looked at the note, before nodding.

    "Please come back again after three days. The ''drink'' shall be ready by then."

    ¡®Three days¡­ Before getting my identity to get a two-month lease on a place, let¡¯s rent an inn room somewhere.¡¯

    The reason for the two months was because that was the time left until the Jinlong Grand Martial Academy¡¯s entrance exam. Riyue headed towards a cheap inn he had found on the way. It was not luxurious by any means, but at least it was clean, not disgusting, and didn¡¯t require proof of identity. Therefore, Riyue rented three days for an inn room there and immediately lay on his bed.

    Name: Zhang Riyue

    Age: 20

    Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Attribute

    Qi Stage: 1

    Qi Purity: 75%

    Qi Amount: 887/887 (recovery 3/minute), (Qilin¡¯s Horn +300 Qi), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li>

    Mountain Tiger Martial Technique 23%

    </li>

    <li>

    Sun and Moon Breathing Method 6%

    </li>

    </ul>

    ¡®My Qi amount didn¡¯t rise up that much for three days of training, probably because I was focused on purifying it instead of growing it.¡¯

    Since he had to purify his Qi, it was inevitable for his growth to stall, as he would have to avoid getting any impure Qi while using the breathing method. He also had to release a certain amount of his current Qi as well.

    ¡®Honestly, compared to the talentless Riyue, my growth has been ridiculously fast after the Body Reformation. However, to get inside the House of Golden Dragon, it is not enough.¡¯

    For Riyue to have a chance to get in, he needed to at least become a Stage 2 in two months. That way, he could utilize his unique Attributed Qi and have a chance of getting inside where it would normally not be possible for a mere Stage 2.

    ¡®It sounds like a thoughtless plan that relies on luck but¡­ Honestly, it is quite plausible.¡¯

    The reason why it¡¯s plausible is because people with Attributed Qi from birth were extremely rare. Most of them came from major noble families and were a lot stronger than other people due to the fact that they could utilize their own attribute from birth. In the earlier stages, such a thing gave them a very significant advantage, and even after they advanced to the middle stages, where all people with normal Qi could now use their own various attributes based on their own martial arts, the people with Attributed Qi would also have a qualitative change and a major increase in their own attributes.

    Of course, there are some disadvantages as well, such as the path of your martial art being set from birth and the fact that it¡¯s not versatile. But the advantages made those disadvantages irrelevant. Besides, the latter reason would only be relevant for martial masters who had lived for centuries or more and learned a variety of martial arts in Stage 9. Below that, Attributed Qi was undeniably cherished.

    ¡®With that said, I still need to get to Stage 2, and to do that fast, I would need to take a Qi Increasing Pill.¡¯

    However, there was another problem. Riyue didn¡¯t have enough money to buy a Qi Increasing Pill.

    Riyue thought, ¡®Gosh, when it rains, it pours. Well, fortunately, I can just make it on my own¡­ It will still be expensive, but it might be doable if I procure the ingredients myself.¡¯

    The Original Riyue had a lot of knowledge about pill-making, and since he had given up on getting stronger after despairing over his lack of talent, he didn¡¯t bother consuming any other Qi Pills. So even if Riyue consumed them now, it wouldn¡¯t result in a loss of effectiveness due to consuming them a second time.

    ¡®I guess I could call this fortunate.¡¯

    Riyue then thought about which pill he could make, considering his limited amount of money and his current circumstances.

    ¡®The Golden Lotus Pill and the Pure Essence Pill.¡¯

    Only those two pills seemed plausible for Riyue to create currently. For the Golden Lotus Pill, the common ingredients used in it could be easily found and bought in various herb stores of the empire, or found in relatively safe places. As for the rarer and main ingredients, which are the Golden Lotus Petals found on the mountain peaks of the Qian Yang Mountain Range, the Ice Spirit Grass found in the Yong Bing Cave, and the Mountain Spring Water which can also be found in various mountains including the Qian Yang Mountain Range, they are all quite doable to get, even if they are a bit dangerous.

    As for the Pure Essence Pill, it is a pill that is of the lowest ranking, but in turn, this means that the ingredients are easy to obtain. Riyue could procure them just by gathering some things himself and buying the others he couldn¡¯t get normally.

    ¡®If there is a problem, it would be how to get through the countless beasts of the Qian Yang Mountain Range¡­ Let¡¯s try making a plan that prioritizes safety. For now, I should wait for my identity to be checked, then I will buy some of the other ingredients first before setting off to the Qian Yang Mountains.¡¯

    After confirming his plans, Riyue decided to train in the Training Room while researching the variety of monsters that appeared on the mountain for the next three days. When the time came, he returned to the Broken Blade Bar, paid the remaining advance money, and finally obtained his new identity in the Jinlong Empire, as Qing Yuan.

 Chapter 12 - Hot and Cold.

    After getting a new identity, the first thing Riyue did was immediately rent an inn room for two months in a different place called Silver Pearl Inn. It was a middle-class inn that was quite popular as one of the most bang-for-your-buck inns in the Jin Long Empire.

    ¡®Not bad.¡¯

    Riyue looked at his room with a smile etched on his face. In the room, a white bed was located in the corner, with a table in the middle of the room, a few chairs, and even a private bathroom with a wash basin and a pit toilet.

    ¡®I prefer showers and actual seated toilets, but¡­ Well, at least I can have some semblance of hygiene here.¡¯

    If he remembered correctly, there were seated toilets, showers, and even bathtubs in this world; however, they were reserved only for the luxurious and honorable families.

    ¡®Well, if I make it inside the Golden Dragon House, I will also get one for myself.¡¯

    Riyue then checked his status screen again after the three days of waiting for the new identity.

    Name: Zhang Riyue

    Age: 20

    Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Attribute

    Qi Stage: 1

    Qi Purity: 76%

    Qi Amount: 912/912 (recovery 3/minute), (Qilin¡¯s Horn +300 Qi), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mountain Tiger Martial Technique 24%</li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Sun and Moon Breathing Method 10%</li>

    </ul>

    ¡®Only a slight increase, but that¡¯s fine.¡¯ Riyue then changed into a comfortable martial artist attire, with a sword by his side, the Qilin¡¯s Horn kept safe inside the layers of clothing, alongside two empty pouches, and a bottle for him to put the ingredients in. As it would be quite a long journey to the top of the mountains, Riyue had also brought various survival necessities that he wrapped with a bundle, slung over his shoulder, and secured to his body, making him akin to a true traveler.

    Riyue then exited the inn and walked to the western side of the Jin Long Empire to head to the Qian Yang Mountain Range and the Yong Bing Cave. Prior to this, Riyue hadn¡¯t bought any ingredients yet due to fearing that it might be wasted if he failed in getting the Golden Lotus and the Ice Spirit Grass.

    As for the Mountain Spring Water, it was relatively easy to get as long as one was diligent enough to go up the mountain. As long as he got the Mountain Spring Water, he would be able to create the Pure Essence Pill, which would also be used for the Golden Lotus Pill.

    After a long time of walking, Riyue finally arrived at the mountain range. What Riyue noticed upon arrival was that it was extremely hot. Despite still being at the bottom of the mountain, he was already sweating as if he had run a marathon. He began to worry about things such as getting heatstroke.

    ¡®Shit, maybe I should get the Ice Spirit Grass first.¡¯

    Riyue had expected the heat to be extreme but not this much when he hadn¡¯t even climbed up yet. So, he decided to change his approach and go get the Ice Spirit Grass first. With the Ice Spirit Grass, he could compensate for the extremely hot weather at the top of the mountain. Riyue walked around the Qian Yang Mountain Range, following the path he memorized, until he finally encountered a cave of ice. The cave was like a beast opening its gaping mouth, with its inside filled with layers of ice. After entering, It felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees causing Riyue''s body to shiver.

    ¡®This is why people seldom come here, damn it. It¡¯s either you die by freezing or by heatstroke.¡¯

    However, Riyue had prepared well, at least for the Yong Bing Cave. As he unwrapped the cloth he slung over his shoulder, he put on four layers of clothes, wrapped his face with a scarf, and donned gloves, feeling his body warm up. He also circulated Sun Qi in his body to help maintain warmth.

    ¡®Sigh, if I was a Stage 2, I could just cover myself in Sun or Moon Qi to help regulate my body temperature, but alas, it is an inconvenience for the weak, so I just have to accept it.¡¯

    At least he could somewhat warm and cool down his body using Sun Qi at his current stage. He also grabbed a certain pouch for future use as he carefully walked forward, taking the time to ensure he didn¡¯t make any footsteps noises.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    According to his research and knowledge, the Ice Spirit Grass was located in the earlier levels of the cave, and they were relatively common. However, they were guarded by powerful monsters and Mythical Creatures such as the Blizzard Wraith, a ghostlike monster able to create and control blizzards even inside a cave at will, equivalent to a Stage 5 practitioner; the Icefrost Stalker, a Mythical Creature shaped like a big lizard that could breathe frost, equivalent to a Stage 4 practitioner; and many more.

    ¡®There¡¯s a reason why not many would want to collect Ice Spirit Grass and why they are considered rare ingredients.¡¯

    Originally, for a Stage 1 like Riyue, it would be considered suicide. However, he had heard stories of one of the Zhang Family elder¡¯s tactics of procuring the Ice Spirit Grass without fighting or encountering them. Even if he did encounter them, he was confident he could run away, as long as he secured an escape route.

    ¡®That¡¯s why scouting first is important.¡¯

    Riyue thought as he walked deeper into the cave, careful to hide between the glaciers and the walls. He had also masked his scent, ensuring monsters sensitive to human smell couldn¡¯t detect him.

    But in life, where unexpected things often happen, it¡¯s no wonder that a plan that looks perfect could fail in execution. In the first place, Riyue wasn¡¯t an assassin, nor was he good enough at hiding in an open cave.

    The result of that was the three Glacier Stalkers in front of him. They were lizard-shaped monsters with a tail tip emitting frost and scales that covered their whole bodies like suits of armor. However, they were a lot smaller than the Glacier Stalkers he had heard of, and therefore he deduced that they must be children.

    ¡®However, each one of them is still around Stage 2.¡¯

    Normal people would¡¯ve run immediately in his situation. After all, Stage 2 monsters were still stronger than a Stage 1. However, Riyue simply brought his hand to his clothing before he took out the Qilin¡¯s Horn. He then flowed his Sun and Moon Qi into the horn to activate it, as it glowed with a white radiance, and an immense pressure of the Qilin emanated from it, threatening to crush the surroundings with its might.

    The three Glacier Stalkers immediately froze up as if they had seen the Qilin itself before they hurriedly ran away without even looking back. Riyue heaved a sigh of relief as he smiled.

    In truth, despite the overwhelming pressure emanating from the Qilin¡¯s horn, nothing about Riyue had actually changed. During his three days of waiting, he tested out a couple of things with the Qilin¡¯s Horn, such as whether he would be able to momentarily intake a bigger amount of Qi from the Qilin¡¯s Horn, and the answer was yes.

    But it was only for another +300, making it a +600 that he got from the Qilin¡¯s Horn, even that would only last for 3 minutes at most when he hasn¡¯t practiced it yet. It was far from getting him to Stage 2. However, during the process, he discovered that whenever he resonated more and more of his Qi with the Qilin¡¯s Horn, the presence of the Qilin also became mixed with Riyue¡¯s own, and if he emanated it, it was equivalent to having a Stage 7 or even Stage 8¡¯s presence, and only presence.

    ¡®It¡¯s basically a great bluffing ability, it wouldn¡¯t work on intelligent monsters, but for the brainless monsters like them, it will work like a charm.¡¯

    However, he still had to be careful, as some monsters have extremely refined instincts that could see through his bluff. Riyue then put the horn back into his clothes and moved on. He didn¡¯t have to travel far from the outside as the Ice Spirit Grass was located in the earlier layers of the Yong Bing Cave. To be exact, it already appeared on the second floor.

    Proof of that is the patch of shining ice-blue grass in front of him, swaying around near a river that somehow didn¡¯t freeze in this temperature. However, Riyue didn¡¯t immediately go into it as he scouted the surroundings. The advice from the elder to get the Ice Spirit Grass was to be wary of the powerful Wraith that liked hanging around the second floor. It is a sneaky monster, but one could sense its immense presence by the ever-increasing chill. Riyue closed his eyes and focused on his Qi senses, and his own body temperature. Seeing how there were no signs of increasing chill or an immense presence, Riyue walked forward but did not immediately pounce on the patch of grass.

    Instead, Riyue reached into his layers of clothes and took out a slipper. He then threw it straight at the patches of grass. As the rustling of the grass created sounds, Riyue immediately plugged his ears with earplugs he had prepared, then he also covered his ears as he crouched while looking at the grass patch.

    Immediately after that, screams, which even Riyue could hear after doubly covering his ears, resonated throughout the cave. Riyue winced as he saw bats starting to appear near the vicinity above the grass, flying around and screaming straight at the slipper.

    Riyue smiled, seeing that. The Hellscreamer Bats were notorious in many caves for being the weakest yet one of the deadliest monsters. Their strength was in their hearing and screams, which could stun and even kill Stage 3 monsters at point blank. However, as long as one properly used a special earplug, they would only get a slight bleeding at worst. After a few seconds, and as his ears adapted to the screams, Riyue stopped covering his ears and grinned.

    ¡®As for their weaknesses¡ª¡¯

    Riyue leisurely grabbed one of the pouches in his pockets. It was the pouch he took out of the bundle earlier. As he unwrapped the pouch, it revealed small, but sharp pieces of rocks that he had carefully collected.

    The weakness of the bats is the fact that they are blind, which made them unable to move fast even if they are capable of doing so, and the fact that they are insanely weak.

    Riyue grabbed a piece of rock, twisted his body, and threw the rock at one of the Hellscreamer Bats.

 Chapter 13 - Run from the Strong, Fight the Weak

    The rock flew at a great speed as it pierced one of the bat¡¯s heads, its body then falling helplessly to the ground. The Hellscreamer bats heard of their companion¡¯s death and screamed even louder, but Riyue didn¡¯t care as he kept sniping at them with his rocks.

    Riyue¡¯s body reformation had not only given him a great constitution capable of absorbing Qi far more efficiently but also improved his movements as well. It felt like he now had a natural talent for throwing.

    In less than a few minutes, he had already sniped around five bats while the others stopped screaming and ran away. In satisfaction, Riyue finally went to the grass patch and took out as much Ice Spirit Grass as he could. After filling two pouches with the Ice Spirit Grass, Riyue smiled in satisfaction.

    ''One pouch is for my elixir, and the other is to help me not get a heatstroke in the mountains. If I still have some leftover, I can just put it in my bundle and sell it for quite a high price.'' He could take more, but considering the law that limits the amount of certain ingredients a person can take per month, Riyue refrained from doing so, since he was also going to get the Golden Lotus.

    This law exists so that there will be no lack of resources for everyone, and even the major sects have to follow it if they intend on taking the natural resources of the country.

    ¡®Though the majority is probably because the Imperial Family wanted more of the ingredients they could get¡­ Can¡¯t say I blame them, though. After all, they are the ones managing this country.¡¯

    As Riyue was about to get up, he suddenly sensed a severe amount of chill inside his body, and he began trembling. Both due to the ever-increasing chill and the immense pressure that suddenly came from within the cave.

    Without hesitation, Riyue immediately ran forward, converging both his Sun and Moon Qi on his legs to run as fast as possible. There was no need to look back. Bits of frost started covering Riyue¡¯s body, making it a bit sluggish. However, Riyue managed to reach the stairs, and he kept running. Soon enough, he reached the first floor, and the frost, the chill, immediately disappeared as Riyue collapsed to the ground.

    ¡®Fuck! That was scary as hell!¡¯

    Riyue looked at his clothes and skin, which had bits of frost on them. He could sense that the Blizzard Wraith was still far away, yet it was already able to affect his body.

    ¡®The might of a Stage 5 equivalent is not to be underestimated. It is said that it is the stage where one will have a big increase in strength and is the path right below Stage 6, where one will reach the first step of transcendence.¡¯

    Riyue then shook his head to stop thinking about that damned wraith and decided to be happy for just leaving with his life intact and the Ice Spirit Grass. He walked out of the cave, avoiding the monsters of the first floor or relying on the Qilin¡¯s horn.

    As soon as he got out, he immediately threw his layers of cloth back into the bundle, and he started sweating at the extremely hot temperature. However, now he had the Ice Spirit Grass to help. With that said, due to limited resources, he only intended on using it if he was on the verge of fainting due to heatstroke.

    He then sat and rested to recover his Qi, and after it was full, he began to hike the Qian Yang Mountain Range. Unlike the Yong Bing Cave, which was filled with many dangerous monsters even on its earliest floors, the Qian Yang Mountain Range varies in terms of monsters. There are a lot of weak ones and a lot of strong ones.

    But there were especially a lot more weak ones, such as the ones in front of him.

    ¡®Wondering when they are going to show up¡­ They are, after all, one of the most common monsters in fantasy.¡¯ Riyue smiled.

    A small humanoid body with red skin, a slightly hunched back, an extremely ugly face with a deformed nose, a ragged cloth wrapping its privates, and rusted weapons in their hands. It was a goblin.

    ¡®Seeing the color of their skin, must be demonic ones.¡¯Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Goblins in this world are not to be underestimated. They are more than capable of taking down a farmer or two if the latter lets their guard down, and they are cunning, able to learn, and smart. However, that was it. There was also no need to overestimate them, as though they are smart and cunning, they are still goblins after all.

    Like this situation, there were ten of them in Riyue¡¯s sight. Perhaps they thought they could win against him if they ganged up.

    ¡®Using the horn will have them scattering back to their forests but¡­ Why should I do that?¡¯

    The reason why Riyue rushed to get the pills to reach Stage 2 instead of waiting until he was strong enough right before the academy starts was because he needed a bunch of battle experience. Being a Stage 2 is no use if one is inexperienced.

    ¡®The Original Riyue had a few fights in his life, but only against the elders and trainers. He was, after all, a precious young master. As for me, I haven¡¯t even gotten into a fight except for a few scuffles for bread back when I was a child.¡¯

    Which is why he needed as much fighting experience as possible. Riyue took a stance and taunted the goblins by raising his middle finger and then beckoning them to come with it.

    The goblins probably didn¡¯t understand what it meant but knew that they were being taunted. Their already ugly faces twisted as they screamed and lunged at Riyue. However, Riyue¡¯s attention was on the ones that didn¡¯t lunge and instead twisted their bodies as if to throw something.

    ¡®Cunning and smart, but still goblins after all.¡¯

    If it were Riyue, he wouldn¡¯t have shown himself in the first place if he wanted to throw stuff.

    Using the Sun and Moon Qi and converging them into his legs, Riyue dashed at the nearest goblin. His hands, like claws, grabbed the goblin¡¯s neck as he lifted its body, gripping it tightly. He then spun his body and threw the goblin in his hands towards the goblins shooting the rocks.

    ¡°Kriek!¡±

    The goblin let out a small noise before its body exploded after crashing with its brethren. Riyue then punched the nearest goblin who wielded a knife, before using the Tiger Tail Sweep to spin and kick the second-nearest goblin.

    One of his big advantages was his long arms and legs, and if he were to compare them to a goblin, his reach was many times longer than theirs. Riyue then sensed a bit of Qi movement as a goblin lunged toward his back. Though goblins were far from proficient in using Qi, they could use it to a certain extent.

    Riyue then planted his feet to the ground and performed a Tiger¡¯s Paw Strike while converging the Sun and Moon Qi together in his palm. The goblin¡¯s body received the strike, and a gaping hole in its stomach emerged before it fell down lifelessly. Riyue then grinned at the remaining goblins.

    ¡°Not attacking any longer?¡±

    The goblins, with faces full of fear, staggered back. The quick-witted ones had already started running away; however, Riyue would not allow it.

    Tiger¡¯s Pounce.

    Riyue dashed and jumped toward the running goblins, his fist cocked back before he proceeded to slaughter the remaining goblins. In this process, he didn¡¯t get a single drop of blood on his shirt, though dust and dirt accumulated on it.

    ¡®Though I might be a Stage 1, it is quite hard for a normal Stage 1 to slaughter this many goblins with ease. I guess increasing the mastery of martial arts also played a big role. Though the double attribute Qi is the biggest reason.¡¯

    The parts of his body where he used the convergence of Sun and Moon Qi throbbed in pain, but not to the extent of the one in the forest.

    ¡®I guess this means that I am progressing steadily. Nice.¡¯

    Riyue¡¯s lips curled up, and he then continued his journey to the peak. Of course, he still avoided as many monsters as possible to preserve his Qi and only fought when he was confident he could win. He also relied a lot on the Qilin¡¯s Horn in this regard, and because of it, his journey went by quite smoothly, except for the occasional heatstroke that made him dizzy and required him to eat an Ice Spirit Grass to cool his body down.

    ¡®But the journey is still long.¡¯ Riyue sighed. His head was pounding, and his body was sluggish. It would still be roughly 2-3 days of continuous walking to reach the peak. His body was fatigued, especially after exploring the Yong Bing Cave prior to hiking to the peak.

    ¡®It¡¯s still a bit too early, but I should rest.¡¯

    Nothing is more dangerous and reckless than forcing a battered body to fight. Riyue searched for a good place to hide and sleep before he encountered a small cave. Riyue smiled and was about to go in before his body stiffened as he looked on the floor.

    Trails of dried-up blood and footsteps led to the cave.

    Riyue frowned.

    ¡®It looks like human footsteps. He or she is probably injured¡­ If so, then it would probably be safe for me to go in. Conversation is always possible, and even if they attack me, I could always run.¡¯

    Riyue then went inside, with his senses sharpened to the limits, not intending on overlooking a surprise attack. He also made his steps loud to warn the other person of his approach and convey that he meant no harm. After a while, Riyue could see a figure sitting on the floor. She had long black hair and purple eyes, clothing resembling an assassin¡¯s, and two daggers by her side. Judging by her closed eyes, she seemed to be unconscious.

    ¡®...Wait, isn¡¯t she the assassin that stole from Rong Yu?¡¯

    Though he had only seen half her face, her clothing was very similar, and he couldn¡¯t think of anyone else with black hair and purple eyes.

    ¡®...¡¯

    It was an unexpected reunion.

 Chapter 14 - Unexpected Encounter

    ¡®Now then, what should I do?¡¯

    Riyue thought as he watched the haggard-looking unconscious female assassin. Upon closer inspection, her entire clothing was covered in dust, and there were white bandages soaked in blood around her stomach area.

    ¡®She probably fought a monster, got injured, dragged her body here, and fell asleep.¡¯

    Riyue then pondered between helping her or just going on his way.

    ¡®...She didn¡¯t seem to have any hostile thoughts toward me and even nodded her head at me when I first met her, therefore she might not know about me and my situation. Of course, I should still be on my guard. After all, even if she isn¡¯t an assassin sent by the Shen Lei Kingdom, judging by her clothing, she must be related in one way or another.¡¯

    However, Riyue didn¡¯t think she would be allied with the Shen Lei Kingdom. After all, what kind of assassin does whatever she wants in another country? Riyue was more inclined to believe that she had some kind of teacher from the Shen Lei Kingdom¡¯s assassin group or maybe she defected or something like that.

    After a while of thinking, Riyue decided to wake her up. It¡¯s fine even if she memorized his face; just the description of white hair and no mole on the face would be enough to misdirect anyone hearing from her. Riyue tapped the floor with his sword scabbard and then moved closer. After he got within a certain radius, the woman¡¯s eyes widened as she immediately stood up and assumed a fighting stance.

    Riyue immediately dropped his weapon and smiled, raising his hands in the air.

    ¡°Please calm down. If I wanted to attack you, I wouldn¡¯t have bothered creating any kind of noise.¡±

    The woman frowned as she scrutinized Riyue, then widened her eyes in surprise.

    ¡°You are¡­ the one awake on the ship?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that''s me. Nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡®So you remember¡­ but it doesn¡¯t seem like she knows my name.¡¯

    One of the reasons why he picked the Empire was because the citizens here rarely received or cared about news from other kingdoms. Secondly, it was because the Jin Long Empire had a bad relationship with everyone in the Shen Lei Kingdom, except for the Zhang Family alone.

    ¡®The fact that the Empire hasn¡¯t guarded their borders to catch the runaway member of a family that ¡°helped¡± the demons means they are expressing either neutrality or even leaning on my side¡­ I don¡¯t know whether they knew the family was framed or not, but I don¡¯t think they would be foolish enough to make an immediate decision. Heck, maybe they knew the family was framed, and because the Zhang Family had a good relationship with the Empire, I might even be able to get some help.¡¯

    That¡¯s also why he had to get to the Jin Long Grand Martial Academy: to make contact with the higher-ups safely, prove himself and his family innocent, and then get their help to take revenge upon the Kingdom.

    ¡®But this is this and that is that. For now, I have to take care of the woman in front of me.¡¯

    ¡°Apologies, but may I sit down? It¡¯s quite uncomfortable to be standing around after hiking a mountain.¡±

    The woman frowned for a bit before she nodded, sheathed her dagger, and sat on the ground.

    ¡°Sorry, I thought a beast had come to eat me.¡±

    ¡°No problem. I would also react in the same way.¡±

    Riyue said while standing at a distance quite far from her, ensuring he could run away if she decided to attack. An awkward silence then ensued. Riyue was wary about the woman who was clearly stronger than him, while the woman was wary of Riyue entering the cave and taking shelter there, though she probably understood that Riyue had no intention of harming her.

    Riyue then fake-coughed before smiling.

    ¡°May I know your name? Rather than being awkward and wary about each other, I think it¡¯s better if we talked and figured out each other¡¯s intentions.¡± Riyue smiled. The woman didn¡¯t seem to be very sociable, but that was fine; as long as she could speak, Riyue was confident in his social skills.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Yu Xia. Yours?¡± Xia said, her expression unchanging.

    ¡°Qing Yuan. A villager who held big dreams and went to the capital to enter the Jin Long Academy. Hahaha, quite a clich¨¦, isn¡¯t it?¡± Riyue said as he scratched his cheek.

    ¡°The academy?¡± Xia¡¯s eyes widened a bit. As he had expected, almost every young martial artist in Bai Zhu City held a certain amount of interest in the academy, whether to join or simply because they knew about it, making it a great conversation starter.

    ¡°Yes, I intend on trying out for the entrance exam two months later. I¡¯m not sure whether I could get in or not, but I should at least try, right? What about you, Miss Xia? You seem strong, so perhaps you are a student there?¡±

    Xia shook her head.

    ¡°No, just like you, I¡¯m also trying out for the entrance exam. Also, it is fine to just call me Xia.¡±

    ¡°Then please call me Yuan as well.¡± Riyue smiled. For the next hour or two, despite his eyelids growing heavier with each passing second, he managed to create quite a good atmosphere with Yu Xia. The tension loosened, and Xia¡¯s expression seemed to have eased a bit, at least as much as he could tell since she didn¡¯t really show much expression on her face.

    ¡°Excuse me, but may I know what you were doing on that ship? Ah, if you don¡¯t want to answer, it is fine, of course.¡±

    Riyue didn¡¯t really care but thought he had to ask a sensitive question to test the waters. Depending on her reaction, Riyue would either leave and sleep somewhere else or give her some medicine to befriend her and sleep there.

    Yu Xia looked Riyue in the eye for a moment before she opened her mouth.

    ¡°Are you a criminal?¡±

    ¡®...That''s out of nowhere.¡¯

    Riyue smiled and said, ¡°Though I did not live a life full of righteousness, I could say with full confidence that I am unlike the pieces of trash that roam the earth.¡±

    It was the truth. Xia looked at Riyue with a slight frown before her expression eased again.

    ¡°I see,¡± Xia nodded. ¡°I was there to steal things for ingredients to make a pill.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Riyue¡¯s mouth twitched.

    ¡®That was obvious, but I didn¡¯t think she would just say that without shame¡­ Amazing.¡¯

    Xia seemed to have noticed Riyue¡¯s reaction and spoke again.

    ¡°I only steal from criminals. The items, the smugglers, each and every one of them are bad guys, so I stole from them.¡±

    ¡°I-I see.¡± Riyue¡¯s hand unconsciously touched his chest; the Qilin¡¯s Horn was still there.

    Though he was not a bad guy, maybe he should just find another place to go and sleep. He intended on befriending her since she was also going to the entrance exam, but perhaps it was a reckless and bad idea.

    Before Riyue tried to pardon himself, Xia smiled lightly.

    ¡°From what I see, you do not seem like a bad guy.¡±

    ¡°...How exactly do you know that? At our second time meeting, at that.¡±

    As if she had waited for such a question to be asked, she puffed out her chest. Even with her expressionless face, Riyue could hear the pride in her tone of voice.

    ¡°After Father died, many liars came and tried to take advantage of me. Yet despite their schemes, I managed to overcome, avoid, or even take revenge on them for their ploys. Father had also told me that I had quite a unique talent in the regard of discovering liars that others do not have, and I had wondered why that was the case when it was so easy for me to discover them.¡±

    Xia groaned in pain but continued speaking.

    ¡°Liars all live without shame. It can be seen through their gestures, smiles, and way of speaking. It is easy to identify them, living with their tongues out, ready to lie to serve their own needs. Of course, criminals and bad guys are the same way, always ready to bring others down for their needs.¡±

    ¡°...I see.¡± Riyue smiled. He knew that Xia was speaking sincerely from her heart.

    ¡®Is she just naive, dumb, or does she actually have that kind of talent? I am not sure.¡¯

    Even if she had that kind of talent, an envious talent for identifying bad guys, he thought that she was using it wastefully or rather, carelessly. If it were him, he would not trust the other person unless they had a great track record or he had known them for a long time. Even then, he would never fully trust anyone except himself.

    The reason for that was simple.

    ¡®A human¡¯s nature flips itself like a switch when desperate times come. Or when greed, envy, wrath overcome them.¡¯

    A trustworthy person could stab the back of a longtime friend within seconds, and a husband filled with lust could cheat on a business trip when a beautiful woman came up to him. Riyue had seen too much of human nature to fully trust another person.

    ¡®Of course, there are probably some genuinely good people¡­ People who would be able to suppress their desires.¡¯

    But even then, Riyue would still not trust them, because that was basic precaution. Besides, if they were truly good people, wouldn¡¯t they support that way of thinking instead? Because they knew that such an attitude was the right way to live in a world full of wickedness.

    Riyue took a deep breath and suppressed his own emotions. Regardless, it looked like he could sleep in this cave and perhaps gain Xia as a temporary ally. Of course, if his judgment was wrong, he still had the system that could warn him, and he was at least confident in running away from someone injured.

    Riyue rummaged through his bundle and took out some medicinal herbs, bandages, and other useful items for recovery, as well as an Ice Spirit Grass to cool down the body temperature in the perpetually hot mountains. He then smiled at Xia.

    ¡°Then, as thanks for your trust, please accept these.¡±

    Xia¡¯s eyes lit up as she bowed her head lightly in thanks.

 Chapter 15 - Again, F My Luck

    After a few more conversations, Xia decided to help Riyue gain the Golden Lotus as thanks for the medicine. Of course, she was also going there to pick up some Golden Lotus as well, so it would be more appropriate to call it a cooperation rather than help.

    Riyue agreed since he decided to trust Xia a little bit, considering her personality. As he has quite a long experience, he is confident in his people-judging skills while still retaining a healthy amount of doubt.

    ¡®At the very least, she is trustworthy currently, as long as I don¡¯t tell her about the horn I have.¡¯

    One of the Qilin¡¯s Horn powers is the ability to conceal its Qi Presence to a certain extent. That¡¯s the reason why he had not been attacked by anyone greedy for the strong ingredient. Honestly, Riyue doubted it had that kind of ability originally and suspected it to be some kind of blessing from the Qilin.

    And if he had to reveal it in an emergency, he would just say it is some kind of family heirloom and make it vague, saying that he only knew of its powers to scare other monsters. Since he would be concealing its Qi powers, it would only look like a somewhat good heritage, not inciting greed that overwhelms Xia¡¯s values.

    Riyue then remembered that he had forgotten to ask one simple question.

    ¡°Come to think of it, why are you here anyways?¡±

    ¡°To train by fighting against the monsters here and to master more of my martial arts.¡±

    ¡®Understandable.¡¯

    As they were still on the lower side of the mountain, it would still be a long time before they reached the top. They had to be careful as well to avoid meeting the strong monsters. Of course, now that he had Xia¡¯s temporary cooperation, it would be fine to be a bit more reckless than usual.

    ¡°Enemy spotted,¡± Xia said as she unsheathed her dagger.

    Riyue looked in the direction of her sight and saw a massive creature taller than 2 meters. It had a wooden club and huge muscular arms, a flabby stomach, and two protruding teeth from the bottom of its mouth.

    ¡®That¡¯s an orc!¡¯

    The weakest of orcs are Stage 2 monsters, while the stronger ones are in Stage 3 or even Stage 4.

    ¡®Fortunately, that guy doesn¡¯t seem like a Stage 4, but it doesn¡¯t seem as weak as a Stage 2 either.¡¯

    Riyue then met Xia¡¯s eyes and nodded. Immediately after that, Xia snuck around the trees of the forest, getting closer and closer to the orc. Riyue also did the same but stayed at a farther distance than her. It was because he was a lot weaker, so to be safe, he would only attack after Xia got the orc¡¯s attention.

    Xia then put her back against the tree and watched the orc. The unsuspecting orc looked around and twitched its nose as if it found something and roared before rampaging. However, after it discovered nobody, it continued doing its own thing with slumped shoulders.

    After the orc turned its back, Xia¡¯s dagger glowed with a green radiance before she swung her dagger at the orc¡¯s direction, creating a gust of wind that cut through the trees on its path. The orc turned around again, its eyes widened, and swung the club at the wind. However, the wind effortlessly cut through the club and sliced the orc¡¯s right arm.

    ¡°Groarr!¡±

    The orc roared in anger and pain, and Riyue immediately came out, went to the orc¡¯s back, and spun to gain momentum before kicking the back of the orc¡¯s knee with the convergence of Sun and Moon Qi on it. The orc¡¯s body immediately crumbled down, and by that point, Xia was already in front as she decapitated the orc¡¯s head.

    Seeing the easy win against a Stage 3 made Riyue think for a moment.

    ¡®Though the difference in stages is almost absolute, it doesn¡¯t mean that the ones from the lower stages could not win against the higher ones, especially so in the lower stages of 1 to 3... Add things like surprise attacks, and strategies then it would be almost manageable to handle someone a stage higher. Of course, in the higher stages things would be different.''The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    Riyue sliced up the orc¡¯s body before getting the orc¡¯s Qi Core out and gave it to Xia. After all, she was the biggest contributor, and Riyue was only interested in the Golden Lotus. Xia accepted the orc¡¯s Qi Core, and they went on their way. Due to Xia, who Riyue suspected to be a Stage 3 Practitioner, the journey to the top was very smooth.

    Since the monsters of the higher stages seldom went out of their territory, it was easy to avoid them. As for the ones in the lower stages that Riyue would originally have trouble with, they were easily dealt with by Xia.

    ¡®I¡¯ve never been carried before, but to think that it was this great of a feeling¡­¡¯

    ¡°We are about to arrive at the mountain peak, but since it¡¯s a dangerous place, let¡¯s rest somewhere else first to recover our Qi,¡± Riyue said. It was a lot faster than Riyue expected due to Xia¡¯s strength.

    Xia nodded and pointed at a certain cave nearby.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s sleep there. It looks comfy.¡±

    ¡®In what way? I only see protruding rocks.¡¯

    ¡°Sure.¡± Riyue smiled before they both went inside and set up each of their own sleeping quarters. Xia set her own sleeping straw bedroll while Riyue simply slept on the hard ground. He was already quite used to sleeping on hard ground, which is why he didn¡¯t bother bringing any bedrolls.

    ¡®But damn, being used to it and liking it is a different thing altogether. Next time I will bring one.¡¯

    Both Riyue and Xia slept in turns, and after Riyue rested for about two hours in the real world and eight hours in the Training Room, he made Xia sleep for eight hours straight before they set off on their journey again. He could see Xia frown as she looked at him from head to toe as they went on their journey.

    ¡°Are you really fine?¡±

    ¡°With what?¡±

    ¡°Sleeping for two hours.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I have a special condition that allows me to sleep for only two hours a day.¡±

    ¡°Lies.¡±

    ''It''s not though? It''s like 90% the truth.''

    Xia then looked down; somehow, she looked a bit sad.

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because you still do not trust me?¡±

    ¡®Isn¡¯t that obvious for someone I just met yesterday? But I really got eight hours of sleep.¡¯

    As Riyue was about to explain in a way that doesn¡¯t expose the status screen, the ground suddenly shook as if a massive bomb landed right next to them. Riyue fell to the floor and crashed into a nearby tree, while Xia managed to nimbly land on the ground after being tossed into the air. Riyue¡¯s widened eyes looked over the surroundings, trying his hardest to process what had just happened.

    Immediately after that, he heard a wild roar resonate throughout the mountains, with a pressure that made Riyue shrink in fear, as his body trembled and his stomach churned. Xia¡¯s face also turned pale, and they both didn¡¯t dare to move in the face of that roar.

    Riyue could also hear the chaos ensuing: roars of many fearful monsters, the crashing of humongous amounts of Qi that shook the ground again and again, as well as a shrill laughter that brought chills to Riyue¡¯s spine.

    It was only after a few minutes that the ground had ceased to shake and the humongous Qi disappeared. Only then did Riyue have the capability to think about what the hell had just happened.

    ¡®That roar and the presence behind it¡­ It felt all too familiar to the presence of the Qilin back then, maybe just a bit weaker¡­¡¯

    However, what¡¯s more important was the source of that shrill laughter that echoed throughout the surroundings, and the Qi behind it. It was a Qi of a monster and the laughter of a human¡­ Only one type of existence held those contradictory traits together.

    ¡°Yuan, did you feel that?¡± Xia said, her face pale and body trembling, a far cry from her usual self. Riyue nodded and muttered.

    ¡°A demon, a very strong one at that.¡±

    Xia nodded.

    Demons, existences who were originally humans, sacrificed their humanity for power by cultivating their abilities using the Demonic Method, a method that is the complete opposite of the Orthodox Method, which aims to make one¡¯s Qi as pure as possible. Instead, demons aim to absorb as much Impure Qi as possible to forcefully advance through the stages. Because most of them have extremely impure Qi, their personalities gradually change as well, their humanity reduced, and they begin to resemble monsters more than humans.

    They are true enemies of mankind, and the majority of them hail from the Demonic Sect. Since they are a declining sect due to constant targeting from all countries and basically the whole world, their activities slowly ceased to nonexistence. Until recently, their activities started up again, growing to a frighteningly high degree where even the destruction of the original Riyue¡¯s family was suspected to be the work of demons.

    ¡®I don¡¯t know what the hell a demon is doing here, but judging by the silence, the Divine Beast must¡¯ve defeated that strong demon.¡¯

    The reason why Riyue didn¡¯t think otherwise was because he had experienced the strength of a Divine Beast firsthand with the Qilin. Not to mention, the Divine Beast of the Qian Yang Mountain is quite popular and hailed as the King of the Qian Yang Mountain Range. Its strength is a bit more well-known than the Qilin, and judging from the roar, the Divine Beast is at least a Stage 9, meaning it is hard for it to lose to even a strong demon. Therefore, it should be safe to go up, as long as they waited for a while¡ªfor a day or two.

    Riyue didn¡¯t want to go down without getting the Golden Lotus after all this trouble, especially when he was right before the peak. However, whether down or up, it seems like both options would be troublesome.

    ¡°Yuan¡­ Enemy spotted. Or should I say, enemies!¡±

    Thanks to the chaos, many monsters had run around the entire mountain, even the stronger ones. Among the places those monsters ran away to, the place they were currently in was, of course, included.

    ¡®Goblins, orcs, and¡­ a Dryad¡­ A Stage 4 monster.¡¯

    Riyue sighed.

    ¡®Fuck my luck.¡¯

 Chapter 16 - Socially Awkward

    When Riyue laid eyes on the beautiful woman with vine hair, green eyes, deer horns, and a dress made of plants, he felt his heart sink a little.

    A Stage 4, the start of the middle stages, it is a monster on a different level than the ones he had faced before. Even if it¡¯s not as drastic as a Stage 6 to a Stage 5, it is still mildly despairing.

    ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± Xia said. Riyue looked around. After the shaking of the mountain brought them all here, the monsters, the Dryad, and the humans were all at a standstill.

    ¡°The best-case scenario is to have them all fight while we watch, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible.¡±

    Just as not all humans are friends, not all monsters are friends with each other. With that said, they still would rather kill the humans first than fight against each other.

    ¡®...It can¡¯t be helped.¡¯

    Riyue reached the inside of his clothing and grabbed the Qilin¡¯s Horn and resonated his Qi with it. A similar pressure then came out of Riyue¡¯s body. Xia turned to look at him with widened eyes and a slightly gaping mouth. While the goblins and orcs had already started to run away in fear, the Dryad stepped back and fell on her butt as she trembled. It created a big opening; however, Riyue disregarded the thought of fighting.

    ¡°Let¡¯s run upwards.¡±

    Xia nodded, even when she was still confused about everything, and ran with Riyue upwards to the mountain and away from the Dryad. The Dryad got out of her shock and gritted her teeth as plants and vines grew all around her, heading towards Riyue, intending to tie and grasp his legs. It was because his speed couldn¡¯t rival that of Xia, so it was inevitable that he was left behind. Riyue clicked his tongue, and as he was about to do a full-power Convergence Tiger¡¯s Lunge by sacrificing his legs...

    Xia grabbed his body and picked him up with her petite body before she used Wind Qi to boost herself up and scale the mountains, using the tree branches as her foothold. As a result, the vines only grasped air, and the Dryad, mad at the prey that ran away and even humiliated her, formed a Qi Blast in front of her palm and fired it off at the retreating figure. It uprooted trees and destroyed branches on the way towards them.

    Xia looked back in shock before she used the entirety of her Qi to slash at the powerful Qi Blast. Fortunately, she managed to offset it, but not without consequences. Her feet slipped as her body fell. However, instead of crashing into the hard ground, Riyue, enhanced the entirety of his body with the convergence of Sun and Moon Qi, grabbed Xia¡¯s body, and ran away.

    They got lucky, they really did. If the Dryad hadn¡¯t hesitated and decided to fully attack instead of just testing with a Qi Blast, they wouldn¡¯t have gotten away. Riyue continued to run until after a certain distance had passed by.

    By that time, Xia had already gotten off from Riyue¡¯s embrace and was running alongside him by that point. Their steps soon slowed down, and Riyue looked around. After confirming that they were safe, he collapsed to the ground while breathing haggardly.

    Headaches nudged at his head, his vision blurred and tilted as if he was on the deck of a swaying ship. He then reached into his pocket to grab an Ice Spirit Grass and consumed it directly. After his body cooled down, he checked on the status screen.

    Name: Zhang Riyue

    Age: 20

    Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Constitution

    Qi Stage: 1

    Qi Purity: 78%

    Qi Amount: 213/1003 (recovery 3/minute), (Qilin¡¯s Horn +300 Qi), (Next Stage requires 2000).

    Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge: Mountain Tiger Martial Technique 43% Sun and Moon Breathing Method 26%This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Training Room

    His mastery had risen up tremendously due to him escaping a Dryad and scaling up a mountain while his Qi had also increased quite a bit after a few days. It was a very fast growth; however, due to recent troubles, he only became even more impatient about making the Qi Increasing Pill to finally reach Stage 2.

    ¡°Why did you save me if you do not trust me?¡±

    Xia said while sprawling on the grass fields in the forest, her face turned towards Riyue. Instead of it being sarcasm, she genuinely sounded curious. Riyue had felt a bit weird while speaking to Xia, and he had finally realized why that was the case.

    ¡®She feels like a child with little to no common sense in certain areas.¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s not as if I don¡¯t have any shred of trust with you. If that was the case, I wouldn¡¯t have even cooperated with you in the first place. Besides, there are a myriad of other reasons to save you even if I didn¡¯t trust you.¡±

    ¡°...I see.¡±

    Xia then turned her face away before she mumbled.

    ¡°...Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Huh? For what?¡±

    ¡°...For being weird¡­ When I was a child, everybody also said so except for my father. It¡¯s been a while since I met someone good, so even if I don¡¯t know the reason why, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Her voice trailed off at the end as her voice grew weaker.

    Riyue closed his mouth before he thought of the words he should choose. He still didn¡¯t know much about Xia, but he could at least paint a bit of a picture. Weird social boundaries, her unique past, insecurities, and such. Riyue scratched his head and said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about anyone else, but you do not need to apologize for being weird.¡±

    Xia turned her face towards Riyue again, so he continued.

    ¡°Also, in regard to trust, it is not wise to trust anyone entirely¡­ I have some bad experiences in that regard, so that is sort of the mindset I am going with. I think it is wise, and it¡¯s what I intend to do for the rest of my life. However, it is to be separated from whether I dislike a person or not.¡±

    ¡°I see? Uh, so, does it mean that you trust me as well?¡±

    ¡°Not fully, and I already said the reasons why.¡±

    ¡°...But, do you think that I am a good person?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m not sure about the future. People change, after all.¡±

    ¡°...You are a complicated person.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, that¡¯s just how I am. But I do trust you to a certain extent and think that, currently, you are a good person.¡±

    ¡°...I see. I see!¡± Xia smiled brightly.

    Riyue sighed in his mind. It seemed like speaking simply to her would work better, like speaking to a child.

    After a while of resting, they decided to head to the peak. After all, it was already quite nearby, as they were running in that direction.

    Xia didn¡¯t ask anything about Riyue¡¯s item that allowed their escape, much to his surprise, and he didn¡¯t intend on explaining it either, so it worked for him. After walking for another one or two hours, completely avoiding any monsters on the way, they finally arrived at a place full of golden flowers that bloomed like the sun.

    Riyue¡¯s heart beat fast as he ran towards the golden flower and picked one up. He could feel the Qi flowing from the flower, and he let out a grin.

    Just how much trouble had he gone through just to get this one damned flower! Riyue held back tears of joy as he grabbed as many flowers as he was allowed to by the government laws. He was cautious about the government laws and such because his bag would actually get checked when he returned from the mountain.

    As Riyue and Xia were picking up the flowers, Riyue caught a glimpse of the view below the mountain, and his breath caught as he stopped picking the flowers. The blue sky stretched across the horizon, and mountains of various sizes spread across the land. Plants of various colors could be found in some parts of the forest, and the sun that shined through the world made the view extraordinary.

    ¡®If this was a tourist place, it would not lack visitors at all.¡¯

    Riyue smiled and continued picking the flowers until he had a pouch full of them. After that, they immediately headed down, relying on the limited amount of Ice Spirit Grass to control their body temperature. On the way down, Riyue headed to a place that had the Mountain Spring Water, took it, and then headed back to Baizhu City.

    After getting down from the mountain, it felt as if the world had turned on its AC, as even the normal temperature felt cool. Riyue and Xia had the guards check the things they received, and eventually, they were allowed to go back to the city.

    Riyue held out a hand towards Xia.

    Xia tilted her head, and Riyue smiled.

    ¡°It¡¯s a handshake.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Xia then shook his hand before she asked, ¡°Are you interested in doing other types of work?¡±

    ¡°Stealing?¡± Riyue grinned.

    ¡°N-not so loud, but yes.¡±

    Riyue thought for a moment as he put his hand to his chin. Honestly, it was tempting. After calculating his expenses, he would be left dead broke after getting the ingredients for the pill, so this was perfect timing.

    ¡°I will think about it after hearing about the job later.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Then, I will see you after I find a target,¡± Xia said with a slight smile as she turned back.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask where I live and where you could contact me?¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    After getting Riyue¡¯s house address, as well as giving out her own means of contact, she turned back and half-ran away with a faint blush on her face. Riyue smiled seeing her and grinned even more after seeing the Golden Lotus pouch.

    It was finally time to reap the rewards.