Zhang Yuhe carefully placed the token into his trouser pocket before opening the wooden treasure box. Inside, there was only one spiritual stone.
"It's really stingy. Such a fierce monster only gave one spiritual stone," he muttered.
But he didn't mind. With the Daosheng Sect token, what more did he need?
Zhang Yuhe pocketed the spiritual stone and continued on his way, leaving the two monster corpses behind. He had no idea in which direction he might find a native city. Having roamed the mountain forest for a month, he hadn't encountered a single person.
Unable to ask anyone for directions, he could only roughly judge the direction based on the terrain. As for whether he would go the wrong way, who could say? He needed to be brave enough to try, even if it meant making mistakes.
"Let's just try running in one direction first," he decided.
Zhang Yuhe quickly moved through the mountains and forests, avoiding monsters as he encountered them. He wasn't interested in monsters anymore. His sole focus was finding a native city as soon as possible and then asking how to reach Daosheng Sect.
For him, nothing was more important than reaching Daosheng Sect.
Zhang Yuhe was determined not to risk anything. What if he died by accident and dropped the token? It was unclear whether players would drop items upon death, but he didn't want to take any chances.
Running safely toward Daosheng Sect and joining the sect was his top priority. As long as he joined Daosheng Sect, with his extraordinary talent for cultivating immortals, he had a chance to ascend. It was an opportunity that shouldn't be missed.
After running for about two hours, Zhang Yuhe noticed that the trees around him seemed to be shorter, and the mountains were becoming gentler.
"Are we about to leave the forest?" he wondered aloud.
This seemed like a sign that he was nearing the edge of the deep mountains.
"I hope I can meet the natives soon and ask for directions. Running around aimlessly like this is really frustrating."
After a while, Zhang Yuhe suddenly stopped.
"It sounds like someone is nearby," he muttered.
He listened carefully and heard the roar of beasts and the sounds of fighting in the distance. The noise was faint, and he almost missed it.
"Haha, there really is someone. Let's go take a look."
Zhang Yuhe restrained his breath and quietly moved toward the source of the noise. He didn't rush in blindly. Who knew what the fight over there was like? What if he ran into a hot-tempered native who thought he was stealing monsters and attacked him? That would be nonsense.
Soon, Zhang Yuhe saw the source of the sounds. A young boy in white was controlling a flying sword and battling a massive wild boar monster. Behind the young man, a middle-aged man in green appeared to be acting as his bodyguard.
Zhang Yuhe imagined that the young man had come out for an experience with his guards, though he wasn't sure if there were other companions nearby.
The young man in white controlled his flying sword gracefully, dodging deftly while occasionally sending small fireballs from his hands. Zhang Yuhe couldn't help but envy him. This was real cultivation.
Unlike himself, who had to wield a long sword to chop monsters, the young man's movements had a certain elegance.
Zhang Yuhe sensed the energy levels of the two individuals from a distance. The young man in white was at the fourth level of Qi training, and he was holding his own against the wild boar monster. The middle-aged man in green was at the sixth level of Qi training.
"Very good," Zhang Yuhe thought. "These two aren't strong, so I can approach them confidently."
If he encountered someone with a higher cultivation level, one he couldn't gauge, he would have turned around and left. In these desolate mountains, if someone stronger than him attacked, there would be no one to complain to.
The real issue was the Daosheng Sect token he carried. He didn't want to lose it if he died. He had to stay cautious.
But since these two seemed relatively weak, he felt secure enough to make contact.
Zhang Yuhe didn't reveal himself immediately, though. He stayed behind a tree, observing quietly. The young man in white was in a crucial part of the battle, and Zhang Yuhe didn't want to cause any misunderstanding.
Suddenly, the young man in white made a mistake with his footwork, and the wild boar monster lunged at him with ferocity. It seemed the young man couldn't avoid it.
At that moment, the green-clad guard shouted.
"Sixth Master, be careful!"
The green-clad guard raised his right hand, and a flying sword shot out, striking the wild boar monster and pinning it to the ground. The guard had clearly acted swiftly and with experience, saving the young man just in time.
Zhang Yuhe was about to step forward to introduce himself when something unexpected happened. The young man in white, who had just been saved, turned around and saw Zhang Yuhe emerge from behind the tree. He shouted angrily.
"You lowly person! You dare peek at this young master practicing magic? You're seeking death!"
Before Zhang Yuhe could react, the young man pointed with his right hand, sending a small fireball flying toward him.
"What kind of psychopath is this?" Zhang Yuhe thought, stunned, before anger rose within him. "I was speaking politely to you, and you're trying to kill me?"
Zhang Yuhe swiftly dodged the fireball and unsheathed his long sword, releasing his Qi training energy in a burst.
The green-clad guard noticed the sudden shift in energy and immediately warned the young man.
"Master, be careful, the other party is at Qi training!"
But it was too late. Zhang Yuhe was already in motion, moving as fast as lightning. Within two jumps, he reached the young man in white and, with a single swift strike, cut him down before the boy could even react.
At his current strength, Zhang Yuhe had no difficulty dealing with someone at the fourth level of Qi training. The young man had been no match for him.
The guard, seeing the boy fall, panicked. He immediately released his flying sword and took to the air, fleeing.
Zhang Yuhe had no intention of letting him escape. Since he had started, he intended to finish it. After all, one death was the same as two.
But the blue-clad guard was already in the air, quickly gaining distance. Zhang Yuhe could not fly, so he couldn't catch up.
"Humph, you think you can run now?" Zhang Yuhe sneered.
He threw his long knife into the air, watching it fly toward the guard. The blue-clad guard tried to change course, but before he could react, the long knife pierced his chest, and he fell to the ground.
In the face of the gap in strength, the guard's attempts were futile.
Zhang Yuhe didn't feel the discomfort he expected from killing someone. It was his first time killing a living person, but somehow, he felt nothing. It didn't bother him.
Of course, this whole situation had been triggered by the psychotic behavior of the young man in white. Zhang Yuhe had done nothing to provoke them; he simply wanted to ask for directions. But now, it was too late to dwell on that.
Shaking his head, he muttered to himself, "Psychopaths are everywhere. I was just unlucky enough to run into one today."
Zhang Yuhe now focused on the task at hand. He quickly searched the bodies, hoping they carried something useful. He hadn't gotten the chance to ask for directions, so he figured it was only fair if he found something valuable after all this.