Xiao Heng was flat broke. The only five hundred gold coins he had for travel expenses were borrowed from Xun'er. Live off the land, as they say. The Magical Beast Mountain Range is a treasure trove. There's a cave out there with over seven hundred thousand gold coins—if I can find it, I'm set, he thought.
After five days of travel, Xiao Heng arrived at Qing Shan Town. Walking along its cobblestone streets, he saw groups of mercenaries chatting animatedly. Shops lined both sides of the road, with a lavish herb store called Ten Thousand Herb Hall standing out as the most opulent.
After wandering the town to familiarize himself with its layout, Xiao Heng visited a blacksmith's shop, spending twenty gold coins to have a scabbard crafted for his crimson longblade. The scabbard fit the blade perfectly, and Xiao Heng, pleased with the craftsmanship, paid the smith and spent another five gold coins on a map of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
He had brought his own food, so with these tasks complete, Xiao Heng settled at a tea stall near Ten Thousand Herb Hall.
"Wow, look, it's Xiao Yi Xian!" a voice exclaimed.
"Such a tiny waist!" another added. A woman in a pale white dress entered Ten Thousand Herb Hall, drawing attention like a celebrity. Her features were fresh and refined, but her strikingly slender waist stole the show.
Wiping the corner of his mouth, Xiao Heng downed his tea in one gulp and headed to an inn. He planned to rest for the night and enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range the next day.
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Inside the inn, the soft yellow glow of a lamp illuminated a map spread across a table. Xiao Heng studied it closely. Ten Thousand Herb Hall's herb-gathering routes are limited to a few paths. That treasure cave should be somewhere along those routes, he mused.
At the crack of dawn, Xiao Heng sat cross-legged on his bed, absorbing the surrounding Dou Zhi Qi. In his dantian, two blue qi cyclones spun steadily, while a third was beginning to take shape. Five more days, and I'll break through to Three-Star Dou Zhe, he estimated.
Two hours later, he exhaled a breath of turbid air and stood. Slinging the black-scabbarded Crimson Dragon Fang—his name for the crimson longblade—over his shoulder, Xiao Heng headed toward the entrance to the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
A crowd of mercenaries had already gathered there. Qing Shan's mercenaries fell into three types: large groups of about a hundred, led by Dou Shi-level captains; temporary teams with low trust and safety, akin to makeshift crews; and lone wolves who operated solo. Xiao Heng, though not a mercenary, was one of the latter.
At Two-Star Dou Zhe, his cultivation was modest, but his actual combat strength surpassed Xiao Yan's during his first venture into the range. The Mid-Level Di Class Fire Cloud Art and his innate Devouring Blue Flame boosted his fighting prowess far beyond his rank. At the Dou Zhe stage, no one could threaten him.
Ignoring the mercenaries' invitations to join their teams, Xiao Heng entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range alone.
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The dense forest was eerily quiet. Xiao Heng extended his soul perception to its maximum range, a skill honed over two months of fire control practice. After nearly an hour, he sensed the lifeforms ahead growing stronger—he had reached the outer perimeter of the range.
As a first-timer, Xiao Heng proceeded cautiously, scanning for ambushing magical beasts while moving slowly. His blade was unsheathed, and a spike of Devouring Blue Flame hovered in his hand, ready to strike.
The beasts in the outer range were mostly first-tier, manageable for Xiao Heng. He stuck to the map's safer zones.
"Trying to ambush me?" Xiao Heng's Dou Zhi Qi surged, and five palm-length flame spikes shot into the canopy of a nearby tree.
The branches rustled, and five Crimson Ice Snakes plummeted to the ground, each with a small hole pierced by the Devouring Blue Flame. Their innards had been incinerated. Without the Devouring Blue Flame, these snakes would've been a hassle, Xiao Heng thought. As a Two-Star Dou Zhe, he couldn't project Dou Zhi Qi externally—only Dou Ling cultivators could. Below that level, ranged attacks relied on Dou Techniques, which consumed too much Dou Zhi Qi. For small fry, basic attacks were more efficient.
Using a silver dagger, Xiao Heng dug through the snakes' remains. Luck was on his side: one yielded a first-tier ice-attribute magic core, a diamond-shaped crystal emitting a faint chill. He pocketed it carefully and flicked a wisp of blue flame onto the snake corpses, reducing them to ash in moments.
The returning flame carried a soybean-sized droplet of energy. This is the true power of my innate flame—it can devour anything, converting it into energy to boost my strength and the flame itself, Xiao Heng thought. A few more droplets like this, and he'd break through to Three-Star Dou Zhe.
He continued prowling the outer range, targeting solitary first-tier beasts to build combat experience before tackling stronger foes.
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A stream gurgled through the forest. A first-tier Wood-Devouring Fox drank at its edge. Xiao Heng, gripping Crimson Dragon Fang, crept closer. As the fox turned, it met Xiao Heng emerging from the underbrush.
"Hey there!" Pale blue Dou Zhi Qi swirled within Xiao Heng, channeling into his hands.
"Off you go!" His hands, shrouded in a blue aura, thrust forward. Crimson Dragon Fang pierced the fox from behind, the near-meter-long blade sinking fully into its body.
The fox collapsed, lifeless. Xiao Heng began to withdraw the blade but sensed something erupting from the corpse. With quick reflexes, he released the handle and rolled aside, dodging a spray of yellow liquid mixed with solids.
"Ugh!" Xiao Heng gagged. Nearly got showered in that mess!
The ground was splattered with the foul mixture, and Crimson Dragon Fang was coated yellow from blade to hilt. He flicked a blue flame onto the fox's corpse, burning it to ash and restoring the blade's original color.
This constipated fox yielded no magic core. Xiao Heng didn't inspect it closely—not because of the mess, he told himself. His soul perception had already scanned the ashes as the Devouring Blue Flame did its work.
"Crimson Dragon Fang, I didn't mean to defile you. You're not complaining, so I'll assume you forgive me!" Though the mess was gone, Xiao Heng hesitated to touch the blade without cleaning it.
The fox, larger than the snakes, produced another soybean-sized energy droplet.