Moving away from the dangerous twins, Gu Yuan’s steps, which had been slow and measured moments ago, gradually quickened until he was practically running.
The forest was still within the territory of the Black Desolation Sect, making it relatively safe. There were no demonic beasts roaming this close to the sect, and rumors claimed that spirit herbs occasionally appeared here, which was why Gu Yuan had come to try his luck in the first place.
In the end, however, he found neither a spirit herb nor a demonic beast.
Instead...
He ran into something far more dangerous.
"I... really shouldn’t have listened to those rumors," he muttered helplessly as he picked up his pace once again, now sprinting at full speed.
Before long, a shabby wooden shack finally came into view, and only then did he slow down.
After stepping inside, he leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths to steady himself.
The tiny shack contained little more than a rickety wooden bed that looked ready to collapse at any moment. Sitting down on it with practiced familiarity, Gu Yuan finally had a chance to gather his thoughts.
Why did I have to run into those twins?
Running a hand through his hair, he let out another frustrated sigh.
Every time he thought a peaceful life was finally within reach, something unexpected would happen to prove him wrong.
After being reborn into this world, Gu Yuan had initially believed he had somehow reincarnated into ancient China. It wasn’t until later that he discovered the truth.
This was a cultivation world, a world where the strong preyed upon the weak, and ordinary mortals were fortunate to live past fifty, assuming they didn’t die from one misfortune or another.
Even so, he was fine with that.
After all, this was a second chance at life, one he had never expected to receive. As long as he possessed a spiritual root, there was always a chance he could become a cultivator too.
Unfortunately, shortly after turning twelve, his impoverished parents sold him to an evil sect.
The silver lining was that he turned out to possess a spiritual root. His life was spared, and he was accepted as a disciple instead.
Even then, it was still an evil sect, and his spiritual root was only Second Grade, barely above average. His future was destined to be ordinary, but Gu Yuan didn’t mind.
To someone living a second life, every extra day felt like a blessing.
As long as he could cultivate, live peacefully, and see how far he could go, he was satisfied.
Or at least...
That was what he used to think.
Everything changed when he reached the First Stage of the Qi Refinement Realm, and a status window suddenly appeared before him, informing him that he had the Orb of Creation.
Unlike his encounter with those twins, this was a blessing he welcomed with open arms, and for the first time since arriving in this world...
His ambitions began to grow.
Slowly but steadily, he found himself wanting more. To become stronger. To reach greater heights.
That was also the reason he had ventured into the forest today.
Who would’ve thought that, at the tender age of thirteen, he would end up entangled with those twin sisters instead?
Thinking back to Ji Yan’s threat, Gu Yuan couldn’t help but frown.
He had already been dissatisfied with the Black Desolation Sect for quite some time and had occasionally considered defecting to a righteous sect. Now, after being threatened by that arrogant red-haired woman, those thoughts seemed to solidify.
Perhaps he was overreacting.
After all, all she demanded was that he become an inner disciple before the next sect competition, and with three years still remaining, he had more than enough time.
As for marrying the twins...
That was something countless disciples could only dream of.
So, from a logical standpoint, his situation wasn’t bad at all.
But immortality was the dream he wanted to pursue. Marriage had never been part of that dream, at least not now... and certainly not with those two unreasonable sisters.
Still, fleeing the sect would only put him in even greater danger. Acting recklessly was the last thing he should do.
For now, he needed to observe the situation carefully.
Three years.
As long as he found a solution before the next sect competition, everything would be fine.
With that thought, Gu Yuan gradually settled down.
In the end, what he needed to do hadn’t changed.
Cultivate.
Become stronger.
Everything else could wait.
Crossing his legs on the worn wooden bed, he slowly entered a meditative state before circulating the Nine Cycle Qi Manual.
It was a low-grade cultivation technique that could only support a cultivator until the Foundation Establishment Realm. Eventually, he would have to replace it with something better, but with his current savings, that simply wasn’t possible.
That was precisely why he had gone into the forest today.
Spirit stones didn’t earn themselves.
Unfortunately, instead of finding a spirit herb, he had encountered those twins.The trip had taught him an expensive lesson, and Gu Yuan had no intention of making the same mistake again.
Steady progress was what mattered most.
He was still only at the Third Stage of the Qi Refinement Realm, so there was no need to rush. There was still plenty of time to save up for a better cultivation technique.
Turning his full attention to his dantian, Gu Yuan immediately noticed that the Metal Qi within it had grown considerably since the last time he checked.
The Fourth Stage wasn’t far away.
That was naturally thanks to the Orb of Creation.
As much as he wanted to believe those gains were the result of his own hard work, he knew that wasn’t the case. Most of his progress came from the Orb of Creation quietly working in the background, constantly absorbing Spirit Qi into his body.
The Orb of Creation was the mysterious treasure he had discovered after arriving in this world, yet even now, he knew very little about it.
So far, it had only revealed two abilities.
The first was its passive absorption of Spirit Qi, steadily increasing his cultivation without requiring any effort on his part.
The second was the boundless space hidden within it. Like a storage bag, it allowed him to store anything he wished, except the space inside seemed to stretch on without end.
As for where it had come from...
Or whether those were truly its only abilities...
He had no answers.
Still, judging by a name as grand as Orb of Creation, Gu Yuan couldn’t help but have high expectations for its future.