The wind blew cold across the jagged cliffs as Xiao Feng quickly gathered the storage rings and dropped weapons of the fallen Sun-Veil disciples. His hands trembled, but awe eclipsed his fear as he handed the pouch of spoils to Li Chen.
— We have seven low-grade spirit vessels, three dozen mid-tier spirit stones, and Elder Zhao’s high-grade storage ring, Master, — Xiao Feng reported, keeping his head bowed low.
— Keep the spirit stones for your own cultivation, — Li Chen said, tossing three blue gems back to the boy. — You will need the Qi if you hope to survive where we are going.
Without another word, Li Chen stepped off the edge of the cliff.
Xiao Feng gasped, but before his master could plunge into the abyss, a dense cloud of violet-black Qi erupted beneath Li Chen’s feet, forming a hovering platform of solid shadow. He drifted smoothly down into the deep valley below, leaving Xiao Feng to scramble down the narrow goat paths after him. New chapters come out on g.com first.
By nightfall, the towering peaks of the Black Wind Mountains gave way to a dense, suffocating marshland shrouded in perpetual grey vapor: The Ghost Mist Forest.
The forest was a infamous lawless zone—a haven for rogue cultivators, demonic practitioners, and bloodthirsty spirit beasts banished from the orthodox sects. The air itself reeked of damp earth, rot, and raw, unrefined dark Qi.
As Li Chen’s boots touched the mud at the forest's edge, the Dark Dan within his Dantian pulsed rhythmically, greedily drinking in the ambient shadow energy.
— Master, the mist... it distorts spiritual sense, — Xiao Feng whispered, drawing his short blade as strange, skittering sounds echoed from the surrounding treeline. — People say once you step inside, you lose your way forever.
— For common cultivators who rely on the light, perhaps, — Li Chen replied, his scarlet-violet eyes piercing through the grey fog as if it were glass. — To us, this mist is an extension of our own domain.
Suddenly, three shadow-like figures dropped silently from the canopy above, encircling them. They wore jagged bone armor, their faces hidden behind skeletal masks. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
— Look what walked into our trap, — the leader sneered, unleashing the aura of a late-stage Qi Gathering practitioner. — A brat and a cripple. Hand over your storage rings, and we might leave your corpses intact!
Li Chen didn't even slow his pace.
— Xiao Feng, — Li Chen said calmly. — Test your blade. I will restrict his Qi. Show me if you have the resolve to walk the path of blood.
With a flick of Li Chen’s wrist, two black tendrils shot from the ground, binding the bandit leader's ankles and suppressing his spiritual power to the early stage of Qi Gathering.
Xiao Feng looked at the struggling bandit, then down at his blade. He bit his lip, his eyes hardening as he took his first step into the darkness.