The mountain pass was silent.
The corpse of the bandit captain lay motionless upon the broken stones, his eyes still wide open in disbelief. The smell of fresh blood mixed with the scent of pine, while the morning breeze carried away the last traces of the battle.
Lin Yuan remained on one knee.
His breathing was uneven.
His muscles trembled from exhaustion.
The battle had lasted only a few minutes, yet it had drained every ounce of strength he possessed.
If another enemy appeared now...
He would not survive.
The old man slowly approached.
He wore faded gray robes patched in several places, a weathered bamboo hat hanging from his back. A crooked wooden staff rested casually over one shoulder, while an old wine gourd dangled from his waist.
Nothing about him looked extraordinary.
Yet every step he took seemed perfectly natural, as though the mountain itself made way for him.
Lin Yuan's instincts screamed.
Danger.
Far greater than the bandit captain.
The old man stopped a few feet away.
He looked at the corpse.
Then at the shattered rocks.
Finally...
His gaze settled on Lin Yuan.
His cloudy eyes seemed ordinary.
But for the briefest instant...
Lin Yuan felt as though every secret in his body had been laid bare.
The Sovereign Mark over his heart suddenly became warm.
Almost as if it were warning him.
The old man smiled faintly.
"What are you so nervous about?"
"I'm just an old traveler."
Lin Yuan did not relax.
Travelers did not appear in the depths of Black Crow Mountain.
Nor did they watch battles without making a sound.
"You watched the whole fight."
It wasn't a question.
The old man's eyebrows rose.
"So you noticed."
"I noticed your smell."
The old man's smile widened.
"Oh?"
"My father taught me to hunt."
"You smell like wine."
"But there are no footprints leading to where you were hiding."
The old man blinked.
Then...
He burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Interesting!"
"Very interesting!"
"It has been many years since anyone figured out I was nearby."
He looked at Lin Yuan with growing amusement.
"You're smarter than you look."
Lin Yuan slowly stood.
His legs still shook.
"What do you want?"
The old man scratched his beard.
"Nothing in particular."
"I was drinking on the mountain when I sensed two idiots trying to kill a talented youngster."
"So I stayed to watch."
Lin Yuan frowned.
"Why didn't you help?"
The old man shrugged.
"If you died..."
"Then you weren't worth helping."
"If you survived..."
"I'd have a reason to meet you."
His answer was so blunt that Lin Yuan couldn't even argue.
The old man walked toward the fallen captain.
He crouched beside the corpse and picked up the spirit saber.
He examined it for a moment before clicking his tongue.
"Cheap craftsmanship."
He tossed it aside as if it were worthless.
Lin Yuan's eyes widened slightly.
To a village hunter like him...
A spirit weapon was priceless.
To this old man...
It wasn't even worth keeping.
"Who is he?"
The old man suddenly spoke without turning around.
"Go collect your spoils."
Lin Yuan hesitated.
"My spoils?"
"You defeated him."
"Everything he owns belongs to you."
Only then did Lin Yuan realize...
This was his first battle against another cultivator.
And he knew almost nothing about the customs of the cultivation world.
Suppressing his curiosity, he searched the captain's body.
He found:
A worn storage pouch.
Fifty-three low-grade spirit stones.
Three healing pills.
One crimson Blood Ignition Pill.
A rough map of the surrounding mountains.
A black iron token engraved with a crimson crescent moon.
The moment Lin Yuan saw the token...
His expression froze.
Blood Moon.
The symbol was identical to the robes worn by those who had slaughtered his village.
His hands tightened until his knuckles turned white.
The old man noticed.
"You've seen that symbol before."
Lin Yuan remained silent.
The old man didn't press further.
Instead, he looked toward the distant mountains.
"The Blood Moon Sect..."
"They've become rather active recently."
Lin Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
" The blood Moon sect? You know them?"
"I know of them."
"They're a third-rate sect."
Lin Yuan stared.
Third-rate?
Those cultivators had wiped out an entire village with ease.
Yet this old man dismissed them so casually.
The old man chuckled.
"You've never left these mountains, have you?"
Lin Yuan shook his head.
"My world has always been this village... these forests."
The old man sighed.
"Then listen carefully."
He pointed toward the endless horizon.
"The place you call the world..."
"...is merely a corner of the Azure Sky Kingdom."
"The Azure Sky Kingdom itself is only one kingdom in the Southern Wilderness."
"The Southern Wilderness is only one region of the Eastern Continent."
"And the Eastern Continent..."
He smiled.
"...is merely one of countless continents beneath the heavens."
Lin Yuan fell silent.
His heart pounded.
The world...
Was unimaginably vast.
Everything he had known until now was less than a drop in an ocean.
The old man glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
"Scared?"
Lin Yuan slowly shook his head.
"No."
The old man raised an eyebrow.
"I'm excited."
For the first time since meeting the boy...
The old man's smile became genuine.
"Good."
"A cultivator who fears a vast world will never reach its peak."
He took another sip from his wine gourd.
Then he asked the question that would change Lin Yuan's life.
"Boy..."
"Would you like to leave these mountains?"
Lin Yuan looked toward the direction of his ruined village.
He thought of his parents.
He thought of the Blood Moon Sect.
He thought of the promise he had made beneath the storm.
Then he turned back to the old man.
His answer was firm.
"Yes."
The old man's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
"Then perhaps..."
"...our paths were really destined to cross."