Deep into the Dense Forest

The woman heard your voice and laboriously raised her head.

"Young Master, please save me!"

Her face was covered in blood, yet you could still tell she was exceptionally beautiful.

"To lay such a heavy hand on such a pretty girl—absolutely devoid of conscience!" You sighed regretfully.

"Young Master, please take me in. My enemies will be here to chase me down any moment!"

"Miss, don't panic. I'll take you in. I happen to have an empty room in my courtyard. If you aren't used to sleeping alone, you can squeeze into my room too."

The woman smiled with difficulty. "Thank you, Young Master!"

She reached out a hand to you, signaling for you to come help her up.

Grinning foolishly, you hurried over with your hand outstretched.

"Thank you, Young Master, for your great kindness. This humble woman..."

Clang—

The Minghong Saber instantly appeared in your hand.

With a flash of saber light, the top of the woman's head flew three or four meters away.

The cut across what remained of her half-head was unnaturally smooth.

Her brain pudding still trembled unsteadily inside.

Blood gushed out, and the woman collapsed into a pool of it.

Her face still wore the grateful smile from before her death.

"Damn it, you think such a crappy trick can fool me? Do you take me for someone who's never watched TV dramas?"

Your small courtyard stood in a remote part of Changfeng City.

Usually, no one came by, yet now a beautiful woman had appeared out of nowhere.

You could have figured out there was a problem with your toes.

"Looks like I have to run again."

You knew you had already been exposed. It was very likely someone connected to Jiang Manzi's grandfather.

"Sure enough, digging up someone else's ancestral grave never ends well."

You searched the woman's corpse from top to bottom.

You found over a hundred Qi and Blood Pills.

A copy of the First-Rate Bone Tempering Skill: Glacial Finger.

More than fifty thousand taels in Silver Notes.

The rest was miscellaneous junk that wasn't worth much.

You dragged the corpse into the courtyard and burned it clean.

You quickly packed your things and prepared to flee.

When you reached the courtyard, you discovered a woman standing there abruptly.

You jumped, nearly thinking the other woman had come back to life.

Fortunately, this woman looked different from the one you had burned.

The woman standing in the courtyard was also a beauty, stunningly gorgeous.

Simply put, fish would sink and geese would fall, while the moon hid and flowers blushed in shame.

She was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen.

Wan Qingluan's voice was cold. "Young Master He, after killing my junior sister, do you think you can simply leave?"

You could not see through Wan Qingluan's cultivation.

But you felt immense pressure from her and knew she was stronger than you.

You did not know whether you could withstand her.

"Heroine, don't misunderstand. I wasn't planning to leave..."

"I was just planning to run!" The instant you finished speaking, you pushed Cloud Stepping Gait to its limit and sprang onto the roof in a single step.

You vaulted over eaves and raced across walls, fleeing madly.

After running for a while, you looked back and saw Wan Qingluan constantly half a meter behind you.

As though she had been glued to your body.

Yet she did not attack. She merely watched you quietly.

"Why are you following me around like a ghost?"

You simply stopped running. You knew Wan Qingluan could kill you with ease.

"Young Master He, why aren't you running anymore?" Wan Qingluan's voice remained cool and calm.

"Heroine, it seems you aren't here to avenge your junior sister either. Tell me, what do you want?"

You got straight to the point.

"Young Master He is a smart man. I want the key you took from Jiang Hui's grave."

You knew Jiang Hui should have been Jiang Manzi's grandfather.

"What is the key for?" you asked.

You thought she would not answer. You had only asked casually out of curiosity.

Yet Wan Qingluan told you everything.

Wan Qingluan and the junior sister you had just killed were both Jiang Hui's disciples.

The three of them were all members of the Extinction Sect.

The Extinction Sect's cultivation methods emphasized doing whatever one pleased and releasing one's natural instincts.

In the end, one would completely annihilate one's humanity and reach the supreme realm of becoming one with the Dao of Heaven.

They did things without reason, like the monkeys of Mount Emei that might suddenly scratch you.

Thus, neither the righteous path nor the demonic path welcomed members of the Extinction Sect.

The righteous path even shouted for blood whenever they encountered the Extinction Sect.

This key had been crafted by the Extinction Sect's leader, and there were five in total.

The leader had decreed that whoever gathered all five keys could ask him to fulfill any one request.

Gathering the keys would summon the sect leader and grant a wish...

You really wanted to ask whether their sect leader was a divine dragon.

"Anything at all?" you asked.

Wan Qingluan answered, "Anything at all."

"What about making him kill himself on the spot?"

"That can be done too."

You: "6."

As for the Extinction Sect, don't ask. If you ask, the answer is that they specialized in doing whatever they pleased.

"How did this key end up in your master's hands?"

Wan Qingluan said calmly, "My master ambushed and killed his own master to obtain it."

You smacked your lips. "Then there's no need to ask. You and your junior sister ambushed your master to seize the key too, but you failed to kill him and let him escape."

Wan Qingluan's eyes lit up. "That was probably it. Your temperament is very suitable for our Extinction Sect."

What kind of infinite backstabbing was this?

You felt the Extinction Sect's corporate culture was hard to judge.

No wonder everyone in the martial world wanted to beat them to death. They had absolutely no rules in anything they did.

Maybe you would be talking with someone from the Extinction Sect.

Then they might suddenly stand up and say, "Wait a moment. I'll go kill my mother, then we can continue talking."

Could anyone put up with that?

Who wouldn't find that annoying?

"If I give you the key, will you kill me?" you asked one more question.

Wan Qingluan's lively eyes shifted. "Probably not."

Great. That inspired absolutely no sense of security.

But you were not that afraid of death anyway.

You had a worthless life, so you would just go for it. The next simulation would make you a good man again.

You directly took out the key and handed it to Wan Qingluan.

"If you're going to kill me, make it quick. I'm not afraid of dying, but I'm afraid of pain. Thanks."

Wan Qingluan gave you a surprised glance. "I can tell you're speaking the truth."

"Of course it's the truth. I never lie," you said.

"That sentence was false."

You paused. "I occasionally like telling little lies too."

Wan Qingluan nodded.

She said your movement technique was far too poor and left you a top-tier movement martial skill, Phantom Phoenix Stride.

You did not know why Wan Qingluan had given you a martial skill.

As for the Extinction Sect, don't ask. If you ask, the answer is that they did whatever they pleased.

Wan Qingluan left directly.

You did not return to the small courtyard. You feared that more people from the Extinction Sect would come looking for you.

You wanted to find a place with no people and live in complete seclusion.

Before leaving, you happily stole through Changfeng City for seven days and seven nights.

You stole until the city was in utter chaos, with cries of suffering everywhere.

You had completely gone mad with stealing.

After acquiring enough money, you bought large quantities of materials for refining Qi and Blood Pills.

You also bought large quantities of food and water.

You continued westward, walking for half a year without stopping.

During that time, you killed three hundred and eighty-six bandits and petty thieves.

You wiped out three bandit dens.

You destroyed eighteen shady inns.

You busted five human trafficking sites.

You awarded yourself the honorary title of Five-Star Good Citizen.

After another month of walking, you had reached the westernmost edge of the Great Qian Empire.

At last, you entered a vast ancient forest.

The enormous primeval forest west of Great Qian was called Black Dragon Forest.

Black Dragon Forest was vast and sparsely traveled. To this day, no one had ever crossed it completely.

You traveled through Black Dragon Forest for a month before encountering a waterfall.

You settled down not far from the waterfall.

In the thirty-first year, you built your own small wooden cabin.

You began cultivating at ease, popping pills.

At the same time, you began cultivating Phantom Phoenix Stride.

In the thirty-second year, you built your own courtyard and began planting crops such as melons, fruit, and vegetables. You wanted to eat some fresh produce.

Although the food in your storage space would remain forever fresh, you felt it was like zombie meat from a refrigerator—soulless.