Dark Night, the Black Blade

The novel had only given the Devouring Spirit Clan a few cursory mentions. Other than knowing that members of the Devouring Spirit Clan possessed a bloodline-related devouring ability, Ling Li had no other clues.

Setting aside the matter of his bloodline, Ling Li turned his attention to the (+) at the end of the Energy and Cultivation section. Could this energy be used to increase my cultivation? I wonder what the rules for increasing it are.

With a thought, Ling Li tapped the plus sign behind his cultivation. The Energy count instantly decreased by one. Then, a thread of Dou Qi so faint it was nearly imperceptible slipped in from heaven and earth. After circling through Ling Li's body, it entered the Dou Qi vortex in his Dantian and formed a seed of Dou Qi.

The information in Ling Li's cultivation section changed accordingly: "Cultivation: One-Star Dou Zhe (1/1000)"

"So one point of Energy can increase cultivation by one point." Ling Li looked at the result with some delight.

This Energy must have come from eating those red fruits earlier. Each fruit gave exactly ten points. Simply by eating, he could grow stronger. That alone was enough to become the capital he needed to survive.

However, Ling Li did not immediately put all his Energy into the cultivation section. If the bloodline section could be increased with Energy, he would have tapped it without hesitation. Unfortunately, this Energy could only raise his cultivation, and greater strength would increase his appetite, speeding up the rate at which he starved to death.

"Eh, this body's memories mention an ancestral treasured blade too. Where is it?" Ling Li looked around below him and, sure enough, spotted something in the distance that resembled a hilt protruding from the ground.

Ling Li bent down and gripped the handle sticking out of the ground. With a slight pull, a streak of black light flashed through the air, and a weapon covered from end to end in black crystals resembling rust appeared before him.

"This thing is actually a Tang Dao!" Only after carefully examining the weapon called Dark Night by the system for a long while did Ling Li recognize it as a Tang Dao.

Dark Night was wrapped entirely in dark black crystals. Only a sliver of its cutting edge was silver-white, gleaming with white light. It was roughly one meter long in total. The blade was trapezoidal, eighty centimeters long and two centimeters wide. There was no guard or handguard behind the blade, only a twenty-centimeter-long hilt.

Compared to a saber, the Tang Dao was somewhat lighter; compared to a sword, it carried a little more weight. It was good for both chopping and slashing, as well as thrusting and lifting. For a novice like Ling Li, who could not even handle a kitchen knife properly, it was a decent choice.

Ling Li planted his feet, gripped the hilt with both hands, and swung horizontally at a massive tree roughly sixty centimeters in diameter before him.

"Hiss!"

The instant the blade touched the tree, a thin layer of black mist appeared over Dark Night. After the slightest resistance, white vapor suddenly rose from the cut in the tree. Dark Night then entered the massive trunk without obstruction, finally stopping at its center.

Ling Li stared at the scene before him, his eyes full of shock. This blade was far sharper than he had imagined. He had not used much force just now, and the only reason the blade had stopped at the center of the trunk was because the protruding crystals on its body had blocked it.

Though he did not know how strong those so-called magical beasts were, this blade should be able to cut through their skin and sever their heads, right?

"It's sharp, all right, but it isn't very pretty, and it doesn't even have a sheath. Then again, with black crystals covering its entire body, I'm afraid it would be impossible to find a suitable sheath." Ling Li spoke with some regret.

Dark Night truly could not be called attractive. The crystals protruding from its blade were even less aesthetically pleasing. If he had not known from his memories that it was a treasured blade, he would have thought it was a fire poker.

Still, the system had rated Dark Night as Yellow Grade High Rank. Ling Li had no idea what that meant. After all, on the Dou Qi Continent, only Dou Qi and alchemy had flourished to their peak. The forging industry had been left far behind—or, more accurately, its inheritance had been cut off since ancient times, leaving it almost at a primitive stage. Aside from weapons passed down from ancient times like Xiao Yan's Black Heavy Ruler and Hun Tiandi's Brother-Slaying Blade, he had never seen any other weapons, much less a grading system for them.

Yellow Grade High Rank should be pretty good, right?

"I should find somewhere to rest for the night first. Tomorrow, I'll think of a way to leave the Monster Beast Mountain Range." Ling Li looked at the slowly setting sun, pulled out Dark Night, and stored it in the System Space.

For someone like him, who could not even be considered weak right now, the Monster Beast Mountain Range was undoubtedly a good beginner village for training.

Living cautiously in the Monster Beast Mountain Range until he reached the Dou Saint level, then heading out to punch Xiao Huohuo and kick Hun Tiandi, sounded pretty good in certain novels. But Ling Li knew he could not do that now. It was not just a matter of survival. If he were truly left alone in this isolated Monster Beast Mountain Range for ten years or so, he would probably go insane.

As for Xiao Yan, Ling Li did not want too much contact with him. This man treated his own people well, but whether one became Xiao Yan's "own person" or his enemy, the outcome was never very good. His three closest relatives in particular had been screwed over so badly that they had practically suffered to the point of death.

Ling Li would take some of Xiao Yan's opportunities to ensure that he could live freely in this world. Knowing where treasures were and refusing to take them was not lofty—it was stupid. However, he would not walk Xiao Yan's path and leave Xiao Yan with no path to walk. The Dou Qi Continent was so vast, and there were countless paths of cultivation. Why should he repeat that same path?

But aside from the path of the Flame Emperor, how should he grow stronger? The life of the weak was not exactly desirable in this world. In his previous life, Ling Li had been no more than an ordinary man among countless others, but once an ordinary person possessed extraordinary capital, how could he be willing to remain ordinary forever?

Forget it. He would take things one step at a time. Finding somewhere to settle down came first...

Before the sky had fully darkened, the Monster Beast Mountain Range had already lost its eerie silence of daytime. Countless birds and beasts screeched and howled, as though welcoming the time that belonged to them. Within the dark thickets in the distance, countless scarlet eyes could faintly be seen, along with the sounds of unknown creatures moving about!

The night was a world entirely ruled by magical beasts. Without sufficient strength, spending the night in the Monster Beast Mountain Range without any precautions was no different from placing oneself on a magical beast's dinner plate.

Fortunately, Ling Li lucked upon a cave that appeared to have been abandoned by magical beasts, giving him somewhere to stay.

After finding some stones and chopping down a tree to make wooden stumps, Ling Li simply sealed the cave entrance. Then he sat cross-legged within the cave, recalling the feeling of Dou Qi passing through his meridians and finally flowing into the Dou Qi vortex when he had used Energy. He slowly adjusted his breathing and drew in the energy of heaven and earth.

Ling Li had originally planned to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, but after trying for half a day and failing to produce even the slightest spark, he gave up.

Perhaps because Ling Li himself possessed a dark attribute, his heart felt exceptionally tranquil in the darkness...