Ye Chen

Amid the snow-covered woods, a young man leaned his head against a withered tree, intently working with something in his hands.

A hundred meters behind him, at the far end of the snowy ground, five white shapes raced toward him, scattering snow in their wake.

Their coats were grayish white, and their sharp fangs were bared. Though not very intelligent, they were agile, worked together with remarkable unity, and were fiercely vengeful. They would not even fear ordinary gunmen. They were none other than the fearsome monsters renowned throughout these woods: Snow Wolves.

And the young man leaning against the tree was now the Snow Wolves' quarry—and the target of their revenge.

The young man was named Ye Chen. He was seventeen, stood 1.8 meters tall, and had a lean, muscular build, delicate features, clear eyes, and a head of thick, black curls. He wore a warm, heavy wolf-fur coat.

He had grown up in this world, where snow fell year-round. He was in the mountains now to hunt wolf packs and hone his combat skills.

Ye Chen was a native of this land.

Ever since he was five, his teacher had made him undergo regular training filled with bloody battles.

At that moment, five Snow Wolf corpses lay at Ye Chen's feet.

Three had died from bullet wounds to the abdomen or back, while the other two had died from cuts to the throat.

The five beasts lay in grotesque poses, their blood silently soaking into the snow and staining it a shocking red.

Ye Chen had no particular thoughts about the corpses. He didn't even spare them a glance. He was long accustomed to these everyday features of his training.

Ye Chen's right hand held a Silver Revolver with its cylinder swung out, while his left calmly loaded the brass-colored bullets into it, one by one.

When the three Snow Wolves behind him had closed to within thirty meters, Ye Chen finished loading and finally left the cover of the tree. He quickly surveyed the five furious avengers ahead, then raised his gun. His left hand cocked the hammer repeatedly as his right pulled the trigger, firing every round in the cylinder at the three Snow Wolves in front without hesitation.

Each of the three beasts received exactly two bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire erupted through the silent snowy woods. Two Snow Wolves fell at once, but the one in the middle narrowly dodged both bullets and led its two remaining companions charging toward Ye Chen.

"Tsk."

Ye Chen frowned at his poor marksmanship, then quickly holstered the revolver and drew the long knife at his waist.

It was a long, straight blade, faintly stained with blood, and it radiated a silent chill of slaughter.

The three remaining Snow Wolves deftly surrounded Ye Chen, looking for an opening to kill him with a single strike.

Seeing this, Ye Chen remained calm. He pressed his right hand against the guard and gripped the end of the hilt with his left, holding the long blade in a standard stance. Then a strange light shimmered around his legs. In an instant, he moved like a blur, brushing past the nearest Snow Wolf in a flash.

Whoosh!

A sharp blade of light traced a smooth curve through the air. Before the beast could react, the blade had cleanly sliced across its throat.

The next moment, blood sprayed, and its head separated from its body.

The two remaining Snow Wolves saw their companion fall and, grief-stricken and furious, pounced at Ye Chen from behind, hoping to knock him down and bite through his throat.

But a strange light now shimmered around all four of the young man's limbs, visibly strengthening his speed and agility.

Ye Chen pivoted, carving a sharp curve through the snowy ground like a spinning top. He not only evaded the beasts' pounces but also slid swiftly between them. Then, with his left hand, he swung the blade and neatly cut into the back of the Snow Wolf on his left. With his right, he threw a punch that sent the entire Snow Wolf on his right flying five meters away.

Slash!

The Snow Wolf struck by the blade sprayed blood and died on the spot.

Thud!

The Snow Wolf knocked away by the punch landed in the snow at a distance. It rolled around dazedly, then immediately scrambled to its feet and fled.

Ye Chen watched the fleeing beast and initially thought he would let it go.

But a strange hunting instinct took hold of his hands. Calmly and methodically, he began loading the antique-bronze bullets into the Silver Revolver once more.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang through the snowy woods. The last Snow Wolf breathed its last and collapsed beneath Ye Chen's hand.

"Ten Snow Wolves, all dealt with without the teacher's help. This Auling Power is really useful."

Ye Chen surveyed the wolf corpses scattered across the snow, clenched his fist to feel the surging strength within, and couldn't help murmuring his thoughts aloud.

Armed with a six-shot revolver and a slender, straight-bladed knife, hunting ten Snow Wolves that had banded together to hunt would have been extremely difficult even for a grown man. For the seventeen-year-old Ye Chen, it would have been all but impossible without the protection of that strange energy.

A month ago, Ye Chen would have managed to kill no more than five Snow Wolves before his sluggish movements let the pack knock him down.

Whenever that happened, several beams of golden light would shoot down from the sky, high above the clouds. They would cross several kilometers of air and pierce straight through the wolves' brains, saving Ye Chen's life as they had so many times before.

Over the past month, Ye Chen had grown increasingly sensitive to the Auling aura, and his control over the Auling Power had become more practiced.

It was an energy he had gained after sensing some kind of summons deep within his heart. Ye Chen didn't know exactly how it worked, but he knew that with it, his strength, speed, and perception increased explosively. His movements became as swift as lightning, his strength as mighty as thunder, and he could easily hunt down whole packs of wolves. The Auling Power was truly a wondrous, fearsome thing.

An icy wind blew into Ye Chen's face, jolting him out of his thoughts.

He shivered, then decided not to waste any more time in the snowy woods. He took out the small curved knife he used for skinning and, with a series of practiced cuts, removed the pelts and meat from his prey.

After packing everything away, Ye Chen hurried down the mountain, hoping to return as soon as possible to the Old Church on the slope of another Snow Mountain in the distance. It had been his home all these years.

But Ye Chen had not gone a hundred steps with the pelts and meat before a series of rumbles suddenly sounded behind him.

Thud, thud, thud—

Hearing them, Ye Chen's expression changed. He turned to look and saw a white wave surging from the peak of the Snow Mountain he stood on, rushing straight toward him.

Oh no, an avalanche!

Ye Chen exclaimed inwardly and immediately searched the area for somewhere to hide, like a massive boulder. But all he could find was a patch of dry woodland. With no other choice, he took shelter behind a sturdy old tree.

When the avalanche hit, the old tree was crushed to pieces without a doubt. Ye Chen felt the world spin around him, and his vision plunged into darkness.

After who knew how long, Ye Chen opened his eyes. He was lying at the edge of a cliff on the Snow Mountain, just half a meter from falling over.

A strange ring of light shimmered around him, like a solid barrier, protecting him between the snow and the cliff.

"In the end, I still needed the teacher's help."

Ye Chen sighed deeply and cast a grateful look toward the Old Church in the mountains in the distance. Then he quickly stood up, brushed off the snow, and prepared to leave. But when his gaze happened to flick toward the foot of the mountain, his expression suddenly froze.

"Hm?"

He murmured in surprise and hurried to lean over the cliff.

Below lay a pitch-black Abyss. Ye Chen had always believed that the Abyss in these mountains was confined to their base. But when he glanced down today, he was astonished to find that it had risen as high as the middle of the mountain, surging ever upward like a rising tide!

"When did it reach this height?"

Ye Chen murmured to himself and leaned out farther.

Then he noticed that countless shadows writhed in the uppermost layer of the Abyss, covering the face of the mountain. They looked like thousands of newborn maggots—or thousands of twisted tentacles—eagerly crawling over the peak and spilling into his world.

When Ye Chen's gaze fell on them, the maggot-like shadows even writhed their bodies and made gestures resembling waves.

At the same time, countless indistinct voices washed over Ye Chen's ears, seeming to invite him down to "play" with them for a while.

Just for a little while.

Then the black tide surged into Ye Chen's mind.

It was as though some force had seized his consciousness and dragged it into a bottomless sea.

"Ah!?"

Ye Chen cried out in alarm and looked around. All he could see was dark seawater.

Yet far within that darkness, countless eyeballs seemed to be staring fixedly at him, as if salivating over a delicious meal. The depths of the sea were filled with a greedy, feverish atmosphere.

Where was this?

Immersed in darkness and terrified, Ye Chen kept repeating the question in his bewildered mind.

But before he could react, a powerful force latched onto his legs.

Ye Chen looked down sharply. Without his noticing, countless tentacles had emerged from the abyss below, coiling around his lower body and dragging him toward the bottomless depths.

"Ugh—!"

Ye Chen struggled with all his might. He was about to draw his revolver and long knife and fight the inexplicable tentacles to the death, but the next moment, the snow-covered mountain woods suddenly returned to his view, replacing the darkness.

"Huh?"

The young man hesitated and looked around. Then he saw the familiar, endless Snow Mountains and sparse Pine Forest.

At that moment, Ye Chen was still standing at the edge of the cliff.

There was no deep sea, no tentacles. It all seemed to have been nothing but his imagination.

The young man had inexplicably fallen into an illusion, then just as inexplicably returned to his senses. The situation was truly baffling.

"What on earth is going on?"

Unable to resist his burning Inquiry, the confused Ye Chen leaned out once more to look down at the Abyss beneath the cliff.

But the darkness there was as calm as still water. It silently absorbed the light shining down from above and gave the young man no response.

The author is here to warn readers who haven't read this book before.

First, this is not a transmigration story. The protagonist is a native of this world. It is not exactly Western fantasy, either, though the world's technology will gradually catch up to modern society later on.

Second, starting around the middle, the story shifts toward a broader ensemble cast. The world does not revolve around the protagonist.

Third, this is not a story about a cold-blooded protagonist. He is chaotic good: he treats good people well and bad people harshly, and he both saves and kills.

Fourth, the fights are not mindless skill clashes. Some plotlines have one twist after another and may feel a little long. Also, everyday-life scenes make up a relatively small portion of the story in the early and middle stages. For now, while updating the main story, the author will also find time to revise earlier plot problems and improve the pacing as much as possible.

If any of these points are deal-breakers for you, the author has already saved you a great deal of time and effort. If you can't accept them, please move along. Thank you!