"Tomorrow, I'll be able to leave Miluo Kingdom and enter the Black Domain Great Plains!"
Beside the blazing bonfire, Yun Zimo murmured to himself. After days of travel, his handsome face had taken on a touch of dust and weariness, and the firelight flickered across it. Flames danced in his eyes, stirring memories...
"I've finally left the Jia Ma Empire. Once I cross the East Ridge Plains, I'll be in another country's territory."
After crossing the Tagor Desert and successfully leaving Black Mountain Fortress, Yun Zimo took out a map and glanced at it. Once he had confirmed his direction, he set off again.
Half a month ago, he had decided that being beaten by the elders of the Snake-Person Tribe had given him enough of a foundation. So he had resolutely chosen to continue his journey. After making arrangements with Gu He, he had "escaped" from the Snake-Person Holy City under cover of night and continued east.
After sparring with the Dou Emperor guarding Black Mountain Fortress, he had left without trouble. After several twists and turns, he had finally crossed the Jia Ma Empire's border.
Once he had crossed the border, Yun Zimo suddenly stopped. After a moment's thought, he sat cross-legged. Before long, his aura steadily weakened, until the cyclone within him was utterly empty. The Dou Crystal representing the Dou Wang realm, too, gradually faded into nothingness...
He flexed his somewhat hollow-feeling hand and smiled faintly, then strode forward with renewed confidence.
"Welcome, honored guest! What can I get for you?"
In a small frontier town bustling with people, Yun Zimo, dressed in a black robe, quietly entered a lively little inn.
"A room upstairs. And bring me a few dishes to start."
Yun Zimo's voice was low and hoarse, and the hand that produced his silver coins looked yellowed and withered.
"Right away! One room upstairs!"
The waiter called out as he hurried toward the kitchen. Yun Zimo surveyed the room briefly, then sat down beside a table occupied by people who looked like a merchant caravan.
"...His Majesty has already sent troops to suppress the Alchemist Guild's rebellion. The major and minor sects have all 'volunteered' to take part. I reckon this time the Alchemist Guild is going to..."
"...Things haven't been peaceful in the Black-Corner Region lately. The black sandstorms across the plains have been happening far too often..."
"..."
Yun Zimo quietly listened for news over his teacup. This city, where several nations converged, saw a constant stream of merchant caravans and mercenaries. Naturally, it was also the place where information flowed from far and wide.
"Your dishes, honored guest!"
"Thank you..."
Yun Zimo casually tipped him a silver coin. The grateful waiter wisely withdrew.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed in his room, Yun Zimo's chest rose and fell slightly with each breath, drawing the wandering energy of heaven and earth into his skin and blood. As the energies circulated through his body, his flesh greedily absorbed them, while useless impurities were expelled with each breath.
"I'm almost back to the Dou Zhe realm!"
Seven stages in a single day. Yun Zimo's rate of cultivation would have stunned any young person who had just embarked on the path of cultivation.
Dawn's first light glimmered. With a creak, Yun Zimo opened his door. As the sunlight first pierced the city gates, he left town and headed southeast.
He had been traveling for less than half an hour when Yun Zimo stopped. In the distance, villages and towns dotted the boundless plains. Nothing nearby seemed out of the ordinary.
"What keen senses..."
A gloomy-looking young man in gray clapped as he strolled toward him.
"I never thought an old geezer like you, a mere Dou Zhe, would spot our ambush."
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Several figures burst from the ground and surrounded Yun Zimo with a flick of their bodies.
"The Poison Wolf Mercenary Group."
A Dou Qi veil formed around the gray-clad youth as he offered a perfunctory bow.
"Hand over your valuables and spare yourself too much pain."
When he saw Yun Zimo calmly remove his black robe and put it into his Storage Ring, the gray-clad youth's eyes lit up. Looks like we've found a real prize this time!
"I'm a Dou Zhe who dares travel alone. Aren't you worried you'll bite off more than you can chew?"
Yun Zimo tightened his cuffs and spoke softly.
"Heh, you're right. Traveling alone is a bit suspicious. But as you said, you're just a Dou Zhe!"
The young man had been blathering on while building up his strength. Now that he was ready, he waved his hand, and the group surged forward all at once.
"Even if you have powerful backing, who out here in the wilderness would ever find out?"
"What I meant was, I'm not..."
Yun Zimo's mumble was drowned out by the shouts of battle. Before long, muffled blows against flesh and terrified screams echoed across the empty plains through billowing clouds of dust...
Trying to run? Yun Zimo saw the Dou Shi in gray turn to flee. He stamped his foot on the ground, and a square stone brick instantly appeared in his hand. The next moment, he hurled it, and it cut through the air with a piercing whistle.
"Bang!"
Hearing the whistle behind him, the Dou Shi knew he couldn't escape it. Gritting his teeth, he turned to take the blow head-on. But just as he raised his arms, the tremendous force from the brick erupted into unbearable pain. His Dou Qi veil shattered with a crash, and both his arms were left mangled and bloody.
"You... You're not a Dou Zhe!"
Terror spread across the young man's face, but he didn't dare stop. He immediately turned and fled through the pain, afraid that the killing fiend would catch up with him.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two more piercing whistles rang out. The gray-clad Dou Shi's legs gave way. The pain from the two bloody holes was gradually swallowed by despair. Watching his men fall one after another, the Dou Shi knew it was over...
"A mercenary group led by a Dou Shi. Just as I thought, they didn't have much worth taking..."
Yun Zimo stripped the scattered corpses of everything they had and spoke with some disappointment. Then he walked toward the commander, the Dou Shi, whose limbs had been broken and who was still howling.
"Don't! Don't kill me! I... I'm an outer disciple of the Golden Goose Sect! My teacher is a Da Dou Shi! If you dare kill me, my teacher will never let you go!"
The gray-clad youth had lost every trace of elegance. He writhed in terror, his ruined body twitching as he screamed in despair, afraid that the smiling demon before him would finish him off!
"The Golden Goose Sect..."
Yun Zimo paid no more attention to the resentful young man, pinned to the ground by a slender wooden stick that had pierced his skull. He casually stored the spoils in a low-grade Storage Ring.
A cloud of mist gathered in Yun Zimo's hand. He scattered it before himself and stepped inside to wash. The blood and grime vanished from his body. Fresh and clean once more, Zi Mo took out an immaculate black robe and set off again, though his route had strayed slightly from his original plan.
Blazing flames rose, consuming every trace of evil in their light...
"Have you heard? Lang Xiaotian, an outer-sect elder of the Golden Goose Sect, was killed at an inn!"
"Really? Damn, he was a Da Dou Shi!"
"Of course it's true. The Golden Goose Sect's leaders are furious and have ordered a nationwide manhunt for the culprit. But... heh, I hope they can't find so much as a single hair!"
"..."
At a teahouse in the Imperial Capital of the Golden Goose Empire, Yun Zimo heard the news nearby. A chill flashed across his wrinkled, aged face, but his heart remained calm. After all, who would suspect an ordinary old Dou Zhe?
"Useless!"
At the Golden Goose Sect's outer sect,
A brocade-clad old man flung a scroll violently. The messenger it struck knelt on the ground, cringing and not daring to raise his head.
"So many of you couldn't catch one man! What use are you to me?"
"You have half a month to catch the culprit. If you fail, you'll all be fed to the Golden Eagles!"
While the Golden Goose Sect's people raged through the region in search of the culprit, Yun Zimo had already left the Golden Goose Imperial Capital and was slowly making his way toward the border.
Along the way, Yun Zimo challenged all kinds of little-known experts who had survived countless brushes with death. Problems he had never noticed before were laid bare, one after another.
"If I keep going like this until I reach the Dou Emperor realm, my foundation will be flawless!"
Yun Zimo traveled south like this. Whenever he encountered robbers, he asked which faction they belonged to before they died, then quietly sought out that faction to help them fulfill their final wishes...
Debating the Dao, robbing the road, teaching the Dao!
That was how Yun Zimo described it. The life of a wandering hero was simple and fulfilling.
The Golden Goose Empire, the Mulan Empire, the Chu Yun Empire, the Xinglan Empire...
What Yun Zimo hadn't expected was that his heedless deeds would give rise to a folk legend that endured for years in the northwestern lands: the black-robed messenger who walked among the people and upheld justice for the suffering...
"I've finally returned to the Dou Wang realm."
Dou Qi Wings appeared behind Yun Zimo once more. This time, however, they were far more solid. The faint dark stars that had once adorned them had all vanished. His left wing was pure white, while his right shimmered with azure light. Both hung behind him like solid objects, and when they quivered, the currents of wind and cloud seemed to flow through them.
"My final stop: the Black-Corner Region!"
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