Black-Corner Region

Since Dou Qi cultivation always required the tempering of battle and sparring, Hu Jia and Wu Hao had just fought a match and were lying down, panting as they rested.

Their cultivation levels were close, making them ideal opponents. Hu Jia's Dou Techniques were more refined, while Wu Hao's fighting spirit was stronger, so they were evenly matched.

Xiao Yan was in more trouble. Whenever he needed battle experience, he could only look for classmates, or even use Lu Mu to find upperclassmen. More troublesome still, Xiao Yan's cultivation and combat strength were improving rapidly, so he always had to find different opponents.

Recently, however, Xiao Yan had already been able to exchange a few moves with Qian Mo, who had just become a one-star Dou Master. In a while, he should be able to spar with him properly.

Just as Xiao Yan and the others' training was nearing its end that day, Wu Protector strode into the courtyard. Normally, he would offer the three of them some guidance at this time, but today, he spoke sternly in a commanding tone:

"Xiao Yan! Wu Hao!"

"Yes!"

After the two responded in unison, Wu Protector continued, "Come with me. This is a small test for you."

Xiao Yan asked, "Wu Protector, my test is...?"

This time, Xiao Yan clearly saw the smile on Wu Protector's face:

"The Black-Corner Region. Kill someone!"

The three of them sat on the back of a flying griffin, not knowing where they were headed.

Xiao Yan glanced at the thoughtful Wu Hao. "What? Worried about Hu Jia?"

Wu Hao shook his head helplessly. When Wu Protector had taken the two of them away earlier, Hu Jia had loudly demanded to know why she was not being brought along. Wu Protector had only said that Hu Jia's affairs were not his to decide, and Hu Jia had stormed off angrily.

Xiao Yan comforted him, "There's nothing to be done. Hu Jia's status is different."

Xiao Yan thought that, as Dean Hu's granddaughter, Wu Protector surely could not take her without the dean's approval. What he did not know was that Wu Protector had brought him out without permission as well.

"Don't overthink it. Hurry and recover your condition." Xiao Yan patted Wu Hao on the shoulder.

Although Wu Hao was somewhat concerned about his friend, he knew his priorities. Like Xiao Yan, he quickly closed his eyes and began regulating his breathing.

Before long, the griffin carrying the three of them arrived at their destination: Peace Town.

As the saying went, those who lived by the mountains ate from the mountains, and those who lived by the water ate from the water. Canaan Academy was so enormous, while the students' tuition fees were barely worth mentioning. It could not rely entirely on donations from alumni...

Peace Town was the place Canaan Academy had established to conduct business with the Black-Corner Region. Although most people in the Black-Corner Region were vicious criminals, money did not distinguish between good and evil.

Yet the people who came from the Black-Corner Region were naturally used to disregarding laws. Even with Canaan Academy keeping order here, there was no shortage of hotheaded fools who came to cause trouble.

And Canaan Academy had only one way of dealing with such people—kill them!

Within the academy, everything was peaceful and harmonious. But when facing the Black-Corner Region, since they believed in the law of the jungle, then Canaan Academy would grant their wish!

To people from elsewhere, Canaan Academy was a holy land of Dou Qi that cultivated the strong. But in the Black-Corner Region, only clueless newcomers who had just arrived would truly mistake the academy for harmless, kind-hearted people they could bully at will.

The most famous thing in Peace Town was not any building, but the "Dead Spirit Tree" that could be seen simply by looking up within the town. The Dead Spirit Tree was pitch-black and enormous. Of course, the most horrifying sight was the corpses hanging from its branches like fruit—whose corpses they were went without saying.

After allowing the two to recover for a while, Wu Protector tossed each of them a bamboo hat and a gray robe, along with a portrait. "Watch out for each other. Return within two days."

Xiao Yan understood what Wu Protector meant by "watch out for each other": in terms of cultivation, he would look after Wu Hao, but in other matters, Wu Hao would have to teach him.

Wu Protector planned for Wu Hao to join the Enforcement Squad directly in the future, where he would inevitably have many dealings with the Black-Corner Region. Thus, whenever Wu Protector entered the Black-Corner Region, he would sometimes bring Wu Hao along so that he could gain a thorough understanding of the place.

After the two dressed themselves, Wu Protector sent them out of town. What they did next was entirely up to them.

Wu Hao also knew that Xiao Yan's knowledge of the Black-Corner Region came only from hearsay. He took the portrait, turned it over to examine the information on the back, and began giving instructions.

"The nearest Mountain Forest Town is to the north. At my speed, it'll take two hours, but it's too late today. We'll find somewhere outside to spend the night, then go there tomorrow to check the situation."

Xiao Yan asked strangely, "Two hours? We could still make it there now, couldn't we? Or is there some danger?"

Wu Hao nodded seriously. "That's right. You've never been to the Black-Corner Region, so it's hard for you to imagine how crazed and ruthless those people are. If they realize we're newcomers, it'll be easy for us to be attacked."

"...Then won't the two of us stand out a little at this height?"

"Not really. The Black-Corner Region has all kinds of people and things. Things that cripple or deform people are everywhere. As long as we cover our faces, people will only take us for dwarves."

Although Xiao Yan had some objections to being mistaken for a dwarf, he had heard plenty of stories about the Black-Corner Region. Fine. Young Master Xiao would not lower himself to argue with those thugs. It was just swallowing a little pride. No big deal!

He also noticed that after entering the Black-Corner Region, Wu Hao, who usually seemed dull and honest, had suddenly become much sharper. Even his words had increased.

In the end, the two found a sheltered spot and prepared to put on more clothes for the night. Xiao Yan had wanted to find a cave, but Wu Hao said they might run into someone already inside. Before it was time to sleep, Xiao Yan planned to cultivate for a while, but Wu Hao said one of them had to stay awake and keep watch. The same would apply while sleeping...

What could Xiao Yan do? He was simply too cautious!

It could not be said that Wu Hao's caution was excessive. People only died from being insufficiently careful; no one had ever regretted being too careful.

After enduring the night, the two were still in decent condition. They immediately crossed mountains and ridges toward their destination, while Wu Hao continued with his grand plan of caution along the way.

"My speed is limited, so people may assume we're both still in the Dou Qi stage. If we run into bandits, Xiao Yan, you must be decisive..."

This was already the fifth possible encounter Wu Hao had considered. Compared with the earlier possibilities of killing with a borrowed knife, standing by while someone died, getting caught in the crossfire, and honey traps, this one was finally somewhat reliable.

Xiao Yan was beginning to suspect that Wu Hao had some hidden trait. He had never realized this kid had the potential to become such a chatterbox.

But in the next moment, a sharp gleam flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes. He keenly sensed someone leaping down from above. Another sneak attack?

Sneak attacks were actually quite effective, especially when one's cultivation was low and one could not detect another person's aura.

But Xiao Yan was not only a Dou Practitioner, he was also an alchemist. His soul power could already consciously scan for some information. Just like now, Xiao Yan did not even raise his head, yet through his soul perception, he had already "seen" that a man was jumping down from above, holding what seemed to be a weapon.

The man's diving posture looked impressive enough, but he only had seventh-stage Dou Qi cultivation. It was no exaggeration to say that Xiao Yan had simulated the scene before him many times in his mind.

The man borrowed momentum in midair and viciously stabbed the dagger in his hand toward Xiao Yan's neck. Unfortunately, in Xiao Yan's eyes, his movements were painfully slow. Xiao Yan reached out and seized the wrist holding the knife, preventing it from advancing another inch. Then, as the man's body was about to crash into him, Xiao Yan swung his arm with the momentum and slammed the man violently into the ground with even greater force.

Even without using Dou Qi, the man was knocked unconscious by the impact. But in the next second—Xiao Yan mercilessly used Dou Qi to kick the man flying. His head smashed directly into a large rock nearby and burst apart.

Then Xiao Yan looked in another direction. Four or five figures jumped out from behind a small dirt mound there, scattered, and fled into the distance.

Obviously, if their companion had succeeded in his sneak attack or caused Xiao Yan and Wu Hao trouble, they would have pounced like hungry wolves and devoured the two of them.

Xiao Yan did not chase them. The strongest among them was merely a low-level Dou Practitioner. Killing them would only be a waste of Dou Qi.

Wu Hao patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder and smiled. "Now you're starting to look like someone who can survive in the Black-Corner Region!"

Xiao Yan smiled as well. It was only a minor incident. How many times did this sort of robbery followed by counter-killing play out in the Black-Corner Region every day? Still, before leaving, Xiao Yan looked at the man. He was thoroughly dead.

This counted as Xiao Yan's first time killing someone in this life, but he truly did not feel much. The other party had come for Xiao Yan's life to begin with, and from the day Xiao Yan resolved to become stronger, he had known that no strong person's path was smooth sailing. It was only a matter of time.

The two youths continued onward. They did not encounter any more roadside thieves, which could be considered fortunate for both sides. Finally, close to noon, they saw Mountain Forest Town.

However, the two had already agreed to wait outside the town and catch their target there. They did not want to enter and gather information. First, neither of them had much experience dealing with people from the Black-Corner Region. Second, it would be even more dangerous if anyone noticed they were children.

Xiao Yan checked the information Wu Protector had given them once more. This man had a huge black birthmark on his left cheek, making him especially easy to identify. The information stated that the target came to this town every day to have some fun, but did not spend the night here. At night, he returned to his own hideout.

That was normal. Unless someone was so impoverished that they were not even worth killing, no one in the Black-Corner Region dared sleep in a so-called inn. After all, if they closed their eyes tonight, whether they would open them tomorrow, and what they might see if they did, was quite the question.

Xiao Yan did not care too much about the man's Dou Master strength. The first lesson Wu Protector had taught him was that battles were not determined solely by cultivation.

Cultivation level could only be called the most important standard for judging combat strength, not the only one. Otherwise, everyone could simply reveal their Dou Qi and compare cultivation levels, while the weaker side killed themselves directly to avoid wasting effort and dying without dignity in the end.

Besides cultivation; what grade were one's cultivation method and Dou Techniques? How proficiently were battle methods and Dou Techniques used? Could one identify the other party's background and abilities through experience and knowledge? How much battle experience did they have? Did they possess the conviction to win and the resolve to fight to the death?

So even if that man was a Dou Master, Xiao Yan believed he had the ability to fight him. He did not believe that the man could compare with Qian Mo, whose family had such deep foundations.

As for the claim that the Black-Corner Region was ruled by the law of the jungle, and that those who survived were all outstanding among those of the same rank, Xiao Yan was even more disdainful of it.

For figures at the Dou King or Dou Emperor level, perhaps after countless battles and tempering through bloodshed, they truly could be considered more skilled at fighting than others of the same rank.

But those Dou Practitioners and Dou Masters who loved violence and resorted to trickery—did they dare call themselves strong among their peers? Xiao Yan and the other Canaan Academy students rose early and slept late every day, studying and cultivating. How could they be inferior to such people at the same level?

Based on what? Because they got drunk and went on rampages, letting others hack up half a street? Or because they survived after taking a few beatings?

It was true that tempering between life and death could awaken a person's potential, but that referred to cultivators who studied and trained diligently in ordinary times, then achieved sudden enlightenment after long accumulation. It did not mean that anyone who was beaten half to death would become a martial arts master just by surviving!