I leaned against the spirit beast and slowly sat back down on the bluestone platform. My left shoulder was still numb, my knuckles stiff, and every breath tugged at the pain in my chest. That battle had drained too much out of me. My dantian was empty, and my meridians felt as if they had been scorched by fire.
The spirit beast lay beside me, its head pressed to the ground and its ears constantly pricked. It knew I had no strength left for another fight.
[High-intensity battle aftereffects detected. Consume 50 points to activate "Spirit Vein Restoration Assistance"?]
I confirmed it.
A warm current poured down from the top of my head and slid along my spine into my limbs. The tearing pain gradually receded, as though someone were pulling red-hot needles out of my bones. I let out a breath, and my fingers could finally move a little.
The dim light beneath the tree roots to the north moved again.
This time, it did not crawl forward. Instead, it shrank back into the crack in the ground. I could not make out what it was, but I could sense it lingering there, neither moving nor leaving.
I closed my eyes and stopped paying attention to it.
The most important thing now was stabilizing my spiritual power. I began circulating the basic cycle of the first revolution of the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Art. The remaining spiritual power slowly flowed through my body. With every cycle, a little more warmth gathered in my dantian. The mark between my brows was still burning, but not as intensely as before.
Footsteps came from outside the valley.
They were not heavy, but light, as though someone were stepping on the tips of grass. Then came the sound of wings fluttering—brief, only once.
I cracked open my eyes and saw two figures standing at the edge of the woods.
A man and a woman, both dressed in the light armor of the Feather Clan, with blue-gray feathers gleaming on their backs. They did not enter, only stared in my direction.
"It was here," the man said in a low voice. "The Earth Splitting Rhinoceros charged in, then came back out half an hour later on its own. It was limping."
The woman frowned. "But no one inside moved? Look at that collapsed spot on the ground. It is a perfectly round pit, like something smashed into it."
"It was not moved by a person. It was blocked by one."
They did not speak loudly, but I could hear them clearly. My spiritual sense was weak, but my ears still worked fine.
There was movement in the woods on the other side as well.
A lone demon cultivator passed by, wrapped in a black robe with his face hidden beneath a hood. He stood at a distance for several breaths, glanced at the traces of battle, then turned and left. He moved far too quickly for someone merely passing through.
Not long after, two plant spirits hid behind a rock and spoke.
"Did you hear? The Guardian of the Valley drove back the Earth Splitting Rhinoceros."
"Where did this Guardian of the Valley come from? We have never seen him before."
"The beast beside him is no ordinary creature either. It has golden markings in its fur, like it carries an ancient bloodline."
"Do you think he might be the reincarnation of some great expert?"
"Do not make wild guesses. Spreading things like that too far will bring trouble."
After saying that, they scattered. One burrowed into the ground, while the other turned into a vine and wound itself around a tree trunk.
I listened to them without moving or making a sound.
The spirit beast let out a low growl and tried to stand up to drive them away. I raised a hand and pressed it against its neck. "Don't."
It stopped, though its tail still swept against the ground.
I knew what they were looking at. Someone who could force back an Earth Splitting Rhinoceros could not be underestimated, whether or not he was some great expert. That battle had made them remember this place—and remember me.
My name had not spread yet, but they had already begun calling me the Guardian of the Valley.
The title was not entirely wrong. I was indeed guarding this place now, and I had gone nowhere else.
But I did not want that reputation.
Fame came too quickly, and it could easily draw people who should not come. The prehistoric world lacked neither powerful figures nor those who coveted what others possessed. Today, I could defeat the Earth Splitting Rhinoceros. Tomorrow, an even more troublesome opponent might come knocking.
I lowered my head and looked at my hands.
My palms were drenched in sweat, and my fingertips were still trembling slightly. That sword strike had relied on Flowing Abyss's perception, not power I had fully mastered. I had won because the system revealed its weakness, because the spirit beast helped block the falling rocks, and because the Earth Splitting Rhinoceros itself had old injuries.
I was not invincible.
I had merely survived.
A new question suddenly popped up in the system.
[Question: Before the early stages of the Witch-Demon Calamity, what was Eastern Emperor Taiyi's fundamental purpose in establishing the Heavenly Court's inspection system? Countdown: thirty breaths.]
The options appeared.
A. Maintain order among the Three Realms
B. Gather intelligence on independent cultivators
C. Strengthen central authority and weaken the local Witch Clan's influence
D. Select commanders for the heavenly army
I stared at the question as information raced through my mind.
On the surface, the inspections were meant to patrol the four directions and capture troublesome demons. But at that time, the Witch Clan was spread across the land. Each tribe stood on its own, with shamans holding power and refusing to obey the Heavenly Court's commands. Eastern Emperor Taiyi established the inspections in the name of pacifying the people, but in truth, he intended to interfere in local affairs and seize power from the witch shamans.
The answer could only be C.
I selected it.
[Correct answer! Distributing reward...]
A bottle of pills appeared in midair, and I reached out to catch it. The bottle was smooth and warm. When I opened it, a clear fragrance drifted into my nostrils.
The label read: Calming Heart and Concentrating Spirit Pill.
I poured out one pill and swallowed it. My mind immediately cleared, and the noise from before—the discussions and whispers—seemed to be filtered away.
I smiled.
So reputation was also a kind of trial.
You fought a battle, others saw it, and word spread. You were no longer an unknown nobody. But whether you could withstand what came next still depended on yourself.
I looked up toward the woods.
The two members of the Feather Clan had already left, and the plant spirits were gone as well. The wind passed through the valley, lifting a single leaf.
The spirit beast's ears suddenly twitched.
I felt it too.
More living creatures were approaching from the southeast. Not many—three. They moved slowly, as if they had come specifically to assess the situation.
I did not stand, nor did I hide.
If they dared enter, they would naturally see my condition—I was sitting still, with no blade in hand, yet my gaze remained clear.
I was not afraid of them looking.
I was only afraid that after they looked, they would bring more people here.
["Reputation Influence Coefficient" monitoring module activated. Current regional attention: initial diffusion stage. Estimated attention will increase by 5% with each additional eyewitness report.]
I closed the notification.
My gaze fell upon the crack in the ground at the northern foothill.
That dim light was still beneath it, completely motionless. It had neither left nor attacked, as if it were waiting for something.
I memorized that location.
Once I could stand steadily, the first thing I would do was find out exactly what it was.
But for now, I needed to recover my strength first.
I swallowed another Spirit Replenishing Pill and continued circulating my cultivation art.
The spirit beast lay at my feet, its nose pressed to the ground, its ears constantly turning in alertness.
The footsteps outside grew more numerous.
Some were far away, some close. Some stopped at the forest's edge, took a few looks, and left. Others murmured to one another before departing.
They were all talking about the same thing.
"The man in the valley injured the Earth Splitting Rhinoceros."
"He used a blade imbued with sword intent."
"The beast beside him can spit golden light to protect its master."
The words spread one by one, like stones cast into water, their ripples reaching farther and farther.
I did not know what those stories would become in the end.
Perhaps tomorrow, people would say I could cleave mountains and sever rivers. The day after, they might claim I could command heavenly lightning.
But I knew the truth.
I was only someone who had just survived his first calamity.
I still could not let my guard down.
I tightened my grip around the bottle on my knee, and color slowly returned to my knuckles.
The evening glow shone into the valley and settled on my shoulders.
The spirit beast dozed off, its breathing becoming steady.
I kept my eyes open.
Deep in the woods, a pair of eyes glimmered faintly.
They did not belong to the Feather Clan, nor to a plant spirit.
Those eyes stared at me for a long time without looking away.
Before you continue