The wind was still blowing, and the leaves swayed gently. I sat on the bluestone platform, the medicine bottle in my hand already empty. My shoulder was no longer numb, but dull waves of pain came from my ribs, as though something inside was slowly tearing them apart.
**
The spirit beast lay at my feet, its ears twitching from time to time. It was not asleep. I knew it was listening.
**
There were more footsteps outside than before. Not one person, but several. They walked slowly; some stopped outside the woods, while others approached the mouth of the valley directly. I could sense their auras. They were not all hostile, but neither were they friendly.
[Current Area Attention: 18%] [For every additional eyewitness report spread, probability of challenge increases by 7%]
I did not close the notification. I merely stared at those numbers for two seconds. Then I withdrew my divine sense and continued circulating the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Art. The remaining spiritual energy flowed slowly through my meridians, and every cycle gave me a little more strength.
**
The first to enter was a one-horned demon cultivator. He stood at the mouth of the valley, clad in gray-brown armor, the tip of his horn glowing a dark red. He said nothing and charged straight at me.
"Descendant of the North Plains Horn King, I've come today to test whether you're real!" he roared. With a shake of both arms, he split the ground into three fissures, sending shattered stones flying.
I sidestepped the first wave of impact and leaped off the edge of the bluestone platform. His strike missed, and his momentum carried him too far forward, exposing an opening. I did not use the blade. I merely held Flowing Abyss across my chest and lightly tapped the inside of his right knee with the flat of the blade.
He staggered and dropped to one knee.
"I'm not an Earth Splitting Rhinoceros." I landed steadily. "You've seen the truth you wanted."
He looked up at me, his eyes filled with reluctance and hesitation. In the end, he gritted his teeth, rose to his feet, and walked out of the valley without saying a word.
**
The moment he left, the second arrived.
It was a plant spirit, tall and thin, with green markings across its face. The instant it entered, it vanished. The surrounding vines suddenly came alive and coiled toward me.
I immediately summoned the Mystic Light Blade. Its edge sliced through the air, leaving behind an afterimage. But those vines were fake; its true body was hidden underground.
[Question: Where is the true body of a prehistoric shapeshifting creature most often concealed? Twenty-breath countdown.]
The options appeared.
A. In its shadow
B. Among underground roots
C. In the direction of the wind
D. In the opponent's blind spot
I remembered a line from an ancient text I had read before—plant spirits existed by relying on their roots. Without roots, no matter how powerful their illusion arts were, they would collapse.
I chose B.
[Correct! Reward issued: one bottle of Soul Protecting Dew]
The bottle appeared in my palm, icy cold. But I had no time to drink it. The ground trembled, and a thick vine burst from the soil, lunging straight at my face.
I ducked aside and slashed at the ground three feet to my left. The soil exploded, and a main root glowing with green light was severed. The plant spirit screamed and appeared from behind a tree, clutching its chest as it stumbled back several steps.
"H-how did you know?"
"Guesswork." I sheathed my blade. "Next."
It did not attack again. Clutching its wound, it left.
**
The third came immediately after.
A Swamp Snake Demon, its entire body slick and wet, with a long tail dragging behind it. The moment it entered the valley, it spewed poisonous mist, and yellow smoke swiftly spread through the air.
I held my breath and relied on divine sense to track its movements. It was fast and liked to slither close to the ground, focusing its attacks on my lower body.
After more than a dozen exchanges, I noticed that before every attack, it would first exhale. That was the interval when it changed moves. When it launched its third surprise attack, I suddenly lowered myself. My blade skimmed across its spine and cut off the tip of its tail.
The poisonous mist thinned somewhat.
It retreated to the mouth of the valley and said between breaths, "I heard you obtained a secret treasure that can see through heavenly secrets?"
"No."
"Then why can you always find weaknesses?"
"Because you're all too alike," I said. "Every one of you tests me the same way."
It froze for a moment, then turned and left.
**
The fourth and fifth came together. Two demon generals, one wielding a hammer and the other a spear. They worked together smoothly; clearly, they often fought side by side.
I had just finished fighting the first three, and my strength had not yet recovered. This battle was difficult. They forced me off the bluestone platform and drove me into the open ground.
The hammer-wielding demon attacked from the front, while the spear-wielding demon circled behind me for sneak attacks. After blocking two combined assaults, my arms began to ache. The spiritual energy in my dantian felt as though it had been drained dry, circulating ever more slowly.
The spirit beast suddenly rushed forward and opened its mouth, spraying out a beam of golden light. The light did not harm them, but it made their vision blur. I seized the chance and slashed at the joint in the hammer demon's shoulder armor, throwing half his body off balance. Then I spun and swept my blade. The spear tip brushed past the corner of my clothes, and I countered with a slash at his wrist.
Both of them retreated at once.
"We lost," the one with the spear said. "But more will come."
After they left, I leaned against the spirit beast and sat back down on the bluestone platform. My fingertips trembled slightly, and my forehead was drenched in sweat. I pulled out the Soul Protecting Dew from my storage pouch, opened it, and took a sip. A cool sensation slid down my throat, and my mind immediately cleared quite a bit.
The spirit beast lay beside me, breathing even more heavily than I was. Its golden markings had dimmed considerably. Clearly, that battle had drained much of its strength.
**
There was another disturbance in the distance.
Three figures stood at the edge of the woods without entering. One of them pointed at me and said something, and the other two nodded. They neither left nor moved, as though waiting for others.
[Area Attention: 32%] [Signs of group assembly detected. Recommend raising alert level.]
I ignored it and closed my eyes to regulate my breathing. Ten breaths later, I opened them. The spiritual energy inside me had barely recovered to thirty percent.
**
Another one came.
This time, it was an independent cultivator in an old Daoist robe, holding a rusty sword. He entered and cupped his hands in salute. "Senior defeated the Earth Splitting Rhinoceros in one battle. This junior has come especially to seek guidance."
"I'm not a senior," I said. "Nor am I some expert."
"But you won."
"Winning doesn't mean I'm strong."
"But at least it proves you're worth challenging."
After saying that, he raised his sword and thrust at me.
I no longer held back. I directly unleashed the third revolution of the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Art, pouring spiritual energy into my blade. Flowing Abyss hummed, and its edge traced an arc through the air, knocking his sword flying.
He stood there in a daze.
"You can leave now."
He bent down, picked up his sword, lowered his head, and withdrew from the valley.
**
The seventh, the eighth, the ninth...
I did not know how many people came. Some left after fighting, while others asked, "Who exactly are you?" before they left. More said nothing at all; they fought, then retreated.
The sun gradually sank westward, and the light in the valley dimmed. My clothes were already soaked through with sweat. Every breath pulled at the pain in my chest. My dantian was empty, and I was holding on solely with Calming Heart and Concentrating Spirit Pills and Soul Protecting Dew.
The spirit beast was tired too. It lay there without moving, and even its ears no longer twitched.
**
The final group consisted of three young demons who had come together. They stood at the mouth of the valley and looked at one another. One of them stepped forward. "We're not here to seize treasure. We just want to know how you did it."
"Did what?"
"How you managed to win so many fights while injured."
"Because I can't lose," I said. "Once I lose, this place will no longer be mine."
They fell silent for a while, then turned and left.
**
The valley grew quiet.
I sat on the bluestone platform, gripping the last medicine bottle in my hand. The bottle itself no longer held any warmth, yet my fingertips slowly warmed. The mark between my brows grew faintly hot, as though something were awakening.
There were still figures moving in the distant woods, but no one entered again.
I knew they were still watching.
I also knew that more people would come tomorrow.
**
The spirit beast suddenly lifted its head and sniffed.
I sensed it too.
From the southeast, a new aura was approaching. It was moving quickly—not on foot, but riding the wind.
I slowly rose to my feet and placed the empty bottle into my storage pouch.
The blade was still in its sheath, but my hand was already resting on it.
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