Enemies on a Narrow Road

Deep in a dense forest, Yang Que happily tucked away a bright red fruit. Beside him lay a Soul Beast he had beaten beyond recognition. The slight rise and fall of its body showed that it was still alive.

Yang Que glanced at the Soul Beast and said, "I told you I was strong. I wanted this thing, so why didn't you just give it to me? Why did you have to fight me? Sigh. What was the point?"

When the Soul Beast saw Yang Que looking its way, it shuffled backward in terror.

Yang Que curled his lip. "Sigh. Boring!"

Over the past few days, Yang Que had followed the yellow dots marked on the map in search of treasure, and his haul had been considerable. He had gathered more than fifty Spirit Medicines alone, along with three Array Compasses. There were even more miscellaneous finds: books of recorded knowledge, manuals teaching array cultivation, and all sorts of other things.

The map had been well worth the 150,000 Gold Coins he had paid for it. He had come out far ahead.

Yang Que opened the map in his mind. The yellow markers had dwindled to about a third of their original number. After all, he was not the only one finding opportunities. Great numbers of Soul Masters had poured into the Ruins, so plenty of treasures were bound to fall into other hands. There was nothing he could do about that.

As he studied the map, Yang Que noticed that it was not only the yellow dots that had dwindled. Even the red dots marking danger had decreased by roughly a fifth.

Yang Que rubbed his chin. By the system's definition, every red dot marked a place with enough power to threaten a Soul Ancestor at minimum. Now a