Deep in the seldom-trodden mountains of the Southern Wilds lay a nameless valley strewn with jagged rocks.
More than a dozen travel-worn Spirit Tamers with formidable auras and the look of rogue cultivators rode Wind-Thunder Beasts, Spirit Wolves, Blazing Mountain Tigers, Thunder Drum Lions, and other spirit creatures along a rugged mountain path. Before long, they turned onto a hidden, winding trail. After following it for another dozen zhang, the view suddenly opened up.
They finally crested the ridge and spotted the figure they had been tracking for so long, not far ahead.
"We found him! Prepare for battle!"
The man in the lead shouted, vigilance and tension showing on his face.
The others drew weapons and magical artifacts, activated talismanic scripts, and summoned spirit creatures.
For a moment, lights of every color flared. As spirit creature manifestations appeared one after another, a small army numbering dozens, perhaps a hundred, took shape.
All of them seemed to have reached at least the ninth transformation of the Human Rank. Their two leaders were somewhat renowned outlaw experts, one at the third transformation of the Earth Rank and the other at the second transformation.
As rogue cultivators, they habitually made their living licking blood from the edge of a blade. This time, the Black Market had hired them and even paid a substantial deposit in advance, nearly matching the combined rewards of numerous past hunting missions.
Seeing that the intelligence was accurate and that they had found their target deep in these ancient mountain forests, they could not help growing excited. They completely forgot the possible dangers, intent only on capturing or killing him in exchange for a fortune vast enough to blot out the sky, one that would utterly transform their rootless, destitute lives.
Yet the man they had found remained