What Grudge Do You Have Against Me?

Bursting out of the hut, Jiang Beiran's expression changed. He discovered that the rolling black smoke had nearly completely obscured his vision, leaving him somewhat dazed. He had thought the mine pit had exploded, but now it looked more like someone was setting the mountain ablaze!?

After thinking it over briefly, Jiang Beiran hurried back into the hut and took out a wet towel. The smoke was simply too thick. If he rashly charged into it, he feared he would choke to death before he could escape down the mountain.

Covering his mouth and nose with the wet towel, Jiang Beiran gave no further thought to anything else and began sprinting downhill!

Shielded by the rolling black smoke, Jiang Beiran made his way down the mountain without encountering a single overseer.

Had they all gone to fight the fire?

Though he did not know why things had turned out this way, it did not stop Jiang Beiran's mood from improving by the moment, nor did it stop his steps from growing lighter and swifter. Choosing the simplest option really could not go wrong. He was finally going to escape this godforsaken place.

Yet just as Jiang Beiran broke through layer after layer of unguarded checkpoints and was about to reach the foot of the mountain, he suddenly ran headlong into a brute hurrying along with a great saber slung over his shoulder.

The brute froze for a moment, then bellowed, "You dog! You actually want to run!?"

My life is over!

Looking at that gleaming great saber, Jiang Beiran did not even know how to dodge. He could only clutch his head and squat down, his heart already reduced to ashes.

One second... two seconds... three seconds passed. After cursing the system several times in his heart for being utterly pitfall-ridden, Jiang Beiran realized that he seemed to have... not been slashed?

Swallowing hard, Jiang Beiran gathered his courage and looked up. He saw that the brute holding the great saber now had a huge hole in his chest. After coughing up several mouthfuls of blood, the brute's eyes flew wide open and he collapsed to the ground.

Dead... dead!?

Jiang Beiran was not the least bit afraid of corpses. After all, over the past two months, he had seen far too many in the mine pit, and all of them had died far more miserably than this brute before him.

What shocked him was why a perfectly fine brute had just dropped dead without warning.

"Young brother, are you all right?"

Just as Jiang Beiran did not know what to do, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, startling him so badly that he nearly dropped onto his backside.

"Who!?" Jiang Beiran shouted as he turned around, only to see a man in white standing behind him with a smile.

He had black shiny straight hair, slanted sharp sword eyebrows, slender sharp black eyes, thin thin lips pressed together, sharp features, and a tall sturdy build that was not at all rough. His entire bearing radiated heroic aura.

At the same time, three options appeared before Jiang Beiran.

[Option One: Shout, "Don't come any closer!" Completion reward: Blazing Fire Dragon's Roar (Yellow Rank High Grade)]

[Option Two: Turn and continue rushing downhill. Completion reward: Thirteen Section Chain Spear (Yellow Low Grade)]

[Option Three: Shout, "Great Hero, save me!" Completion reward: Random Basic Skill Point +1]

Without any hesitation, Jiang Beiran chose the third option and cried out with vivid emotion, "Great Hero... save me!"

Combined with his smoke-reddened eyes and the streaks of tears smeared with dust, Jiang Beiran looked as pitiful as could be.

Seeing Jiang Beiran call for help so decisively, the man in white was taken aback. After all, he had just killed someone right in front of Jiang Beiran. In the past, most youths he had rescued would repeatedly retreat while screaming, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

That was why he had deliberately forced out a smile, afraid of startling Jiang Beiran. But now, it seemed that the youth before him had far more courage than he had imagined.

"Good. I'll take you down the mountain now." With that, the man in white stepped forward, hoisted Jiang Beiran onto his shoulder, and ran downhill.

Only after Jiang Beiran had been settled down did he gradually learn the full story.

The man in white who had saved him was named Lu Bogui, a disciple of the Returning Heart Sect. This time, he had brought several junior brothers and junior sisters down the mountain to carry out a trial mission. The mission was to wipe out the black mine on Lingmao Peak.

However, the junior brothers he had brought were far too arrogant. Thinking that everyone on the mountain was merely ordinary folk, they had not informed Lu Bogui, the Iron Seal responsible for leading them, and had charged up Lingmao Peak on their own. Once the overseers discovered them, they immediately activated the Mountain Defense Formation, setting the entire mountain ablaze.

According to Lu Bogui, this Mountain Defense Formation was exceedingly vicious. Its primary purpose was not to resist foreign enemies, but to burn every trace on the mountain to ashes so that no investigator could uncover anything.

Hearing this, Jiang Beiran could not help feeling a chill down his spine. If he had chosen to remain in his room or go fight the fire back then, he would probably be at least 90% cooked by now.

After another string of choices to choose simplest option, Jiang Beiran successfully entered the Returning Heart Sect under Lu Bogui's recommendation. From then on, he finally had a place to stay.

Putting away his memories, Jiang Beiran said with feeling, "If not for Senior Apprentice Brother Lu back then, I probably would have died on Lingmao Peak long ago."

Lu Bogui smiled and shook his head. "It was this senior brother's fault for bringing up unpleasant memories. I'll punish myself with a drink."

Watching Lu Bogui drain the Cold Spring Wine before him in one gulp, Jiang Beiran picked up the cloth bag in front of him and said, "Senior Brother, you've truly spent too much on me."

"You're being polite with your senior brother again. Tell me, shouldn't you punish yourself with a drink?"

"Yes, I should. I should." Smiling, Jiang Beiran also drained a cup of Cold Spring Wine in one gulp.

"Hurry and open it. See whether you like it."

"Anything Senior Brother gives me, I'll definitely like." As Jiang Beiran spoke, he opened the cloth bag and took out a round copper mirror with a protrusion in the middle.

"This is... a Heart Protecting Mirror!?" Jiang Beiran exclaimed in delight.

"Yes, though it's not high quality. It's only Superior Grade, so make do with it for now. The next time I visit Lu Family Village, I'll see whether I can get you a better one."

"What are you saying, Senior Brother? A Superior Grade Heart Protecting Mirror is already very good. I'm almost too embarrassed to accept it."

After arriving at the Returning Heart Sect, Jiang Beiran finally understood why those missions whose rewards were Yellow Grade Martial Arts or weapons had been so brutally difficult. It was because, in this world called the Profound Dragon Continent, Yellow Grade referred to Dharma Treasures that already possessed spirituality. They were treasures ordinary people could not even dream of, and some low-level sects would even use them as their sect's treasure.

When Jiang Beiran first learned this, he truly wanted to drag the system out and ask what grudge it had against him to keep trying to screw him to death.

The Heaven Earth Black Yellow four grades of Dharma Treasures were simply too high-end. Forget ordinary people being unable to afford them—even young disciples of some major sects could not afford them.

Thus, beneath Heaven Earth Black Yellow, there were also weapons and armor forged by famous craftsmen. From lowest to highest, they were Mortal Grade, good grade, Superior Grade, Ultimate Grade, and Peerless Grade.

And Superior Grade was already considered quite a good treasure. For sect disciples to give one as a gift could absolutely be called lavish generosity.

"Don't say that. The reason this senior brother gave you this Heart Protecting Mirror is partly to thank you. That bottle of Lingering Fragrance Pills you gave me last time had excellent effect. Did you really refine them yourself?"

"Yes." Jiang Beiran nodded without concealing anything.

"Then Junior Brother, you truly are gifted beyond compare. How about I introduce you to Velvet Grass Hall? You have no interest in practicing Martial Arts anyway. If you can achieve something in alchemy, your status may rise even faster than mine someday."