Somewhere in the Small World
Within the forest, a large camp was set up.
Long Yifan looked at Long Chen and asked darkly, "Still not found?"
Long Chen replied politely, "No, we have searched everywhere, but this small world is very big. It is difficult to cover every area."
Long Yifan was irritated, but he still kept his mind cool and asked, "What is the progress of the Soul Stone? Have you found any inheritance clues?"
Long Chen was pleased at the question and replied immediately, as if he had been waiting for this opportunity.
"Yes, we found a large Soul Stone mine in that direction. We also found a clue to the inheritance, but it seems we were a bit late, and the news has already spread to others. There is a barrier surrounding the inheritance, and by our calculations, it should open within three years!"
Long Yifan nodded, pleased with the news. For someone like him, who had cultivated for around 60 years, waiting for three years was no big deal—especially when this inheritance might last for 10–15 years straight.
He murmured, "It was a good idea to spread our people in different directions to create a proper map of this place. I can't imagine the difficulty those without maps must be facing! Even though this map is still incomplete, as we haven't discovered many regions due to lack of manpower, it is still good enough for now. Without this map, we couldn't even determine a proper direction in this ghost place."
He looked at Long Chen and said, "Continue the search for that young lady."
Long Chen nodded and left. He too was a Warrior from the Spirit Dragon Clan, the son of an elder. He was already in his 80s and had reached rank 4 peak stage. He was one of Long Yifan's loyal followers.
Unlike the real world, where everyone is familiar with the environment and has many maps to help with directions, people in this place faced many problems in finding their way. The only way to determine direction was by using the flow of rivers. Generally, rivers flow from mountains to the ocean. So, if one went in the opposite direction of the river's flow, they would enter deeper into the landmass.
Shadow Phoenix Sect's Camp
Huang Weimin looked at the newcomer. "Is the news true?"
Huang Yulan replied in a serious tone, "Yes, young master. We found the true inheritance, but it will take three years to open."
Huang Weimin looked at her and nodded. "Keep looking for the Soul Stones. They are very important."
Soul Stones help in improving Soul Cultivation, thereby raising the grade of the Spiritual Imprint. As Soul Cultivation increases, the grade of the Spiritual Imprint also improves. They are much rarer compared to Spirit Stones.
At a certain place in the forest
A young man was standing atop a tree, covered in clothes made of leaves. He had made a tent-like structure there and was scanning everything.
Li Gang murmured, "It seems I slept longer than before. With Wang Xueyao, I couldn't keep my guard down, and I barely slept properly in the last year. I don't know how much time has passed."
One loses their sense of time when they sleep: one hour may seem like a day, one minute like hours, or even the reverse.
He looked around and thought, 'The beasts are as usual. I should hunt some rank 4s; their cores would sell for plenty. It would also help me overcome my fear of death!'
As he thought this, he immediately started scheming to catch an Iron Rhino. It was a rank 4 early-stage beast that lived a few miles from his location, known for its incredible strength. Li Gang spent a few days tracking its usual path.
Eventually, he reached a particular location the Rhino often visited. Li Gang immediately started digging a pit, placing fresh flesh over it and hiding it with leaves. He also set a few traps, carved from sharp wooden stakes that he hid beneath the cover.
"This won't be enough to harm it. An Iron Rhino's defense is too tough—it may only leave a few scratches."
As Li Gang murmured, he took out a pouch and smeared Viper's Kiss over each of the pointed edges. Considering the Iron Rhino's rank 4 cultivation, he also added some of it into the flesh bait.
After making arrangements, Li Gang left the area and returned to his camp, watching from above to track the Rhino's movements.
A few hours later, the Rhino fell into the trap, but unfortunately, it didn't eat the flesh.
Li Gang observed and murmured, "It's a pity. But it doesn't matter. Plans are never absolute. No plan in the world can be absolute unless you know the exact snapshot of the world. We must adapt to uncertainties and make changes accordingly."
With that thought, Li Gang immediately climbed a nearby tree and tracked the Rhino. He drew his Shadowleaf Bow and an arrow, tied the pouch to the arrow's tip, and aimed at the Rhino from a mile away.
With his sharp eyes, he could still see the Rhino's location. He thought, 'No matter how talented, I couldn't have learned archery to this level—to hit the Rhino from a mile away—in just 5–6 years of training. If it were within 500 meters, I could have targeted it accurately. But it doesn't matter. As long as the arrow lands within 20 meters of the Rhino, my goal will be achieved.'
With a resolute gaze, he fired. Within the blink of an eye, the arrow landed near the Iron Rhino's foot, and suddenly a huge smoke cloud burst forth. The Iron Rhino, startled, tried to run away, but it was too late—it had already inhaled a large amount of Venomheart Mist.
This poison could harm even rank 5 Warriors. That was why he regretted not using it against the Spiritfire Wolf. Even though it had no effect on the wolf, it would still have instinctively avoided it, giving Li Gang enough time to escape.
But the Iron Rhino was tenacious. Even poisoned, it immediately ran from the location. Seeing this, Li Gang frowned.
'Is my luck so bad? The one I hunt has to be an exceptionally healthy Iron Rhino. Still, I am patient enough to wait until the poison takes effect. My prey won't escape.'
Just as he was thinking this, a huge fireball struck the Iron Rhino, momentarily blinding it. In that instant, a young man with a spear pierced its neck. The Rhino thrashed violently in its final moments, leaving several shallow scratches across the warrior's leg before finally collapsing and dying.
The young man glanced in Li Gang's direction and called out,
"Thank you for helping me. It was wonderful to see a rank 2 ant trying to hunt a rank 4 beast!"
Li Gang was shocked by the sudden turn of events and broke into a cold sweat. 'It's over. I didn't even notice someone tracking me all this while! He must be at least a rank 3 Warrior—and judging by his crest, he's from the Spirit Dragon Clan.'
Li Gang didn't argue. "Since you killed it, it's yours. I'll leave now. Goodbye."
As Li Gang was leaving, Long Xuan stopped him immediately. "You are Li Gang, right?"
Covering a mile was nothing for a rank 3 Warrior; he approached Li Gang within seconds.An average rank 1 Warrior has a speed of 50 m/s, a rank 2 Warrior about 150 m/s, and rank 3 Warriors generally reach 250 m/s. These are only brute speeds. Using Secret Techniques, one could even triple that speed, though only for a short period.
Li Gang was surprised. "Do you know me?"
Long Xuan smiled. "Yes, young master ordered every one of our members to hunt you down. So, please die here."
Li Gang felt a chill run down his spine. "But I didn't do anything?"
Long Xuan nodded. "You're just unlucky to be her fiancé."
Li Gang immediately understood. 'It seems my commotion created a problem for me. Without hesitation, he knelt down.'
He was the first to enter the Monarch Inheritance alongwith Wang Xueyao. Due to this, he came into the eyes of many bigwigs.
"Please spare my life. I never even wanted to marry her. If your young master wants, he can have her. Just don't kill me. I can even be a slave to your young master if you spare me!" As he spoke, he grabbed one of Long Xuan's legs.
Long Xuan looked at him with disdain. "Do you think anyone could be a slave to our future clan leader? Someone like you—only rank 2—also deserves it?"
Li Gang looked at him with pitiful eyes and began shedding tears. "Please spare me!"
Long Xuan looked at him indifferently and drew his knife, but as he swung it, Li Gang dodged immediately.
Long Xuan was surprised. "You do have some skill."
He instantly closed in and started swinging again, but no matter what he did, somehow Li Gang dodged.
As the fight continued, Li Gang started gaining the advantage.
Long Xuan thought, 'How could this be? Why is he getting faster?'
Suddenly realization struck him. "No, he's not getting faster. I'm getting slower."
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "When? I'm sure I wasn't hit by any poison!"
Li Gang looked at him with disdain. "When you killed the Iron Rhino, its horn injured your legs. Even though they were just scratches, it was enough for the poison to enter your blood. You were too proud, and that became your weakness. You didn't dodge when I begged for mercy."
Normally, Li Gang would avoid meaningless chatters. But he has no intention of denying any opportunity of wasting time. The more time passes, the faster poison spreads within Long Xuan, and weaker he becomes!
Li Gang murmured inwardly. 'Pride is truly a poison more deadly than any venom I have in possession.'
Long Xuan's pride made him careless—he allowed Li Gang to clutch his leg. In that instant, Li Gang rubbed poison into the exposed flesh where the skin had been broken.
Long Xuan's eyes widened. "I don't believe that's enough."
Li Gang nodded. "I also secretly spread colorless and odorless poison around me as soon as I noticed you."
Long Xuan felt despair. "Who would have expected that I'd fall for such cheap tricks one day."
He suddenly lunged for a surprise attack, but at that moment, a knife slit his throat. His body fell to the ground. He died.
Li Gang looked at the knife, his hand shaking. The blade slipped from his grip and fell to the ground.
'I killed someone. Did I just kill a person?'
But he forced down his emotions. 'Don't think of it. Don't think about it. It was better to kill him—or else I'd be dead. This is a world without laws. Here, survival is the only rule. Don't regret such decisions.'
That night, he felt a strange mix of fear and resolve. Killing was not something he wished for—but accepting the harshness of this world made him feel… human, capable, and alive in a way he had never been before.
Long Xuan had wanted to kill him. Pity he didn't know Li Gang had built a habit over ten years. He never let his guard down. He observed his surroundings even when he appeared idle. He could multitask many things at once.