Inside the Cave Dwelling...
"Why are you bothering me again? I have not recovered yet, I cannot help you with another fight."
Yao Xian'er rolled her eyes as she watched Su Min sneak back into her hidden cave. Only about a year had passed since their last meeting, and yet here Su Min was again, disturbing her convalescence. Of course, Yao Xian'er knew exactly why she had returned.
Most likely, she had run into trouble while hunting those slippery Mahayana cultivators. Those beings might not be the absolute strongest, but they were undoubtedly the most cunning and evasive. Many had escaped from Yao Xian'er's grasp before. Even though she had now reached the late Mahayana stage, making her slightly stronger than her previous peak self, Mahayana was still Mahayana.
There were still inherent limitations to her power.
Just as a Dao Comprehension stage Su Min could not casually lift the legendary Five Elements Mountain, some things remained beyond even a Mahayana's grasp. If a Mahayana cultivator was truly determined to flee and avoid a fight, even Yao Xian'er would have to expend a tremendous amount of effort and resources to stop them.
"Remember the Fulu Mountain God? I killed him."
"...Huh?"
Yao Xian'er froze completely, her expression shifting from mild annoyance to sheer disbelief.
"That guy was not just fused with Fulu Mountain, he had merged his core consciousness with the continent's primary earth veins themselves. Back then, I finally tracked him down after a long hunt, but the bastard just ran away without even fighting me. He was a coward, but an unkillable one."
"Tch."
Su Min rolled her eyes, feeling a sense of vindication. Good thing she had severed his earth vein escape route in their very first encounter. Otherwise, history would have repeated itself.
"How did you even manage to kill him?"
Yao Xian'er was genuinely, deeply curious. No matter how strong Su Min was, if the opponent refused to engage and simply fled, killing them was nearly impossible. Yet Su Min had done it, and in a relatively short time. So she briefly recounted her experience, from infiltrating the sacrificial process to destroying the life gate. By the time she finished, Yao Xian'er's eyes had widened in a mix of shock and amusement.
"You actually crawled through a dog hole meant for sacrificial children?"
"That was no ordinary dog hole! It was a tactical infiltration. If I had not crippled his escape route first, I might not have caught him at all. He would have vanished into the earth."
Su Min shuddered at the thought. If she had not preemptively cut off his retreat, the Mountain God would have bolted at the first sign of real trouble, without any hesitation. No matter how insane and chaotic these dark creatures acted, once they reached the Mahayana stage, they were all cunning survivors at their core. If they were not, they would never have made it this far. This time, she had simply gotten lucky, stumbling upon his life gate by chance.
But what about the next one?
Su Min was completely in the dark about the others' weaknesses.
At best, she would waste her time and effort.
At worst, she would walk into a trap and get ambushed.
"Do you know anything about the life gates of the other six?" Su Min's eyes gleamed with a cold, calculating light.
"If I knew, they would already be dead," Yao Xian'er retorted flatly. "Those guys clawed their way up from shattered soul fragments, unlike those three Divine Beasts, who were just new wills born from corrupted bodies. Their foundations are completely different. Killing these self made fragment kings will not be easy."
"Damn," Su Min cursed under her breath.
"But don't worry too much," Yao Xian'er continued, her tone softening slightly. "As long as their total numbers stay below ten, no major calamity or dark upheaval will erupt. And now that you have killed one, the situation is not urgent yet. We have time."
"Fair enough," Su Min conceded. "Then, do you know where any Unity stage cultivators are hiding? I want to reach the late Unity stage first before dealing with the remaining Mahayana ones. Especially those mid to late Mahayana old monsters, I might not have an absolute advantage against them yet."
"That is trickier," Yao Xian'er admitted, frowning. "They are all hiding deep in the Dark Starry Sky, far from the continent, and their spiritual presence is deliberately faint due to their lower cultivation. They are like ghosts."
"Perfect. Then they are my new targets. Easy prey first. Once I reach late Unity, I will have a much better chance against the Mahayana ones."
A predatory, eager glint flashed in Su Min's eyes.
These Unity stage cultivators were ideal, simple, painless, and efficient sources of soul energy.
"Not a bad plan," Yao Xian'er agreed with a nod. "Back in the day, we also leveled up quickly by hunting these Unity stage Dark cultivators before taking on the bigger fish. Here," she said, materializing a glowing scroll, "an ancient star map of the Dark Starry Sky. It marks the areas we have explored and confirmed. But be warned," her voice turned serious, "never, ever approach this red zone. It is too close to Kong. Do not go there until you reach Mahayana, or even Ascension. That place is filled with ancient, unrecoverable corpses and lingering wills, and it is under His direct jurisdiction."
A detailed, holographic star map unfolded before Su Min, a vast tapestry of stars with a prominent, pulsating crimson region highlighted.
"Don't worry, I am not suicidal," Su Min assured her with a dry chuckle. She was not about to throw her life away on a reckless venture. "What about the Mahayana cultivators there? Would they enter that zone?"
"Their accumulated dark matter is not concentrated or pure enough to form stable anchors for the bigger threats, and they rely on it too heavily to leave the core resource zones for long," Yao Xian'er explained. "As for the rest, what lies within, that is His business. You do not need to worry about it yet. Just remember, you are on your own out there. Be careful."
With that final piece of advice and the star map secured, Su Min left Yao Xian'er to her recovery. True Mahayana cultivators did not appear or act easily, even on the Dark Continent. With one of the seven kings already eliminated, things should remain stable for a while. Now, her personal hunting season in the vast Dark Starry Sky would officially begin.
She knew this would be a long process, but it was still infinitely faster than grinding her way to late Unity through passive cultivation alone. If she relied solely on meditative cultivation, it would take her at least a thousand years, probably more.
That was far too slow.
Honestly, ever since reaching the Dao Comprehension stage, she had never advanced purely through quiet cultivation. It was always through fortuitous encounters, exploring secret realms, or consuming massive resources. And frankly, that was the norm for most high level cultivators nowadays. Pure, unassisted cultivation was a myth for the powerful. Soon after leaving the cave, Su Min arrived at the outer edge of the Dark Continent and unfolded the intricate star map.
Finding those Unity stage cultivators was both easy and hard.
The main issue was their hiding spots.
They needed to stay relatively near living planets, because they required a steady supply of sacrificial offerings, beings with soul fragments, to devour and maintain their strength. Since they did not dare approach the resource rich but dangerous Dark Continent, they lurked in the galactic backwaters, preying on isolated worlds.
As for the forbidden red zone?
No chance any would be there.
That place had no ordinary lifeforms to farm, and any Dark cultivator who entered would be torn apart by the chaotic energies or the entities that called it home.
"Let us see, the nearest life bearing planet is about one light year away," she mused, tracing a path on the map. "Size wise, using old Earth as a reference, its diameter is about twice as large. A decent sized planet teeming with life. Perfect, I will start there."
With her target selected, Su Min plunged into the starry void. One light year was nothing to a Unity stage cultivator with a good star map. Once she locked onto the coordinates, the journey took no time at all. Her logic was sound, if there was a living planet with soul fragments, there would undoubtedly be Dark cultivators lurking nearby, slowly "farming" it like a crop. The ordinary people on these planets were likely safe for the most part, those cultivators had no interest in them. But if you possessed a soul fragment or significant spiritual potential?
You were nothing more than food, being raised for the slaughter.
Soon, Su Min arrived at her destination, a beautiful, pale blue planet hanging in the void.
"Now this looks normal. A proper, stable star, and the life signals here are not bad, probably over a billion inhabitants. Not as densely populated as Earth was, but decent for a world in the Dark Starry Sky. A planet like this must have something hiding in it, feeding on it."
Observing the world below, Su Min's eyes gleamed with anticipation. After a moment's thought, she descended through the atmosphere, masking her presence completely. Technically, she could just blow up the planet from orbit. For a Unity stage cultivator, planet busting was not particularly hard. But that would not necessarily solve the problem. She did not know what kind of predator lurked here, or where its true body was. Even if she destroyed the planet, the target might survive in the void. Besides, most of the life here was innocent. She was not a mass murderer. She could not bring herself to do it, the karma and mental burden would be too great.
On the Planet's Surface...
"As expected, this place resembles a pre industrial, ancient Earth. Farming, weaving, simple metallurgy, and zero traces of a formal cultivation society."
With her current soul power, Su Min could have scanned the entire planet effortlessly, but that would be too conspicuous, like lighting a beacon. So she only swept a small, controlled area, ensuring even a hidden Mahayana cultivator would not detect her probe. The society here was roughly at the steam era technological level, with almost no cultivators in sight. Only one or two individuals stood out, their souls glowing faintly to her senses.
"Let us see, not completely empty. Ah, found one, a child."
Thanks to absorbing and refining so many soul fragments, Su Min was now highly sensitive to their unique presence. Her target was a seven or eight year old boy, living a simple life, but his body housed a large, dormant soul fragment.
Perfect bait.
With that identified, Su Min fully infiltrated the planet, observing the boy's daily life while quietly waiting for two things, his eventual awakening and the predators it would inevitably attract. Learning from her fight with the Fulu Mountain God, she had decided against a brute force approach here. Instead, she would let the process happen, approach through the sacrificial channels, sever their escape routes once identified, and then strike. She was also curious, what was a native Dark Starry Sky born cultivator actually like?
The previous feast with the Mountain God could not serve as a proper reference, it had been too rushed and chaotic.
Time Passed...
Su Min lurked in the shadows for weeks, patiently watching the boy. She had no intention of interfering to save him, Dark Continent cultivators and their victims were not worth saving in her eyes. As expected, the boy finally awakened around age twelve. The fundamental mismatch between his powerful, foreign soul and his immature body triggered an urgent, ravenous craving for spiritual energy, driving him to advance rapidly. In such cases, the parents were usually the first, most accessible victims.
But Su Min was watching. She had no particular interest in witnessing a familial tragedy unfold. So the moment the boy awakened, before he could turn on his family, she subtly tossed him a piece of purified spiritual meat. The condition was similar to newly turned demons in the stories from her old world, an insatiable hunger for souls, nearly impossible to resist. She wondered how he would react after regaining a sliver of control and rationality.
Thus, as an experiment, she gave him a small, purified soul fragment scrap, leftovers from her earlier harvest. Aside from the Fulu Mountain God's massive core fragment, she had plenty of these smaller, weaker ones, too insignificant for her to bother absorbing fully. This was the perfect test subject.
As predicted, the boy, driven by instinct, devoured the fragment without hesitation. The effect was immediate and dramatic. In just one day, he went from an ordinary child to a full Qi Refining stage cultivator. If anyone from the Heavenly Continent saw this progression speed, their eyes would pop out of their sockets. Even the fastest recorded progression there had taken a full year under perfect conditions.
"Some humanity remains, but not much," Su Min observed, her interest piqued.
After satisfying his ravenous spiritual hunger, the boy seemed to regain a degree of rationality. To her slight surprise, he chose not to attack his parents. Instead, he left them a note and vanished into the city. That very night, his heightened senses detected another soul fragment inside a sleeping infant in a nearby house. His hunger returning, he lunged to bite the child.
But this time, he failed.
A group of armored figures, wearing special energy restraining suits, burst in and captured him with efficient, practiced movements.
The planet's true rulers had revealed themselves.
The Church of Light.
"Ordinary humans, yet they can capture a Qi Refining cultivator so easily?" Su Min narrowed her eyes, analyzing their equipment. "Must be those Earth grade armors powered by special spiritual cores. Even mortals can use them to fight. Fully equipped, they can match a Qi Refining cultivator."
This Church of Light was immediately suspicious.
They specialized in hunting so called "Fallen Ones," the local term for those who awakened with soul fragments, and they even possessed spatial deployment technology far beyond the planet's steam era level, allowing for rapid response anywhere. Since they were too far from her initial scan area, Su Min had not noticed them earlier. To avoid alerting her real prey, she had only scanned a small area, and it was one without a strong Church presence.
But now that they had appeared, she could easily guess what was happening. Sure enough, the boy was dragged to the Church's local branch, a grand cathedral, and after a brief, ritualistic interrogation, he was placed on a central altar for a public sacrifice to their "God of Light."
Watching from the rafters, Su Min smirked.
"Oh? Playing the "self sacrifice to a higher power" game, are we?"
This was a familiar tactic, one she knew how to counter perfectly. The "god" was undoubtedly the Dark cultivator, and the Church was its harvesting organization.
Quietly, she took out a walnut sized, intricately carved artifact and, in a blur of motion, slipped it inside the boy's clothing before he was secured to the altar.
[Heaven and Earth Locket (Earth grade low tier artifact): Contains a tiny, stable pocket dimension capable of sustaining life for a short period.]
The key difference between simple spatial storage artifacts and true dimension containing treasures was the ability to hold living beings. Anything that could store life was incredibly valuable, even a low grade one. She attached it securely to the boy's back, hidden under his clothes, then licked her lips in anticipation as the chanting began.
Now, the real game began. It was hunting season.