The air on the outskirts of the barrier was thick with tension, smelling faintly of ozone and impending violence. At the center of the gathering, the Red-Faced Elder—a cultivator of the terrifying Hua Ying Realm—summoned the surrounding warriors. Like moths drawn to a particularly dangerous flame, the Yuan Dan Realm practitioners clustered around him, their expressions a mix of reverence and avarice.
They formed a tight circle, heads bowed in conspiracy.
"You all heard the exchange earlier," the Elder's voice was a low growl, vibrating with suppressed rage. "You know the grudge I hold against that Demon General."
He scanned the faces of the mercenaries and sect disciples before him. "I don't care about your alliances. I don't care which faction you hail from or how many petty squads you've formed. My offer is simple: help me eradicate that Demon General, and I will make it worth your while."
A warrior in the late Yuan Dan stage stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. "Define 'worth our while,' Senior. We're risking our lives here."
"The reward is substantial," the Elder declared, raising his voice so the back rows could hear. "Bring me his corpse. Do that, and the killer receives a top-tier magical artifact, ten bottles of Cloud-Descending Pills, and two hundred thousand medium-grade Spirit Stones."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. The sheer volume of wealth promised was staggering.
"Top-tier artifacts? Ten bottles of breakthrough pills?" One warrior clicked his tongue, doing the mental math. "That's enough to fund a sect for a year. Senior, you aren't jesting with us?"
"I am a Hua Ying powerhouse," the Elder snapped, his red face darkening further. "Do you think I have the patience to deceive juniors? To you, these resources are life-changing. To me, they are merely pocket change." He paused, letting the insult sink in, then softened his tone slightly. "If my own disciples weren't in secluded cultivation, I wouldn't need outsiders. But they are absent, and I want this done."
His eyes gleamed with a cruel light. "And when you kill him, ensure the body is intact. I intend to stew him in a soup."
"Consider it done, Senior," a warrior said, puffing out his chest.
"Don't be arrogant," the Elder warned. "That brat blocked one of my strikes earlier. It means he has tricks up his sleeve, or at the very least, his physical defense is monstrous."
The warriors nodded, though the greed in their eyes didn't dim. They had seen Luo Zhen's durability, but numbers were a quality of their own.
"Defense means nothing against a swarm," someone muttered. "We'll rush him. Grind him down."
A few hundred yards away, Luo Zhen sat motionless on a flat rock. To the casual observer, he appeared to be meditating, oblivious to the plotting. In reality, his bloodline—which had already ascended to the Saint Tier—granted him senses far beyond the mortal coil. He heard every whisper, every boast, and every murderous intent carried on the wind.
Soup? Luo Zhen thought, a cold sneer touching his lips. They want to turn me into broth?
He didn't open his eyes. He simply adjusted his breathing, cycling his energy. Let them come. They don't have the teeth for this hunt.
Two hours passed in this heavy silence.
Eventually, the roster was full. Every Demon General and Yuan Dan warrior holding a jade entry token had arrived. The latecomers were quickly briefed on the bounty, and soon, dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on Luo Zhen. They didn't see a living being; they saw a walking treasury.
Sensing the mounting hostility, the other Demon Generals subtly shifted away from Luo Zhen, creating a wide berth to avoid becoming collateral damage in the inevitable crossfire.
At the barrier's edge, the five Demon Kings and five Hua Ying human experts stepped forward. It was time.
Ten pillars of light erupted from their hands, slamming into the shimmering invisible wall of the array. The ground shook with a rhythmic, muffled booming sound, like a heartbeat accelerating. The light curtain trembled, warping and twisting until it finally tore open, revealing a gate-like rift.
Through the tear, the Secret Realm beckoned. It was a stark contrast to the barren wasteland outside—lush, green, and pulsating with a density of spiritual energy that was visible to the naked eye.
"The Realm is open," the Green Wolf King announced, his voice projecting over the crowd. "Proceed in order. But first, the rules."
He grinned, exposing sharp teeth. "The rule is: there are no rules. Inside, you are gods or corpses. It is your choice."
"Furthermore," he added, "the portal closes in exactly one month. It will not open again for thirty years. If you don't want to spend the next three decades rotting in there, watch your time."
No one moved to return their tokens. The danger was irrelevant. In the world of cultivation, risk was just the price of admission for power. Ego dictated that everyone believed they would be the hunter, never the prey.
One by one, the figures blurred as they dashed through the rift.
Luo Zhen finally opened his eyes. He stood, dusted off his robes, and stepped through the portal.
The transition was instantaneous. The dry air was replaced by a humid, oxygen-rich breeze that smelled of ancient pine and wet earth. He stood on the edge of a boundless prairie, bordered by trees so massive their canopies seemed to brush the sky. He took a deep breath, feeling the dense spiritual energy flood his meridians. It was intoxicating.
Behind him, the shimmering air deposited more cultivators. As soon as they materialized, they fractured into squads, scattering toward the horizon.
However, a group of five human warriors didn't run. They stood their ground, locking eyes with Luo Zhen.
Luo Zhen offered them a faint, mocking smile. With a flick of his powerful tail, he launched himself forward, vanishing into the tall grass with terrifying speed.
"He's running! Chase him!" the leader of the group shouted.
Fifteen minutes later.
Luo Zhen skidded to a halt in a secluded clearing surrounded by rocky outcrops. He turned slowly, watching the five human warriors burst into the clearing, panting but triumphant. Seeing him stop, they fanned out, encircling him.
Luo Zhen looked them over, unimpressed. "You five are certainly in a rush to reincarnate."
"Big talk for a walking corpse," the warrior to his left spat, drawing a serrated broadsword. "The Red-Faced Elder pays well. Today, you die."
"Attacking together is the only way you'll survive," Luo Zhen noted dryly.
"Kill him!"
There was no honor here, no one-on-one duels. All five struck simultaneously. Sword beams, saber lights, and blasts of concussive force converged on Luo Zhen's position.
BOOM.
The earth shattered. A cloud of dust and pulverized rock ballooned outward, obscuring everything. The warriors lowered their weapons, smirking.
"That was easier than expected," one laughed. "So much for the 'tough defense.'"
The leader, however, frowned. He gripped his sword tighter. "Stay focused. That monster took a hit from a Hua Ying expert. A little dust doesn't mean he's dead."
"If he's not dead, we hit him again," another scoffed. "We are five late-stage Yuan Dan masters. He is one mid-stage Demon General. The math is simple."
"The math," a calm voice echoed from within the dust cloud, "is wrong."
A silhouette emerged from the haze. Luo Zhen stepped out, a faint green barrier of energy flickering around his skin. He wasn't just alive; he was pristine. Not a single scratch marred his scales.
"Damn snake," the leader cursed, his knuckles whitening.
"You've had your turn," Luo Zhen said, his voice dropping an octave. "Now, it is mine."
He raised his hand, and the Thunder Cloud Blade materialized. The air in the clearing suddenly grew heavy, the scent of ozone spiking sharply.
Luo Zhen swung.
It wasn't a fancy technique. It was raw power amplified by a superior weapon. A twenty-meter crescent of blue lightning ripped through the air, screaming like a banshee.
Two of the warriors didn't even have time to scream. The blade energy washed over them, vaporizing their defensive auras and reducing their bodies to mist and fragments. The ground beneath them was gouged into a smoking trench.
"What..." The remaining three froze, their brains unable to process the violence they had just witnessed.
"Top-tier artifact?" one stammered, terror seizing his limbs. "He has a top-tier artifact!"
Luo Zhen didn't give them time to re-evaluate their life choices. He pivoted, the momentum of the first strike feeding into a second.
Another wave of electric blue death swept across the clearing.
CRACK-BOOM.
The silence that followed was deafening. Where five confident warriors had stood, there was now only scorched earth and silence.
Luo Zhen walked among the remains, indifferent to the carnage. He gathered the leather pouches and weapons left behind. He peered into the bags.
"Low-grade Spirit Stones," he muttered, shaking his head. "Absolute paupers."
He activated his internal System, recycling the stones and the subpar weapons for resources. Waste not, want not.
With the nuisance dealt with, Luo Zhen pushed deeper into the Secret Realm.
The array prevented his System from generating a map, which meant he was flying blind. But in a place like this, navigation was simple: follow the energy. He closed his eyes, sensing the flow of Qi in the atmosphere, and turned toward a dense concentration of power to the east.
He moved like a phantom, weaving through a forest where the trees were thick enough to house small villages.
Soon, he spotted a glow. Nestled in the roots of a massive oak was a crimson fruit, radiating a soft, pulsating light. The Vermilion Sun Fruit.
Standing guard were three humans. They spotted Luo Zhen at the exact moment he spotted the fruit.
"It's him!" one shouted, eyes lighting up with greed. "The bounty!"
"Jackpot! First the fruit, now the snake!"
They charged, screaming battle cries that sounded more like desperate pleas for wealth.
Luo Zhen didn't even slow down. The Thunder Cloud Blade flashed twice.
Thwip. Thwip.
Two distinct lines of lightning dissected the air. The shouts were cut short, replaced by the wet thud of bodies hitting the forest floor. It was clinical, efficient, and brutal.
Luo Zhen stepped over the corpses and plucked the red fruit.
System Scan.
[Item: Vermilion Sun Fruit]
[Grade: High-Grade Spirit Medicine]
[Attribute: Fire]
[Effect: Potent fire energy absorption.]
"High grade. Not bad," Luo Zhen mused.
Most cultivators would need to boil this in a cauldron or take days to meditate on it, carefully extracting the volatile energy. Luo Zhen, however, possessed the constitution of a monster and the digestive aid of a System.
He tossed the fruit into his mouth and crunched down.
It tasted like burning sugar. A torrent of liquid fire slid down his throat, threatening to incinerate his stomach lining. But before the pain could register, his body broke it down, converting the volatile magic into raw Experience Points.
He patted his stomach, satisfied, and looted the bodies.
An hour later, Luo Zhen found himself perched on a high ridge overlooking a misty ravine.
Below, a chaotic battle was reaching its bloody conclusion. Two squads—one human, one demon—were tearing each other apart over a single, pale green lotus floating in a dark pool.
Explosions of Qi rocked the canyon walls. Limbs were severed; spells were cast. It was a meat grinder.
Luo Zhen activated his Stealth ability, fading from view. He sat on a boulder, watching the violence with the detached interest of a theater critic.
Thirty minutes later, the silence returned.
The demons were dead. The humans were dead—save for one. A middle-aged man, bloodied and gasping for air, stood amidst the carnage. He was missing an ear, and his left arm hung uselessly by his side, but he was alive.
"I... I did it," the man wheezed, a manic grin stretching across his face. "The Green Lotus is mine!"
He stumbled toward the pool, his eyes fixed on the prize. He reached out, his trembling fingers inches from the petals.
He never touched it.
A blade of condensed flame materialized from thin air above him. With a simple, downward chop, it sheared through his neck.
The man's head slid off his shoulders. His body collapsed into the water, staining the pristine pool red.
Luo Zhen shimmered back into existence behind the corpse. The attack had broken his stealth, but there was no one left to see him.
"Sloppy," Luo Zhen critiqued the dead man. "Never drop your guard until the prize is in your pocket."
He plucked the Green Lotus. It was a Top-Grade medicine—a rare find worth killing for. He washed the blood off the petals in the stream, popped the flower into his mouth, and swallowed it whole.
Another massive influx of Experience Points flooded his system.
He quickly stripped the battlefield of valuables, feeding the System the scrap and pocketing the medium-grade stones.
He was just finishing up when a flash of white light in the distance caught his peripheral vision. It was moving incredibly fast, bounding over roots and rocks.
"A rabbit?" Luo Zhen blinked.
Suddenly, a mob of nearly twenty warriors and demons burst out of the treeline, chasing the white blur. They were screaming, tripping over each other in a frenzy.
"Don't let it escape!"
"Cut it off! It's the Spirit Ginseng!"
"It's taken human form! Catch it!"
Luo Zhen stood up, his eyes widening as the realization hit him. A Spirit Ginseng that had cultivated long enough to grow legs and run?
That wasn't just medicine. That was a ticket to the next realm.
Luo Zhen grinned, his predatory instincts flaring to life. "Now that... that looks delicious."