Today was the day of inheritance.
I and Feng Xinyi woke up and went to the area where the inheritance was located. As we were heading there, others were too. There were at least thirty thousand cultivators in the D.E.C.F realm — Dark Energy Core Formation. Since it was easier to say, I just shortened every realm's name like that.
We reached the designated area, and I changed my appearance into that of a poor and weak person. Feng Xinyi saw that and felt disgusted. I ignored her reaction. That was exactly what I wanted. I wanted people to feel disgusted and look down on me. The weaker I looked, the less guarded others would be. Some would think of us as easy targets to rob, but not all — the smarter ones would think we were bait and stay away. Both outcomes were fine.
The area was now filled with millions of cultivators. We waited for about twenty minutes until only five minutes were left before the opening began. Two people appeared in front of the inheritance gate. They looked old, but their aura was far beyond that of D.E.C.F cultivators. There was no doubt — they were Nascent Soul realm experts.
"Today is the day of inheritance," one of them said. "Getting an inheritance doesn't just mean obtaining cultivation resources. You must also carry the will of the one who left it behind."
"Indeed," the other continued. "That expert was once a protector of this planet. He died while fighting a rebellion. He sacrificed his life for Velora. Such bravery is rare, even among our ancestors. Whoever inherits his essence must continue his will — and become a future protector."
They spoke of sacrifice and bravery, but I could already tell what they really wanted. They didn't want someone to inherit his will — they wanted a new protector for the planet. And a "protector," as the name sounds, is supposed to protect the planet Velora. But in reality, all protectors do is protect the king.
I didn't care whether I became one or not. As long as I reached Nascent Soul, I'd have the strength to leave this place whenever I wanted.
They then explained the details of the inheritance. It was divided into eight levels. Each level had main tasks and normal tasks. Completing normal tasks gave you rewards, while completing main tasks allowed you to move on to the next level.
The difficulty between the two was huge. Normal tasks were simple and gave basic rewards like Qi stones or herbs. Main tasks gave the chance to obtain essence or much better rewards. The higher the level, the better the rewards.
It was a simple setup — complete the main tasks as fast as possible and get the essence. But that wasn't all. Everything depended on whether you could survive until the end. Killing was allowed.
I've killed before — weak cultivators who deserved to die — but every time I did, I'd pass out or vomit for minutes afterward. It was never easy. That's why I wasn't confident. But if I didn't kill, others would kill me. Do or die — that was the rule here.
After explaining everything, they gave us each a badge. It could be used to quit the inheritance anytime. Many participants were only here for resources, not the essence. The badge was for them. But it also acted as a tracker — for those who tried to steal others' inheritance essence.
After that, we were ready to begin.
A bright light covered everything, and for about thirty-five seconds, all I could see was white. When it faded, I realized we had teleported to the first level.
The place looked like a forest — trees, grass, and a large mountain in the distance. There were no signs of others nearby, meaning everyone had been teleported randomly.
The first level's task was to find herbs. The main task, most likely, was to find a rare one.
Two possibilities came to mind: either we could exchange common herbs for the rare one, or the rare herb was hidden and could only be found after solving clues. The second seemed more likely. Something like a riddle, maybe.
No point in overthinking.
"It seems everyone was teleported to different places. Let's move — we might find something," I said.
Feng Xinyi nodded.
Even though we didn't know which herb it would be, luck could still help us.
We moved in a straight line, picking up every herb we found. Along the way, we met other cultivators, but since we had D.E.C.F Great Circle cultivation, they didn't bother us.
After nearly seven hours of searching, we finally found something — a tree with words carved into it.
It was a riddle.
"At morning it laughs,
At night it cries,
Then you ask,
'Is everything alright?'"