Lin Mo descended again.
This time, the pain hit first.
His lungs burned, ribs aching as if they'd been burned long before he arrived. He lay face-down on stone, the taste of iron in his mouth.
He didn't move.
He listened.
Wind. Distant shouting. Metal clashing.
A battlefield.
Good. A better chance to grow.
[Descent Successful]
Host Body: Assigned
Identity Synchronization: 47%
Warning: Critical Compatibility
Low compatibility meant a short lifespan.
Acceptable.
Memories trickled in, ragged, incomplete.
Name: Han Yu
Status: Rogue cultivator
Cultivation: Qi Refining, fifth layer
No sect. No family. No one who would ask questions.
Perfect.
Lin Mo pushed himself upright.
The battlefield was already dying. Bodies lay scattered across the hills, some torn apart by techniques he recognized only partially from Han Yu's memories. Two groups had clashed here, and both had taken losses.
An opportunity.
He searched the remains of the nearest corpse.
Three low-grade spirit stones. A chipped saber.
He took both.
Another corpse yielded a storage pouch with a single jade slip.
A movement technique.
Not great.
But useful.
Lin Mo slipped the pouch onto his belt.
He was careful this time around.
Every item on his body was a potential choice.
Shouts rose again.
Survivors returning to fight or scavenge.
Lin Mo ducked behind a broken boulder as three cultivators approached, arguing loudly.
"Check the dead, move fast we don't have time."
Lin Mo inhaled.
He stepped out.
The first man didn't even have time to scream. He didn't have time to react properly.
Lin Mo's saber cut across his throat in a clean arc.
The second reacted instantly, qi surging, blade flashing.
Lin Mo let the strike pierce his side.
Pain sharpened his focus.
He rammed the dagger into the man's eye.
The third fled.
Lin Mo let him go.
He didn't have time to chase him.
He gathered what he could, stones, a damaged defensive talisman, a half-burned technique slip, and tied them securely to his body.
Then he moved deeper into the ravine.
A spirit beast emerged from the mist, a sort of Boar, tusks glowing faintly with qi.
It was too strong.
Lin Mo smiled thinly.
He charged.
The fight was short and brutal.
The boar stabbed him through the abdomen, lifting him off the ground. Bones cracked. Organs ruptured.
Lin Mo held onto the jade slip tightly as the beast roared.
He saw the structure of its hide. The way qi hardened it just before impact.
Then the tusks went out.
Everything went dark.
Earth.
Lin Mo collapsed again, blood leaking from his nose as the pain from his soul tore through him.
This death was worse.
Much worse.
[Return Complete]
Death Classification: Cultivation-Suppressed Physical
Soul Integrity: 88%
Options unfolded in his mind.
[Selectable Returns]
▸ Low-grade Spirit Stones (x6)
▸ Movement Technique: Shadow Step (Incomplete)
▸ Stonehide Boar: Defensive Qi Circulation Insight
Lin Mo didn't hesitate.
"The insight."
The pain surged as knowledge burned into his mind.
He gasped, hands gripping the floor.
It would be worth it.
He lay there for a long time before standing.
The mirror reflected his pale face, eyes colder than before.
"That body's probably dead," he murmured. "It's fine."
Each life was a tool. For him to grow stronger.
He wiped his face clean.
"Next."