Lan Qingyun stood on the ridge for a long time.
Below him, the forest deepened into shadow. Ancient trees twisted together like knotted fingers, their canopies swallowing light. Spiritual currents flowed violently through the valley beyond — dense, unstable, dangerous.
He could turn back now.
He had harvested three Mid Golden Core beast cores.
Seven Low Golden Core cores.
Three valuable herbs.
Between forest gains and sect reserves, his total assets now approached one hundred thirty thousand mid-grade spirit stones in projected value.
For a declining sect?
That was not small.
That was lifeline money.
Enough to:
Purchase high-grade spirit vein stabilizers.
Secure elder-grade healing medicine.
Rebuild outer halls.
Fund recruitment incentives.
Begin formation upgrades.
Enough to survive.
His gaze drifted toward the distant direction of Azure Wind Mountain.
Enough to remain in the top twenty.
Perhaps climb slowly.
Perhaps defend.
Safe.
Reasonable.
Prudent.
The word tasted bitter.
Safe was how sects remained small.
Safe was how they stagnated.
Crimson Cloud did not play safe.
They crippled spirit veins to send messages.
They pressed advantage without hesitation.
He exhaled slowly.
"If enough is enough…"
The system's voice echoed calmly within his mind.
"Evaluation: Current resources stabilize sect for approximately eight months."
"Eight months," he muttered.
"Correct."
"And after that?"
"Probability of renewed suppression: High."
Silence.
He knew the answer before asking.
If he returned now, Azure Wind would stabilize.
Recover slightly.
Appear resilient.
But Crimson Cloud would not forget.
They would probe again.
This time harder.
The valley ahead shimmered faintly.
Perilous.
But rumored to contain old mineral veins and relic remains from a fallen minor sect swallowed by the forest decades ago.
High risk.
High yield.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Calculated.
He had three uses of the Combat Power Card — Peak Golden Core strength for thirty minutes each.
A trump card.
Not to be wasted.
He opened his eyes again.
"Continue."
He stepped off the ridge and descended into deeper forest.
The air changed almost immediately.
Thicker.
Heavier.
Spiritual density increased, but it was wild — swirling in unstable vortices. Trees here were older, bark blackened and split with embedded mineral veins glowing faintly in cracks.
The concealment talisman flickered faintly.
Its threads were thinning.
He felt the subtle erosion of its suppression matrix.
He extended his spiritual sense carefully.
Multiple Mid Golden Core presences.
One… stronger.
High-tier Golden Core.
Not directly ahead.
Above.
Circling.
He did not look up.
Predators responded to eye contact.
Instead, he moved beneath dense canopy, stepping lightly across roots and moss-covered stone.
A sudden rustle to his left—
He pivoted instantly.
A Blackthorn Venom Viper, Mid Golden Core, body as thick as a tree trunk, lunged from the underbrush. Its scales were matte obsidian, etched with faint purple venom lines.
He did not clash head-on.
Venom-type beasts were endurance fighters.
He shifted sideways, sword qi flashing in three rapid arcs.
First cut — across its eye ridge.
Second — severing lower jaw muscle.
Third — deep into exposed neck.
The viper convulsed violently, venom spraying.
A single drop landed on his sleeve.
Fabric hissed and dissolved.
He retreated immediately, allowing the beast to thrash itself against a tree.
When its movements slowed, he finished it with a precise thrust through the skull.
Mid Golden Core core secured.
Venom sac intact — valuable.
But the fight had cost time.
Above, the stronger presence shifted position.
He felt it now.
Watching.
Patient.
The concealment talisman dimmed further.
He pressed onward.
By midday, he reached the outer boundary of the marked valley.
The forest abruptly gave way to jagged stone formations rising like broken teeth. A narrow descent path spiraled downward between cliffs stained dark by centuries of mineral runoff.
Spiritual fluctuations intensified sharply.
This place had once been mined.
He could sense carved channels in the stone.
Artificial.
Long abandoned.
His talisman flickered once more.
Then steadied.
He descended.
Halfway down, a roar exploded from the valley floor.
The ground trembled.
From between shattered stone pillars emerged a Graniteback Warbear — High Mid Golden Core, perhaps brushing upper threshold.
Its body was enormous, fur like layered granite slabs, claws gleaming with metallic sheen.
This was not a beast to casually bypass.
It guarded the valley entrance.
Lan Qingyun inhaled slowly.
He could attempt stealth.
But the warbear's sense of smell was acute.
And the talisman's suppression was weakening.
Better to eliminate obstacle now.
He did not use the Combat Power Card.
Not yet.
He waited for the bear to rear and roar again — exposing its throat.
Then he moved.
A burst of Mid Golden Core speed carried him forward.
The bear swiped.
Claws crashed into stone where he had stood.
He slipped beneath its reach, sword qi spiraling upward in a compressed drill aimed at the throat.
The blade struck.
Penetrated shallowly.
Not enough.
The bear's hide was dense beyond expectation.
It slammed downward.
He crossed his forearms again.
The impact drove him into stone, cracking rock beneath his boots.
Pain flared across his ribs.
He rolled aside before the second strike landed.
This would not be a clean fight.
He changed tactics.
Instead of attacking core, he targeted joints.
Three rapid strikes to front knee tendons.
One to the rear hamstring.
The bear roared in fury, balance faltering slightly.
He leapt backward, drawing it into narrow descent corridor where stone limited its lateral movement.
Now it could not fully swing.
He lunged.
Sword qi compressed to needle-thin focus.
Driven through the damaged throat channel.
This time it pierced deep.
The bear staggered.
He did not hesitate.
Another thrust.
Then a final downward slash through cervical spine.
The massive body collapsed.
Breathing heavy, he stepped back.
High Golden Core core.
Extremely valuable.
Hide alone could sell for twenty thousand.
But as he extracted the core—
The concealment talisman flickered violently.
A crack ran through one of its internal array lines.
Its glow dimmed sharply.
Expiration imminent.
He looked upward.
The stronger presence shifted again.
Closer.
He did not linger.
He moved deeper into the valley.
The valley interior was wide, floor littered with broken mining equipment half-consumed by roots. Stone pillars bore carved insignia of a forgotten sect.
He extended his senses.
Yes.
Mineral vein.
Faint.
But real.
Not spirit vein.
Metal-rich ore deposits infused with low spiritual conductivity.
Refinable.
Profitable.
If Azure Wind secured even partial mining rights here—
Long-term income source established.
But something else pulsed deeper within.
A cavern.
He stepped carefully across loose stone.
The talisman flickered again.
Then—
It shattered silently.
The suppression matrix dissolved.
His Golden Core aura surged outward naturally for the first time in days.
Unmasked.
In that exact instant—
A piercing screech tore through the sky.
He looked up.
Too late.
A shadow descended like a falling blade.
Steel talons flashed.
Impact.
He was struck mid-step, a crushing force slamming him sideways.
Air exploded from his lungs.
His body smashed into cliff face and tumbled downward across jagged stone.
His left shoulder hit first.
A sickening crack echoed.
He rolled across a narrow ledge and came to a stop near its edge.
Pain flared white-hot.
Above him, wings beat powerfully.
The Steel-Taloned Sky Hawk hovered in place.
High Golden Core.
Feathers metallic gray, each edged like sharpened steel.
Eyes cold.
Calculating.
Predator of predators.
It had been watching since forest entry.
Waiting for suppression to fade.
He forced himself upright.
Left arm barely responsive.
Shoulder likely fractured.
He did not attempt flight.
In open sky, he would be shredded.
The hawk dove again.
He leapt sideways, barely avoiding talons that gouged a meter-deep trench in stone.
The air pressure alone felt suffocating.
He scanned desperately.
Then he saw it.
Behind him, carved partially into cliff face—
A dark opening.
A cave.
Not natural.
Rectangular edges.
Artificial.
He did not hesitate.
He sprinted toward it.
The hawk shrieked and dove again.
Wind blades formed along its wings — compressed air currents slicing forward.
He felt one tear across his back.
Blood sprayed.
But he crossed the threshold into the cave just as talons scraped across the entrance.
The hawk stopped short.
Hovering.
It did not enter.
Its wings beat slower now.
Cautious.
The cave was wide enough for a human.
Not wide enough for full wingspan.
The hawk screeched in frustration, slashing once at the entrance.
Stone shattered inward.
But it did not pursue.
After a long moment—
It rose back into sky, circling.
Waiting.
Lan Qingyun staggered deeper into the cave.
Breathing uneven.
Left shoulder nearly useless.
Blood soaked through torn robes.
He leaned against the inner wall.
Pain radiated with every heartbeat.
He reached into his storage ring and retrieved a mid-grade healing pill.
Swallowed it without ceremony.
Warmth spread through his meridians.
He sat cross-legged.
Forced his breathing steady.
Circulated qi carefully around fractured shoulder, guiding healing energy toward bone alignment.
Outside, wind howled faintly.
The hawk was still there.
He could feel it.
Patient.
Predators did not abandon wounded prey easily.
He closed his eyes.
Stabilize first.
Survive second.
Dominate later.
His Golden Core rotated steadily despite pain.
He had secured capital.
He had found a mineral vein.
He had lost concealment.
And now—
He was trapped in a cave beneath a High Golden Core predator.
He exhaled slowly.
"Good."
Challenge meant growth.
And he still had three uses of Peak Golden Core combat power.
But not yet.
He would not waste it on impulse.
The hawk would make a mistake.
Everything did.
He just needed to endure long enough to see it.
Outside, the shadow passed across the cave entrance again.
Waiting.
So was he.