Akash didn't take the main road. He knew the Village Head would likely send men after him once the shock wore off. Instead, he plunged into the Whispering Forest—a place where even experienced hunters feared to go.
[SYSTEM STATUS: SOVEREIGN STEP ACTIVATED]
[EFFECT: MOVEMENT SPEED +50% | SILENT STRIDE]
As he ran, Akash felt light as a feather. His feet barely touched the ground, leaving no footprints in the mud. The golden Qi in his legs felt like liquid fire, pushing him forward with incredible ease.
Growl...
Suddenly, Akash stopped. The Sovereign Core in his chest pulsed a warning.
A pair of glowing red eyes appeared from behind a massive ancient tree. It was a Iron-Hide Boar, a Level 4 Spirit Beast. Its tusks were sharp as swords, and its skin was hard as stone. Normally, it would take a team of five hunters to kill one.
"A test," Akash whispered, his eyes narrowing.
The boar roared and charged, its heavy hooves shaking the ground. It was like a living tank coming straight for him.
Instead of dodging, Akash closed his eyes for a split second, feeling the Qi flow into his palm.
"Sovereign Punch!"
He didn't hit the boar's head. He hit the air just inches in front of it. A shockwave of golden energy exploded outward.
CRACK!
The boar's massive body was lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree, dead before it even landed. Its iron-like hide had been shattered like porcelain.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: LEVEL 4 BEAST KILLED]
[ABSORBING BEAST CORE...]
[PROGRESS: QI GATHERING LEVEL 2 REACHED!]
Akash felt a new wave of power wash over him. His muscles tightened, and his vision became even clearer. But as he went to collect the beast's tusks, he heard voices approaching—human voices.
"The golden light came from this direction! Hurry, if we find the treasure, the Elder will reward us!"
Akash quickly hid behind a thick bush. Three men in black and silver robes emerged into the clearing. They weren't from his village. Their robes had a symbol of a Blood-Moon, a notorious rogue sect.
"Look! An Iron-Hide Boar... killed with one strike?" one of the men gasped, checking the carcass. "This wasn't done by a beast. Someone very strong is nearby."
"Search the area!" the leader commanded, drawing a curved saber that glowed with a sinister red light. "If they aren't from a major Sect, kill them and take their belongings."
Akash watched them from the shadows. His first real fight against other Cultivators was about to begin.Akash held his breath, pressing his back against the rough bark of a giant Spirit-Oak tree. The Sovereign Core inside him began to vibrate slowly—not with fear, but with anticipation.
"He can't be far," the leader of the Blood-Moon disciples hissed. He was a Level 5 Qi Gathering cultivator, similar to the Village Head, but his aura was much darker and more aggressive. "Check the bushes! This boar's core is still warm. Whoever killed it must be nearby."
One of the disciples, a thin man with a scar across his nose, walked directly toward the bush where Akash was hiding. He raised his silver-edged saber, the blade glinting with a cold light.
Akash knew he couldn't hide any longer.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ENEMY DETECTED]
[TARGET 1: LEVEL 5 (LEADER)]
[TARGET 2 & 3: LEVEL 3]
As the scarred man reached out to part the leaves, Akash moved.
"Sovereign Step!"
In a golden blur, Akash lunged forward. Before the scarred man could even blink, Akash's hand grabbed his wrist, twisting it with bone-crushing force.
"Argh!" the man screamed, his saber dropping to the forest floor.
Akash didn't stop. He delivered a swift kick to the man's chest, infused with Level 2 golden Qi. The man flew back ten meters, crashing into his teammates and knocking them off balance.
"A brat?" the leader roared, stabilizing himself. He looked at Akash's simple, muddy clothes. "You're the one who killed the Iron-Hide Boar? Who are you? Which Sect do you belong to?"
Akash stood his ground, his eyes glowing with a faint gold light. "I don't belong to any Sect. I'm just a traveler passing through."
"No Sect? Then you're just a lucky thief who found a treasure!" the leader sneered, his eyes turning greedy. "Give us the artifact you used to kill that boar, and maybe I'll let you die quickly."
The leader signaled the other two. They surrounded Akash in a triangle formation.
"Blood-Moon Technique: Crimson Mist!" the leader shouted.
Suddenly, a thick, red fog began to rise from the ground, smelling of iron and blood. It clouded Akash's vision and made his head feel heavy. It was a poison-attribute Qi.
[WARNING: TOXIN DETECTED]
[SOVEREIGN CORE ACTIVATING: PURIFICATION MODE...]
Akash felt a sudden warmth spread from his chest to his lungs. The heavy feeling vanished instantly. To him, the red mist became as clear as mountain air.
"He's not affected?" the leader gasped, his confidence wavering. "Kill him! Now!"
The two disciples rushed forward from both sides, their sabers whistling through the air.The two disciples closed in, their blades humming with a lethal red energy. To an ordinary person, they would have been a blur, but through Akash's gold-tinted vision, their movements looked sluggish, like they were underwater.
"Sovereign Step: Echo!"
As the blades were about to pierce his skin, Akash leaned back at an impossible angle. The sabers hissed through the air, inches above his chest. Before the disciples could recover, Akash's hands shot out like lightning, grabbing both their wrists.
"What?!" the scarred disciple gasped, his eyes widening in terror.
"Too slow," Akash whispered.
With a surge of Level 2 Qi, he slammed the two disciples' heads together. The sound of the impact echoed through the clearing, and both men slumped to the ground, unconscious.
The leader of the Blood-Moon group froze. His two strongest followers had been taken down in seconds by a boy who didn't even have a weapon. His greed was quickly being replaced by a cold, sharp fear.
"You... you're hiding your cultivation!" the leader growled, gripping his crimson saber with trembling hands. "Fine! Let's see how you handle a Middle-Stage technique!"
He raised his saber high, the red mist around him being sucked into the blade. The air grew cold, and the sound of crying souls seemed to echo from the steel.
"Blood-Moon Slash: Crimson Crescent!"
He swung the sword, and a massive wave of red energy, shaped like a moon, tore through the ground toward Akash. It sliced through trees and rocks like they were made of paper.
[SYSTEM WARNING: HIGH ENERGY ATTACK DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: SOVEREIGN SHIELD]
Akash didn't dodge this time. He wanted to test the limits of his new body. He crossed his arms in front of his face, and the golden Qi from the Sovereign Core exploded outward, forming a shimmering, translucent shield.
BOOM!
The red crescent slammed into the golden shield. The ground beneath Akash's feet cracked and sank by several inches. The shockwave stripped the leaves off every tree within thirty meters.
When the dust settled, the leader's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Akash was still standing there, his clothes slightly torn, but not a single scratch on his body. The golden shield was still glowing brightly.
"My... my strongest attack... blocked by his bare arms?" the leader whispered, his legs finally giving out. He fell to his knees. "Who... what kind of monster are you?"
Akash walked toward him, each step heavy with the pressure of the Sovereign Core. "I'm the person you tried to kill for a treasure."
He stood over the leader, his shadow falling over the terrified man.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ENEMY DEFEATED]
[DO YOU WISH TO ABSORB HIS QI? Y/N]