They spilled out of the stadium one by one, the roar of the crowd slowly fading behind them till it vanished completely.

  Ahead, the Golden Core elder floated without hurry, hands folded behind his back as if he were strolling through a garden instead of leading nearly a hundred disciples toward their potential death.

  Li Yuan walked in silence, his gaze shifting over to the remaining participants. He counted 89.

  Originally, there had been 102 but 13 had been too injured to continue and thus had been left behind.

  He felt bad for them. But then he looked at the remaining 89, over half of whom had pitch-black halos above their heads, and he wondered if the ones who had been left-behind had not been the lucky ones instead.

  Of course, if you were to ask them, they probably wouldn't think that. They had already risked their lives in the Arena battles to gain a chance at becoming an Inner Sect disciple. What's wrong with risking it once again?

  Like, he had always known cultivators gambled with their lives for the sake of advancement. Everyone said it. But knowing it in theory and watching it actually happen right in front of him were two very different things.

  'Is the Inner Sect truly worth risking your lives for?' He wanted to ask. Because he felt as if he had gained a completely new perspective regarding power that he hasn't had before.

  To him, the Inner Sect was simply the next step. Something that he would attain easily with the aid of his cheat ability. To him, joining the Inner Sect had simply meant gaining more resources, better techniques, and hopefully decent teachers who actually cared about their disciples.

  Now, walking among eighty-eight other disciples, half of whom would not see the end of the week, he realised that he had far underestimated the value of an Inner Sect spot.

  That realisation made him feel even worse for taking one of the five spots. After all, it's not like he had truly needed it. If he waited half a year, he could step into Foundation Establishment and apply directly to any of the Nine Peaks.

  He had entered this tournament for a challenge. And while he had indeed found it. He was now starting to wonder if he really belonged here. Not just in this tournament but in this sect. Or even this world.

  A world where people risked their lives for just a smidgen more power. Despite having lived here for a few months, it made no sense to him. No, that's not correct either. He did know it theoretically, why they were doing what they were doing. But he just didn't understand it.

  A part of him was suddenly beginning to understand why there were so many new Xianxia novels in his past life about cultivators simply giving up on the typical cultivation life, and going back to their home to work on a field or something.

  Because he was suddenly starting to question his own position in this place. Getting a strong feeling like he just did not belong here.

  They climbed the stone path beyond the stadium. The disciples talked in subdued voices with each other. And he noticed that the earlier excitement had been replaced by a tense atmosphere.

  At the crest of a hill, the elder flying above them suddenly stopped. Li Yuan noticed and halted as well.

  The others bunched up behind him, murmuring softly in confusion about why they had stopped in the middle-ass of nowhere.

  The elder said nothing. He simply hovered a few feet above the ground, eyes half-lidded, gazing toward the heavens.

  He found the scene oddly poetic. The disciples looked up to the elder. To his Golden Core level of strength, while the elder himself looked upward. Toward Nascent Soul level of strength. Always chasing after a greater level of cultivation.

  'Would this chase ever end?' He wondered, feeling oddly sentimental all of a sudden.

  Then… a dark shape cut through the clouds, growing larger and larger as it came closer. Eventually, it came close enough that he could see it for what it was.

  A massive flying ship descending from higher up the mountain.

  Now, he had seen flying ships before. A few times in fact. But they had all been small vessels. Capable of carrying only a handful of people. Compared to those dingy vessels, this ship was enormous.

  Its hull was carved from dark spirit-wood and reinforced with metal ribs etched in faintly glowing runes. The prow was shaped like a dragon's head, and the jolly roger showed a mountain with an equally large sword piercing through it, like excalibur.

  Array formations shimmered along its sides, stabilising its descent. And then, four metal legs fanned out from underneath as it finally landed on the ground in front of them. Its metal legs shifting the earth beneath from their enormous weight.

  The impact shook the hilltop, sending pebbles skittering downhill. Gasps escaped several disciples behind him, and he took some measure of comfort in the fact that he was not the only bumpkin present here.

  The elder, who had been silent this entire time, finally spoke.

  "Board."

  No further instruction was given, and none was needed as the disciples exchanged glances before leaping upward one by one, landing on the deck with varying degrees of grace.

  Li Yuan stepped forward and pushed lightly off the ground. The air shifted beneath him as he landed soundlessly upon polished wood.

  The deck was wide enough to hold several hundred people comfortably. Defensive arrays were embedded into the railing. And spirit cannons rested dormant along both flanks.

  When all eighty-nine had boarded, the elder ascended smoothly onto the deck.

  "Sit," he instructed. "We will arrive shortly."

  With that, he went inside the ship, leaving them alone to their devices. And a moment later, the ship lifted without warning and started floating up in the sky. The entire process was so smooth that he wouldn't have realised that they had started flying if he wasn't paying attention to the world outside.

  'Some kind of inertia dampener?' He wondered as he picked up a place besides the railings and sat down. Using his Qi Sense to studying formations that surrounded the ship. It wasn't long before the ship was flying at full speed. The stadium had long shrank behind them by that point. And the Sect mountains soon followed.

  Even at a single glance, he could guess that the ship was flying well over a hundred times his own running speed. And with Shadow-Cloud Steps, he could move fast enough to cover a hundred meters in a second.

  'A Xianxia world is truly ridiculous.' He thought before he went back to studying the formations in the ship.

  —————

  Li Yuan tore his gaze away from the ship formations as the massive vessel finally slowed above a vast stretch of dark green that spread in each direction from horizon to horizon.

  Han Mei had not lied when she told him that the next exam would take place at the edge of the Forbidden forest. But what she hadn't said, or perhaps hadn't known herself, was that it would take part on a different part of the edge of Forbidden Forest.

  They were far. Too far from the sect. He doubted the sect ever bothered to clean this side.

  Unlike the forest near the Sect where the trees were cut down for their wood and to keep the forest in check, no such thing had been done here. Worse, unlike the area near the sect, no one had culled the spirit beasts here either. Letting them grow unchecked.

  The trees here were taller and thicker than the trees he had seen in the Forbidden forest near the sect. Their canopies were thicker and so densely bunched together that they left most of the forest in darkness, with only a few thin beams of sunlight piercing through to the forest below.

  Worse, distant roars of spirit beasts drifted faintly upward even at this height.

  Just a single look at the Forest with his Spirit Residue Following Technique, and could see the traces of half a dozen spirit beasts lingering on the forest below.

  Compare that to the forest near the sect where he had to search for over half an hour before coming across the Qi residue of a Spirit Beast, and the difference became apparent rather quickly.

  This place was infested with Spirit Beasts.

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  On one hand, that was probably a good thing for his Stele. But that also meant that this place was dangerous. Even for him, as he couldn't keep the Veil of Borrowed Heaven active at all times. He would run out of Qi eventually. And eventually, he would need sleep as well.

  'Maybe I should've accepted Han Mei's offer to team up after all.' He thought with some regret.

  Then, the ship descended fully and settled with a low, resonant hum against a cleared patch of earth carved into the hillside. The ground trembled as the arrays deactivated.

  Before anyone could speak, the Golden Core elder appeared from within the ship. Without saying anything, he flew up and floated down the ship. "Follow." He ordered, his tone just as flat as before.

  The disciples followed a moment later. And after one last look at the deactivated Formations and with a thought on whether he would be able to create his own flying ship in the future or not, he jumped off the flying ship and landed on the forest floor.

  This time, he noticed that they were not alone. More and more disciples appeared from within the ship and jumped down to the forest floor behind them. These were Outer Sect disciples like them but rather Servant disciples and Inner Sect Disciples. More of the former than the latter. They stood at the periphery in orderly lines, watching.

  Then, the massive ship rose again without warning. It lifted skyward and then flew off into the distance, turning into a dark speck into the horizon not a moment later. And then, it was gone.

  'Could even Golden Core cultivators fly that fast?' He wondered. Though admittedly, he had never seen a Golden Core cultivator fly at full speed, so he had no frame of reference to judge such a thing.

  The elder finally turned to face them. "For the next seven days," he said, "you will hunt. You will do so with your sword and nothing else. The more spirit beasts, you kill, the more points you accumulate."

  Then, at a gesture from the elder, several servant disciples stepped forward toward them. Each holding a wooden tray and a simple-looking spatial pouch.

  "Place all your belongings except for your clothes and your swords on the tray." The elder ordered. And reluctantly, disciples began removing storage rings, spare weapons, talismans, hidden daggers and anything else on their body.

  Li Yuan placed his own items calmly. Having faith that his ancient spatial ring's unique ability won't get found out.

  The servant disciple passed him a plain grey pouch in return. And he examined it briefly. It appeared unremarkable but something told him that there was more to it than seemed on the outside.

  The elder continued speaking. "These are paired pouches. Anything placed within will transfer to its twin." He gestured toward the servants. "They will extract your trophies and record your points. The top twenty disciples with the largest number of points will get to move on to the final exam."

  One of the disciples raised his hand. "How will we spend the night in the forest?"

  The elder spared a brief glance to the disciple. "You may team up with your fellow disciples. Or, you can come back here every night to rest."

  Many of the disciples let out a sigh of relief at that. And he himself felt a bit relieved. But he also knew that many others would not try this. Because as the tournament progresses, more and more spirit beasts near this camp will die until disciples will be forced to go further and further away in order to hunt for spirit beasts.

  "One final rule." The elder said calmly. "If you kill a fellow participant, and submit their right ear… all their accumulated points will transfer to you."

  Absolute silence fell upon the clearing.

  Li Yuan's fingers tightened slightly around the pouch.

  There it was. The real reason why so many of the disciples had fallen in the forest. Dying not to spirit beasts, but to other disciples. It all made sense now. If there was such a huge initiative to kill other disciples, then of course that would lead to many deaths.

  He lifted his gaze to the elder, and noticed that the man's expression had remained indifferent this entire time. As if he was talking about the lives of cattle, and not disciples of the same sect.

  'At least they've shown me their true colours.' He thought with a sigh as he finally made up his decision.

  He no longer wished to join the Sword Peak.

  He would not join a Peak where the elders showed such little care for the lives of the sect disciples. And if the other Peaks turn out to be the same… then it was about time he left the Nine Peak Sect.

  Finally, the elder raised one hand, and a servant disciple on the side rang a deep resonant gong.

  "Begin."

  The word had barely finished echoing when Li Yuan moved.

  His sword flashed in a clean horizontal arc. And the disciple standing beside him, who was still busy adjusting his grip on his new pouch, lost his head. Never even understanding what had just happened.

  Blood sprayed in a wide arc. And several of the disciples standing nearest to them screamed as it splashed across their robes.

  The headless body collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud. Li Yuan did not even look at the corpse as he moved on to his next target while within the group, eight black halos suddenly changed colours.

  Those eight disciples would've fallen to the blade of the very disciple he'd just killed. But now, they would no longer suffer from that fate.

  He used Shadow-Cloud Steps and his figure blurred as he appeared before his second target.

  The man's eyes widened in fear as he realised what was about to happen. He took a step backward in fear, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. But by then, it was already too late.

  His sword flashed and another head rolled.

  Behind him, six of the black halos within the group changed colours.

  The screams around him intensified as the disciples desperately backed off from him. Some running off into the forest directly. Perhaps fearing that he intended to kill all the disciples until only he alone remained. Zabuza-style.

  His third target reacted faster. As he should've. He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator after all. But as Gu Lan's death had proven, being a cultivator of that level was not enough to save them from him.

  The man's aura flared violently as he raised his sword to block his next few strikes.

  "Wait!" He shouted in fear.

  Li Yuan did not wait.

  He had also watched this one in four different visions—smiling sadistically while splitting open other outer sect disciples with his sword. They clashed a few more times before he broke through his opponent's guard. And then…

  His blade descended and the disciple was cut open from head to groin. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the body split and fell apart in two grotesque halves.

  Silence fell into the clearing as many of the remaining disciples ran into the forest, tripping over roots and each other in their haste to flee while some remained behind, gathering together in a tight group to confront him. Perhaps thinking that if they were in a group, the would have a higher chance of surviving him.

  They shouldn't have worried as he had no intention of killing them.

  Then, the last Foundation Establishment participant stepped forward, raising his trembling sword in his direction.

  "Why?" the older boy demanded, voice strained from barely contained fear. "Why did you kill them?"

  Li Yuan glanced at him. Feeling a smidgen of respect for this guy who had seen him kill two of his fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators, yet still managed to gather the courage to face him.

  Compared to the others who had already fled, this one had spine.

  Li Yuan ignored the question he'd been asked and bent down calmly to retrieve the Foundation Establishment disciple's sword. His own sword had become quite chipped and damaged due to his two battles against Foundation Establishment realm cultivators. And this sword was much better than his own. So he replaced it with his old one.

  Then, he finally turned to face the disciple who had questioned him and answered casually. "Because I felt like it."

  After all, it's not like he could explain his vision to this guy.

  "That's monstrous!" the disciple shouted, some of his fear being replaced by righteous anger.

  He almost scoffed. 'You're angry at me for killing fellow disciples. So why not be angry at the elder who allowed this to happen, and even offered to reward such an act.'

  "So?" he asked quietly. "Will you stop me?"

  He took a step forward. And the confidence the disciple had gained suddenly wilted away.

  Step by step, he moved toward the disciple, and watched as the defiance slowly left his eyes as his legs trembled and his breath hitched in fear.

  Despite all that, the disciple held his ground and continued to point his sword in his direction… till Li Yuan walked past the brave disciple, and the cowards who had gathered behind him. Walking into the forest without any further words.

  He still had two other murdering disciples he needed to take care of after all. And afterward, he could go on about doing his own stuff. Gathering Spirit beast corpses for his Stele, as well as getting his hands on the few opportunities he'd seen in this forest.

  —————

  Han Mei ran until her lungs burned. Branches whipped across her face, roots snagged at her boots, and her breath tore in and out of her chest in ragged pulls.

  Behind her… a large black figure darted from in between the trees. Moving too fast for her to even see it clearly. Not that she needed to see it clearly to understand what it was. Just a single brush against its aura had been enough to terrify her half to death.

  A 2nd Grade Spirit Beast.

  What such a beast was doing outside the Forbidden Forest, she had no idea. And she doubted that she would live long enough to find out regardless.

  The only reason she had even survived so far was because the beast wasn't truly hunting her. More like, it was playing with her. Like a cat toying with a mouse.

  If at any given moment, it decided to kill her, she would be dead.

  Humiliation burned in her heart just as much as fear. She had grown up in a Seventh grade Family, had a Golden Core father who doted on her, and Foundation Establishment guards who followed her every whim.

  And now, here she was… prey to a beast that her father could've killed with a single swipe of his fingers.

  Then, her mind flashed back to Li Yuan. That bastard. If not for him, none of this would've happened.

  If not for him, she would currently be part of a team. But no. He just had to start a slaughter as soon as the exam started. And the small team she had carefully brought together with gifts and bribes had fled in all directions like startled rabbits. Useless cowards.

  She thought of Li Yuan's indifferent eyes as he killed those other disciples, and felt a shiver go down her spine.

  "Because I felt like it."

  To think she'd almost married herself off to that monster just because she thought he had great potential. What an idiot she'd been.

  The, as if to punish her for being distracted, a shadow flickered again, much closer this time, and her back erupted in pain as the beast left a deep gash on it.

  Blood trailed behind her but she continued to run. Not even bothering to look back anymore. She ran and ran, until she could run no further.

  She stumbled into a clearing and nearly collapsed. Her Qi reserves were empty and her body was giving out on her. She staggered toward a thick tree trunk and slid down against it, chest heaving in deep, ragged breaths.

  Once she'd gained a semblance of her life back, she turned her head slowly and saw… nothing. No sign of the beast that had chased her for what felt like hours. Toying with her every step.

  'Did the beast grew bored of me and left?' She wondered, hope blossoming on her chest.

  Her hands moved shakily to her side where a shallow gash had been marked along her ribs. Then, to the wound across her thigh which was still bleeding.

  Numerous such wounds existed throughout her body, thanks to that Second Grade Beast. And she knew that if she didn't close those wounds and hid her scent, she would be marking herself for a feast.

  She tore a strip from her inner robe and pressed it against the wound, teeth clenched in pain.

  'Move. Patch. Hide. And then plan for the next step.' She thought.

  A twig snapped above her.

  Her head lifted. And for one suspended second… she saw it clearly.

  A massive shape descending from the canopy, claws extended as it moved toward her.

  Shadow Leopard. Second Grade.

  She did not even have time to scream. Her last thoughts were of her mother and her younger sister. Of the courtyard pond back at home. The claws came down—

  —and something slammed into the leopard from the side with explosive force.

  Two blurs collided mid-air and a deep snarl split the clearing.

  The leopard twisted, landing on its feet, but its attacker was already upon it. Steel clashed against claws as the two figures fought each other. Moving so fast that she had trouble keeping up with either of them.

  They moved so fast she saw only afterimages—flickers of black and silver tearing through the underbrush.

  Tree bark shattered under the impact of bodies colliding. Then both figures crashed down a slope in a tangle of limbs.

  She heard them crash through a few more trees on the way down, before silence reclaimed the clearing.

  Her heart hammered in her chest.

  What—

  Who—

  Logic screamed at her to run the opposite direction. But instead, she staggered to her feet. She moved toward the slope, clutching her side and then started to descend. Each step down was treacherous as loose soil gave way beneath her boots. But she eventually made her way to the bottom, and when she did, she froze.

  The clearing below was painted red with blood.

  The Shadow Leopard lay on its side, its massive body twitching weakly. Its abdomen had been split opened cleanly, its entrails spilled across clearing. Upon her arrival, the beast let out one final rasping breath. Then stilled.

  Leaning against a tree several paces away... was Li Yuan.

  His chest rose and fell heavily from exhaustion as his gaze stayed locked on the 2nd Grade Spirit Beast he'd just killed.

  A Qi condensation cultivator killing a 2nd Grade Spirit Beast. If word spread out, this would make history.

  Blood, only some of which was his, streaked across his robes. His sword, the blade he had taken from that Foundation Establishment cultivator's corpse, dripped blood steadily onto the ground.

  Then, slowly, he turned his gaze toward her. Their eyes met. And her pulse spiked. For an instant she was back at the forest's edge... watching him cut down disciples without a flicker of hesitation. With the same indifference that his eyes now carried. Her fingers twitched unconsciously toward her neck. Toward her ear.

  If he killed her now… then he could take everything. But…

  'Why save me first?' The thought raced in her mind.

  Then, Li Yuan tilted his head slightly. And as if reading every calculation in her eyes, he rolled his eyes.

  "What's with that look?" he asked, voice rough from exertion. "Is this how you thank your saviour?"

  The absurdity of the words nearly broke her. She opened her mouth. Then closed it.

  "You…" she managed finally. "You killed three disciples at the start."

  "Yes." He nodded. Not even bothering to deny or justify his actions.

  Her throat tightened. "Why?" She asked, wondering if he would kill her next. Despite how tired he looked, she doubted that she would last a single move against him.

  He pushed off the tree slowly, flicking his sword to get rid of the blood and then sheathing it with deliberate care.

  "Personal reasons." He said simply.

  She wondered if he was lying. But… it kinda made sense. After all, there were so many other disciples in that place. Why only kill those three and no one else if he simply wanted to kill people. Maybe he really did have a personal grudge against those three and took the chance to settle it.

  The thought made her sigh in relief.

  Then, Li Yuan picked up the corpse of the Shadow Leopard and started to leave.

  "Wait!" She shouted behind him and he paused in his footsteps, tilting his head to show that he was listening.

  "Why save me?" She asked. After all, he had refused the sword she gave him. So it's not like he owed her or anything.

  Li Yuan was silent for a moment before he replied. "Because I felt like it."

  Then, he continued walking, and left the clearing.

  "You don't… actually need the entire corpse." She reminded him but by then he was already gone.

  'He probably wanted to harvest the corpse for valuables.' She realised and then sighed. She still needed to take care of her own wounds and then find a place to hide and recover. Right now she was still in too much danger to give any more thought to Li Yuan.

  But once she's outside, safe and sound. She promised to herself, to do what she can to repay Li Yuan for saving her life.