Volume Three: Rising Fame Chapter 78: The Shadow

This was no stroke of luck; cultivation is never an achievement reached overnight, but rather a slow, grinding process of perseverance over long years. One must absorb spiritual energy, open and temper the meridians, and then guide that energy into the dantian to merge with the cultivator’s own qi and blood. Any energy that fails to undergo this transformation simply dissipates back into the heavens and earth.

Li Yu’s exaggerated rate of absorption drew side-glances from everyone; it seemed as if his cultivation method was somehow different from the rest.

"Of course it's different!" Li Yu thought to himself. His bloodline was a gift from the system's check-in feature, so he had no need to go through the arduous process of opening meridians. Moreover, the strength of his meridians far exceeded those still struggling with their own development—though he certainly wouldn’t go around shouting that. He wasn't foolish; instead, he faced the crowd and deflected the attention with banter. No one would pry too deeply into it, nor did they have the means to force the truth out of him. They would likely just attribute his strength to his own diligent cultivation. Since they didn't know the truth, they would naturally fill in the blanks with a reasonable explanation of their own.

Li Yu looked at Xing Chengping. "You've reached the fifth rank too?"

"Pure luck!" Xing Chengping replied with a bow, his eyes unable to hide his joy. He and Wen Xiangxuan were both at the peak of the sixth rank, but in truth, his strength had always been slightly inferior. Yesterday, however, when he saw her begin to absorb the inner essence of a second "Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystal," a fire had ignited within him, and to his surprise, he had achieved a breakthrough in one go.

"There's no such thing as luck; a cultivator must possess an unyielding spirit!" Li Yu said softly. As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the entrance of the cave, and he stepped closer. "I wonder how the fog is doing outside?"

Coincidentally, as he approached, he caught a faint, almost imperceptible sound. His expression remained unchanged, but he leaned in and pressed his ear against the soil. A series of vague, distant sounds drifted up; by the time they reached this point, they were barely audible. Had Li Yu not taken those few steps forward, he might have missed them entirely.

"Boom!"

With a thought from Li Yu, the sealed entrance of the cave was breached, and fog immediately began to pour in.

"Young Master!"
"Brother Yu?"

Those inside were terrified, especially Wen Xiangxuan and Xing Chengping, both of whom instinctively stepped forward.

"Quiet! The mist isn't poisonous," Li Yu said, clearly annoyed by the chattering behind him. He furrowed his brows, and his spiritual domain rippled outward, pressing down on everyone until they could barely breathe. Instantly, silence fell.

The fog swirling into the cave was enveloped by his spiritual power. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Li Yu reached out and touched it.

"Whoosh!"

The crowd watched intently, their eyes filled with trepidation. But after a long moment, seeing Li Yu standing there completely unscathed, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Only two people remained deeply shaken: Wen Xiangxuan and Xing Chengping. As cultivators who had just stepped into the fifth rank, they had secretly hoped that even if they weren't his equal, they might at least hold their own if they joined forces. But when he unleashed his spiritual domain, they realized the true gap between them and Li Yu. It was the difference between a scattering of stars and the full moon. Even if they had been joined by two others of their caliber, they wouldn't have dared to challenge him.

"Young Master, since the mist isn't toxic, should we head out?" Wen Xiangxuan asked.

"The fog in the main zone is likely poisonous," Li Yu mused after a moment of thought, shaking his head. "However, now that both of you have reached the fifth rank, we can afford to explore a bit."

Hiding here forever was no solution; they would miss any changes happening in the outside world. The best approach was to step into it, and besides, the fog here could be warded off!

After Li Yu broke the seal and stepped out, he focused his mind, expanding his spiritual domain in a small radius. Within that space, the air remained clear, and all the fog was pushed aside. As for the mist in the deeper, more dangerous zones, Li Yu decided against testing it for now. Those who had been forced into that region by Ning Ankang had all coated their bodies in protective spiritual energy, yet they had still died in a gruesome, mysterious fashion. That was a last resort, to be considered only if there were no other options.

"Let's move!"

Everyone emerged from the cave in a straggling line. Li Yu raised a hand and began assigning roles. "Xiu'er, stay with me. Wen Yongsi, go with your sister. Xiong Wenhao, you pair up with Xing Chengping. We won't spread out too far; let's search the immediate surroundings first."

With this arrangement, each group had a fifth-rank cultivator, so there shouldn't be any major danger. No one had any objections, and they followed his orders. Wen Xiangxuan watched as Xiong Xiu'er walked toward Li Yu, her eyes filled with envy. If there was any place that was truly safe, it was by Li Yu's side. If a danger arose that even Li Yu couldn't handle, hiding in the cave wouldn't save them either.

"If you encounter anything abnormal, sound the alarm immediately," Li Yu warned cautiously before leading Xiong Xiu'er and Can Yishuang away.

"If I recall correctly, weren't you also at the peak of the sixth rank? Why didn't you break through?" Li Yu asked while scanning the surroundings.

"..." Xiong Xiu'er lowered her head. "There were just too many meridians that needed consolidation..."

Understood. At the same stage, there is always a sequence of progress. Someone like Wen Xiangxuan only needed a small push to break through, while Xiong Xiu'er was like a bucket that had only just begun to fill. That was why, back in the cave, even after absorbing the essence, most of the spiritual energy had dissipated back into the world.

*If that’s the case,* Li Yu thought, *Ning Ankang doesn't seem like the mindless brute he appears to be.*

Li Yu pondered this. He had previously thought Ning Ankang was simply arrogant after reaching the fifth rank—after all, the age restriction in the secret realm meant the fifth rank was essentially the ceiling, and he was acting like a monkey king in a mountain without tigers. But if one thought about it carefully, was his provocation of Wen Xiangxuan intentional? Was he trying to goad her into attacking so he would have an excuse to eliminate a potential threat? And then there was Xiang Ya Dan—her team consisted entirely of men besides herself; her methods were likely not to be underestimated either.

"I really miss them. I wonder if they made it in?" Li Yu sighed. He couldn't share in their good fortune, but he certainly wouldn't mind sharing in their hardships!

...

"Achoo!" Ning Ankang rubbed his nose. "Which bastard is cursing me?"

He looked left and right, muttering darkly, "What kind of rotten luck is this? A fog this thick the moment I step inside?"

Around him, his followers were cowering, terrified that some man-eating beast might leap out of the white void at any moment. It was hard to say whether his luck was good or bad; among the group with Xiong Xiu'er, one of his men had miraculously stumbled upon a path. Unfortunately, no sooner had they entered than they saw a wall of fog descending from the heights like an avalanche. Just as he turned to run back, he found that the fog behind them had already thickened. Caught in a dilemma, they were instantly swallowed by the descending mist.

...

Xiang Ya Dan had gathered the remaining ten people and was hiding in a natural cave, the entrance sealed with earth and stone. They had been on the run for so long they hadn't had time to collect dry wood for a fire. In the darkness, the sounds of ragged breathing were painfully distinct.

After a long while, Xiang Ya Dan finally spoke. "Did any of you see what... that thing looked like?"

*That thing!?*

As soon as she spoke, the breathing in the cave grew heavier. It took a long time for one of them to answer.

"It was too fast. It appeared and vanished like a ghost. The person next to me was dragged away, and I didn't even see its form..."

"What on earth is this beast?"

A cacophony of voices rose in the pitch-black cave, as if they needed to keep talking to stave off the encroaching fear and the suffocating dark. Xiang Ya Dan felt a bitter ache. She was the only fifth-rank cultivator here, yet even she hadn't seen it clearly; how could she expect these people to have seen the truth? And even if they knew what species it was, could they actually defeat it?

"Six people lost..." Xiang Ya Dan said aloud. "This beast shouldn't strike again for a while. Let's wait here. If the fog clears, its tracks will have nowhere to hide!"

"Right, let's wait for the fog to disperse!"

Ying Feiguang closed his eyes and nodded at his attendant's suggestion. He and his men were also in a cave in the mountains, having lost only one person. After he had left earlier, he too found a way inside, only for the fog to strike abruptly. After losing one man in the mist, Ying Feiguang had made a split-second decision: leave markers on the path and wait it out.

"I just hope it's not the beast from the legends..." Ying Feiguang whispered. This place belonged to the Imperial family, and even though it had only recently been re-opened, specialists had already gathered intelligence on most of its secrets. He prayed it wasn't the creature he feared, for in an environment like this, he had zero chance of victory—even if he sacrificed his men to buy time, the outcome would be the same.

...

"Swish!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Li Yu saw a mysterious shadow flash by. Without asking questions, he unleashed a bolt of lightning, tearing through the thick fog toward the shadow.

"Watch out, there's something here!" Li Yu called out in a low, sharp voice.

He pulled Xiong Xiu'er aside and landed on the spot where his lightning had struck. On the dark, muddy ground lay a few singed black hairs. Li Yu's expression darkened; the creature had actually managed to dodge his attack!

"It's here... it followed us?" Seeing the singed hair, Xiong Xiu'er suddenly became terrified and let out a shrill cry.

"Quiet! What is here?" Li Yu asked, surprised. How could a peak sixth-rank cultivator be so frightened by a single beast?

"It..."

Before Xiong Xiu'er could finish her sentence, a chorus of wails and sharp, feminine cries echoed from the distance. Li Yu's expression shifted, and he sped toward the source of the sound, shouting, "Xing Chengping, bring Xiong Wenhao and close in on me!"