The beast carriage groaned as it wound its way up the mountain trail, flanked by sheer cliffs and whispering pines. The higher they climbed, the colder the air grew, laced with frost and memory.
Su Chen sat at the back, unmoving, his mind not on the cold—but on the blood that once stained this very path.
In his past life, this road had become his grave.
Beaten for failing to fetch water fast enough, his spine crushed by a senior disciple's kick. His broken body tossed into the ravine below like trash.
He remembered the laughter.
The indifference.
This time, he kept his eyes wide open—tracking every bend, every twisted root, every vantage point that could hide an ambush. His thoughts were not nostalgic.
They were tactical.
> [System Notification]
[Zone Entry Detected: Crimson Serpent Sect Outskirts]
[Ambient Spiritual Density: Low-Intermediate]
[System Feature Unlocked: Environmental Mapping]
A translucent grid flickered across his vision. Spiritual flows lit up like rivers of pale light, pulsing across the land. One hotspot flared near a crumbled pagoda behind a cluster of black boulders.
Resource node. Hidden. Untapped.
Noted.
The carriage passed beneath rust-red iron gates, carved with a serpent swallowing its own tail—the sigil of the Crimson Serpent Sect.
Endless pursuit. Power devouring power.
Beyond the gates sprawled the outer sect. Stone pavilions climbed the mountainside like teeth. Mist curled between rooftops. Bells rang cold in the wind. Disciples bustled between tasks, robes fluttering like war banners.
Peaceful—to the blind.
But Su Chen saw it clearly.
A jungle, cloaked in incense and illusion.
Every disciple a predator.
"OUT!"
The carriage stopped. The doors slammed open. A middle-aged man stood before them, robes marked with the crimson serpent. Greying hair. Sunken eyes. Voice like a whip.
Instructor Yao.
Sadist. Extortionist. Killer of the weak.
"Line up!" he barked. "You are insects. Not disciples. Not yet. You earn your robes with blood—or you die feeding spirit beasts in the arena."
The orphans, beggars, and outcasts scrambled into a crooked line. Fear hung in the air like fog.
Su Chen moved last.
Calm. Measured. Silent.
Yao's eyes swept over them like a butcher inspecting meat. He stopped at Su Chen.
"You. Why are you smiling?"
Su Chen gave a shallow bow. "Just pleased to be here, Instructor."
Yao sneered. "We'll see how long that smile lasts. Fifth barracks. Filthy dorms. You'll be scrubbing latrines until the entry trial."
He turned, already forgetting Su Chen's face.
> [System Alert]
[Side Objective Triggered: Survive First 3 Days Without Cultivation]
[Reward: Anchor Upgrade – Minor Future Insight Unlocked]
Insight?
Su Chen's breath hitched. That meant glimpses—however brief—into diverging futures. A power nearly forbidden in the higher realms.
But he couldn't waste a reset. Not yet. Not until his first trap was laid.
That night, the fifth barracks reeked of mold and sweat. Spirit lamps flickered weakly on stone walls. Sixteen new recruits lay across rough beds—half snoring, half whispering about the trial.
Su Chen stood barefoot on the cold floor, moving in silence.
Void Walking Fist.
His limbs flowed like smoke. Every motion slow, deliberate. Pain seared his arms and legs. Muscles trembled. Flesh resisted.
But discipline burned deeper than fatigue.
He didn't need talent.
He had ten thousand years of killing memory in these bones.
> [Martial Progress Recorded: Void Walking Fist – Beginner Rank]
[+0.1 Strength | +0.1 Dexterity]
He exhaled. Progress, no matter how small, was still progress.
Then the door creaked.
Lu Shan entered.
Two smug outer disciples followed. The air shifted.
Lu Shan grinned. "Well, well. Look at our little shrine rat. Practicing useless moves already?"
Su Chen turned his head slowly. "You're late."
Lu Shan blinked. "What?"
"You should've come earlier," Su Chen said, voice low and cold. "Back when I was still weaker."
Lu Shan laughed.
Then swung.
A wild fist blurred toward Su Chen's face—fast, reckless, untrained.
But Su Chen was already gone.
Step. Pivot. Flow.
He dodged without effort.
Lu Shan stumbled past and crashed into a bunk.
"Why, you—!"
Su Chen tilted his head. "That was sloppy. Three flaws in your footwork. Four in your stance. You'll never reach Foundation Realm with trash like that."
Lu Shan's face turned scarlet.
"Tomorrow," he spat. "You're mine in the trial."
Su Chen didn't reply.
He didn't need to.
Because tomorrow, he wasn't the one at risk.