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Southern Bing Tian Frost Continent, Untamed Wilds
The vast continent sprawled endlessly, with swathes untouched by human life.
A figure cloaked in black, face hidden behind the eerie grin of the Proud Smile Mask, melted into the shadows.
Lan An, wielding Phantom Charm Wander Step, darted like a specter through towering ancient trees, his speed at its peak.
He yearned to escape this forsaken wilderness.
This mountain range, unclaimed by any sect, stretched endlessly, desolate and treacherous, with barely a flat patch of ground.
Occasional beasts ambushed him, but Lan An dispatched them effortlessly. His wealth ample, he ignored their corpses.
One evening, Lan An spotted humans—a group, no less.
A band of young men and women traveled together, clearly disciples of a sect on a training expedition.
Night cloaked the land, and Lan An's Shadow Cloak, a Supreme Earth-Grade armor, shone. He slipped close, eavesdropping.
"The sect master's fury is unleashed. The young master, Fourth Elder, and Sister Li—gone. She's likely doomed," one said.
"Three key figures lost in one blow. How could he not rage?" another replied.
"Sigh, Sister Li's soul tablet remains, but with her beauty, she might face worse than death," a third mused.
"The sect master's dispatched all elders to hunt suspects. Many have been slaughtered," another added.
Lan An's expression shifted beneath his mask. Tian Mu Sect disciples. His secrecy held, but they were close.
"I heard from Brother Muo Jiao that the young master noted a mysterious youth excelling at the Beast Arena. Could he be involved?" one whispered.
"Better kill than miss. The sect master's ordered a manhunt for that youth," another declared.
"I've got his portrait," a male disciple said, pulling a large sheet.
Lan An's eyes narrowed. The image depicted a dashing youth, an Earth Bear looming behind, a single silver eye glinting.
Who else but him?
"Clever, Seven-Grade sect. You've sniffed a trail," Lan An sneered inwardly.
Now he understood Muo Hao's ambush—Muo Jiao's betrayal.
A murderous glint flashed in his eyes, itching to return to Ling Wu City and behead Muo Jiao.
ROAR!
A beast's bellow interrupted. A creature, massive as a bulldozer, emerged, clad in iron-hard scales, its legs like pillars, a razor-sharp horn gleaming.
"Earthstone Rhino—Third-Stage Mid-Level," Jin'er informed.
"Perfect timing," the Tian Mu disciples grinned. With three Golden Core members among them, the rest Foundation Establishment, they could swarm the beast.
But their faces paled as a horde of beasts, large and small, surged forth, panic-stricken, ignoring the disciples in their mad dash.
"Ah, my bones!"
"Help, Brother, save me!"
Amid the stampede, including Fourth-Order beasts, the Tian Mu disciples' spells faltered, many crushed to gore.
Lan An watched coldly. Enemies of Tian Mu, he'd be a fool to save them. Not kicking them while down was mercy enough.
His focus was the beasts' panic.
ROAR!
A heaven-shaking roar rocked the mountains, beasts fleeing in greater terror.
"Fifth-Stage Mid-Level beast in a rage," Jin'er said.
Lan An's eyes tightened. Fifth-Stage Mid-Level equaled a Mid Spirit Blossom cultivator, no wonder the chaos.
"Beasts rage, blood flows for ten thousand li," he mused, fitting for such a creature.
Activating Thousand-Mile Piercing Sight, he pinpointed the cause.
Not far, a man and woman fled through the sky.
Behind them, a comical yet eerie sight—a massive tree flew, its branches and roots smashing everything, driving beasts below into frenzy.
"Spirit Blossom-level Tree Demon. Those two provoked it somehow," Lan An muttered.
The tree's crimson eyes blazed with fury, chasing the pair relentlessly.
Lan An decided to join the fray.
To enrage a Tree Demon into abandoning its territory, one motive stood out: treasure theft.
Lan An, a veteran of such heists, was keenly interested in their prize.
The pair, despite decent movement arts, were only Early Spirit Blossom, struggling against the Tree Demon.
Whoosh!
The demon struck, thick vines lashing at them.
The woman turned, drawing a wooden sword, slicing the vines with a flash.
The Tree Demon roared, low-level beasts quaking.
"Good thing I left Little Lion in the Spirit Blossom Orb," Lan An murmured. The Violet Thunder Griffin Lion was too young, sensitive to high-level roars.
Closer now, Lan An studied the pair.
The man, tall with rugged features, wasn't handsome but had sharp lines.
The woman was breathtaking—flowing black hair, a tight outfit accentuating her curves, rosy cheeks, seductive eyes, ample chest swaying with motion, and a firm, rounded rear. A peerless beauty.
Their intimacy suggested a married couple, both around thirty.
Their faces were pale, spiritual energy nearly depleted from prolonged pursuit and prior combat.
The Tree Demon fared little better, slowed by battle and chase, allowing Lan An's Phantom Charm Wander Step and Earth Battle Boots to keep pace, catching their dialogue.
"We must split up, confuse it," the man gritted, glancing at the beauty.
"No choice, Brother Ping. Keep the item. If I escape, I'll find you," she replied.
"Sister Yin, marrying a wise woman like you is my life's blessing," Duan Zhi Ping said earnestly.
"Enough talk. I'll draw it north. You head east, hide in a city. I'll find you later," she analyzed, sharp-witted.
"Agreed, Sister Yin, stay safe."
She nodded, turning to slash approaching branches, then fled north, the Tree Demon roaring in pursuit.
Duan Zhi Ping halted, watching his wife lure the beast away.
Clenching his fists, he snarled: "Sorry, Sister Yin. The Strange Wood is too precious. If word leaks, we'll be hunted continent-wide. In the next life, we'll be husband and wife again."
Instead of east, he darted west.
Lan An's eyes shrank, fury surging. This man shamed manhood.
Abandoning his wife to near-certain death, coveting the treasure alone, and spouting sanctimonious nonsense.
Lan An, no saint, would sooner die than betray his women.
Repulsed, he shadowed Duan Zhi Ping.
Despite being Spirit Blossom, Duan was injured from the Tree Demon fight, his spiritual energy at a third, drained by the chase.
Lan An wouldn't underestimate a Spirit Blossom, biding his time.
Less than a hundred meters apart, Lan An's Phantom Charm Wander Step and Shadow Cloak rendered him invisible below Void Refinement.
Duan, sensing safety, settled beneath a dense tree, swallowing a pill to recover.
Lan An's chance arrived. The Big Dipper Bow materialized in his hands.
Against a Spirit Blossom, most of his techniques, save the Fire Phoenix, were ineffective.
But the Fire Phoenix's spectacle risked torching the forest, unsuitable here.
The flame arrow, condensing Violet Phoenix Flame to a lethal point, paired with the Big Dipper Bow, was the perfect assassin's tool.
Lan An noted his long-range options—Spirit Bullet and Big Dipper Bow—were limited. He needed a powerful palm or finger technique.
The Eight Trigrams Reversal Palm, while a palm art, leaned defensive.
No more hesitation. Thousand-Mile Piercing Sight locked on Duan, the bowstring taut.
Activating a Heaven-Grade artifact broke the Shadow Cloak's concealment, revealing Lan An.
Duan, a Spirit Blossom, sensed danger despite meditating, his divine sense sweeping wildly.
A youth stood on a branch, hair flowing, black cloak billowing, the Proud Smile Mask's grin exposing a gleaming silver eye. A bow aimed, a blazing arrow forming, the Big Dipper faintly shimmering behind.
In the night, he was death incarnate.
"Who are you?" Duan roared, terror spiking, his body surging with what spiritual energy remained.
Ambushed so stealthily chilled him.
This desolate range was silent; a Spirit Blossom's senses could detect an ant's crawl.
Yet someone had locked onto him, formless and traceless.
How could he not fear?
Instinct erupted. Duan wove seals, shouting: "Ten Thousand Wood Bind!"
Thick vines surged toward Lan An, while Duan soared, fleeing.
Seeing the familiar technique, Lan An's masked lips curled. A Tian Mu cultivator—fate's irony.
Ignoring the vines, violet flames engulfed him, eerie in the dark, incinerating them.
WHOOSH!
The arrow loosed, Violet Phoenix Flame locking onto its prey, piercing space.
"Strange Fire?" Duan's face blanched, the arrow's speed and heat overwhelming.
Sizzle.
Under Lan An's calm gaze, another Spirit Blossom vanished, not even ash remaining—utter annihilation.
"Hmph, had you self-detonated like the Fourth Elder, you might've lived," Lan An sneered.
Duan's depleted state mirrored the elder's, but his cowardice lacked the resolve to self-destruct.
Approaching, Lan An found Duan's possessions burned away, save a black stone box.
"Jin'er, what's this made of? So durable," he asked.
"Black Sea Stone, a rare resource from deep, dark ocean trenches, hard to harvest," Jin'er chirped. "It seals all auras within, resists most external forces except thunder, which counters it. Even Strange Fire can't destroy it."
Lan An nodded. The Strange Wood was likely inside. With Duan dead, the box was ownerless. Lan An dripped blood, binding it.
A connection formed. The box, a storage artifact for precious items, was redundant with his Spirit Blossom Orb, but he was curious.
He reached to open it.
Ding! Branch Mission Activated: [Seize Virtuous Wife]. Reward: One Earth-Grade Artifact Summon, One Heaven-Grade Technique Summon. Penalty for Failure: Impotence for 5 Months.
The mechanical voice froze Lan An's masked face into a twitch.