WHOOSH—
A wave of heat washed over him as rolling sandstorms blotted out the sky and earth.
On the ochre-yellow Gobi Desert that stretched to the horizon, Wu Dao, his face covered with a black cloth to block the sand, knelt down and questioned the barely-breathing sand bandit on the ground.
"Pan Shui Town... Exotic Treasure... born..."
The sand bandit coughed up a mouthful of blood and managed to force out those few words. There was no other information.
He was only hanging on by a thread.
'Exotic Treasure?'
'Does he mean riches or...'
'Something... extraordinary?'
Wu Dao's eyes narrowed, his interest piqued.
He was like a ravenous beast that had just tasted blood, now incredibly sensitive to any information about the "extraordinary."
If it were an exotic treasure from a normal world, he wouldn't have cared much. It would have been nothing more than gold and jewels.
But this was an Extraordinary World!
Anything related to the extraordinary could not possibly be an ordinary item.
"No wonder..."
Wu Dao stood up and stomped on the dying sand bandit's head, crushing it. He casually scraped the blood and gore off his foot, his previous confusion now cleared up.
This group probably wasn't made up of sand bandits at all, but Jianghu People on their way to Pan Shui Town to hunt for the treasure.
They had passed by, saw he was alone with a bulging pack on his back, and gotten greedy. One wrong move had cost them their lives.
"Pan Shui Town, hmm?"
Wu Dao pulled a sheepskin map from his robes to study it.
He found the crescent-shaped landmark for Pan Shui Town to the upper left of his current route. It was about seventy or eighty li away from his position in the Gobi, in the opposite direction of his original destination, Qingyuan County.
'If I keep going straight, I'll reach the border of Qingyuan County in just over ten li...'
Wu Dao hesitated, but only for a moment before making his decision. He would go to Pan Shui Town first.
Although the Four Seas Gang was intricately connected with the extraordinary, their strength was not to be underestimated.
They were a major power that dominated an entire Prefecture.
No matter how he thought about it, their upper echelons couldn't all be at Meng Qingshuang's level.
Even if he went to Qingyuan City now, he would have to hide and plot from the shadows. There would be no chance for significant growth in the short term.
Rather than waste time aiming too high, it was better to seize the tangible benefits right in front of him.
The average strength of these so-called sand bandits wasn't low.
From his own Potential Release progress at the Great Success level of the Beast King Domain, which corresponded to the peak of the Divine Power Realm, Wu Dao had gauged their strength after just a few exchanges.
Although there were no experts at the Divine Power Realm, most were skilled practitioners of the Hard and Soft Realm, and their leader had even reached the Inner Strength Realm.
An item that such a group of powerful men would call an "Exotic Treasure" couldn't be simple. Perhaps it could help him break through to the Heroic Domain in one fell swoop.
After resting in the Gobi for an hour, the sandstorm finally subsided.
Wu Dao's physical stamina had also returned to its peak.
GLUG, GLUG, GLUG—
He took the large waterskin he'd snatched from the sand bandits, drained half of it in one go, and filled his stomach with water.
INHALE— EXHALE—
He adjusted his breathing rhythm.
He walked out from the foot of the hill that had sheltered him from the wind and sun, entered the serene state of the Essence Devouring Art, and prepared for another long-distance desert run.
Seventy or eighty li was neither short nor long for him now. The scorching sun and harsh environment made it a perfect setting for pushing his body to its limits.
As long as there was an opportunity, he couldn't afford a single moment of laziness on the path of physical ascension. This was a habit he had maintained from his past life.
Hm?
But just as Wu Dao bent down, his legs tensing to push off, his brow furrowed.
'Something feels wrong!'
'Extremely wrong!'
It was like having a piece of dog crap stuck to him, or a thorn embedded in his flesh—a deeply uncomfortable feeling, both physically and mentally.
'It's on my right arm!'
SWISH!
Wu Dao's gaze sharpened. He yanked up his sleeve and carefully scanned his savage right arm, where striated muscles coiled like dormant dragons.
'Invisible to the naked eye?'
But there was definitely something there, making him feel extremely uneasy.
'Can't see it, huh?'
Wu Dao's expression turned cold. He closed his eyes, his breathing like thunder, his entire body glowing fiery red as he entered the Divine Ghost Heaven State.
BZZZT!
In an instant, his body felt like it was inside a furnace, burning madly, squeezing out every last bit of his stored Energy. The water he had just drunk vanished from his stomach as if it had sprung a leak.
Fortunately, Wu Dao wasn't in a combat situation, so his tissues didn't need the Healing Fluid to repair them. The side effects of the Divine Ghost Heaven State weren't severe, and he could ignore the backlash for a short time.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
After entering the Divine Ghost Heaven State, shackles deep within his brain seemed to unlock. His Physique and Spiritual Perception skyrocketed, and he faintly gained a rudimentary ability of Introspection.
Wu Dao focused his enhanced Spiritual Perception on his right arm and finally "saw" a faint, snake-shaped mark beneath the skin of his forearm.
'A mark?'
'Meng Qingshuang... the Snake Demon...'
A glint of wisdom flashed in Wu Dao's god-like eyes. Scenes and streams of information flowed through his mind, and in a flash, he understood the cause and effect.
Haaa—
He exhaled a puff of hot air, and exited the overloaded state of Divine Ghost Heaven. The abnormality around his body vanished as he squinted at the location of the mark on his right forearm.
A moment later, he gave a sinister smile, opened his gaping maw full of triangular, shark-like teeth, and tore the snake-shaped mark—along with the skin and muscle—right off his arm. After chewing, he swallowed it.
With the Physique of a Beast King Peak, his self-healing ability was already beginning to surpass human limits.
In just a few minutes, the bleeding from the hole he'd bitten into his right arm stopped, and a thin scab formed. But that was all. He didn't have enough Energy to grow new flesh to fill the wound.
"Teleportation Points +0.76."
"Teleportation Points: 29."
A moment later, a message appeared in his mind.
The uncomfortable feeling was completely gone.
And it just so happened to round his Teleportation Points up to a whole number.
"Heh, a parlor trick. Barely even a mouthful,"
Wu Dao licked the blood from the corner of his mouth and sneered, completely ignoring the pain from his right arm.
However, the incident served as a reminder— from now on, after fighting any Extraordinary beings in this World, he had to check himself immediately.
Otherwise, he'd never know when someone seeking revenge might sneak up behind him!
Just to be safe, he stripped off the clothes he had scavenged from Meng Qingshuang's residence and found a relatively clean set of clothes from the pile of corpses to wear.
While he was at it, he used their waterskins to wash himself thoroughly and performed another mental check. Only after confirming there were no other abnormalities did he decide to set off.
"Now I don't have to worry about not reaching Pan Shui Town before dark."
Feeling the ball of hot flesh in his stomach, Wu Dao grinned. He entered a state of extreme physical training and began to sprint toward Pan Shui Town, kicking up a trail of sand behind him.
His Physique was at the Limit of the Beast King Domain.
His own body was a form of Great Medicine, his flesh and blood containing astonishing medicinal power. The Energy provided by that mouthful of flesh in his stomach was enough to sustain his extreme exercise for a long time.
...
Pan Shui Town.
It belonged to Yanhe County and was situated in the Crescent Oasis on the edge of the Black Stone Desert. It faced the great desert and was backed by the Forest Sea.
Due to its remote location and inconvenient access, it had always been a lawless haven for scum and villainy. The residents were mostly fierce, cruel, xenophobic, and known for bullying the weak. Its vile reputation was widespread.
But recently, the residents of Pan Shui Town, who usually acted like local tyrants, had been living in dire straits.
The reason for this traced back to a bizarre and mysterious incident that occurred five days ago on Canyun Mountain, deep within Crescent Island—
The youngest son of Pan Shui Town's mayor went hiking with three friends and never returned. When they were found in the mountains the next day, they were all dead!
It wasn't the work of Fierce Beasts or bandits.
Nor had they fallen off a cliff.
Their cause of death was far too bizarre—the bones in their bodies had vanished without a trace, and their remaining flesh had become like fermented dough.
Their limbs and necks were stretched out like long gluten strands, tied to tree trunks, connecting one end of the woods to the other.
The scene was exceptionally horrifying and gruesome.
The hunter who stumbled upon them was scared out of his wits, screaming and wailing as he ran all the way back to town.
He only managed to say the name of the place, before his neck stretched out like dough in front of everyone, and his head dropped to the ground, killing him instantly.
News of such a bizarre and eerie event quickly spread throughout Yanhe County, and was even beginning to reach the surrounding areas.
Rumors flew, and discussions were rampant.
Some said the mountain god was angry, others claimed it was the work of an evil spirit, and still others insisted an earthly treasure had appeared, and that ordinary people lacked the fortune to handle it, thus suffering a backlash.
The rumors grew wilder with each telling, and a hundred different theories emerged.
Some feared it like a tiger and paled at its mention, while others, determined to get to the bottom of it, had their eyes gleaming with avarice.
In just a few short days, the small Pan Shui Town became the center of attention in Yanhe County. Jianghu gold-diggers from all walks of life flocked to it, stirring up trouble. It was like a small-scale Martial World summit.
This brought great suffering to the residents of Pan Shui Town.
Jianghu People were, for the most part, highly skilled in Martial Power, domineering, and ill-tempered. They liked to use force to subdue others and violence to quell violence.
Coupled with the corrupt imperial court and laws that were merely for show, drawing a blade and killing someone over a simple disagreement was commonplace.
Over the past few days, the residents of Pan Shui Town finally understood the meaning of "there's always a bigger bully."
Their petty tricks of swindling, cheating, and robbing people were a complete joke in the face of the bloody and dark methods of the Jianghu People.
In just a few days, quite a few residents of Pan Shui Town had been beaten to death or crippled for no reason.
But they could only swallow their anger and suffer in silence, not daring to retaliate. They lived in constant fear, praying for the incident to end soon.
"Sigh, when will these days ever end?"
Below the gate tower of Pan Shui Town, a guard named Li San gazed at the red sun slowly setting over the desert at the far end of Crescent Lake. He looked like his mother had just died, sighing in despair.
In the past, his job as a gate guard was a lucrative one. He'd honed his Eyes of Golden Flame since he was a child, and his skill at sizing people up and extorting them accordingly was masterfully refined.
He could usually earn enough in a few days to live lavishly, heading to the County town for a good time. It was a life fit for an Immortal.
But now, things had gone to hell.
Ever since the mayor's unlucky son ran into trouble on Canyun Mountain, his life had gotten worse day by day.
Forget living lavishly; if he was too slow to answer one of those ill-tempered Jianghu folks, he'd get a slap across the face. The swelling on his face had never gone down.
If it weren't for the few easy-to-bully commoners who came to join the commotion, from whom he could squeeze a bit of money to make a living, he really would have thrown in the towel and quit.
"Just gotta tough it out. Looks like it'll be a while yet. Didn't you hear? That thing was causing trouble again last night. I was so scared I couldn't sleep a wink."
Zhao Si, the guard next to him, chimed in. He had dark circles under his eyes and a paranoid look on his face.
"Wait, it's one thing for there to be a monster in the mountains, but there's really something spooky in the town too?"
Hearing Zhao Si's words, Li San shivered despite the hot weather, clutching his wooden spear. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and said, "And here I was thinking it was those Jianghu bastards all along."
"Hah, who knows? The corpse was twisted up like a pretzel. It sure didn't look like the work of a human to me..."
Zhao Si sighed, still shaken. "The old sayings are right. Troubled times bring forth many demons. As soon as the world goes sour, all sorts of filth crawls out. I'll wait and see for another two days. If it gets any worse, I'm gonna run... urk."
He couldn't finish his sentence.
Zhao Si suddenly froze like a duck with its neck wrung, a look of terror on his face. His dead-fish eyes stared straight ahead, and his body trembled like a leaf in the wind.
"Dammit, are you possessed or something?!"
Li San, not knowing what was happening, cursed at Zhao Si's sudden reaction, but his eyes couldn't help but follow his gaze.
The next moment, his own face instantly turned pale as paper. He stammered, "S-So... so tall... Where did this barbarian come from?"
The Golden Crow sank in the west, the setting sun like a ball of fire.
Under the dusky, blood-like sunlight, a towering, demonic figure, like a Fierce Beast from the Wilderness, strode briskly from the end of the road, trailing dust and sand.
His massive frame, estimated to be nearly nine feet tall, was cloaked in a black robe. He had the head of a leopard and round eyes, a broad face with a heavy jaw, the back of a tiger and waist of a bear, and arms thick enough to race horses on. His eyes held a vacant indifference, radiating an imposing aura without a hint of anger.
He looked like the great chieftain of Black Wind Stronghold sitting on his tiger-skin throne, or perhaps the king of ten thousand beasts roaming the wild plains.
A ferocious and tyrannical aura rushed toward them from a great distance, so oppressive it felt like it could stagnate one's blood and plunge them into an Abyss.
The Southern Border Land was a place of picturesque mountains and rivers.
Most people, both men and women, were handsome and graceful, elegant and refined. The proverbial "seven-foot-tall man" was a rarity, even among Martial Artists who specialized in Horizontal Training.
Given this common perception, one could only imagine the oppressive feeling created by Wu Dao's savage and rugged nine-foot frame.
If he stood in a crowd, he would be like a barbaric muscleman barging into a scholar's elegant courtyard. The entire scene would feel out of place.