The journey to "Stone-Skin Village" took only a few breaths. Wu-Ji didn't walk; he used a minor spatial manipulation—'Shrinking the Earth into an Inch'—that he had perfected during his 500-year simulation.
As they approached, the scent of burning wood and the metallic tang of blood filled the air. The village, a humble collection of stone huts built by the first generation of humans, was under siege. But the attackers weren't the Shadow Wolves. They were something far worse.
Standing in the center of the village was a humanoid figure nearly ten feet tall, with skin like cracked lava and eyes that glowed with a demonic crimson.
"A Fire-Spirit Demon," Wu-Ji whispered, his eyes narrowing. "Early-stage Golden Core. In the Honghuang, he's a minor chieftain, but to these humans, he's an unstoppable god."
The demon held a villager by the throat, its voice sounding like grinding stones. "Where is the mirror, little ants? Hand over the treasure of the Western Queen, or I will turn this valley into a tomb!"
Yun'er, standing behind Wu-Ji, trembled so hard her teeth chattered. "Master... that's the Demon Lord Yan-Huo. He killed my father..."
Wu-Ji didn't respond immediately. Instead, he triggered a 'Combat Simulation' in his mind.
[Simulation Beginning!]
[Option A: Frontal Assault. You reveal your Chaos-Innate aura. The demon is terrified but uses a 'Blood Escape' technique to warn his tribe. Within an hour, a Nascent Soul Demon King arrives. You are hunted across the Central Plains. Failure!]
[Option B: Assassination. You use 'Innate Gravity' to crush the demon's heart from the shadows. The villagers see it as a miracle from the Heavens. You take the girl and leave. No one knows who did it. Success! Reward: 200 Units.]
Wu-Ji chose Option B, but with a twist. He needed to establish his "Dao" in the heart of his first disciple.
"Yun'er, look closely," Wu-Ji said, his voice cold and steady. "The world of Honghuang doesn't care about your tears. It only cares about your strength. Today, I will teach you the first lesson of the Heaven-Veiling Pavilion: The void has no shape, but it can crush all things."
Wu-Ji stepped out of the shadows. He didn't use a sword. He didn't use a spell. He simply raised his right hand and made a gripping motion toward the Demon Lord Yan-Huo.
"Innate Gravity: Singularity."
The Demon Lord Yan-Huo didn't even have time to roar. Suddenly, the space around him twisted. It felt as if the entire weight of the mountain range had been compressed into a single point inside his chest.
CRACK!
His lava-like skin shattered. His bones turned to dust. In less than a second, the ten-foot-tall demon was crushed into a bloody sphere the size of a marble. The surrounding demons—small imps and fire-hounds—froze in terror.
Wu-Ji waved his sleeve, and a wave of Purple Chaos Fire swept through the village, erasing every single demon instantly. Not a single stone hut was damaged; the control over his power was surgical.
The villagers fell to their knees, sobbing and shouting "Immortal!" "Sage!"
But Wu-Ji ignored them. He walked over to the bloody marble that was once a Demon Lord and picked it up. He turned to Yun'er, who was staring at him with a mixture of awe and fear.
"This," Wu-Ji said, tossing the blood-marble to her. "Is the 'Core' of your enemy. Keep it. It will be the foundation of your first spiritual weapon."
[Ding! Mission 'The First Disciple' Part 1 Completed!]
[Reward: 1000 Units of Energy!]
[System Note: You have altered the fate of the Human Race. The 'Heavenly Dao' has noticed a ripple. It is recommended to stay in seclusion for 10 years.]
Wu-Ji looked at the sky. He could feel the eyes of something "greater" scanning the earth. The power of the Haotian Mirror fragment in Yun'er's hand was leaking, attracting unwanted attention.
"We are leaving," Wu-Ji grabbed Yun'er's shoulder.
"But... my people!" she cried out.
"They have been saved. If they stay with us, they will only die when the real monsters arrive," Wu-Ji said firmly. He tapped the earth, and the ground rose, forming a massive stone wall around the village for protection. "This is the last gift I give them. Now, your life belongs to the Pavilion."
Back at the Heaven-Veiling Pavilion (10 Years of Seclusion)
Inside the Grotto-Heaven, time flowed differently. Wu-Ji spent the 1000 units of energy on a 'Time-Dilation Array'.
While ten years passed in the Honghuang, thirty years passed inside the Grotto.
Wu-Ji spent this time perfecting his 'Chaos-Innate Core'. He realized that his power was different from the traditional 'Immortality' path of the Hongjun. He wasn't cultivating "with" the Heavens; he was cultivating "against" them.
Meanwhile, he trained Yun'er. He used the Simulator to find the most efficient cultivation path for a human.
[Simulation: Training Yun'er]
Method A: Traditional Qi Refining. She reaches Foundation Establishment in 50 years. Too slow.
Method B: Refining the Haotian Fragment. Her body becomes a 'Jade Spirit Body'. She reaches Foundation Establishment in 5 years. Optimal.
By the end of the ten years, Yun'er had transformed. No longer a ragged village girl, she was now a cold, beautiful cultivator in white robes, her eyes reflecting the light of the Jade Mirror. She had reached the Late-Stage of Foundation Establishment, a speed that would be considered legendary even in the great sects.
"Master," Yun'er knelt before Wu-Ji, who was sitting under a tree made of obsidian leaves. "The mirror... it's pulsing again. I see a city... a city made of gold in the clouds."
Wu-Ji opened his eyes. A flash of purple lightning flickered in his pupils.
"The Demon Court of the 33 Heavens," Wu-Ji whispered. "The Two Emperors, Di Jun and Tai Yi, have officially established the Celestial Court of the Monster Race. The Great War of the Liches is about to begin."
He stood up, his aura now so dense that the space around him seemed to warp. He had reached the Peak of the Golden Core Realm, only one step away from the Nascent Soul (Yuan Ying).
"The era of hiding is slowly coming to an end, Yun'er," Wu-Ji said, looking at the horizon where ten suns were starting to appear in the sky—the ten sons of Di Jun. "The world is about to burn. We need to find the 'Three Sovereigns' of the humans before the Saints do."
[Ding! New Main Quest: 'The Human Fate.']
Objective: Locate the reincarnated soul of Fuxi.
Reward: Access to the 'Chaos Treasury'.
Wu-Ji took a deep breath. He knew that Fuxi was the key to the human race's rise, but Fuxi was currently a high-ranking member of the Monster Court. Intervening in his fate was like declaring war on the entire Monster Race.
"System," Wu-Ji smiled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Run a simulation. How do I kidnap a future Emperor of the Monster Race without the Saints finding out?"
[Ding! Warning! This simulation has a 99.9% death rate. Do you wish to proceed?]
"Proceed. I only need that 0.1%."