The forest surrounding the Blue Mountain Sect breathed with a predatory rhythm. Moonlight filtered through the jagged canopy in silver needles, but Han stayed in the ink-black shadows.
His Spirit Sense pulsed. Three red markers appeared in his mind's eye, hovering near a ravine five hundred meters out.
[TARGETS DETECTED]
Scout A: Level 5 (Body Refining - Peak)
Scout B: Level 4 (Body Refining - Late)
Scout C: Level 4 (Body Refining - Late)
Current Status: Unaware.
They are tracking your "scent" using a Blood-Seeker Compass.
Han gripped the Dragon-Bone Needle. In his previous life, he couldn't walk across a room without losing his breath. Now, his heart beat with the steady, heavy thrum of a war drum.
System, use 2 Stat Points on Agility, Han commanded.
[STRENGTHENING...]
Agility: 12 → 14.
Effect: Your footsteps are now silent on dry leaves.
He moved. He wasn't running; he was flowing. He reached the edge of the ravine and looked down. Three men in skin-tight midnight-blue leather were huddled around a glowing brass compass.
"The signal is strongest here," Scout A hissed, his voice like grinding stones. "The brat should be in that shack, but the compass says his essence moved toward the Spring. Did he sell the Shard to an Elder?"
"If he did, we kill the Elder too," Scout B muttered, touching the hilt of a serrated machete. "The Guild doesn't lose property."
Han didn't wait for them to finish. He leaned over the ledge, his eyes locking onto the leader.
[CAUSALITY CALCULATED]
Attack Path: Drop-strike.
Success Rate: 92%.
Trigger? [YES]
Han jumped.
He didn't scream. He didn't make a sound. He fell like a stone. Mid-air, he flicked his wrist. The Dragon-Bone Needle shot out, trailing a thin, invisible wire of Qi.
Pst.
The needle buried itself in Scout B's throat before Han even hit the ground. The man didn't even have time to gurgle; the needle's "Defense Ignore" property turned his leather armor into wet paper.
THUD.
Han landed on Scout A's shoulders, his knees locking around the man's neck. With a brutal twist of his torso—powered by his newly boosted Strength—he snapped the scout's neck with a sickening CRACK.
[EXP GAINED: 150]
[EXP GAINED: 120]
"What the—!" Scout C, the last survivor, scrambled backward, drawing two hooked daggers. "You! You're just a trash disciple! How—"
"I'm the glitch in your contract," Han said, his voice devoid of emotion.
Scout C roared, swinging his daggers in a frantic "Cross-Cut" technique. Han saw the red lines of the attack before they happened. He stepped back an inch, the blades whistling past his chest, and punched forward.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: Steel-Shattering Palm]
Han's hand turned a dull, metallic grey. The strike landed directly on Scout C's solar plexus. The force didn't just push him; it sent a vibration through his body that shattered his ribs and stopped his heart instantly.
The forest went silent again.
[QUEST COMPLETE: The Night of Red Steel]
Rewards:
500 EXP (Level Up! Current Level: 5)
New Technique: [Void-Step] - Teleport 5 meters instantly (Cooldown: 10s).
1x Mystery Key (Iron Grade).
[LEVEL UP!]
Current Realm: Body Refining (Stage 5 - Early)
Stat Points Gained: 10.
Han stood among the bodies, his breath coming in steady cycles. He felt the new knowledge of [Void-Step] etching itself into his brain. He could feel the space around him—it wasn't solid; it was a fabric he could slip through.
He walked over to the Blood-Seeker Compass the scouts had dropped. It was still spinning, but it wasn't pointing at him anymore. It was pointing toward the Sect's Main Hall.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
New Discovery: The Compass is reacting to a "Master Beacon."
Logic: Someone inside the Blue Mountain Sect called the Shadow-Thief Guild to kill you.
Han crushed the compass under his boot. "So, there's a traitor in the house."
He looked at the Mystery Key in his hand. It was vibrating, humming in resonance with a hidden stone door hidden behind a waterfall further up the ravine.
[WORLD EVENT TRIGGERED]
Location: The Forgotten Treasury of the Founder.
Warning: You are Level 5. Recommended Level: 15.
Reward: ???
Han looked back at the Sect, then at the waterfall. If he went back, he was a target. If he went forward, he was a gambler.
"System," Han smirked, "put all 10 Stat Points into Intelligence. I need to learn the Void-Step perfectly. We're going in."
(Next Chapter Preview: Inside the Founder's Treasury, Han finds a weapon that breathes, and a secret that explains why Earth was destroyed.)