Bone Domain Field.
After a month of travel, Feng Qi finally reached the end of this domain field.
Standing atop a towering peak, he looked down. Thick black smoke churned below, and the land was filled with massive, pale-white skeletal remains, scattered like towering ruins across the earth.
All along the journey, the path had been filled with roaming undead, driven purely by instinct to hunt and kill. Feng Qi hadn't encountered a single intelligent domain creature.
According to Lei Ting, there used to be an intelligent skeletal faction here.
As for what became of them—he didn't know.
Maybe they realized they couldn't compete with the surrounding powers and abandoned their ancestral domain early to migrate elsewhere.
But the real story? Lei Ting had no idea.
Feng Qi didn't dwell on it.
They were now at the edge of this domain field, about to enter a new domain world.
Looking down, he saw Xiao You sitting at the cliff's edge, curiously observing the death-filled land below. Her legs dangled off the edge, swaying gently in the air. The wind at the mountaintop lifted her grey hair slightly, giving her a hint of solemn purity despite her usual innocence.
Beside her sat Lei Ting, expression distant.
He was staring down the mountain, lost in thought.
Though he hid it well, Feng Qi still saw a trace of sadness in his eyes.
Their ancestral domain had collapsed. The Lei Clan was nearly wiped out. Only a few non-combatant clan members had managed to escape.
The glory of the Lei Clan was over.
To Lei Ting, it must have felt like a bad dream. Just a month ago, he had been the respected clan king, planning for the future of the Lei Clan and looking forward to better days.
Now, it had all turned to ash.
Lei Ting had lost his people... and the strength he had cultivated over four hundred years.
Feng Qi knew that Lei Ting's heart was full of grief and frustration, but he never allowed himself to show weakness. Behind all his yelling and trash talk, he was drowning in sorrow.
Lei Ting casually rubbed his eyes, brushing away the tears that had formed. Then he turned and snapped, "What are you looking at, brat? Wanna fight?"
"You mean, 'Boss hasn't hit me in three days,' right?" Xiao You reached over and patted his head, a curious glint in her eyes.
Lei Ting slapped her hand away with an annoyed look, but he didn't lash out.
"Let's go. We'll try flying down the mountain. Xiao You, hand them the masks," Feng Qi said with a grin.
The descent was steep, and they were close to the edge of the Bone Domain Field. It wouldn't take long to reach the end.
Flying was obviously faster than walking.
At Feng Qi's words, Xiao You's ring gave off a soft glow, tearing open a small spatial rift. She reached in and pulled out two masks she'd prepared earlier.
One had a lightning emblem, the other a dagger symbol.
They were flight masks, made specifically for Lei Ting and Po Jia.
The ring on Xiao You's hand was a miniature spatial tool she'd spent three months crafting.
It had around 0.5 cubic meters of space—just enough to store small items.
Feng Qi was really looking forward to the day she advanced to the second stage of spell-weaving. Then she could craft larger-capacity spatial tools.
After handing the masks to Po Jia and Lei Ting, Xiao You put away her straw hat and donned her own white mask painted with a red spider lily.
"Let's go!"
Feng Qi jumped off the peak first.
As he descended, he gripped the Demon Blade and activated his Body Movement Technique.
His body and the blade were linked. Under the pull of his consciousness, qi and blood circulated from his body into the Demon Blade, then flowed back, forming a complete loop.
His falling speed began to slow.
He wasn't yet able to fully fly with the blade, but gliding a short distance wasn't a problem.
Above him, Xiao You, Po Jia, and Lei Ting stretched out their arms, gliding with the help of their flight masks.
They passed over a lake bubbling with black blisters and swept past a group of wandering undead.
The ground was getting closer.
Feng Qi felt pressure building and began directing the Demon Blade to slow his descent.
His body tensed as his qi and blood surged even faster.
The nodes within the Demon Blade lit up in response.
As he continued diving, his speed slowed again.
One hundred meters. Thirty meters. Five meters... In those final five meters, the pressure peaked. He lost control of his balance and crashed straight into the ground.
Boom!
With a loud crash, he smashed a deep pit into the earth.
Covered in dirt, Feng Qi's body was halfway buried from the impact and momentum.
Above, Xiao You and the others flew overhead with their flight masks.
"Boss!"
"Still alive."
Hearing Xiao You's shout, Feng Qi responded right away and climbed out of the pit, covered in dust.
He swung the Demon Blade forward, and a blast of wind cleared the cloud of dirt around him.
Seeing Feng Qi in such a sorry state, Lei Ting's mocking voice rang out.
"Too weak. You can't even manage basic aerial maneuvering. If it were me, I'd have died on impact. What a disgrace."
"You looking for a beating?"
Hearing Lei Ting's taunt, Feng Qi shot him a fierce glare. Lei Ting's laughter immediately stopped as he yielded to the threat of violence.
Looking northwest, a black domain field barrier stood tall at the edge of their sight, stretching up to touch the sky.
Feng Qi stretched his limbs, bones crackling loudly.
After a brief adjustment, he led the group toward the edge of the domain field.
Along the way, Feng Qi killed many death-type creatures that actively attacked them.
But compared to the main timeline's energy-plundering ability, the Demon Blade couldn't absorb energy from these lifeless beings.
It proved that the energy absorption feature of the Demon Blade had its limits.
At the very least, it fell far short of the energy-plundering talent from the main timeline.
As they crossed the black domain field barrier, a new journey began.
Time passed. In a blink, five years had gone by.
During those years of journeying, they passed through one bizarre domain field after another.
Spending time together gradually dissolved their barriers.
Lei Ting was still sharp-tongued, always offering his "unique" insights, but after a few beatings, he learned to behave.
During this time, Feng Qi gained a new companion.
His name was Lie Kong, a wild, feral boy.
Their meeting was pure chance. Lie Kong had been part of a roaming faction. His tribe's domain field had long been swallowed by invading forces, and he had been separated from the few surviving clansmen during their escape.
For years, he wandered across domain fields in search of them.
They crossed paths when Feng Qi was making a campfire and cooking. Lie Kong had been lurking nearby, drooling and scheming to snatch the food.
Naturally, he ended up getting thoroughly beaten.
After the beatdown, the Demon Blade sensed that Lie Kong had decent talent, so Feng Qi decided to keep him around.
But two years later, Feng Qi let him go.
It wasn't that Lie Kong had done anything wrong.
Just… something unexpected happened.
One evening, after crossing a domain field, they stumbled upon a rare human-world gap zone.
This kind of area was extremely rare within the cluster of domain fields.
Feng Qi didn't even remember how long it had been since he'd last returned to the human world.
But this return brought a farewell.
When they crossed into the human world, Lie Kong experienced a rejection reaction—he couldn't coexist with the human world, proving he hadn't become a domain-transcendent lifeform yet.
That marked the end of their bond.
That night, Feng Qi made a big meal within the domain field and said goodbye to Lie Kong.
Before parting, Feng Qi gave him one final instruction:
"If you still value the two years we spent together, then in the future, if you encounter humans, let them go. They're my people."
The always-silent Lie Kong made a promise—if one day he could rebuild his tribe, he would never harm humans.
Feng Qi watched his back as he walked away.
During the farewell, Lei Ting remained silent, his face expressionless. Po Jia looked sorrowful but also said nothing.
Only Xiao You, who could never hide her emotions, bawled uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down her face until she actually cried herself unconscious.
Sensitive and emotional, Xiao You was the team's emotional core.
Even Lei Ting, who was always suppressing his grief and anger, never vented negative emotions in front of Xiao You.
Po Jia was the same.
From Po Jia's eyes, you could tell he thought Xiao You was an absolute idiot.
But that idiot had given him a warmth he'd never known.
The gear Po Jia wore had all been handmade by this sleepy little dummy. That kind of warmth was something not even his father had given him.
Xiao You's genuine heart brought a lot of joy to this otherwise gloomy team.
After Lie Kong left, the journey continued.
Countless thrilling and brutal moments still played out.
They were like passengers on a train bound for the unknown—experiencing all sorts of sights along the way but never able to stay.
After leaving traces behind, they always had to move on.
During this time, they visited sky-floating worlds and met winged humanoid creatures that lived among the clouds. They also swam through underwater realms filled with clear, liquid light…
The journey was filled with wonder—and sorrow.
There was one experience where Feng Qi truly thought he might die.
It was in a domain field filled with black water. They encountered a beast whose physical body was absurdly strong. Feng Qi misjudged the difficulty. Even after unleashing the second release of the Demon Blade, he couldn't defeat it and was seriously injured—almost dying in the process.
It was Xiao You, Lei Ting, and Po Jia who risked their lives to save him.
Carrying his heavily wounded body, they climbed mountains and waded through waters, dodging danger again and again until they finally found a safe area for him to survive.
During that time, all of Feng Qi's blood energy had been exhausted in battle, so his recovery was incredibly slow.
During that time, Xiao You and the others risked their lives venturing out to gather spiritual plants to treat his injuries. It took a full month of recovery before Feng Qi finally healed completely.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed a new scar across Po Jia's face.
When he asked how it happened, Po Jia said nothing, expression blank.
Only through Xiao You did Feng Qi learn that Po Jia had been attacked by a domain beast while collecting spiritual plants. The creature nearly split his skull open—he barely survived.
Feng Qi could imagine how tough those three had it without him.
In a domain field that even he felt pressure in, the three of them were nothing but bottom-tier lifeforms—any number of domain beasts could've easily killed them.
After that near-death experience, their bond clearly grew stronger.
Po Jia still kept his usual cold face. Lei Ting was still a loudmouth. Xiao You was still adorably clueless... but a sense of unity had begun to form.
Po Jia's goal was to grow strong enough to get revenge himself one day.
Lei Ting's goal was to find his scattered clansmen, rebuild the Silver Dynasty, lead his people into the future, and challenge the oncoming great momentum.
Xiao You's dream was simpler—stay by Boss's side forever and eat the delicious food he made every day.
They all had different dreams, but it was Feng Qi who brought them together into one traveling group.
During this time, Po Jia also clarified his own cultivation path.
Guided by the Demon Blade's training system, Po Jia chose the assassin route. He focused on speed and dagger techniques to quickly eliminate targets. He also picked up various hidden weapon techniques.
And all his hidden weapons were crafted by Xiao You.
Right now, Xiao You had learned to craft three types of energy-based hidden weapons.
Their names were Flame, Blast, and Freeze—each dealt fire burn, explosive impact, or freezing damage respectively upon hitting a target.
Besides that, Po Jia had concocted a special poison from spiritual plants to coat his daggers. It inflicted continuous damage once it landed on the enemy.
Po Jia was making real progress on this assassination path, and Feng Qi was genuinely happy about it.
Meanwhile, Xiao You continued to absorb her inherited memories. With each layer unlocked, her crafting skills got stronger. She could now whip up all kinds of functional magical items.
She was like a walking treasure pouch, always surprising Feng Qi.
You could say she was the perfect support.
The only things holding Xiao You back were the strength of her energy core—and her laziness.
She was super talented, no doubt, but had a tendency to slack off. Even when Po Jia stood nearby hounding her to replenish used-up energy weapons, she'd nod and say, "Yes, yes," and then immediately go nap, clearly having zero intention of following through.
Feng Qi felt helpless.
Xiao You was like a kid who never grew up.
Her enthusiasm only lasted about three minutes.
She'd talk all day about how hard she was going to work, then fall asleep right after.
As for actually doing anything? That word wasn't even in her vocabulary.
Slacking off and lying flat was her standard state.
Then there was Lei Ting, the last to join their group—yet the one whose strength had progressed the fastest among the three.
That was partly due to his natural talent.
But more importantly, he had a ton of cultivation experience stored in his mind. Even though he had to start from scratch after his power collapse, his deep knowledge helped him avoid countless detours.
Now, Lei Ting was the strongest among the trio.
The only problem was that he occasionally slipped into a kind of senile dementia, a side effect left behind from breaking free of the Blood Soul Banner's suppression. Fortunately, this symptom had been gradually fading as his strength improved.
Compared to how he used to be in a near-constant daze, things had gotten way better.
Finally, there was Feng Qi himself.
Over the course of these five years, his physical abilities and control over the Demon Blade had grown steadily stronger.
He was getting close to unlocking the third release of the blade.
Besides progressing in the first form of his blade art—Dump Truck Slam—Feng Qi had also developed seven additional blade forms suited to his fighting style. Each one was brutal and overwhelming, capable of steamrolling opponents.
That power boost gave Feng Qi a lot more confidence.
He looked forward to the day he could complete the God Ascension Trial, break through space with one slash, and chop off Jian Ji's damned head.
Aside from endless combat and cultivation, Feng Qi occasionally thought about the people back in Star City.
He wondered what they were doing now, and whether Star City was still developing in line with the vision he had for it.
More than ten years had passed—surely a lot had changed.
With the lessons learned from his last sacrificial timeline, would Star City progress faster this time?
That thought filled him with anticipation.
He hoped the day he returned to Star City would bring great surprises.
Sometimes, he'd also think of Old Mi.
That guy was destined to be a future overlord. Would this sacrificial timeline go smoothly for him? Had he run into any problems he couldn't solve?
The journey was lonely, but it was also full of hope.
The sights they encountered were unknown, but the destination was always clear.
If he could kill Jian Ji, then Winterfell City would be freed, and humanity's future would open up with more possibilities.
This path to salvation wouldn't be completed in a single step.
Every restart was a footprint leading toward the ideal world.
As a pathfinder, the most important thing for Feng Qi was to keep moving forward—one solid step at a time.
That day, as the first light of dawn rose over the horizon, Feng Qi, already awake, called out to rouse the others.
Hearing his shout, Xiao You rubbed her sleepy eyes and floated down from a nearby tree.
Po Jia was already dressed and packing his bundle made of woven branches.
Only Lei Ting was still lying belly-down on a huge leaf, completely naked. When he heard Feng Qi's call, he grumbled and turned over.
"You little brat, you think you get to decide how long I sleep? Po Jia, drag him out and chop him!"
Po Jia naturally ignored him.
Feng Qi couldn't be bothered either. Once Po Jia finished packing, he and Xiao You set off with him.
Moments later, Lei Ting came chasing after them, still butt-naked, muttering, "Why didn't you wait for me..."
Feng Qi turned around and grinned at the sight.
This guy was always acting like a mix of coward and show-off.
Sometimes, Feng Qi could hardly believe this was the same man who once wore the Silver Battle Armor, confidently commanding the Silver Legion.
Most of the time, Lei Ting just felt like a sleazy street punk.
That vibe showed in every way—besides his sharp tongue, he was also always up to shady stuff.
Feng Qi remembered one time when Lei Ting sneaked out in the middle of the night to steal bird eggs. He got chased all over by a furious monster bird. If Feng Qi hadn't stepped in, Lei Ting's little worm would've been snatched away.
But Lei Ting wasn't all bad.
Feng Qi had actually learned a lot from him about battlefield strategy and unit coordination.
Even if the knowledge didn't fully apply to humans—since the Lei Clan's cultivation system was entirely different—it still sparked plenty of ideas.
Besides that, Lei Ting also taught him how to craft war horns and even promised to make one for him someday.
The only problem was that they didn't have the materials right now.
They'd have to gather them on the road.
Also, to carve the spirit runes into the horn, Lei Ting's strength would need to partially recover. Without that, he couldn't control the spiritual imprinting phase of the crafting.
Three days later, Feng Qi led Xiao You and the others through the domain field barrier and into a brand-new domain.
What lay before them was a world thick with vegetation—towering trees that reached over a hundred meters into the sky.
Feng Qi took a deep breath and immediately noticed that the air here was rich in spiritual energy.
Checking the spiritual energy was one way he judged the strength of local forces.
The denser and purer the spiritual energy, the stronger the creatures living there usually were.
That's because there were very few ways to improve the quality and concentration of spiritual energy in a domain field. The most effective method was to expand and devour other domain fields, merging their spiritual energy into one's own.
And expansion required power.
Over the next few days, Feng Qi and the others made their way through the lush rainforest, constantly on the move.
This domain was rich in resources, and they feasted well along the way.
During that time, Feng Qi also collected a bunch of new spices, further refining his cooking skills.
Half a month later, after pushing through a thorn-covered thicket, Feng Qi suddenly sensed a powerful energy fluctuation coming from the north.
Curious, he immediately activated his perception ability, his awareness spreading out like radar in that direction.
Under perception mode, everything became sharply defined—even the nearly invisible hairs on plant leaves came into focus.
A few minutes later, he pinpointed the source of the energy.
It was a structure buried beneath dense vegetation, shaped somewhat like a pyramid. In the center, it had 108 stone steps leading straight to the top.
He tried to extend his perception up to the peak but felt it blocked by a strange force, as if some mysterious power was preventing him from probing further.
After a few attempts, Feng Qi gave up.
As his awareness returned, he opened his eyes.
The mysterious pyramid that emitted such strong energy piqued his curiosity.
Just then, the voice of the Demon Blade echoed in his mind.
"Qi brat, this might be an inheritance site."
"Inheritance site?"
That answer caught Feng Qi by surprise.
He'd never seen one himself, but he'd heard the Mist Lord mention them in passing before.
According to Old Mi, inheritance sites were extremely rare. They were created by powerful beings before death to pass on their life's knowledge to a fated successor.
Usually, those willing to leave behind such a legacy were the remnants of defeated powers.
Like when a once-mighty race or force lost a war and became nomadic. Over time, their scattered members dwindled until only one survivor remained.
At that point, their race had no future left.
That lone survivor faced two options.
Let their species' history vanish entirely with their death, erased by time.
Or refuse to accept oblivion, and choose instead to leave behind their inheritance—whether it be their life's cultivation or their clan's greatest treasures—to someone worthy, as proof they once existed.
Most beings, when faced with this choice, would rather die taking everything with them than leave behind a legacy for some unknown "fated successor."
But over the long history of the domain world, there were a rare few who chose to pass on their legacy.
So, coming across a true inheritance was incredibly unlikely.
Even so, the Mist Lord believed that even if you did stumble upon an inheritance site, it probably wasn't reliable.
He had analyzed a few hidden dangers.
The Mist Lord thought there were definitely good-hearted powerhouses who left behind their legacies out of kindness. But that didn't mean all of them had pure intentions.
Maybe the inheritance came with traps, set to gradually seize control of the "fated successor's" body and resurrect themselves.
So, inheritance sites were very likely to be a trap.
Even if there was no trap, the techniques left behind might not be compatible at all.
After all, differences between species were huge. What was considered a peerless divine art in one race might be utter garbage to another—and forcibly cultivating it could lead to shattered meridians and death.
Because of these reasons, the Mist Lord said inheritance sites were mostly useless.
They were like leftover crumbs from beings who had big dreams but ended up dying in obscurity—a final trace they left behind for the world, even if those traces weren't worth much.
To explain it better, the Mist Lord once used a metaphor.
He said it was just like human tourists in scenic spots. Wherever they went, they had to leave some mark behind—like scribbling their name on a statue, just to say "I was here."
Still, he did admit there were exceptions.
Even if techniques were worthless, there were extremely rare inheritance sites that contained special equipment or unique items.
Sometimes, a treasure might really be left behind.
The Mist Lord shared a story. He once looted a race, and while flipping through their historical records, he found that one of their ancestors had luckily entered an inheritance site and obtained a miracle artifact.
Unfortunately, their race had no power to protect it.
That ancestor didn't even have time to enjoy his miracle before a mighty being dropped out of the sky and slapped him dead, taking the artifact away.
So, the chances of getting a real treasure were extremely low.
Even lower than humans winning the lottery.
The Mist Lord said that during his campaigns to plunder and expand territory, he had encountered several inheritance sites—but never even bothered to go in.
In his words, it was just like a human walking past a lottery shop, stepping inside, and spending two coins on a scratch card. It was meaningless. A complete waste of time.
Snapping back to reality, Feng Qi found himself feeling a bit curious about this inheritance site.
Even if the Mist Lord said it was a waste of time, to Feng Qi, it was still a way to gain experience on the journey.
After all, he had never visited one before—so why not go see what it was like?
With that thought, he immediately decided to head north.
Half an hour later, Feng Qi, Xiao You, and the others pushed aside thick undergrowth, and the pyramid came into view.
It stood forty meters tall, surrounded by piles of withered leaves. In the center were 108 stone steps, with a blurry halo of light shrouding the top, making it look very mysterious.
At the foot of the stairs, Feng Qi stepped forward.
But the moment his left foot touched the first step, he felt a pressure surging down from the tip of the pyramid, weighing down on his entire body.
His muscles instantly tensed. He quickly withdrew.
"What's this? A legacy challenge?"
"Probably some bored guy's game before death. He didn't want some weakling inheriting his stuff," the Demon Blade's ancient voice echoed in his mind.
"Interesting." Feng Qi placed the Demon Blade down.
Sensing that he intended to take on the challenge, the Demon Blade didn't hit the ground—it hovered in mid-air by its own will.
Without the burden of the Demon Blade's weight, Feng Qi stepped back onto the first stair, barehanded.
This time, prepared for the pressure, it didn't faze him at all. He climbed three more steps in quick succession, reaching the fourth.
The pressure intensified, but it was far from his limit.
He kept moving upward. With each step, the force increased.
Looking up at the halo-shrouded peak of the pyramid, a battle-ready gleam lit up Feng Qi's eyes.
He wasn't really interested in the reward at the top.
Chances were, there wasn't anything good. Hoping for a miracle treasure was pure fantasy.
To him, this was just a challenge. A test of endurance.
A chance to temper himself.