The eyes in the darkness did not move. They simply observed.
Kael carefully shifted his weight, testing his injured leg. Pain flared, but his structure held.
The eyes blinked once, then vanished.
The next instant, a sharp metallic whistle cut through the air. Kael ducked instinctively as a throwing dagger slammed deep into the tree bark right beside his head.
A shadow stepped out from between the trunk lines—a young man clad in dark leather armor with a jagged scar across his cheek.
"So you're the cripple everyone was talking about," the youth said, his tone casual. "Didn't expect you to make it past the wolves."
Kael kept his center of gravity low. "Who are you?"
"Name's Reth," the youth smirked, drawing a curved blade. "Outer clan auxiliary. Elder Yuan paid me well to make sure you don't walk out of these woods."
"So Yuan didn't want to leave it to chance," Kael noted smoothly.
"Dying to beasts is messy," Reth said, lunging forward. "A blade to the throat is far cleaner!"
Reth was a 3rd-Layer Body Tempering cultivator, fast and precise. Steel flashed, slicing Kael's forearm. But instead of dodging away, Kael leaned into the blow, using the close proximity to smash his forehead directly into Reth's nose!
CRACK!
Reth stumbled back, swearing as blood gushed from his face. "You insane bastard!"
They clashed repeatedly in the dim light—stone and bare fist against forged steel. Kael took several shallow cuts, but with every exchange, his combat experience parsed Reth's patterns effortlessly.
[Combat Type: Human Opponent — Learning Rate Increased.]
"Why won't you fall?!" Reth snarled, his swings growing sloppy from frustration.
Kael's eyes remained dead cold. "Because I've already walked out of death once."
Feinting to the left, Kael let Reth's blade pass over his shoulder, then drove his sharp stone directly into Reth's knee joint! Reth screamed, dropping to one knee. Kael closed the distance instantly, grabbing Reth's hair and snapping his neck with a swift, decisive twist.
[Kill Confirmed: First Human Target.]
[Rewards Granted: Body Tempering +7%, Combat Instinct Enhanced, Minor Qi Flow Activated.]
A violent surge of heat rushed through Kael's body, stabilizing his open wounds and mending muscle tissue. Kael retrieved Reth's curved blade, feeling the satisfying weight of proper steel in his hand.
The second day brought worse challenges.
By afternoon, the terrain turned rugged, leading toward a rocky ravine. The ground suddenly trembled beneath Kael's boots as a massive shape crashed through the thickets.
A Stonehide Boar emerged—a 1st-Order high-grade beast covered in thick, rock-like armor plates, its tusks stained with dried blood.
[Beast Trace Detected: Stonehide Boar]
[Threat Level: High]
The boar snorted, locking its small, angry eyes onto Kael, and charged like a runaway boulder!
Kael sprinted laterally, sliding behind a massive rock formation. The boar slammed into the stone with a deafening BOOM, shattering the rock into fragments.
Realizing his physical strength alone couldn't pierce the boar's hide, Kael sprinted up the slope of the ravine, leading the beast toward a narrow cliff ledge.
The boar pursued relentlessly. As it neared the cliff edge, it lowered its head for a final, crushing charge.
At the absolute last second, Kael leapt sideways off the ledge, grabbing onto an overhanging root!
The boar couldn't stop its momentum. Its heavy hooves slipped over the damp rock, crashing hard into the stone wall below. Before it could recover, Kael dropped from the root, landing squarely on the boar's back.
Kael focused every bit of newly unlocked Qi into his arms and hands.
[Emergency Qi Circulation Approved!]
"Die!" Kael growled, plunging Reth's curved steel blade straight into the boar's eye socket, driving it all the way to the hilt!
The beast shrieked, thrashing violently before collapsing heavily onto its side, taking Kael down with it.
Silence reclaimed the ravine.
[High-Risk Target Eliminated!]
[Rewards Granted: Body Tempering +12%, Qi Flow Stabilized, Meridian Reinforcement (Moderate), Physical Strength Increased.]
Kael lay beside the massive beast, covered in mud and sweat, staring up through the tree canopy. Inside his chest, his broken meridians were visibly knitting together under the system's power, a steady stream of real, refined Qi beginning to circulate through his body.
He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the solid power humming within his muscles.
"One day," Kael whispered, his eyes burning like cold stars, "they will be the ones running."
He pushed himself up, picked up his blade, and walked deeper into the dark forest.