My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting

Li Yuan and Yan Yu both turned away again without another word. Each understood this was anything but small. Yan Yu was basically a Yin domain, Li Yuan something closer to a Yang domain. Yin and Yang rejected each other more absolutely than water and flame; bridging that gulf would not be easy.

Even so, the outcome, while startling, made a sad kind of sense. When lovers had to part, it was only natural to put on a strong face. One solace was that this wasn't an eternal parting. They could still meet, just not touch.

Li Yuan accepted reality, steadied his emotions, and continued on, feeling out his brand‑new power. The transformation had settled completely. One glance at his status screen showed nothing but a jet‑black question mark.

???

A closer look revealed a faint 3,600~51, 341. His overall combat power had jumped from 2,600~41.341—a 1,000 point increase at the base and 10,000 point increase at the peak. Yet he knew the actual figure could land anywhere in that span, depending entirely on the surrounding Yang energy. Thick Yang air would grant the full boost; barren air, almost none. Whether this ceiling could climb further was a question for another day.

"Why a black question mark?" he wondered. Then came the answer, "A ghost domain tied to the Earth shows red question marks because the Supreme Yin defies measurement. I'm now linked to a slice of Heaven. In turn, that connects me to the Supreme Yang, resulting in the black question marks. And because it's a question mark, this power sits outside mySystem; I can't allocate points to it."

He replayed his clash with Yan Yu. He had been half a tier weaker. "At full strength, I'm roughly fourth rank, but with traits akin to a single‑entity ghost domain. Yet unlike a ghost domain, my strength fluctuates. In Yang rich zones, I might rival an average dual-entity ghost domain."

He made a few rough estimations—

A single-entity ghost domain likely ranged between 1,000 to 10,000 combat power, with their ghost servants hovering between 100 and 1,000. That was why sixth rank martial artists could crush ghost servants but never the main ghost itself.

A dual-entity ghost domain likely sat higher, perhaps between 10,000 and 100,000 combat power, averaging around 50,000.

A ghost domain endured because Yin energy from the Earth refilled it endlessly. It could be sealed but never destroyed.

By this crude scale, Li Yuan now sat somewhere between single‑entity and double‑entity ghost domain in power, fueled by roaming Yang energy rather than fixed Yin energy.

"So that begs the question… Do my ghost items still work?"

Li Yuan produced his favorite rouge compact. The rouge melted the instant it touched his skin, refusing to form its usual ghostly makeup. An ordinary fifth rank martial artist could never use the rouge, yet it had always served him until now.

Next, he pulled out the human skin shackles; they still responded.

"So from here on, I can wield only items rated for dual-entities and above."

A few quick tests confirmed the verdict, and Li Yuan set off to see just how far the Yang domain within him could take him.

His fingers twitched; he tugged at the thousand-mile thread.

So many changes still needed to be discovered; there was no room for moping about his parting with Yan Yu just now.

First, he had to deal with the flood of news.

"Splinterholt has fallen."

"Eightlinks has been overrun…"

"The Zhang Clan is gone."

"The Zhao Clan sent their youngest daughter to beg for help."

"The Wang Clan is already on the road, fleeing."

"The You Clan is packing up its silver and heading out."

Bad tidings drifted in like winter snow.

The people of the Nine Flames might be slow‑witted, but their raw power crushed all resistance. Once they discovered how delightful unrestrained pillage could be, they grew utterly lawless. They cared nothing for statutes, only for the rule of the strong. The people in their grasp were no longerhuman, merely property.

In a single year, Cloudpeak Province had become hell on earth. Common citizens and even whole martial factions were reduced to penned-in slaves.

The tribesmen respected no life; strength alone entitled them to enjoy whatever they possessed. That was their code. Morals and ethics never entered the equation.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

On a mountain ridge, Tang Nian in her red robes stood with her remaining disciples, looking over the valleys.

"Bighorse Gorge is down. The invaders have a clear road," a disciple reported. "Master, shouldn't we leave Cloudpeak Province?"

"Don't you remember? Master told us the situation in the Central Plains is even worse," another disciple argued.

"I'd rather face dangers we haven't seen than slavery right here!" a third disciple insisted. "Every single one of those invaders is an unkillable monster! It's better to gamble in the Central Plains than wait here to be penned."

Fear and despair colored the voices of the disciples. Overwhelming strength, savage brutality, and fearless in the face of death, such were the people of the Nine Flames.

To break the spirits of the locals of Cloudpeak Province, the tribesmen had turned to extreme violence and cruelty. They'd skin the people who resisted the most fiercely, hanging their hides on poles as marching standards. They'd hollow out skulls, setting candles inside, and carried them as lanterns. They'd sew banners from flayed hides, each daubed in fresh blood with the names of every great clan.

The people of Cloudpeak Province had never imagined such horrors; rumor alone shattered their nerve.

"Master, we must go soon, or it'll be too late!"

"Yes, the first snows are almost here. Once the passes close we're trapped, while those invaders romp in furs and laugh at avalanches."

"Master, please let's leave!"

The pleas of the disciples tumbled over one another.

Tang Nian stayed silent for a long while, then glanced at her disciple Tang Ling. Tang Ling had infiltrated the Nine Flames camps alone, ferried messages, coordinated poisonings, and made it back alive with only her left eye lost. Her courage was proven.

Yet now even she was mute. Before the mission she brimmed with faith; inside the camps she'd trembled but succeeded, and in July, they'd actually pushed the tribesmen back, sparking panic in the enemy's ranks. But the last vial of poison was gone; they could no longer contend against the invaders.

She bowed her head, fists knotted. A tear of humiliation and rage slid from her lone eye.

"I can't accept this! Truly, I can't!" The broad‑shouldered, one‑eyed girl broke down.

The other disciples fell silent.

"Senior Sister, it's not your fault. If the poison hadn't run out, we might really have driven them off."

"Exactly, the invaders are a force of nature. No ordinary humans can stand against it."

Tang Nian sighed and stroked Tang Ling's hair.

"Ling'er, give me two days. When I return, I'll decide. Gather the disciples, chart our escape. Once I'm back, we may leave at once."

"Master, where are you going?"

"To meet someone."

"Mister Li?" Tang Ling guessed.

Tang Nian smiled. "Yes."

"Will that really help? Is he some sort of hidden master? But no matter how strong he is, there's no way a single per—"

"I believe in him. He's the strongest person I know, and he's my pops!" Tang Nian no longer hid it, pride in her voice.

Rising, she stepped onto the shoulder of a giant puppet and headed into the deep mountain where fallen leaves whirled.

There were no steps on the mountain path, only brittle leaves. Green leaves barely born had already yellowed under an early autumn wind, tumbling down in waves.

The path coiled upward; the puppet sprang from bend to bend. Then, seated on its shoulder, Tang Nian felt a blast of warmth utterly alien to the chill around her.

At the next turn stood a man in a dark robe, an azure blade slung across his back.

Tang Nian looked up sharply, joy flashing across her face. "Pops, you're all right!"

"I'm fine." Li Yuan stepped to her side. "Where's Sheng'er?"

"Behaving herself at home," Tang Nian replied. "The Ice Folk have already pushed into Cloudpeak—"

Li Yuan lifted a hand to stop her. "Are you up to date on their movements? What about the location of their camps?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Good. Take me to the Trueflame Tribe," he said, then added, "Bring Sheng'er along. She's still a child, but I don't want her sheltered from everything. She needs to see the world."