My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting

From a distant hillside, Tang Nian and Sheng'er watched Eightlinks in silence.

Sheng'er was equal parts awed and confused. Her father's power amazed her, but why had he introduced himself asJen'gal Yuan? Why was he also set on winning the enemy over instead of wiping them out? These people had invaded Cloudpeak Province. Wasn't her father here to avenge the citizens?

Tang Nian was deep in thought when Sheng'er finally whispered, "Big Sis, why is papa doing this?"

"Because he means to bring the Ice Folk under his command," Tang Nian said.

"Bring them under him? They're ruthless! Why not just kill them?"

Everything Sheng'er had seen or heard lately was hatred and fear for the invaders; she shared that anger.

Tang Nian hesitated. She had traveled with Li Yuan often enough to understand him, while Sheng'er only knew the gentle father who let her ride on his back.

Li Yuan had wanted Sheng'er's childhood to be carefree, but bringing her here meant it was time for her to face the world properly.

Tang Nian drew a breath, then slowly started explaining, "Pops never saw himself as the guardian of this land. He won't accept the worship of the people here, and their grudges aren't his to inherit."

"But the Tang Sect, all of us… Didn't Papa place us here?"

"That's just us. There's no clash of great sects here, no big meat fields or ghost domains. Pops simply wanted a place where we could be safe. His heart was never broad enough to embrace a whole land or its people, only himself, us, and those few he cares about."

"..." Sheng'er fell silent.

"Even if this land were soaked in blood," Tang Nian went on, "he'd help when he could, but if he had other plans, nothing would move him. He can be cold hearted, yet he's loyal. He'll never carry the banner of justice, but he won't plunge into pure evil either."

Sheng'er muttered, "Yet he keeps telling me to be good, to be kind."

"Pops wants people to be kind. That's why he loves your mom. She's always believed in the goodness of people. The good should be rewarded, and the evil should be punished. But he himself isn't like that.

"So he doesn't fret over how much blood spills on Cloudpeak Province, or how many die. He'll never start harming innocents, but he won't shoulder the world's burdens either. Heaven shifts, and he lets it. He seeks advantages and avoids peril. He never acts out of hot‑blooded righteousness. Instead, he waits with frightening patience until the moment is perfect. Then he strikes.

"That kind of man is both the most frightful and the most dependable."

Tang Nian sighed, patting the little girl's head. "Lil Sis, that's our father. He's neither a good man nor a bad one, just someone everyone else fears. Luckily…he's ours."

"..." Sheng'er looked on ahead in silence, her gaze flickering.

"He laid out this board long ago," Tang Nian said. "The Ice Folk despise outsiders, so he slipped into their Trueflame Tribe, became one of them, and took the name Jen'gal Yuan.

"That means what's happening here isn't Cloudpeak Province's counterattack. This is an internal power struggle among the Ice Folk. Those are very different. In an external war, he'd gain nothing. But in an internal fight, he just needs to defeat the strongest, apply a little pressure, and he'll control a tribe.

"That's what Pops is doing."

Sheng'er thought for a moment, then blurted out, "But…how did hejointhe Ice Folk?"

"Marriage alliance," Tang Nian said.

"Marriage—wait, what?"

Tang Nian laughed. "Looks like you'll be getting afifthmother, straight from the Ice  Folk."

"..." Sheng'er fell speechless.

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CREAAK!  CREAAK!

Within Eightlinks, the twin doors of the iron gate groaned open.

Sunlight spilled over dense, menacing ranks of shadows marching out. These were tribesmen hefting weapons as they left the township walls behind.

Only a handful of warriors from the Trueflame Tribe stayed behind, and even they no longer looted or slaughtered.

The Khagan had spoken. Eightlinks was his private property. No one in the Trueflame Tribe dared lay a finger on his belongings; they remained merely as caretakers.

Those who had departed the town were setting off for the nearest base of another tribe.

At the head of the group, mounted on a hulking direwolf, was Li Yuan. He wore a dark robe hidden beneath a windswept cloak. His loose black hair whipped about like dancing flames, wild and imperious, making him blend effortlessly with the tribal warriors at his side.

The wolves and riders devoured the miles. In under an hour, they reached the township of Deerwell, stronghold of the Red Crystal Tribe.

Severed heads crowned the ramparts as a warning to would‑be resistance fighters; the gates were shut tight, turning the town into the Red Crystal Tribe's private playground.

Inside, brothels, taverns, and the mansions of wealthy clans had been seized. The tribesmen here gorged themselves on delicacies while they toyed with captive women. Laughter, lewd cries, and weeping tangled in the air until a thunderous explosion cut through the cacophony.

CRASH! BOOM!

The main gates of Deerwell were blown from their hinges. The massive iron doors hurled inward, slamming onto paved stones and kicking up waves of dust.

For a heartbeat the whole town froze. Then chaos erupted. The tribesmen snatched up weapons and pounded through the streets toward the breach, their footfalls making the very stones tremble.

At their head charged a man gripping a long spear, his bristling moustache braided into spikes. He wore a black, embroidered cuirass stripped from some noble clan household. The piece of armor was too small for his massive frame. So he remained bare-chested, buckling it hastily over his shoulders. Meanwhile, his lower half was covered with nothing but blood-stained pelts.

This man was Ulan'der Khustai, an elder of the Red Crystal Tribe. Their chieftain was off visiting a nearby town controlled by another tribe.

"Which fool is welcoming death early!?" Khustai bellowed as he ran.

Tribesmen poured from alleys like enraged beasts, their roars rattling weaker souls.

"Wahahaha! Another fight!!

"Here I was getting bored!"

"Harharhar! It's fresh meat!"

More than a hundred tribal warriors surged up to the shattered gates, only to halt in confusion. The intruders were tribesmen too.

Yet the wolf‑mounted youth at the lead was a stranger, and none mistook his fearsome aura.

Li Yuan's eyes lifted. On an upper floor, he spotted a man of the Red Crystal Tribe mauling a young woman. Two fingers flicked, and a razor‑thin arc of blade qi flashed across the brute's throat. Head and body parted; the head tumbled down the woman's dress and thudded onto the floorboards.

The girl froze, then shrieked, while a child in the next room wailed.

Li Yuan vanished, reappeared on the roof, unfastened his cloak, and draped it around her shoulders. He brushed a hand over her eyes. "Easy. Go back inside. From today on, this place is mine. These men won't touch you again."

Down below, Khustai saw the rolling head and roared, "Bullshit! Everything here belongs to the Red Crystal Tribe, notyou!"

"Oh?"

"So you'd play the hero for these slaves? Too late. This town is ours! Scram!" Khustai spat and sneered. "Heh, do you even realize what you've done? You've broken the law of the Nine Flames! Infighting is forbidden outside the Evernight. You're dead!"

Bloodlust twisting his face, Khustai sprang into the air. "Die, you fool! No one will complain if I kill you! If you resist, you'll face the wrath of our entire tribe! Do you dare to make an enemy out of all of us!? After I kill you, I'll butcher that slave girl before your eyes, piece by piece. Hahaha!"

Amid his savage laughter, the spear howled down like a black gale, aiming to pin the young man to the stones.

Li Yuan merely glanced up, his gaze cold, arrogant, contemptuous. He lifted a hand and moved to catchthe incoming spear.

"Idiot!" Khustai barked, triumphant. He whipped his arm in a violent arc, and the spear bucked like a giant python rolling over, every inch packed with lethal force.

WHOOSH!A harsh, slicing wind tore the air, cold silver light rippling around the shaft.

That single snap‑thrust had once obliterated more than a fewpowerhousesof Cloudpeak Province into red mist; it was a signature trick Khustai had honed himself.

The spear point closed in, but Li Yuan's hand closed faster.

The great pythonfroze, coming to a standstill.

Khustai blinked, then yanked with all his might. The spear didn't budge an inch. Then, a blistering heat flooded the metal. A heartbeat later, the handle began to soften, fusing to his palms.