I leisurely scratched my cheek. My hair had been growing out, and the beginning of a beard already formed. It was nice and thick but also quite soft. Too bad I would have to shave before returning to the Sect. I quite liked having some facial cover.

But I had another problem. I didn’t even know where the Sect was. Long Dong did a great job to ruin my sense of direction, the bastard.

I knew we left somewhere to the northeast, but who knew if he went another way while I was unconscious? I didn’t know which direction to go in, but that was something easy to ameliorate. I picked up a stick and made one end sharper, before tossing it in the air. I watched the stick tumble and fall and looked at where it pointed.

[That direction, I guess? Let’s see where it takes us...]

Many things were taking up space in my mind with the acquisition of new memories, and I needed someone to test them on. Preferably an animal of similar strength to mine. That would be best. Unfortunately, despite hearing the sounds of wild beasts all around me, I just didn’t see any of them.

In fact, my travel was kind of boring. I kept my hands behind my back as I walked in a straight line, Wind Blades cutting the obstacles in my path. It was like a miniature hurricane clearing my path.

I absentmindedly scratched my chest. Weirdly my body was itching way more than before. Most likely a consequence of consuming so much Essence in such a short amount of time. The old dog purified it before consuming it, so impurities shouldn’t be a problem.

But then my fingers touched something hard. Like a stone. I opened my robe and looked down at my chest.

[Oh…] In the middle of it, a small black, obsidian-like piece of crystal was poking through my skin. [It’s you again.] I mentally sighed. That was my core, my primitive Dantian if you will. Usually, it should stay inside the body, but for some reason, mine liked to have some space. Well, whatever. There was nothing I could do to change that anyway.

I made a small blade of Golden Qi. As sharp as I could and as dense as my powers allowed it. I tried to scratch the black crystal. No damage. The blade simply slid off without leaving a single scratch. Figures. I have never been able to damage it before so I didn’t expect that to change.

The weird thing was that the core was considered a great weakness of a Cultivator, while mine seemed to be indestructible for some reason. Or at least it could resist damage much better than the rest of my body.

[Meh…] I mentally shrugged and covered myself up.

The sun was still high in the sky so I couldn’t even really tell which way I was going. I decided to just walk for a few more hours and then decide if I wanted to change my path. But then I heard voices. Hushed voices of people talking. I made my way toward them.

Coming out of the thicket, I saw a few people.

“Hold it! Who goes there?!”

I stopped. Two men and two women stood in a semi-circle, their eyes warily looking at me.

[Hello.] They wore light green robes that I didn’t recognize. My eyes filled with Qi and the unfamiliar colors filled my sight. Arcane Eyes were much better than Magic Eyes, but I wasn’t sued to them yet, so I was slightly overwhelmed.

“Hey! How dare you so blatantly look at us!” One of the women shouted and covered her chest with one hand and her lower part with the other.

I just winced and deactivated Arcane Eyes. I didn’t really see much, except that they were all in the Golden Core Realm.

“Careful! He’s one of those crazy MBS members!” A man said and pushed her behind him.

[What?] I was so confused. [Mortgage-backed security?] What the hell were they talking about? But then I realized what he meant. [Oh, you mean the Myriad Beasts Sect. Yeah, that’s right, I’m a member of it. Don’t know about the crazy part though...]

“Don’t lie! We all know how you fight like crazy animals. Even wild beasts seem more civilized than you lot!”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I didn’t even know what to say. That guy was just saying random stuff to be annoying, so I ignored him. [Can anyone tell me where I’m at? I got lost. A map would be great if you have one.] I spoke calmly, holding my hands behind my back, and looked at them with tired eyes. I didn’t have time to be wasting on them. I had techniques to try out and skills to test. Chatting could wait for another time.

“Why you little-!” The angry man took a step forward and made a fist, but the other guy stopped him.

“Let him be, Gang. Look at his clothes. He must be one of the Outer Disciples. Not to mention he looks so young.” He turned to me. “How old are you, anyway?”

[Me?] I thought about it. I wasn’t really sure, honestly. [Still below twenty, I think.]

“See? He’s just a kid. No need to get riled up.”

“Hum, I guess you are right.” The guy named Gang answered.

The men just calmed down when the first woman opened her mouth again. “So what if he’s just a kid? He blatantly disrespected us by scanning us! Are you just going to let him?”

“Let it be, Chun. No harm, no foul. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.” The other woman said. I inclined my head towards her. I really didn’t see anything anyway. They were overreacting.

“And besides, how did he get here if he’s so weak? It’s the Brilliant Sword Sect’s territory. I bet he is a spy!”

[Oh, give me a break… Why would I want to spy on your shitty Sect? I have enough on my plate already.] I groaned. So I was in their territory… What a mess.

“Aha! More disrespect!”

“Chun Ke, please…”

[Woman, why do you insist on being difficult? I don’t want to fight you.]

“Why not, you chicken?”

I sighed. [I don’t like fighting women, not to mention you are weak, and I derive no pleasure from beating weaklings. There exist other ways for that.] I smiled and winked at her. That seemed to irk her, which was fun to see. I didn’t know Karens existed in this world too. What luck!

“Weak?” The woman suddenly smiled which was weird. Her body suddenly blurred for a second, but then became normal again.

“Chun Ke, let him be. He’s just a kid!” The other man said.

“No, no. He said I’m weak, let’s see his skills then!” She spoke, but the sound was coming from all around. It was weird and disorientating.

The man then sighed and unsheathed his sword. “Sorry kid, it’s nothing personal.”

[Hmm? What are you talking about? I told you I don’t want to fight you. Let’s just go our separate ways and forget about all this.]

My persuasion seemed to fall on deaf ears though. The two men just shook their heads and prepared for a fight. The other woman though, frowned, and took a step to the side, seemingly deciding to stay out of it.

[Last chance.]I said forcefully. [ Stand down. I don’t want to-]

A hand suddenly coiled around my neck, stopping me from speaking. I felt a blade pierce my back.

[Ugh!] A half-meter-long blade poked through my chest on my left side, pushing blood out with it. Then came a sound as if someone fired a cannon inside my body, and around the sword, the flesh exploded into a shower of blood.

“Who’s weak now, huh?” I heard the whisper of the woman in my ear. I turned my head and saw Chun Ke grinning at me. The illusion of her standing beside the men disappeared.

“Ah, now she’s done it…” One of them murmured at the sight of their teammate’s actions.

Chun Ke pulled out the sword from the fist-sized hole in my chest and kicked me in the back with the intent of tipping me over, but I resisted. She arrogantly walked around, looking at me with a raised head. I just stared back with my tired eyes, emotionless. Soon her triumphant expression changed.

“Chun Ke! Get back! Something is wrong!” Gang shouted.

I just grinned. It was too late. Golden claws grew from my hands and I accelerated, swiping at her. She was too slow.

“Aaaah!” Chun Ke screamed and stumbled back, the hand she used to strike me with laying bloodied on the floor.

----------------------------------------

[Ah~! That was a good one.] Gerald cracked his neck. [Looks like the old ghost focused only on strength and speed. My defense seems to be somewhat lacking though.] He looked at the hole in his chest where his heart once used to be, ignoring the screaming woman with a missing hand flailing about. It was kind of funny. That was the second time someone destroyed his heart. Only this time, it was different. He was different.

“How are you still alive?!” Chun Ke screamed hysterically. She already retreated back to her group and one of the guys was curing her wounds with some Mystic Arts.

[What? Just because you destroyed my heart? My brain is still perfectly fine though. You should have gone for the head. Haha!] Gerald laughed. He used Telekinesis to cycle blood through his veins. It was the most basic skill any warrior should learn, in his opinion.

But that was not the reason he was so relaxed despite the immense pain he was in. His body suddenly began to smolder and releases steam.

“What’s happening?!”

He just grinned. He wanted to laugh. That shit hurt so much!

[AAAAAAAAAH!]

Gerald’s body ignited. Qi poured into the wound and his flesh lit aflame. Like a melting rock, his skin cracked and beneath it, bright yellow molten stuff poured out. It became gooey and covered the wound. The flesh around it shifted and was reshaped into a new peck, bones, flesh, and all.

[God damn this hurts! Wooo!] He shouted excitedly. The transformation was complete and the molten stuff hardened, forming some sort of gray rocky layer on top of his chest. He struck it and it crumbled, revealing pristine skin underneath.

“What- What kind of sorcery is this?!”

Gerald momentarily closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of his new heart beating in his chest. Regeneration powers of a Phoenix. Neat. I really should have thanked the old ghost more. He helped me to discover so many of my dormant abilities.

[Now…] He cracked his fists and took out the glaive. [Shall we try again?]