The sky was filled with a dreamy purple fog. Screams and wailing echoed through Luo City, but soon, they subsided. All that remained was lamentation and resentment.

“Why?”

“How could this happen? Damn the Gods!”

“Ahahahaha.”

“Three hundred years of cultivation wasted because of bad luck. What a fate... what a way to live, what a way to die.”

Some kept asking why this disaster had occurred, while others cursed the perpetrator. The rest simply laughed bitterly at their misfortune.

Before long, those who were still able to hold on began to decay. Their cultivation realms regressed, their bodies hollowed out from the inside, and their lifespans drained away—like water flowing downhill.

Dao Jun sat, his weakened body leaning against the wall of a building.

He had only wanted to buy materials for his research after achieving a breakthrough in his attempt to open a new path for his dead nascent soul.

But now, his lifeless eyes stared at those who still had some time left, stumbling to the ground. Before their bodies even touched the ground, their flesh and bones disintegrated into ash.

Dao Jun turned his gaze slightly and saw someone soaring into the sky, only to self-detonate in midair.

“Hahahaha! I, Old Demon Withered Bone, was born in poverty and have always been bullied by others! But I refused to bow down! Now, my time has come—I refuse to die pathetically! I will die with my dignity intact!

What Venerable Gods? They’re just a lucky bunch who cultivated more than me! I refuse to admit defeat! EXPLODE FOR ME!”

Dao Jun sighed. Even in death, Old Demon Withered Bone held onto his dignity.

As someone who had reincarnated into this world of immortal cultivation, Dao Jun naturally sought to explore everything it had to offer.

Because of this, he had managed to survive slightly longer than anyone else.

Not only had he cultivated Qi, but he had also honed his physical body to the peak stage of the Fourth Level, which was equivalent to the Nascent Soul realm in Qi Refining cultivation.

Yet now, even that was useless.

His blood energy had bottomed out, and his Qi cultivation realm was slowly crumbling—all because of the purple fog floating lightly above the sky.

“Heh.”

Dao Jun let out a dry chuckle and shook his head.

“I should’ve checked the almanac before leaving my cave this morning—to predict fortune and misfortune. But alas... man proposes, and Heaven disposes.”

His eyelids lowered, then slowly lifted again. He could feel it—his deadline was approaching, his cultivation rapidly regressing.

After reaching the middle stage of the Qi Refining realm, cultivators gained insight into their own lifespan.

Now that his cultivation had fallen to the early stage of the Foundation Building realm, he knew it was far past his deadline.

At over five hundred years old, he had already outlived his natural lifespan—especially considering that Foundation Building cultivators only lived up to two hundred years.

“It wasn’t a bad life... I did my best.”

Dao Jun closed his eyes, accepting his inevitable fate.

Seconds passed.

But death did not come.

Dao Jun suddenly felt a tugging sensation in his heart.

His eyes snapped open as he saw a faint green light emanating from his chest.

An ordinary ring—made of smooth brown stone, without any inscriptions—slowly rose into the air.

This ring was the most treasured item of Dao Jun’s life.

On the day he reincarnated into this new world, he had discovered that the ring he found in a river during a visit to his grandparents had also followed him into this world.

At first, he thought it was a cheat item, a miraculous artifact.

But as time passed, he never found any use for it.

Even so, since it had followed him into this world, he had kept it close.

Now, after all this time, he was finally witnessing a change in the ring.

The green light grew stronger—then, with a blinding flash—

Dao Jun vanished.

When Dao Jun opened his eyes again, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.

A dense forest stretched around him, filled with towering trees and lush green weeds.

However, as soon as he sensed his surroundings, he noticed a major problem.

The spiritual energy in this place was extremely thin—so thin that calling it "thin" would be an understatement.

“This can’t even be called spiritual energy... at best, it’s ‘inferior spiritual energy.’”

But this problem wasn’t his priority right now.

Dao Jun immediately turned his focus back to the ring.

Its luster had faded, and cracks began to form on its surface—

Until, finally, the ring shattered into dust.

Dao Jun’s eyes widened in surprise.

His body was the first to react.

The purple fog was a Fifth Rank poison—yet, upon contact with this new environment, it immediately diluted—as if an ice cube had been thrown into a blazing furnace.

Without hesitation, Dao Jun formed a hand seal and suppressed his cultivation, preventing it from dispersing further.

After barely stabilizing himself, his mind raced with countless thoughts, trying to find the best way to escape his predicament.

Various methods flashed through his mind, only to be immediately discarded.

He was already past his deadline.

No matter what technique he used, he would not be able to prolong his life through normal means.

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There was only one option left.

His eyes flickered with determination.

“Cultivating Qi extends lifespan. But cultivating the body does not stack on top of Qi cultivation’s lifespan extension… I only have a theoretical approach to this method, but I have no other choice.”

Dao Jun took a deep breath.

He guided his weakened nascent soul from his dantian into his Sea of Consciousness.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, his soul avatar flew up to meet the nascent soul.

The two stopped in front of each other.

It was as if an invisible mirror divided them.

Then, they cast the same hand seal, but in inverted versions of each other.

The invisible mirror began to solidify, transforming into a light curtain—like a transparent sheet of water.

The nascent soul and soul avatar continued their ritual, causing the Sea of Consciousness to tremble.

The boundary of the Sea of Consciousness filled with cracks, and the sea waters began to boil.

At this point, an ordinary cultivator would be writhing in pain, as the destruction of the soul was unbearable.

But for Dao Jun, it felt like a faint summer breeze under a tree’s shade.

As the mirror between the nascent soul and the soul avatar solidified, their bodies flattened into one-dimensional images.

The mirror absorbed both of them—

Then it began to spin, increasing its pulling force.

The sea water from the Sea of Consciousness surged toward the mirror, vanishing into its depths.

The entire space of the Sea of Consciousness started to shrink, drawn into the mirror’s ever-spinning form.

Then, in the next moment—

Everything was absorbed completely.

The mirror slowed down, coming to a halt.

Now, it no longer looked like an ordinary mirror.

It was a masterpiece, its borders adorned with intricate details, filled with profound Daoist mysteries.

Its body reflected precious light, which flickered and shifted—sometimes roaring like a dragon, sometimes chirping like a phoenix.

Then, suddenly—

An arm reached out from the mirror, followed by a body.

The figure that emerged looked identical to Dao Jun—

Except this new Dao Jun was made entirely of pure light.

Dao Jun’s eyes snapped open.

The suffocating feeling of lifespan depletion was gone.

The burden of his imminent death had vanished.

He had made significant progress in soul cultivation—and, in doing so, he had regained a new lifespan.

But there was one problem.

“Although I have gained a new lifespan and no longer teeter on the edge of death… it is still far from enough to live normally.”

Dao Jun carefully examined his condition.

His vitality was greatly damaged.

His body was like a cracked vessel, constantly leaking energy—his lifespan might no longer be at zero, but it was still dwindling.

He needed to act fast.

With a solemn expression, Dao Jun raised his right hand.

He held up two fingers before his face.

Then, in a commanding tone, he ordered—

“Suppress!”

A strange fluctuation emerged from his glabella (the center of his forehead).

The fluctuation flowed down into his meridians, fusing into them.

Dao Jun had just cast a soul technique—one that sealed his Qi cultivation, preventing it from further dissipating in this new world’s inferior spiritual energy.

Previously, he had tried using ordinary spells to stop his Qi dissipation—but those were powered by spiritual energy and had been like building a dam out of ice.

Eventually, the "ice dam" had melted under pressure.

But now, with a seal formed from soul power, his spiritual energy was completely isolated from this world’s inferior spiritual energy.

For the first time since his arrival, Dao Jun had breathing room.

He could finally consider his next steps—

Where had he been teleported to?

And how had the ring triggered the teleportation?

Dao Jun pondered these critical questions.

The first clue was the spiritual energy itself.

It wasn’t just thin—it was degraded to an absurd level.

The second clue was the ring itself.

It had been his only artifact that could have triggered the teleportation.

Then, Dao Jun suddenly realized something critical—

This world’s inferior spiritual energy wasn’t just affecting him—it was affecting everything that contained spiritual energy!

His clothes, his artifacts—and, most importantly, his storage ring.

Dao Jun quickly checked his robes.

At some point, his once-glorious Fourth Rank robe had lost its luster.

Its effects had disappeared.

It had degraded into an ordinary piece of clothing.

Given enough time, it would wear out like any mortal robe.

Dao Jun’s heart sank as he immediately inserted his divine sense into his storage ring.

A moment later—his expression turned cold.

The storage ring’s portable space had completely collapsed.

It was now just an ordinary jade ring.

“This should be impossible.”

Dao Jun’s eyes narrowed.

Storage rings were built with their own internal space.

While they couldn’t store living creatures, they shouldn’t be affected by the outside world’s spiritual conditions.

Unless—

The portable space inside the ring collapsed due to the teleportation.

Dao Jun clenched his fists.

This was highly unusual.

Teleportation normally doesn’t interfere with storage spaces—at least, not under normal conditions.

Then, his thoughts took a dark turn.

“Could it be... I wasn’t just teleported to another place? Was I transported to an entirely new world?”

His reasoning was simple.

The first time the ring activated, Dao Jun had reincarnated from Earth into the cultivation world.

Now, on the second activation, he had been physically transported into a place with inferior spiritual energy.

Unfortunately, since the ring was destroyed, he had no way to verify his suspicions.

But deep down—he had a bad feeling.

Dao Jun scanned his surroundings with divine sense.

Then, without hesitation, he started walking.

Soon, he exited the forest, stepping into an open plain.

Looking ahead, he spotted a road stretching into the distance.

To his right, the path led into a mountain range.

To his left, it extended toward an unknown location.

Dao Jun raised his right palm and focused on it intensely.

His brows furrowed slightly.

He had tried using divination—but his results were unclear.

"Is this because the spiritual energy in this world is too weak?"

"Or is it because my cultivation is sealed?"

Either way, he had no choice but to rely on instinct.

He turned left.

After walking for ten minutes, he heard something approaching from behind.

Turning around, he saw a man driving a buffalo cart, heading in the same direction.

Dao Jun stepped aside and waited.

As the buffalo cart pulled up, the man, wearing simple clothes, jumped down.

Though he looked thin, his muscles were strong—evidence of a life of hard labor.

With a wary expression, the man hesitated before finally asking—

“Mister, are you a Warrior?”

Dao Jun immediately noticed his nervousness—yet the man still made an effort to show hospitality.

Dao Jun smiled.

“Yes. Can I ride with you to the nearest village? I am a traveler, exploring the world.”

Upon hearing his warm tone, the man visibly relaxed.

He let out a relieved sigh, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Please, Mister Warrior, I hope you don’t mind my poor cart.”

Dao Jun nodded and climbed aboard.

As the buffalo cart rolled forward, he turned his head slightly and asked—

“What is the name of the nearest village?”

The villager, still focused on driving the cart, turned his head slightly.

However, the moment his eyes met Dao Jun’s, he froze.

Dao Jun had no interest in making small talk with a mere mortal.

After using divine sense to check the man and confirming that he had no extraordinary energy, he made up his mind—

He would extract the information directly.

The villager’s eyes turned cloudy, his consciousness fading into a dazed state.

Dao Jun extended his index finger, pointing it at the villager’s forehead.

A stream of soul power flowed out.

Soon, Dao Jun linked his perception with the villager’s subconscious—

And the two began a literal heart-to-heart communication.

Normally, when cultivators sought to extract information, they used two primary methods:

1. Soul Search – This method involved forcefully tearing open the target’s Sea of Consciousness and scanning their memories. It was fast, but also brutal—leaving the target’s soul severely damaged or even destroyed. Worse still, the extracted information was often fragmented or incomplete.

2. Hypnosis – This method involved controlling the target’s mind, compelling them to reveal information willingly. While it was gentler and caused no direct harm, it was time-consuming—and the extracted details could sometimes be distorted by the target’s own bias.

However, Dao Jun didn’t need to use either of these methods.

Because he had embarked on the path of Soul Cultivation, his soul was vastly superior to ordinary cultivators.

Just as body refiners could easily overpower Qi Refining cultivators in physical strength, soul cultivators could suppress weaker souls effortlessly.

For Dao Jun, extracting memories from an ordinary person was as easy as breathing.

After a few breaths, the villager’s eyes blinked rapidly, as if coming out of a daydream.

He looked slightly confused.

“S-Sorry, Mister Warrior… what were you asking just now?” He scratched the back of his head, looking a little sheepish.

Dao Jun smiled.

“I asked for the name of the nearest village.”

Of course, he already knew the answer—but he played along to avoid suspicion.

The villager, regaining his composure, answered politely—

“The nearest village is the one we’re heading to—it’s called Zhuzi Village.”

Dao Jun nodded.

“I see.”

After that, he fell silent, showing no further interest in conversation.

Sensing this, the villager—who had initially been worried about offending him—quickly turned his focus back to driving.

However, from the corner of his eye, he stole glances at Dao Jun, making sure he hadn’t unknowingly angered him.

Dao Jun, meanwhile, had already confirmed the truth.

He was not just in a different place—he was in a completely different world.

This world was not like Earth, where extraordinary power didn’t exist.

Nor was it like his previous cultivation world, where immortals wielded divine power and anything seemed possible through cultivation.

This world existed somewhere in between.

It had an extraordinary path—but one that was not as magical as true immortal cultivation.

Here, the extraordinary practitioners were called Warriors.

And their path was known as the Martial Path.