Dozens of kilometers north of the Gentle Sword Sect village.

The jungle was dense and eerily quiet, almost like it was holding its breath. The tall trees had their bark cracked and blackened, despite the high quantity of spiritual energy. As for the ground, it was covered in dead leaves.

Vines draped like somber garlands from skeletal branches, and the air was heavy with the bittersweet fragrance of rot.

In the middle of this jungle, a brutal fight was unfolding. A giant boar with massive tusks and bulging muscles was locked in a deadly struggle with a sleek black puma. Their roars and growls echoed through the trees.

The boar charged, its tusks aiming to gore the puma, but the agile cat dodged and its claws slashed out in retaliation.

Each claw strike and savage bite left deep wounds in their bodies, staining the leaves and soil with dark blood.

Suddenly, without warning, a sharp whistle pierced the air. None of the two beasts could react as a hole was blasted through the boar's forehead.

Its massive body convulsed, eyes wide with shock. Blood and brain matter sprayed outward as the creature collapsed, its skull shattered by the unseen force. The ground trembled as the boar fell, its final, gurgling breaths fading into silence.

The puma stood over the fallen boar, staring at the scene in shock. Its heart pounded in its chest, and its eyes were wide with terror. The trail left by whatever had killed the boar cut through trees and rocks alike, leaving a path of utter destruction.

Fear gnawed at the puma's instincts, urging it to flee. Yet an irresistible scent wafted through the air—a pure, intoxicating aroma of spiritual energy.

Drawn by the scent, the puma's fear was overshadowed by desire.

Rustle

It turned towards the dark figure who had caused the sound; its muscles were tensed and ready to pounce.

Li An emerged from the shadows naked except for the brown mud on her skin, studying the beasts with a tilted head. "The spiritual bullet is at least ten times stronger and faster than before, and now it is easy to control it."

This was the first sight of sentient beings Li An had for days. After the northern forest, the trees grew and the birds stopped chirping, as if she had entered a graveyard. Her clothes had been obliterated by the tribulation lightning, so she had to do with what she had.

Li An had much to explore about her new body and cultivation method, so she decided to challenge the two Spirit realm beasts.

She was not disappointed.

The pure energy felt intrinsically hers, making it significantly easier to control. Consequently, there was no backlash from the spiritual bullet.

However, the most astonishing benefit was yet to come. Li An had used only a hundredth of her total spiritual energy for the spiritual bullet, and this amount was almost instantly replenished by absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

A half-smile appeared on her lips. "This artificial meridian system is even better than I imagined."

The puma was growing impatient when the scent of pure energy was so close to it. The beast snarled and leapt, claws aiming for her throat.

Li An met the puma head-on. There was no use of martial arts or spiritual energy; it was a savage and raw brawl.

The puma's claws raked across her skin, but Li An's body barely flinched. She countered with a fist that landed on the beast's back, causing it to step back.

The puma threw its head forward and sank its fangs deep into her shoulder. Li An grunted and twisted her body, shaking the beast loose. The injuries were gone in less than five seconds.

She grabbed its neck with an iron grip and slammed it to the ground. Once, twice, thrice!

The puma hissed and clawed at her face, but she didn't back down.

Smack!

She headbutted the animal, dazing it.

The puma tried to retaliate, but Li An was a human-shaped monster. She dove under the puma's next swipe and drove her knee into its ribcage.

The beast howled in pain but kept fighting. It lashed out, catching her cheek and drawing a few drops of blood.

They grappled on the forest floor, a whirlwind of snarls and limbs. The puma's claws tore at the soft flesh in her chest, its teeth snapping close to her neck.

It was only enough for a small groan. Li An grabbed the puma's head with both hands and twisted it sharply. There was a loud crack as the beast's neck broke, its body going limp.

"Not bad."

Breathing heavily, Li An stood up, pushing the lifeless puma away. Her body was bloodied, but there were no wounds.

"My body cultivation should be slightly stronger than a wild beast at the fourth stage of the Spirit realm," she thought. "However, the quick regeneration makes it hard to disguise as other people."

Previously, Li An had planned to burn her entire face and shave all her hair in order to guard herself against any pursuers. Now, it was a bit hard to do that.

She sighed. "At least I am already inside another region of the island. They will have to be careful if they want to follow me here."

The same naturally applied to Li An. She had no idea what awaited her beyond this jungle. Although Xuan Yu had mentioned the mainland, he didn't say in which direction it was.

She wiped the blood from her face and continued walking north, leaving the fallen creatures behind.

But before she could move more than ten steps, a sharp surge of spiritual energy appeared behind her. A golden crescent moon was flying towards her neck.

Li An twisted her body, barely dodging the attack, but the edge of the crescent moon sliced off two of her fingers.

She turned to face her attackers with a cold gaze.

"Show yourselves!"

There was no need to speak politely. Whoever attacked was clearly a demonic cultivator, killing before asking. From the trees above, four cultivators jumped down, landing with ease.

The first was a tall, gaunt man with sunken eyes and a sinister grin. His robes were tattered, revealing numerous scars. Beside him stood a woman with fiery red hair and a bountiful chest that spilled above her red dress. The third was a hulking brute, with his muscles bulging beneath his armor and his face twisted into a permanent scowl. Finally, a wiry young man with a snake-like demeanor, his eyes darting around nervously, completed the group.

"Well, well," the gaunt man sneered. "What do we have here?"

The red-haired woman stepped forward. "You're quick; I'll give you that. But we know you're one of them. One of the Skyshadow Sect's dogs."

She looked a bit flustered about her attack missing.

Li An raised an eyebrow. "Skyshadow Sect, you say? I'm afraid you're mistaken. I have no idea who they are."

"Liar. We've been hunting their spies in the Wang Hun jungle. You reek of their scent." The hulking brute growled.

"Why else would you be out here alone?" The snake-like young man hissed. His eyes were leering at her bottom half covered in mud. "Young women should not be alone in the wild."

"You are disgusting, Gao Tian." The red-haired woman glared at him, receiving a flying kiss as a reply.

"They are not taking me seriously." Li An chuckled. "It appears your judgment is as flawed as your manners. I am no dog of Skyshadow. But perhaps you should question your own intelligence before accusing others so freely."

The gaunt man's grin widened. "Bold words for someone covered in mud in the middle of the woods. If you're not with Skyshadow, who are you?"

"My name is Li An, and I suggest you reconsider your hostility. My patience has limits, and I've no desire to waste my time on killing you all."

Although three of them were third stage Spirit realm cultivators and Gao Tian was at the ninth stage of the Foundation realm, their auras were not very strong.

The red-haired woman's gaze flickered with amusement. "There are at least three hundred thousand cultivators involved in the Crimson War between the Skyshadow Sect and our cult. Why would I know your name?"

Li An's eyes shone. "Three hundred thousand cultivators? This is a scale that far surpasses the region of the Gentle Sword Sect!"

The hulking brute was starting to become impatient. "Heard of her or not, she's a threat. Let's end this."

However, the red-haired woman held up a hand, silencing her companion.

"Wait. If she truly isn't with Skyshadow, killing her serves no purpose. But if she lies..." Her eyes were narrowed with killing intent.

Li An's smile was cold. "I assure you, I am speaking the truth. But if you wish to test your luck, I won't hesitate to rip that pretty head out of your body."

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A tense silence followed. The demonic cultivators exchanged wary glances. They could feel a sense of danger from Li An.

Unfortunately, the snake-like young man didn't want to give up on his prey. "You are too cautious, Mei Lian. The Elders gave us the job of eliminating any threat in Wang Hun; what would we tell them if we just let a girl go for no reason?"

Mei Lian saw him staring at the uncovered top of her chest, and her lips twitched. "If you keep looking, I fear you won't tell them anything since you won't be alive."

However, his words had clearly ignited the gaunt man's lust. It was hard to be in a group with a woman like Mei Lian and not be allowed to touch her.

He licked his lips, eyeing Li An's naked body. "You know what? I don't care if she's a Skyshadow bitch or not. I haven't had someone to fuck in ages. I call first."

Although Li An was not the prettiest girl around, she was definitely not ugly.

"Really, Ba Du?" Mei Lian rolled her eyes. "Now's not the time for this."

The hulking brute cracked his knuckles. "We should just kill her."

As the demonic cultivators stood in their tense standoff, a tiny golden sphere suddenly shot through the air and struck Ba Du.

"What-"

The sphere detonated with a blinding flash and an ear-splitting explosion. Ba Du was obliterated, not even leaving ashes behind.

Mei Lian reacted instantly. "Qiang Wei, be my shield while I prepare a crescent blade!"

Qiang Wei, the hulking brute, roared in fury and dashed towards Li An like a wild beast, his fists covered in spiritual energy spikes.

Mei Lian and Gao Tian, however, took another look at the after-effects of the spiritual bullet and ran without hesitation.

Li An watched them flee and shook her head. "This is why I dislike demonic cultivators. No morals, no loyalty. They're hard to catch."

Turning her attention to Qiang Wei, who was charging at her with murderous intent, Li An reinforced her fists with a tenth of her spiritual energy. As Qiang Wei swung his spiked fists at her, she met his attack head-on, her reinforced fist smashing into his arm.

Bang!

Bones shattered, flesh ripped apart, and his arm was reduced to a bloody pulp.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHH! HOW?!"

Qiang Wei howled in agony, but Li An didn't waste any time. She delivered a swift, lethal blow to his chest, her fist piercing through his ribcage and crushing his heart. "Two down."

He collapsed lifeless to the ground.

"Interesting. This man cultivated both his body and his spiritual energy, though his body cultivation was pretty low." Li An was curious about body cultivation, but most sects in her previous region didn't have any records of it.

However, these cultivators' cult appeared to have some information about it.

Li An didn't pause to catch her breath. She immediately went after Gao Tian. As the weakest among them in the ninth-stage Foundation realm, he was her next target.

"Get away from me!" Gao Tian yelled in a shrill voice.

He threw daggers at her in a panic, but the blades glanced off her skin harmlessly, unable to pierce it.

She closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and delivered a precise, lethal strike to his throat. Gao Tian crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from his neck as he gasped for breath, his life quickly fading.

With three enemies down, Li An turned her focus to the last one: Mei Lian.

The latter was running through the jungle, her breaths coming in short, desperate bursts. She could hear Li An closing in, the sound of her footsteps growing louder and more menacing with each passing second.

Realizing she couldn't escape, Mei Lian turned around and raised her hands.

"I surrender!" she cried. "Please, I don't want to die!"

Li An narrowed her eyes but lowered her arms, seeming to accept the surrender.

Just as Li An's guard was down, Mei Lian lunged forward, crescent blades in each hand pointed at her chest.

"Not bad, but she was too hasty," Li An rated her actions calmly. "If it were me, I would have waited for the killing blow or feigned more weakness."

She dodged the slashes with inhuman speed, her movements a blur to Mei Lian. Li An's leg then lashed out in a brutal kick to her waist.

Mei Lian's waist bones were like dry branches snapping in a storm. She screamed loudly, and her body crumpled to the ground, unable to support itself.

While she writhed like an insect, Li An stood over her, calm and composed.

She crouched down, her expression shifting to one of lively friendliness.

"Now, Mei Lian, let's have a little chat." Li An smiled kindly. "I need some information, and I'd like you to help me. You see, I'm very curious about your cult and this war you're involved in."

Mei Lian's eyes darted around in panic. "I'll tell you everything," she stammered. "Just please, don't kill me."

"That's the spirit." Li An's smile widened. "Let's start with your cult. What's its name, and where are we?"

Mei Lian furrowed her brow. She was not expecting such easy questions. However, she was not qualified to have any secret cult information with her, so it was a good thing that the questions were easy.

"Our demonic cult is called the Black Lotus Cult, and we are in the Forsaken Region of Mi Wu."

Li An stared blankly at her. "Mi Wu?"

"Yes, you know, Mi Wu Island." Mei Lian raised an eyebrow at her. "Have you been living under a rock? We are in the northern region of Mi Wu Island."

"Oh, the Forsaken region seems to be more advanced than the area around the Gentle Sword Sect." Li An grinned inward.

"Then what about the rest of the island? Do you know anything about the other regions?"

Mei Lian shook her head. "We have records about them from thousands of years ago, but nowadays it is almost impossible to move to another region from here. The end of this jungle is covered by a fog that blocks most cultivators, while the rest is covered by a giant forest with extremely powerful beasts, including some that have surpassed the Nascent Soul realm."

"She is probably talking about the western forest." Li An had heard a lot about the dangers of the western forest in the Gentle Sword Sect, a place where even an Essence Condensation cultivator wasn't anyone special.

Li An nodded. "Very good, Mei Lian. Now, about this war..."

The red-haired woman did not have a shred of loyalty. She confessed everything, desperate to live.

"The Forsaken Region is controlled by the Skyshadow Sect and the Black Lotus Cult, with many small sects and organisations below them. It is fair to say that power is more concentrated here, allowing stronger cultivators to exist," Li An thought. "However, they are currently in a huge war, which is a good opportunity for me."

If there was one thing she was familiar with, it was war. The Great Demoness Li single-handedly caused the greatest wars in the Universe in her past life.

"And right now, I am in a desperate need for resources."

Although the artificial meridian system was a divine cultivation method, there were no perfect methods. Its drawback was that it required ridiculous quantities of spiritual energy for breakthroughs between large realms, like from Foundation to Spirit or from Spirit to Core Formation realm.

Li An still had enough pills from the inheritance for the first large breakthrough, but not for the second.

"Two last questions. How many of you are in this jungle, and what's your mission?"

Mei Lian swallowed hard. "There are about fifty of us in the main group hunting for the Skyshadow Sect's spies. Most of us are at the Foundation and Spirit realms. Our strengths lie in ambushes, but we're not well-coordinated. Our leaders don't trust us enough for that."

Li An kept smiling. Her smile was a flawless mask, each tooth gleaming like polished ivory keys on a silent piano.

"You've been very helpful, Mei Lian. Your honesty is appreciated."

Li An raised her foot and brought it down with brutal force.

Mei Lian's eyes widened in a silent plea, but it was too late. Her skull shattered beneath the weight, bones cracking and splintering.

Blood and brain matter exploded outward, like a grotesque flower blooming in the jungle, painting the ground in vivid displays of red.

The woods fell silent; the only sound was the soft rustle of leaves.

Li An wiped her foot on the ground, cleaning off the remnants of what had once been Mei Lian's head.

"Beautiful or not, she was reduced to nothing more than a stain on the earth. This is why superficial people with superficial desires cannot achieve anything in life." Li An sighed.

She began to remove Mei Lian's revealing red dress. Li An needed clothes, and the dress was the most obvious option.

Once she had stripped the dress from the corpse, Li An slipped it on. The fabric was soft. It was most likely a gift Mei Lian received from one of her pursuers.

She frowned as she looked down at herself. The dress was designed to fit Mei Lian's curves, with free space in the waist and chest areas that emphasized the difference in their sizes. On Li An, it hung loosely and awkwardly, the extra material making it cumbersome.

"This isn't going to work," she thought, slightly annoyed. "It's too long and restricts my movements."

She moved her arms, testing the range of motion. The dress was impractical for fighting or moving swiftly through the woods. She had only destroyed Mei Lian's head because she needed clothes, but this dress was more of a hindrance than a help.

"Why did she have to wear something so ridiculous?" Li An's lips twitched as she discarded the dress.

She suddenly remembered Gao Tian. Although he was a man, his body was thin, and he wasn't very tall. She walked towards the spot where she had killed him.

His shabby brown robes, though far from luxurious, seemed more practical. She stripped them from his thin frame and slipped them on.

"Not ideal, but at least they fit better," she thought, adjusting the robes. They allowed for a greater range of movement and didn't hinder her like Mei Lian's dress had. Clothes were just a necessity, nothing more.

As for the blood on her face and clothes, it wasn't too abnormal for a demonic cultivator. Perhaps it was even better to keep it, since it would warn the other demonic cultivators not to mess with her.

Li An travelled back to the spots where every single cultivator had been killed. She crouched down next to each one, carefully slicing off a finger from Qiang Wei, Mei Lian, and Gao Tian. There wasn't much left of Ba Du, so she moved on.

She tucked the severed fingers into the inner pocket of her robes. After scanning the area one last time to make sure she hadn't missed anything important, Li An relaxed her shoulders.

"These will come in handy," she thought, feeling the weight of the fingers against her side.

With everything in place, Li An started running further north, deep into the Black Lotus Cult's territory.

While the shadow of war enveloped the Forsaken Region, a far more devastating storm approached.

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Crimson Demon City, one of the 27 cities under the control of the Black Lotus Cult, stretched across the landscape like a dark, sprawling giant.

Massive blackstone walls surrounded it, preventing spies from freely entering the city. The gates were covered in purple runes and were always guarded by the cult followers, ever watchful for any sign of trouble.

Despite its ominous name and the demonic rulers, Crimson Demon City was surprisingly well-managed. The demonic cultivators who ran the place did so with an efficiency that would put many other cities to shame. The streets were clean, the buildings well-maintained, and order was kept without fail. It was a city that functioned like a well-oiled machine, ensuring that commerce thrived and citizens were safe from external threats.

The city's geography was a blend of the natural features from the Forsaken Region. Nestled in a valley surrounded by jagged mountains, Crimson Demon City had streams of molten lava that occasionally surfaced, creating glowing rivers that snaked through the streets.

These rivers of fire were harnessed cleverly, powering forges and alchemical labs throughout the city. Their glow added a surreal beauty to the dark surroundings.

The buildings were also built from local volcanic materials. Obsidian and black marble formed the base of most structures, while roofs were often tiled with red clay or slate, adding a splash of color to the otherwise somber palette. The tallest buildings, housing the elite cultivators and city administrators, stood in the center like dark spires piercing the sky.

Visually, Crimson Demon City was a feast for the eyes.

Markets were teeming with activity, far busier and richer than those in the village under the Gentle Sword Sect.

Stalls were piled high with high-ranked pills, rare herbs, artifacts, and ancient scrolls. Mortal-grade weapons, which were considered valuable elsewhere, were common here, often overshadowed by much rarer and more powerful items. Vendors lined the streets, selling everything from exquisite silks to foreign spiritual energy techniques.

Li An sat in one of the street shops for ramen, eating her first good meal in months.

Cultivators were everywhere.

They walked the streets with purpose, carrying bronze crests in the shape of demonic goat skulls. "It is likely to be a military rank for common soldiers," she thought.

She observed the faces of the cultivators guarding the streets. Each one wore a mask of solemnity, their eyes betraying nervousness or outright fear. It was clear that the war was not going well for the Black Lotus Cult.

Li An also noticed billboards plastered everywhere with messages written in black ink: "The Black Lotus Cult is recruiting disciples for the war!" and "Trade benefits with merit points earned by killing enemies!"

The desperation in the air was palpable, and it was evident that the cult was pulling out all the stops to bolster their ranks. The merchants were shouting about their wares, but their usual bravado was also tinged with a hint of urgency.

The city, despite its dark grandeur, felt like a pot about to boil over.

Yet, amidst this chaos, Li An found peace and clarity.

War's tempest is always the fastest method to rise through the ranks.

"For in the crucible of strife, e'en the lowliest are reforged, rising upon the bloodied backs of the fallen."

She grinned.