Upon waking up in the morning, Jing found that most disciples were still asleep. Quietly standing up with an uncontrollable shiver as a frigid cold breeze danced around his body, he noticed that the Shardfiends were also still in deep slumber as they kicked up a small cloud of dirt with their loud snoring.

The Sect Master was the only one awake, though how awake she was, Jing didn't know. Hours passed and yet she remained unmoving in the same position, levitating above ground as wisps of dark energy danced around her in a mystical manner that captivated his gaze every time he glanced in its direction.

Overhead, thick grey clouds converged at some point reaching well beyond the horizons. At that moment knew that the journey ahead would prove even more arduous than he first anticipated.

Gazing at the sky-high white mountain peaks, he shuddered. How was he able to traverse through all that? He didn't know. Though the existence of the sect master indeed comforted him in many ways, and so he was going to just follow after them.

The first thing that crossed his mind after that was to go put the saddle on the gentle Shardfiends he had first rode, but he quickly dismissed that idea as stupid.

Although he knew that it was absolutely vital for him to ride on her once again for the rest of his journey he wasn't confident in his ability to climb the cold mountain range with that aggressive Shardfiend. He knew that he had to be careful in how he approached the issue.

From their perspective, it would seem like he woke up very early and kept thinking over a matter they would deem small the whole night which would scream both pettiness and weakness he reaonsed. Thus, he eyed the group of sleeping Shardfiends, and once he located the right one he sat down above his blanket and waited.

"Aukhman," He quietly whispered, and the demon swiftly appeared once again. Noticing the faint smile tugging at his lips, Jing knew why that was so. He was probably very happy with how things had been playing out because his own humiliation and weakness meant more contentment for the demon.

"What is it?" The demon asked with a chuckle.

Jing asked in his mind the very most important question that had been on his mind this whole time, "How can the game help me get stronger?"

Seemingly already expecting such an answer, Aukhamn replied, "As I've said, views. Be interesting, and more people would want to watch you. The more they watch, the more invested they become. The more invested, the more they're likely to want to see you win, and thus support you."

"What kind of support?" Asked Jing.

"Well," Aukhman explained. "You have to understand that most of the people that would be watching the games are too powerful for even this world to contain, and the reason they are watching is a combination of nostalgia, entertainment, recruitment, and other things." He sat down mid-air once again, both hands above his knees, and continued, "What I want to say is, even if they gave you their trash you could become the king of this world, and that would be contradictory to the game's objectives. That's why, there are a lot of heavy limitations in place. The main currency of the higher world is immortal crystals, something you don't even have in this world. But suppose they want to share one immortal crystal with you, you'll only be able to receive 0.01 of it."

"I see," Jing said, "But again what support? What can they give me that would help me?"

"You still don't understand much about this world and how to get stronger in it," Aukhman said. "Once you do, you'll understand how they can help you. But although most things from the higher world aren't permitted in donations, there is a shop they can access to buy things from your world. So, they'll be able to give you spirit stones, pills, weapons, beasts, array formations, bloodlines, and other precious materials. That is exactly why the game events are so important."

"Why?" Jing asked once again.

"They are the only place where you can get higher-world items into this world," Aukhman said with a serious tone. "That is why you need to strengthen yourself as much as possible in the upcoming month to prepare for the main event between all races. And before that, there will be the opening ceremony, and of course the first event amongst the same race."

"What's that?"

"News of the game's beginning would have already reached most ears by now, and in a week the very first main episode will be released. After that, there will be a small event where players of the same race will compete in some manner. But make no mistake," He finished with a serious tone. "It'll have a far-reaching effect on everyone, this is where the viewers will start picking their favorites."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"This will happen in just a couple of days?" Jing asked in a mixture of shock and horror. "I am still too weak," He stressed.

As they were talking, the disciples began getting up one after the other. The sect master suddenly moved as she gently landed above ground, and spoke, "Prepare the Shardfiends, we will continue our journey now."

Jing calmly stood up, his eyes locked ahead. However, in his periphery, he was following the hateful Guo Zan's movements. Unlike him, the other one seemed unconcerned as he lazily stretched and spoke with another disciple.

With a grin, he approached the Shardfiend he had in mind and caressed her rough dark-green-skinned neck. In response, she affectionately nuzzled against him, her great weight pushing him backward. Chuckling, "Good girl," He praised.

He undid the knot around her forelegs, something that surprised him as he didn't see them being done, and gently guided her away from the rest of the Shardfiends. Beyond the log where they were all sleeping together, were the saddles. Finding the one he was originally riding in proved to be a simple affair as all of them had slight differences.

Though it was his very first time putting a saddle on a monstrous beast of this size, he did his best. After all, the current plan was something that had been marinating his mind for a whole day now. Yesterday, when that disciple began removing all of the saddles, he intently watched to know how to put them on.

Studying his final results, it seemed that his efforts were successful. But as he climbed on top of her, he noticed how unstable it was. After a few tweaks, sometimes pulling on the leather straps, and other times undoing, he was finally satisfied with how tight it was.

That was when Guo Zan approached, not that it was something out of Jing's expectations.

The duo's eyes met, and sparks flew. Though the former seemed more at ease and carefree, "It's my beast you're riding on." He said with a smirk.

"Aren't they all the same?" Jing mocked from the beast's back, but his eyes were cold as he stared at this despicable man in front of him.

Guo Zan approached and put his hands on Jing's shoulder, about to pull him down with everything that he had. Jing's heartbeat increased as adrenaline coursed through his body, this time he vowed to do his best to land an attack and make it count.

Just as the two were about to clash, a Shardfiend bumped into Guo Zan, sending him sprawling into the ground.

"You're wasting time," Xu Yun said with a stern voice from above. "The sect master is waiting." Saying that he gave Jing a brief glance and retreated back.

Jing's hands were still slightly shaking from nerves, but as he glanced at the man who landed face first, his smile widened. "How's that cold ground treating you?"

His heels moved, hitting the Shardfiends with his stirrups, and guided her movement to walk beside Xu Yun leaving Guo Zan kneeling as he gnashed his teeth in hatred.

"Heyy," Jing mumbled as he looked at Xu Yun. "Do you happen to have any clothes?"

He was wearing but a loose white robe, undergarments, and not even shoes, and so the cold affected him like no other. Relatively, the others were wearing more than him. The fact that old man Li Yan and Shen Yun watched him leave the sect with so few clothes without saying anything irked him to no end.

Shaking his head Xu Yun said, "No, sorry."

"Almost naked it is," Jing murmured to himself, by then Xu Yun had already left and got close to the sect master. That signified the start of their journey once again.

Their Shardfiends easily passed through the river, reaching the other end which wasn't that different from where they were but with fewer trees. However, as they began their climb along the foot of the mountain, the harder the ground was becoming. Trees were nonexistent, and grass became scarce as the whole terrain turned rocky and cold.

Jing finally understood the reason they brought with them the Shardfiends specifically, as they climbed the steepest path he had ever witnessed, their claws dug deep into the rocky ground and held tightly as they continued marching upward.

Due to how steep the climb was, he had to tilt his torso forward, in the direction of the Shardfiends's neck, to avoid falling backward. As they neared the mountain peaks, the temperature dropped to severely dangerous degrees. At some point, Jing had even tightly begun hugging the Shardfiends's rough sharp neck, trying to warm himself as much as possible.

There were many winding paths along the mountain's steep slopes, but the sect master seemed well-versed enough and decisions related to which path to take were immediate. When they reached the middle of the mountain, a heavy rain descended upon them, making the already arduous journey even more challenging.

As he glanced behind him, Jing was barely able to see the distant tree due to how high they had climbed. Fortunately, as he followed at the very end of the group, he was slightly protected from the wailing southern cold winds as the others obstructed most of its impact.

The Sect Master suddenly took an unexpected turn, and they soon found themselves on a mountain path at the very edge of the mountain. The rocky path was so narrow that Jing was flabbergasted as to how the sect master's giant Shardfiend was able to pass through it if even his had it plenty difficult.

The mind to concern himself with such pointless details was instantly obliterated as he gazed to the right. His knees felt weak, and his heart skipped a beat.

As they treaded cautiously along the narrow mountain path, a yawning abyss lurked just inches away to the right, ready to swallow any misstep into its unseen depths. He witnessed how whenever rocks fell, they would take a long while to make another sound. It was that silence between the rocks' sounds that made him mortified.

Despite the imminent danger, his mind was still captured by the breathtaking vista unfurling to their right. An empty expanse stretched infinitely, where the winds howled, and a thick mist shrouded everything in a mystical light.

A booming majestic voice thundered through the mountains before several golden notifications appeared before him.

[World Announcement: Player ### Has Killed Player BloodMoon.]

[World Announcement: Player ### Has Achieved This World's First Blood. Achievement Granted.]

Hearing the sudden announcement, Jing's back swiftly straightened to attention. His eyes widened in shock, realizing the importance of it. However, he quickly reminded himself that he had to be wary of the other players in his group and composed himself.