Yun Lintian's vision turned completely white for a moment before he found himself standing in a forest. The forest was filled with lush pine trees and ancient woods. It was not too dense, as he could still see a pathway to walk. On the ground, Yun Lintian discovered several rank 1 medicinal herbs. From their appearance, it shouldn't be over 40 years of age.
He didn't rush to harvest the herbs, instead, he heightened his vigilance while surveying the surroundings. After a while, he didn't see any signs of life around this area. He then started moving forward.
Buzz—
Just as he took a step, the silver necklace around his neck suddenly vibrated for a second and disappeared, as it usually did before. Yun Lintian quickly grabbed it, hoping to discern something, but the outcome remained unchanged — nothing could be found.
"Come on! Don't tease me like this." Yun Lintian couldn't help but complain. This necklace had been vibrating intermittently, multiple times already. It brought him hope as he thought he was going to activate a cheat device or something that would help him become a super powerhouse. Unfortunately, the reality was too painful. Aside from giving him false hope, it left him clueless.
Woosh!
While Yun Lintian was paying attention to the necklace, suddenly, a long iron javelin appeared out of nowhere, shooting toward his head at high speed. Without thinking for a second, Yun Lintian instinctively rolled on the ground to avoid the incoming projectile.
Boom!
The javelin struck the pine tree behind Yun Lintian, causing it to shatter into fragments.
Oi, Oi! Don't you need to engage in trash-talking before launching an attack? This is clearly off-script! Yun Lintian cursed inwardly as he quickly stood up and looked at a figure in the distance. Judging from the spear symbol on the figure's clothing, Yun Lintian immediately recognized the figure's identity. Without a doubt, this man should be one of Luo Kun's lackeys.
"Not bad. You can avoid my surprise attack... Hey! Where are you going?" The man slowly approached Yun Lintian with an arrogant smile, trying to act like an expert. However, he had to stop his aloof speech midway because he saw Yun Lintian grab his javelin and run away hastily.
"Thanks for the weapon, brother!" Yun Lintian shouted back while executing a movement technique to enhance his speed.
"F*ck!" The man from the Luo clan cursed loudly and quickly chased after Yun Lintian.
From the man's aura, Yun Lintian knew that his strength was at least at the eighth level of the Essence Profound Realm. With his feeble fifth-level strength, there was no way he could engage in a direct confrontation with the man. Therefore, he decided to run right away without hesitation.
Yun Lintian scanned the vicinity cautiously while praying in his heart. He must not encounter a profound beast. However, it was as if the gods could hear his prayer and kindly granted his wish. A hundred meters away in front of him, there was a green panther lying leisurely on the ground, basking in the morning sunlight.
"Damn it! I shouldn't have jinxed it." Yun Lintian abruptly changed direction and rushed forward with all his might. With a glance, he instantly knew this panther was at least a peak Essence Profound Beast.
The panther opened its eyes to glance at this human speedster with little interest before closing its eyes, continuing to enjoy the sunlight after Yun Lintian vanishing from its sight. In the next moment, the panther perceived a potential danger and quickly jumped off the ground.
Boom!
The javelin went straight to the ground on the panther's previous position, causing the clouds of dust to fill the air.
The man who had followed Yun Lintian saw this scene. A bad premonition suddenly emerged in his heart and his body swiftly reacted as he turned around, trying to flee from the place.
The panther descended to the ground, glaring at the javelin with unbridled anger. It turned its head and happened to see the silhouette of a man in the distance. The panther's cold eyes instantly fixated on him before it leaped into the air, charging after the target at insanely high speed.
The man saw the panther chasing him. He wanted to cry while cursing Yun Lintian inwardly for his cunning move. As much as he desired to kill Yun Lintian, he could do nothing but run with all his might at this moment.
***
"Phew… That was close." Yun Lintian mumbled to himself while panting heavily. He leaned against a tall, ancient tree to catch his breath.
Fortunately, the Essence Profound Beast hadn't developed its intelligence until it became a Spirit Profound Beast. That's why the panther earlier had fallen for Yun Lintian's scheme easily.
Wiping sweat out of his forehead, Yun Lintian looked around and discovered a swamp in the distance. A rush of memories flooded his mind as he retrieved a leather map from his interspatial ring.
The map was given by Yun Ruanyu before he coming here. It contained the finest details of the Blazing Sun Mythical Realm. Every treasure cave and Profound Beast territory was written down on the map, and it was passed down by each generation's disciple.
The Blazing Sun Mythical Realm had a circular shape, with the forest region on the outside surrounding the desert in the middle. Because there was only one swamp in this mythical realm, Yun Lintian managed to locate it on the map in a short time. Currently, he was on the western side of the forest region. According to the agreed plan, if any member of his team discovered their position on the map, they had to either move to the northern or southern area and regroup there before heading to the center of the mythical realm.
Yun Lintian put the map away and walked towards the swamp. When he arrived at the shore, he was immediately attracted to a small pink lotus that was floating in the center of the swamp.
"No way! Celestial Buddha Lotus? How could it appear here?" Yun Lintian was astonished by the identity of the lotus in front of him.
This lotus was a divine rank magical plant according to [The Remnant Record of Life]. It could be used to strengthen the target's Profound Vein or using as an ingredient of a divine rank pill. Judging from the color and number of leaves, the age of this Celestial Buddha Lotus should be around thirty years at most. It took approximately a thousand years to fully mature.
Yun Lintian put his excitement aside and looked into the swamp beneath the lotus. Typically, this kind of heavenly treasure would have its guardian, but he didn't see any profound beast nearby.
After confirming there was no danger around the vicinity, he used his hand to test the water's temperature before jumping into the spring. The swamp was around 3 square kilometers in size with over 100 meters deep. Yun Lintian had to swim for a while to reach the lotus.
When he reached halfway, Yun Lintian abruptly halted his movement because his instinct told him he was in danger. His body involuntarily tensed up as he withdrew a long iron spear from his belt, scanning his surroundings vigilantly.
Thud—
A heavy throb resonated in Yun Lintian's ears, causing the water's surface to ripple violently. At that moment, Yun Lintian noticed a massive shadow in the water, gradually drawing closer to him.
"What the…" Yun Lintian couldn't even finish his exclamation, the swamp water suddenly forming into a giant wall and descending down on top of him.
He hastily summoned his profound energy to create a protective barrier around his body.
Boom!
The water wall engulfed Yun Lintian entirely and shattered his protective barrier right away. His body ached all over as if he was hit by a truck.
Yun Lintian was pushed down deep into the water. He quickly calmed himself down while inspecting his body. Upon seeing there was no major injury, he looked around, finding a way to go back to the surface.
At this moment, his gaze unintentionally landed on the approaching enormous shadow in the distance. His body turned cold instantly because he could see the appearance of this shadow clearly this time. Its appearance resembled that of a crocodile, but it was a hundred times larger than a typical crocodile. Its skins were full of sharp spikes, extremely thick to the point that Yun Lintian didn't think he could leave a single scratch on them.
"Abyssal Crocodile? And it already became a Spirit Profound Beast!?" Yun Lintian exclaimed in shock and he hastily circulated his profound energy as he fled toward the shore's direction.
Roar!
The Abyssal Crocodile let out a loud roar and rushed to Yun Lintian at high speed.
There was no way a human like Yun Lintian could outspeed a natural water beast like this crocodile. In the span of ten seconds, the distance between the two had reduced by more than half.
Yun Lintian knew he couldn't continue like this, otherwise, he would become its food in the next moment. He took out a green talisman from his ring and injected a portion of profound energy into it.
The green talisman shone brightly and released a surge of wind, enveloping Yun Lintian, causing his movement speed to increase tremendously.
Seeing the prey was going to escape from its hand, the Abyssal Crocodile shot several water arrows at Yun Lintian. The latter stayed vigilant all the time. He twisted his body slightly and thrust his spear forward, colliding with the incoming water arrows head-on.
Bang!
Yun Lintian used the impact to propel himself away from the Abyssal Crocodile. The distance between the two increased greatly and there were around 200 meters left before Yun Lintian could reach the shore.
The Abyssal Crocodile was mad by the result. Although it possessed intelligence, it couldn't firmly control the outcome in the end. When Yun Lintian climbed onto the shore, the crocodile let out another angry roar before turning around and returning to guard the lotus.
After Yun Lintian climbed up to the shore, he continued to flee as if his life depended on it. It was only when he ran out of his profound energy that he stopped and slumped onto a sturdy tree nearby, panting heavily.
"What a bad luck." He muttered to himself and began to replenish his strength. He never thought his first official adventure would end with him having to run away from the enemy twice in a row.
Nevertheless, he was so excited that his heart beat madly. The long-lost familiar feelings that he hadn't tasted for a long time, emerging once again along with the unforgotten memory. The memory that brought him both pain and happiness.