Li Ying was a scholar in the world of magic and martial arts. He had a white long beard and his face etched with age. His age had exceeded a century but he could walk without a staff defying his frailty.
He was a mortal and had no ambition for fame, power or wealth like the cultivators. But as a scholar he pursued the knowledge and secrets of the cosmos. He had aided many cultivators in enhancing their cultivation manuals.
Li Ying belonged to the esteemed Silver-Dragon Sect which had a very long history. It was situated on a majestic mountain enveloped by clouds and fog. The mountain was abundant in spiritual qi and was tranquil. The sect's structures were graceful and elegant, harmonizing with the natural scenery.
Li Ying had received a rare privilege from the sect - his own hut within the sect. It was a humble and simple hut, built of wood and straw. It was near the sect's exit, at the foot of the mountain. The hut was a serene and quiet refuge, where Li Ying could relish his solitude and his studies. He would not exchange it for the precious residence of the sect leader.
Every morning, Li Ying got ready for his daily routine. Today was no different, he filled his sack with essential items such as paper, ink, brush, and tools and headed to the sect's exit.
There was a huge and imposing gate, forged from iron. The gate was watched by some outer disciples who wore plain robes and wielded swords. They verified the identity and the purpose of each person who wished to leave or enter the sect.
The outer disciples already knew about Li Ying's daily routine, so they ignored him. He passed them with a quiet exit, leaving the sect behind him.
When they were not meditating, cultivators enjoyed gossiping, exchanging news, and having fun, contrary to the mortals' impression that they were stern and disciplined.
When Li Ying left the sect, one of the outer disciples spoke up.
"Scholars are strange beings, they can't feel the joy of cultivation but they're the most curious about it." He said with a smirk, showing his contempt and pity for Li Ying.
"What do you understand about scholars? Can you even name all of the continents?" One of the other outer disciples countered, supporting Li Ying.
"…" The first outer disciple was at a loss for words, as he realized that he didn't know the answer to the question.
Scholars could not cultivate, but their expertise and wisdom were valued. As cultivators were not fond of thinking too much, they depended on scholars to comprehend complex manuals.
A little way outside the sect there was a village of mortals. The village was a small and simple community of a few dozen houses made of mud and straw. The villagers were mostly farmers who worked the land and raised animals. They did not dare to approach the sect which they regarded with awe and dread but they were thankful for its protection from the demonic beasts and wicked cultivators that wandered the land.
Unlike the disciples of the sect, the villagers admired Li Ying as he often conversed with them and shared his wisdom. They thought of him as a smart and kind man who knew a lot of things and helped a lot of people. But now that he felt the burden of his old age he had become more aloof and quiet.
Li Ying caught glimpses of their conversations as he walked through the village.
"Old man Li Ying is a true scholar. He rises earlier than the roosters in the morning, and his spirit is more lively than that of the younger dragons," a villager said with praise.
"I wish I had a son like him," one of the villagers lamented.
"Why don't you try to be like him yourself? You can still change your ways, if you just stop drinking and visiting brothels," a villager joked with irony.
"Shut up," the villager retorted with anger, feeling embarrassed. He picked up a stone and threw it at the other villager, who evaded and laughed.
Li Ying shook his head and walked away; he was heading towards Skyreach Forest which was his daily habit.
In the depths of the forest there was a mysterious barrier that baffled both scholars and cultivators who found it.
They had never encountered anything like it. In fact they couldn't even see it. Unlike other barriers which had a watery appearance due to light bending, this one was completely clear. It was invisible to the eye and could only be sensed by slight changes in air and Qi.
Even elite cultivators couldn't produce something like this. It was otherworldly and became one of the unsolved mysteries of this vast and magical world.
As his life approached its end cracking this barrier mystery was Li Ying's final passion. He had spent years researching and examining this barrier and tried to figure out its secrets and purpose.
A barrier was like a hollow-spherical invisible force that prevented anything from entering it, so some novice cultivators would dig the ground around the barrier to get inside only to discover that the barrier formed a full ball instead of just covering the surface. Li Ying had witnessed many such attempts and had mocked their foolishness and ignorance.
Li Ying had become a master of magic barriers over the years. He could spot their weak points and loopholes and he could also design them, but he could not create them as he lacked the spiritual qi of the immortals.
To breach a barrier, one could imitate the aura of the barrier's owner, duplicate the tokens that allowed access to the barrier, or smash the barrier with sheer force. But none of these methods worked for the barrier inside the Skyreach Forest.
The owner of this barrier was unknown so their aura could not be replicated. As for breaking it with power, one of the strongest on the continent, Feng Hao from the Gray Mountain Sect, with incredibly solid cultivation, failed. Despite twelve hours of punching he could not break the barrier.
From then on, almost everyone abandoned it leaving it as a mystery for future generations to ponder.
Li Ying walked along the dirt road that led to Skyreach Forest. He had taken this path many times before. He was not scared of the occasional demonic beast that hid in the dark of the trees. His traps were enough to ward off the weak creatures that lived in the forest.
But today he was out of luck. A chilling howl broke the silence. It came from the sharp cliff that edged the road. Li Ying looked up and felt his heart drop.
A pack of Serpentail wolves had noticed him. Their red eyes glowed with malice and hunger.
'This is impossible', he thought. 'Serpentail wolves never leave the mountains. Why are they here?' He felt a cold sweat on his back as he realized he was in mortal peril.
Serpentail wolves hunted in packs and were merciless. Their most unique feature was their tails, which looked like snakes. The tails moved on their own, wrapping and unwrapping around them. Each tail had a mouth of its own, with sharp teeth that could deliver venom into their victims. The venom could paralyze or even kill a person in minutes. The rest of the wolves' bodies looked like normal wolves, but they were much bigger and stronger.
Unlike the demonic beasts of the forest, the Serpentail wolves had high cultivation levels.
This pack had five members, four of them at the third stage of Qi Condensation and the leader at the fourth stage.
Li Ying knew he had no hope of escaping them. His sect, which was too far away and the wolves might soon catch up with him.
He had to depend on his own wits and skills. He had a backup plan, though.
Li Ying had set up many traps within the forest for his security over the years. But they were made for low-level native beasts of the forest, not for the stronger Serpentail wolves. Li Ying had no other option. He decided to risk it and went deep into the woods.
Skyreach Forest was a vast ancient forest that spanned for miles, it was near the Silver Dragon Sect where Li Ying lived. This forest had many tall trees, some of which were older than the sect itself. The trees shaded most of the sunlight and created a cool and calm atmosphere.
The snarls of the Serpentail wolves were getting nearer. But Li Ying did not panic anymore. He walked at his usual pace, as if he was not scared of the demonic wolves. He acted as if a feeble puppy was pursuing him instead of a pack of savage beasts.
Sometimes he took longer strides to avoid some odd patterns on the ground. Upon closer inspection, they were array patterns.
Li Ying couldn't activate them directly as he lacked the spiritual qi, but he replaced spirit stones for it that he received from the sect. The spirit stones were buried under the soil, ready to trigger the arrays when someone stepped on them.
The pack of Serpentail wolves finally reached the bottom of the cliff and saw Li Ying's back getting further into the woods
Four of the wolves hastened in the direction of Li Ying while the pack leader walked steadily behind them. He was confident that his subordinates would capture the human soon.
One of the wolves stepped on the weird pattern on the ground.
Boom! A loud explosion echoed. It was not Li Ying's first time hearing this sound. He had blown up many Flame Horn goats and Wild Boars with those traps.
He had a slight smile on his face as he heard the blast.
The injured Serpentail wolf was dazed for a moment, but it did not die. It let out a pained howl and limped on. Soon more explosions sounded. The traps wounded the wolves, but did not kill them. They only made them more furious and hungry.
It turned out that the disciples of the Silver-Dragon Sect were training on the mountain today. They were hunting high-level demonic beasts and this pack of Serpentail wolves had lost many of its members.
They were fleeing to the forest, hoping to survive. They did not expect to encounter a human with such cleverness and bravery. Only killing this human in front of them would calm their rage and hunger.
They ignored their wounds and chased after Li Ying with more resolve. They did not know that Li Ying had more tricks up his sleeve. He was not going to give up without a fight.
Li Ying began running as fast as he could towards the mysterious barrier, where he had set up more traps, feeling his heart pound in his chest. He could hear the explosions behind him, one after another, as his traps exploded.
Explosions had managed to injure three of the five Serpentail wolves, but two of them were still alive and relentless.
The pack leader, a huge beast with a fourth-stage Qi Condensation level, was unharmed and he followed a wounded wolf that was about to advance to the same level. The injured wolf limped on, dragging its bleeding forelimb, but it did not give up on its prey.
Li Ying stopped and hid behind a huge tree with a talisman in his hand. It was his final option, a rare item from a powerful cultivator.
It had a strong explosive effect that could kill a third-stage Qi Condensation demonic beast. He hoped it would do the job on the wounded wolf, at least. He could only use it once, so he looked for the perfect moment to act.
The wolf picked up Li Ying's scent and growled. It moved towards the tree.
Li Ying waited for the perfect moment and leaped out as the wolf reached the tree and hit the talisman on the wolf's head. He began running without looking back.
Boom! The talisman exploded, sending a blast of fire and smoke into the air. The wolf's head was blown to pieces, and its body fell to the ground.
Li Ying felt a spray of blood and brains on his back, staining his robe. He regretted missing such a sight but he did not look back. He kept running, as fast as he could.
A loud howl of rage and grief rang in the air. It was the pack leader, who had just witnessed the death of his last companion. He was furious and hungry, and wanted to kill Li Ying more than ever. It started running towards him, faster than before.
Li Ying finally arrived at the Mysterious Barrier. The barrier was invisible, and a verdant forest stretched inside it with towering and colossal trees.
A herd of Flame Horn goats approached Li Ying, but they ignored him and ran past him. They ran to the louder sound, the explosions. They weren't scared of it but drawn to it.
The Flame Horn goats were low-level beasts that lived within the forest. They were easy to recognize by their horns, which burned with a low yet inextinguishable flame. Their horns were a valuable ingredient for elixirs, as they contained a hint of fire essence.
The goats did not fear death and attacked anything that moved, whether it was a savage beast or a powerful cultivator. They often became meals for stronger demonic beasts, or prey for cultivators. Scholars said that their fearlessness came from their lack of intelligence.
There was one other unsolved mystery of this barrier: it allowed Flame Horn goats to bypass through it. They vanished when they entered, but they could also return. It looked strange, like they came out of nowhere.
Only the owner or token holders could enter a specific barrier; otherwise, not even air should get through it. But for some reason, these stupid Flame Horn goats could undergo the mysterious barrier of Skyreach Forest.
In the past, Li Ying had attempted distinct techniques to discover the loophole on this barrier. He once tamed one of the fierce Flame Horn goats and rode it to pass the barrier, but the goat got in and left him out. He had spent a year taming this goat, he was frustrated. Then he conceived the idea of carrying the skin of the Flame Horn goat to enter the barrier. He still failed. He wondered how this barrier should distinguish a Flame Horn goat and a human.
After reaching the barrier, Li Ying touched the invisible force, feeling its repelling pressure and knowing it would be his last time. He had run out of his survival options.
The last Serpentail wolf had finally caught up with him.
Li Ying turned to face the wolf when his thuds and growls reached his ears. Their eyes met.
The Serpentail wolf moved sideways, showing his teeth and growling at Li Ying.
Li Ying gasped. He was exhausted. But he refused to die without combat. He had constantly dreamed of the cultivators' adventures, their battles with mighty and perilous beasts. He wanted to experience the same thrill. But his aged body betrayed him. He felt no adrenaline.
Li Ying no longer worried about his demise, though. He gripped a knife, hiding it in his sack. He was hoping to take it down with him. But he quickly gave up the idea. With his knife he wouldn't be able to even scratch the fourth-stage Qi Condensation level wolf, let alone stab him. He took out the knife and dropped it on the floor, Li Ying had accepted his fate.
'If only I could be reborn with a gift for cultivation.' Li Ying thought as he closed his eyes and embraced death.
The Pack Leader pounced on him. Li Ying felt the Pack Leader's crushing force as it sprang on him.
Thud! Li Ying's body smashed to the ground with a loud noise.
'What?!' To his surprise Li Ying was thrown across the barrier.
The wolf charged at Li Ying, but the barrier stopped him. The angry wolf could only claw and ram the barrier but could not break through it.
Li Ying smiled. He whispered, "It wasn't the fur or the horns, it was their fearlessness of death." Li Ying was too weak. He passed out.
****
Cultivation Levels.
Qi Condensation, Foundation Building, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, etc. Each level is further divided into nine stages.