"Hey! What are you doing?" a voice called out suddenly. Hun Yu turned around.
Standing a short distance away was a middle-aged man clad in golden armor, gripping a spear.
{
Name: jin
Age:36
Occupation: City Guard
Cultivation: Body Tempering 7
}
Running away wasn't an option
Assessing the situation, Hun Yu thought, It's just a Body Tempering 7. With all His training from Yun Xiu and His current strength, this shouldn't be too hard.
Jin's gaze shifted, finally landing on the bodies scattered around. "You dare commit murder in this city?" he shouted. "Prepare for execution!" He raised his spear and charged at Hun Yu.
Hun Yu noted the guard's confidence, unaware of the gap in their power. As the spear thrust towards him, Hun Yu deftly deflected it and drew his sword. Jin smirked, believing his armor impenetrable.
But in the next moment, his world spun as Hun Yu's sword cleaved him in two.
"Cultivation Harvest," Hun Yu murmured, feeling the guard's energy flow into him.
{Cultivation Level: Tempering Body 9 (1200/2500) - (+)}
The increase was minimal, likely due to absorbing energy from someone weaker. Perhaps stronger opponents would yield better results. Without dwelling on it, Hun Yu vanished from the scene to avoid further trouble.
Back in his room, he noticed bloodstains on his clothes. After cleaning up, he lay on the bed, topless under a blanket, and looked out the window at the darkening sky.
He slept peacefully, unaffected by the day's events.
A week passed. Hun Yu wandered the city casually, his thoughts often drifting to the Sect Master.
As he watched the morning sun through the window, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Must be the inn staff," he mused.
Hun Yu opened the door, revealing Huang Yi standing on the other side, flanked by two guards in golden armor. He quickly assessed their cultivation levels.
{Cultivation: Elementary Realm Rank 2}
{Cultivation: Elementary Realm Rank 6}
"Are you going to let us stand here?" Huang Yi smirked. Last time she was alone; now, she brought two guards.
Hun Yu couldn't express his emotions with the mask on, but Huang Yi imagined he was horrified. He stepped aside to let them in.
Once inside, Huang Yi instructed her guards to wait outside, leaving her alone with Hun Yu.
"Do you believe me now?" she asked.
Hun Yu nodded. "Yes, I believe you're the princess."
"Why is a princess visiting a commoner?" he inquired.
"We're going on a treasure hunt, and I want you to come along," she said, not knowing Hun Yu's exact cultivation level but feeling a strange pull towards him.
"Alright," he agreed.
"When are we going?"
Huang Yi, surprised by his quick acceptance, replied, "Today. Come with me; we're leaving now."
As they left the inn, Hun Yu noticed four horses. Two were for the guards, one for the princess, and possibly one for him.
"Are you only taking two guards?" he asked.
"Yes, we're not going anywhere too dangerous. These two should be enough," she replied, mounting her horse with skill.
Hun Yu, inexperienced with riding, hesitated but climbed onto his horse, relieved it remained calm.
"Is this your first time riding a horse?" Huang Yi asked. "Don't worry, this is an imperial horse.
It will follow me without you needing to control it." She commanded her horse to move, and his horse followed obediently.
After about an hour, Huang Yi stopped and consulted a map to ensure they were on the right path.
"Hmm..."
H
Hun Yu, who was just behind Huang Yi, couldn't help but ask, "What type of treasure are we looking for?"
"A rare herb," she replied.
Huang Yi was in Moon Herb City on a mission to find young alchemists with potential and recruit them into the imperial family.
Despite her reluctance, she couldn't refuse the order. She hoped to use the rare herb to entice them to join, offering benefits and the herb as incentives.
Just as these thoughts crossed her mind, a sudden, sharp pain pierced her side.
She gasped and looked down in shock, seeing the gleaming tip of a sword jutting from her abdomen. Blood quickly spread through her clothes.
Turning her head, she saw one of her guards holding the sword, eyes wide with betrayal. Hun Yu, some distance away, couldn't intervene as the other guard held him back.
Withdrawing the sword, the guard watched as Huang Yi fell from her horse, her blood pooling on the ground.
"Hey, what are you doing? Kill him fast! He's just at Body Tempering, not even a cultivator yet," the treacherous guard barked.
Hun Yu struggled, the difference between them not just a rank but an entire realm.
Unable to fully use his newfound power, he was quickly overpowered. The guard thrust his sword into Hun Yu, and he fell to the ground.
"He's done too. Let's go before anyone notices," they said, fleeing at full speed.
Hun Yu lay on the ground, looking up at the sky. Despite his situation, he didn't seem overly concerned. Within a minute, he stood up, no trace of his wound remaining.
{
Malefic Heart Physique:
Passive Ability:
Malefic Regeneration: At the cost of some cultivation, it can recover from wounds and injuries. The severity of the injury determines how much cultivation needs to be sacrificed.
}
He glanced at the passive ability, something he had only discovered the previous day. It was a lifesaver, just like now.
Though he could have survived using the pendant given by Yun Xiu, the Malefic Regeneration had saved him.
Hun Yu looked around, noting the bloodied scene. He had survived, but now he needed to figure out what to do next.\
Hun Yu didn't want to trouble his sect master to leave and come all the way here just for him. As he looked around, he spotted Huang Yi, her eyes still open, blood pouring from her wounds.
Hun Yu debated whether to save her or not. Finally, he decided to act.
As he walked towards her, Huang Yi, whose vision was fading due to blood loss, heard the footsteps.
At first, she thought the guards had returned to check if she was dead. But when Hun Yu's masked face came into view, her mind went blank.
"Hel..." she tried to call for help, but her voice was barely a whisper.
Seeing her in this state, Hun Yu, who usually didn't care, felt a rare pang of concern.
"System, can you do something?" he asked, lacking knowledge about treating wounds.
{She is injured very badly and has lost too much blood.
She will probably die in 1-2 minutes. Host can decide to sacrifice 3000 energy points to stop her bleeding.
Host will have to do the rest, cleaning the wound and covering it.}
(Note - Cost Increasing because of increasing cultivation)
Kneeling beside her, he said, "Okay, just do it." He saw his energy points decrease by 3000, leaving him with around 5-6k points.
In the next moment, the bleeding stopped.
He took a water bag from his storage ring and used it to clean the front of her wound.
Though inexperienced, he had some idea of how to apply bandages. He turned her over, cleaned the wound on her back, and tightly tied a piece of cloth around her waist.
As she was just a normal woman, it would take some time for her to recover. Huang Yi remained conscious but too weak to move.
After bandaging her, he picked her up carefully, avoiding her wounds. Noticing the blood on his clothes and hers, he heard the sound of water nearby.
It was a waterfall.
He slowly walked towards the waterfall and soon arrived there.
Beautiful flowers grew around the area. Thinking she was unconscious, he carefully laid her down and examined his own blood-soaked clothes.
He removed them and stored them in his ring before entering the cold water.
The chill felt refreshing as he looked at the spot where the sword had pierced him, now without a single scratch. He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment.
Huang Yi, still conscious, felt the ground beneath her.
She managed to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was Hun Yu sitting in the water.
Realizing he was not wearing his mask and clothes, her face turned red. She closed her eyes quickly, not wanting to get caught peeping.