The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Huanglong Prefecture, southern district, a blacksmith’s shop.

The middle-aged blacksmith stared in surprise at the blood-soaked bundle in Bai Yuan’s hands.

Although the young man had been masked yesterday, the blacksmith could still recognize him as the Demon Hunter who had visited his shop.

’Such efficiency...’

He hadn’t expected the young man to be so quick, delivering the head listed in the Book of Life and Death in just one night.

That was right. It was Bai Yuan who had killed the Wang Family’s young master the previous night.

He had happened to stumble upon the scene of the Wang Family’s young master practicing an Evil Refining Technique.

He had also recognized the technique the young master was cultivating: the long-lost Stealing Yin Technique. He hadn’t expected it to appear in the Wang Family.

Before, he had thought Elder Wang was just a pervert. It turned out he was practicing an Evil Refining Technique all along.

There were likely many in the Wang Family who practiced the Stealing Yin Technique. The entire Wang Family Mansion was utterly filthy.

However, cultivating evil martial arts was no longer a taboo in the Jianghu. As long as one didn’t go overboard—like the Demon Sect of old, which had slaughtered tens of millions like livestock—almost no one would intervene.

Even Bai Yuan’s own Blood Tiger Saber was an Evil Refining Technique.

If not for his Tiger-Crane Form, which continuously supplied blood qi for the Blood Tiger Saber to consume, he would have long ago become a city-slaughtering madman like the Black-faced Ancestor.

The Wang Family’s technique was likely an evil art of harvesting yin to supplement yang.

There was no other way to practice it but to continuously harm innocent women.

The young master he’d killed hadn’t yet mastered the evil technique, which was why he had brutalized the woman he was with. If his skill had been on par with Elder Wang’s, he at least wouldn’t have needed to kill her.

Legend had it that when the Stealing Yin Technique was cultivated to its peak, it was greatly beneficial to both parties involved in the act.

At that point, it would almost shed its identity as an evil technique, becoming something profound and mysterious.

As for why he had chosen the Wang Family as his target, he had Elder Wang to thank for that.

Bai Yuan had already made peace with the Wang Family, and with his identity as a Ghostwriter for cover, it was nearly impossible for them to trace the killing back to him. Killing a member of the Wang Family was the safest option.

Now, after witnessing the young master’s cruelty, he felt no psychological burden whatsoever.

The middle-aged blacksmith flipped through a ledger.

"Four thousand gold."

Before the words were even out of his mouth, he pulled three silver notes from his robes.

Four thousand gold for a single Yijin Martial Master. No wonder so many were willing to risk their lives to become Ghostwriters.

Although it meant entanglement in the karma of life and death, leading to vendettas from the victim’s allies, the rewards were immense. Four thousand gold was equivalent to the Li Family’s entire annual profit in Qinghe County.

Bai Yuan tucked the silver notes, worth four thousand taels of gold, into his robes, feeling not even a ripple of emotion.

At the level of a Strong Internal Martial Artist, gold and silver were no longer as important as they once were. Too many treasures were priceless and couldn’t be bought on the open market.

Sellers were also more willing to trade for monster flesh than for gold and silver.

The moment Bai Yuan stepped out of the blacksmith’s shop, his interface panel silently changed.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Class: Demon Hunter, Ghostwriter, Boxer, Spirit Cooker]

[Skills: Cooking (Legendary), Night Wanderer Step (Initiate), Divine Mystery Hundred Changes (Uninitiated), Hundred Poison Hand (Uninitiated), Tiger-Crane Form (Master), Blood Tiger Saber (Master)...]

[Enhancement Points: 87]

His original Swordsman class had been replaced by Ghostwriter.

Unlike Demon Hunter and Spirit Cooker, the Ghostwriter class wasn’t actually much higher in rank than Swordsman; it was simply a shift in skill specialization.

Because he already had a foundation in the Soul-Hooking Step, Bai Yuan had managed to practice the Night Wanderer Step to the Initiate level on his own.

As for Divine Mystery Hundred Changes and Hundred Poison Hand, with his original body’s comprehension, even reaching the Initiate level was a pipe dream. The Blood Tiger Saber had improved his aptitude, but his comprehension remained ordinary.

However, this weakness could be perfectly resolved by his system.

Killing that man had conveniently earned him a good number of Enhancement Points.

Bai Yuan didn’t hesitate for a second.

[In your first year of practicing Divine Mystery Hundred Changes, you gained nothing.]

...

[In your fifth year of practicing Divine Mystery Hundred Changes, you finally reached the Initiate level.]

...

[In your first year of practicing the Hundred Poison Hand, your technique was clumsy and useless against enemies.]

...

[In your fourth year of practicing the Hundred Poison Hand, you could finally kill enemies with flying needles and poison mist, completing the Initiate level.]

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Class: Demon Hunter, Ghostwriter, Boxer, Spirit Cooker]

[Skills: Cooking (Legendary), Night Wanderer Step (Initiate), Divine Mystery Hundred Changes (Initiate), Hundred Poison Hand (Initiate), Tiger-Crane Form (Master), Blood Tiger Saber (Master)...]

[Enhancement Points: 0]

Just as Bai Yuan had thought, the three cultivation techniques Old Dong gave him were all very high-rank.

Although they couldn’t compare to the Tiger-Crane Form, they were on par with the Blood Tiger Saber. It had taken a total of nine years to upgrade these two techniques to the Initiate level.

But the results were surprisingly good.

At just the Initiate level, Bai Yuan felt that if he were to face Dao Ji again, he would have at least a thirty percent chance of flinging Devil’s Pepper into his opponent’s eyes.

’If I maxed out all the skills in my skill tree, I’d be terrifyingly strong.’

He had heard that Old Dong’s arsenal of techniques was even more absurd than his.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have earned the title of Thousand-Handed Butcher. Perhaps he truly did have a thousand different techniques.

In any case, not even You Shengnan and Xiongshan knew how many abilities Old Dong truly had hidden.

Thanks to his system, Bai Yuan’s comprehension could be considered unparalleled in the world, but his aptitude was far too lacking.

Old Dong had seen this and encouraged Bai Yuan to follow his path: to cultivate all techniques.

There is no single correct path in the world, only the one that is most suitable for you.

...

「Three days passed in a flash.」

The rewards from Sect Leader Murong Tian finally arrived.

Two catties of Tier Six Monster Flesh, a bottle of Blood Refining Pills, and a piece of Celestial Meteorite Iron.

Each item was a priceless treasure. Even a Blood Refining Pass Martial Artist would be green with envy at such a reward.

Looking at the delivered treasures, even Bai Yuan was somewhat surprised.

’No wonder those disciples are breaking their heads trying to get into the Inner Sect.’

’Who wouldn’t be tempted by rewards like these?’

However, Murong Tian had actually bestowed such a generous reward to encourage competition among his disciples, as well as to serve as compensation.

Ordinary Inner Sect Disciples usually received rewards from their masters, which were far less substantial than what Bai Yuan had received.

Of course, besides the rewards, there were many other benefits to being promoted to an Inner Sect Disciple.

Not only did the monthly allotment of monster flesh and pills increase fivefold, but many places that had previously been off-limits to Outer Disciples were now open to him.

Bai Yuan had long coveted access to those places but had never had the chance to go.

Now that he was an Inner Sect Disciple, he could finally enter them openly and justifiably.

He was no longer the rookie he had been when he first joined. He had already familiarized himself with most areas of the Divine Mansion Sect and no longer needed to ask Fang Ya for help.

The thought of Fang Ya made Bai Yuan realize that the two of them hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

He’d heard that Fang Ya had severed ties with the Fang Family and was now focused on her training at the Divine Mansion Sect.

Given her strength, even if she couldn’t become an Inner Sect Disciple in the future, she could still land a position as a Steward within the sect, which wasn’t too bad.

Not long after he pushed open the gate and stepped out of his small courtyard, he saw You Shengnan.

"Junior Brother Bai, where are you headed off the mountain?"

You Shengnan had also seen Bai Yuan and greeted him warmly.

Bai Yuan smiled faintly.

"The Holy Fire Pit."