The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

"Thunderbolt Hand Xu Kang has snuck into Huanglong Prefecture and is heading straight south."

"True Disciple Liu Zhi remains in a deep coma with no signs of waking."

"The lead disciple of the Meishan Sect was assassinated. His head was hung above the city gates."

...

Bai Yuan frowned as he looked at the secret message in his hand.

After several days, the post station in Qinghe County was finally back in operation.

Ji Hanming, or rather Long Ao, had been outrageously audacious. He had actually dared to slaughter the post station officials and replace them with his own men.

After Long Ao’s death, the Celestial Heart Sect disciples who had been impersonating the officials fled at the first sign of trouble.

However, Zhao Han led his soldiers to hunt them down through the night. The bodies of those Celestial Heart Sect disciples still hang from the walls of Qinghe County Town to this day. They probably won’t be taken down until they’ve been sun-dried into jerky.

When Ji Chang learned of this, he was so terrified he kowtowed an untold number of times.

According to the laws of Xuan Yang, destroying a post station was an offense punishable by the execution of one’s entire clan.

Ji Hanming was his illegitimate son. If the matter were truly investigated, not a single person in Flying Eagle Castle would be left alive.

Murders occurred from time to time in Xuan Yang, but destroying a post station was something almost no one dared to do.

The ruthless individuals who had dared to destroy post stations in the past were almost exclusively loners with no family to speak of.

Fortunately, Commander Bai was merciful and did not make an issue of it.

Of course, this wasn’t Bai Yuan acting out of genuine kindness. He was using the incident to get a better grip on Flying Eagle Castle.

’If I ever run low on enhancement points in the future, I can use this as a pretext to act.’

’Flying Eagle Castle is still somewhat useful to me now. There’s no need to rush to annihilate them. Otherwise, it would be hard to find another force in Qinghe County as convenient and easy to control.’

During this time, Bai Yuan also took Zhao Han to several surrounding counties.

Elder Dong had dispatched the entire Wei Camp from Huanglong Prefecture City not just for the small county of Qinghe, but for the five surrounding counties.

Bai Yuan was not nearly as "gentle" with those other counties as he had been with Qinghe.

He killed the leaders of half the major factions across the five counties with a single slash of his blade. The major factions in those counties, which had originally voiced some dissent, saw how ruthless the new commander’s methods were and instantly became as docile as house sparrows, following his every command.

The Martial Artists of those factions even began to think that Bai Yuan simply enjoyed killing.

Faced with such a temperamental person, they naturally had to tread carefully. One wrong word, and they could lose their heads.

The benefits of this approach were also obvious. Progress afterward was much smoother. The Divine Mansion Army only needed to station a ten-household leader here to oversee things, saving Bai Yuan a great deal of trouble.

Human nature is complex. Forging these factions into a monolithic block inevitably required some knocking of heads.

And among Martial Artists, such "knocking" often involved bloodshed.

’I even get to collect some enhancement points along the way. It’s a win-win!’

Except he was the only one winning.

Just as his thoughts were racing—

SWOOSH!

A long spear pierced a wooden post, leaving a narrow hole in the thick wood. Achieving such precision was no easy feat.

To say nothing of the fact that the one wielding the spear was a woman.

Sister Qiao had been diligently practicing her spearmanship, and her skills were becoming increasingly exquisite.

Bai Yuan’s eyes lit up as he watched Sister Qiao’s powerful thrust. Though he didn’t understand spearmanship, he could recognize the extraordinary quality of that strike.

Xiao Qiaoniang twisted at her waist, gripped the butt of the spear with both hands, and gave a sharp tug.

As the spearhead was pulled free, the entire wooden post split in two.

If an opponent were to be hit by that spear, their fate would likely be far more tragic than the post’s.

Unfortunately, Bai Yuan didn’t know any spear experts. Otherwise, he could have arranged for Sister Qiao to study under a famous master.

As it was, there was no one left in Qinghe who could guide her in the art of the spear.

Xiao Qiaoniang retracted her spear. A green shadow shot out from her sleeve, affectionately slithering up her arm and onto the spear’s shaft.

It was Xiaoqing.

These days, Bai Yuan no longer had much need for Xiaoqing’s help.

With his current strength, almost no Blood Refining Martial Master was his match. As for Entering Martial Artists, Xiaoqing couldn’t help him there either.

Its third-molt venom was potent, but it had to be able to land a bite.

At its current recovered level of cultivation, Xiaoqing couldn’t even get close to an Entering Martial Artist, let alone bite one.

It wasn’t entirely useless, however. Bai Yuan had collected a good amount of Xiaoqing’s venom, which, when used with hidden weapons, was sure to produce some unexpected results.

After weighing the options, he left Xiaoqing with Sister Qiao.

Xiaoqing and Sister Qiao had a symbiotic relationship to begin with. Their training would be even more effective together.

Bai Yuan was genuinely happy to see Sister Qiao’s strength increase so much.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Occupation: Demon Hunter, Sword Ghost, Boxer, Spirit Cooker]

[Skills: Ghost·Gui Mountain (Proficient), Leader’s Leg (Adept), Ghost Night Wanderer Step (Master), Ghost·Divine Adaptability (Master), Ghost Hundred Poison Hand (Master)...]

[Enhancement Points: 0]

The grade of Ghost·Gui Mountain, the saber technique Bai Yuan created himself, far surpassed his previous Tiger-Crane Form and Three Axes of the Woodcutter, so it also consumed more enhancement points.

’He had trained for eighty years just to raise Gui Mountain to the Proficient level.’

’This was all thanks to the heads contributed by the patriarchs of Cao Valley County and the other surrounding counties. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to gain so many enhancement points so quickly.’

The results were also obvious. The power of Gui Mountain had increased by a large margin.

If he were to face Zhou Tao again, he probably wouldn’t be pushed to his limits like before.

He had only been able to kill an Entry-level Powerhouse like Zhou Tao mainly because Zhou Tao had just broken through the Entering the Realm pass. That, combined with a cultivation technique advantage. If Zhou Tao had been allowed another ten years to consolidate his power, the outcome would have been uncertain.

But as Old Dong had said.

"As long as you practice enough cultivation techniques, you can counter any technique in the world."

Bai Yuan deeply agreed with this statement.

’Before, he had no choice. Now, he was the Sword Ghost, and he decided he would take Old Dong’s words to heart and expand upon them.’

The greatest characteristic of the Sword Ghost was that it wasn’t picky about cultivation techniques; it could practice them all.

’It might still take some time to break through to the Entering the Realm. But killing an Entering Martial Artist? That was a much easier task.’

’Of course, first I have to train Gui Mountain to the Master level.’

Xiao Qiaoniang was just about to raise a hand to wipe the sweat from her brow when a white handkerchief suddenly appeared before her forehead.

Bai Yuan carefully wiped Sister Qiao’s brow.

Xiao Qiaoniang felt a warmth spread through her heart. ’It’s rare to find a man who becomes capable but still knows how to dote on someone.’

She was no longer the simple village woman she once was; she had seen much more of the world.

This world was filled with countless cold and faithless Martial Artists. Abandoning one’s wife and children or even selling one’s wife for wealth and status were commonplace. Someone like Brother Yuan was truly a rare find.

’I have to hold on to him tightly.’

Xiao Qiaoniang thought to herself.

’Female Martial Artists were already rare in Huanglong Prefecture. Sister Qiao figured that if she could reach the Organ Strengthening realm, she might just be worthy of Bai Yuan’s status. At least she wouldn’t bring him shame or be ridiculed by his fellow disciples.’

Bai Yuan put down the handkerchief and took a spear manual from his robes—the Eight Forms of the Flood Dragon.

He was a True Disciple now, with many privileges.

One of them was the ability to choose any cultivation technique from below the Merak Pavilion.

This spear technique, called the Eight Forms of the Flood Dragon, was one he had carefully selected for Sister Qiao.

Sister Qiao had a symbiotic bond with Xiaoqing and a natural affinity for serpentine creatures. A snake molts to become a flood dragon, so the Eight Forms of the Flood Dragon was a perfect fit for her.

Taking the cultivation technique manual that Bai Yuan had been keeping warm in his robes, Xiao Qiaoniang couldn’t help but break into a silly grin.

Bai Yuan pulled Sister Qiao into his arms, savoring the soft warmth of her embrace.

’Days like these really are nice.’

...

In Huanglong Prefecture, there was a mountain range that stretched for a thousand li. Because it had so many peaks, the local mountain folk had simply named it the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Many vicious criminals who had committed offenses in the city would flee and hide in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

The mountains were already teeming with tigers, bears, and venomous creatures. With the addition of these desperados, even the officials would stop at its borders.

The older generation of mountain dwellers nearby would always warn the village youth.

"Don’t go into the Hundred Thousand Mountains."

In the deepest part of the Hundred Thousand Mountains lay a jungle so dense and dark it was almost pitch-black.

And in this desolate place, untouched by human feet, there was a palace complex!

"Qinghe, Cao Valley..."

A burly, bearded man murmured.

A tall, thin figure stood before him in silence. It was none other than Jia, the Soul Chasing Tower Lord of Huanglong Prefecture.

This palace complex was the Demon Sect’s true base of operations in Huanglong Prefecture.

It housed not only experts from the Soul-Chasing Tower but also powerhouses from the Celestial Heart Sect.

As the two most powerful branches of the Demon Sect, the two sides, though they didn’t get along, still chose to join forces when it truly mattered.

Jia had to admit that Murong Tian and Dong Wanjun, known in Ling Province as the Twin Heroes of Huanglong, were truly powerful.

Even he felt immense pressure.

That was why he had no choice but to ally with the Celestial Heart Sect.

Now, the Celestial Heart Sect Leader had gone to the northern part of Huanglong Prefecture to tie down the Shenfu Sect Master, Murong Tian, while he remained in the south to deal with Dong Wanjun.

"There’s a little fellow named Bai Yuan there. If you run into him, just kill him on the side."

Jia said to the burly, bearded man before him.

This burly, bearded man’s name was Xu Kang, though most people were more familiar with his moniker, Thunderbolt Hand.

A renowned expert who had passed the Entering the Realm pass twenty years ago.

The gap between those at the Blood Refining Pass was large, but the difference between those at the Entering the Realm was even more terrifying.

Take Dong Wanjun, for example. Though he was only a Junior Grandmaster, he could kill even experts at the Perception realm. He was just that absurdly powerful.

Xu Kang had been famous for many years, a reputation built on a solid record of kills. His strength was immense.

The people of Ling Province all thought Xu Kang belonged to no sect or faction, but in reality, this Thunderbolt Hand had always been an assassin for the Soul-Chasing Tower.

He had simply been kept hidden and had rarely acted, which was why he had never been discovered.

Only now had the lord of Ling Province’s Soul-Chasing Tower sent him to Huanglong Prefecture to assist Jia.

With such an expert at his disposal, Jia naturally had to make good use of him.

An Entering-level expert could be of immense use.

Not to mention, Xu Kang was considered to be in the upper-middle tier even among Entering Martial Artists.

Of course, he wasn’t sending Xu Kang to the counties of Qinghe specifically to deal with Bai Yuan.

Although Bai Yuan had good potential, he was nowhere near the level that would warrant dispatching an Entering-level expert just to target him.

Xu Kang’s true target was Hu Ben, the Commander of the Divine Mansion Army’s Gang Camp.

Although Hu Ben was just the commander of one of the Divine Mansion Army’s thirty-six camps, his strength was formidable. With his combat prowess, he was more than qualified to be a Vice Commander.

Dong Wanjun had tried to promote Hu Ben several times, but was refused on every occasion.

If it had been anyone else, Elder Dong would have probably flayed them alive. Yet, for some reason, Elder Dong was very accommodating of Hu Ben’s temperament.

He actually agreed to Hu Ben’s request.

And so, Hu Ben became the strongest commander among the thirty-six camps.

Hu Ben was currently near the counties of Qinghe and Cao Valley. He had killed many experts from the Soul-Chasing Tower and the Celestial Heart Sect. It was highly probable that the Ghost-faced Man, Zhou Tao, had also been killed by him.

On the very day that Bai Yuan killed Ji Hanming, Hu Ben happened to appear near Qinghe. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Jia refused to believe this was a coincidence.

Intelligence gathered from various sources confirmed his suspicions.

Besides, how could a Martial Artist who had just broken through the Blood Refining Pass kill an Entering Martial Artist? It was simply preposterous.

It wasn’t that cases of Blood Refining Killing Strength didn’t exist, but they were almost always instances of a Blood Refining Martial Master with a deep foundation killing an Entering Martial Artist with an unstable foundation.

After all, any Martial Artist who can break through to the Entering the Realm was by definition one of the very best at the Blood Refining Pass. How could such a person be so easily killed by someone from a lower realm?

But if given the chance, Jia wouldn’t mind eliminating this unexpected variable, Bai Yuan, ahead of schedule.

A True Disciple of the Divine Mansion Sect who was following in Dong Wanjun’s footsteps... If he were allowed to grow unchecked, he might truly become the next Dong Wanjun.

The thought of facing two Dong Wanjuns was enough to make one’s scalp tingle in fear.

As for why Jia didn’t act personally?

Did he really think Dong Wanjun was a pushover?

Dong Wanjun was in the Hundred Thousand Mountains right now. It was only because the mountain range was so vast that he hadn’t discovered the existence of this palace.

If Jia dared to show his face, Dong Wanjun would surely come to kill him.

Jia felt that now was not the time for a decisive battle with Dong Wanjun.

Of course, that day was not far off.

The time was simply not yet right.