The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Shi Bai Mountain never, in his wildest dreams, imagined that what came next from Bai Yuan would be devoid of any tricks—only pure, unadulterated violence.

Bai Yuan was like an ancient beast wielding a saber, each strike fiercer than the one before.

He was forced back, step by step, under the onslaught.

The shock in Shi Bai Mountain’s heart could not be greater.

’What kind of monster is this?!’

’Have my decades of training all gone to waste? I can’t even kill a mere True Disciple who’s nearly thirty years my junior.’

’Not only can I not kill him, I can’t even manage to wound him. Instead, he’s the one completely overwhelming me.’

Shi Bai Mountain felt utterly humiliated.

He finally understood why Bai Yuan had come to Feishi Peak today, so out of character. It was because he had broken through to the Entering the Realm!

’He’s this terrifying right after his breakthrough. In a few more years, won’t he become a second Dong Wanjun, able to overwhelm even the Prefect?!’

’I can’t even bear to think about it...’

The two exchanged another hundred-some moves in a single, breathless flurry.

In the end, it was Shi Bai Mountain who lost his patience first. He parried Bai Yuan’s strike and declared, "This ends here for today."

Bai Yuan watched Shi Bai Mountain, feeling he hadn’t had his fill of the fight.

’A whetstone this good isn’t easy to find,’ he mused. ’Maybe I should get a few more swings in.’

After a moment’s thought, Bai Yuan sheathed his long saber. "Since Peak Master Shi has nothing else for me, I’ll take my leave."

Before his voice had even faded, he departed with a dashing flair.

His purpose for coming to Feishi Peak today had been achieved.

He couldn’t just go and kill Shi Bai Mountain, after all.

Of course, he knew who was secretly targeting Wan Jun Peak. He hadn’t acted before partly to focus on his refinement, and partly because he was waiting for the right opportunity.

Bai Yuan had no interest in petty squabbles. When he made a move, he had to make his opponent feel a pain they would remember for the rest of their lives.

The death of a True Disciple was already enough to give Shi Bai Mountain a long-lasting headache.

His challenge to Shi Bai Mountain today had displayed more than enough strength. Now, whether it was Shi Bai Mountain or anyone else lurking in the shadows, they would have to think twice and consider Bai Yuan’s methods before making a move against anyone from Wan Jun Peak.

The old Bai Yuan had been strong, but he wasn’t on the same level as the other eleven Peak Masters and wasn’t powerful enough to make certain people truly fear him.

But after today, the strength he had displayed meant his status within the Divine Mansion Sect would be no less than that of the other Peak Masters—perhaps even higher.

He wanted to send a clear message to those lurking in the shadows: Wan Jun Peak may have lost Dong Wanjun, but it still has Bai Yuan. It was not a place that just anyone could bully.

From now on, anyone who dared to humiliate Wan Jun Peak would have to first consider how many of their own True Disciples they could afford to lose.

In truth, with his current strength, Bai Yuan would have no problem killing Shi Bai Mountain.

The only problem was that he lacked a sufficient reason.

The Divine Mansion Sect’s Leader, Murong Tian, was merely away—he wasn’t dead. He would never permit the unprovoked murder of a Peak Master. It was the same reason Shi Bai Mountain didn’t dare to kill him. Even in a formal duel, the most one could get away with was being a little more ruthless with their attacks.

’Did they really think the Divine Mansion Sect would allow its top experts to kill one another?’

These people were the prized assets of the Divine Mansion Sect; Murong Tian would be loath to lose any of them.

Rules were always for the disciples at the bottom. The lower one’s standing, the stricter the rules.

But once you reached a level like Bai Yuan’s, the rules naturally began to bend for you.

Of course, if Bai Yuan could find evidence among Shi Ye’s belongings that Shi Bai Mountain was colluding with the Demon Sect, he wouldn’t mind helping Sect Leader Murong Tian clean house.

’The Sect Leader probably wouldn’t object to that.’

Murong Qing, who had been watching the fight from the sidelines, stared at Bai Yuan in utter shock.

’This boy has the makings of a Sect Leader!’

He never would have imagined that Bai Yuan would break through to the Entering the Realm so soon.

’How old is Bai Yuan, anyway?!’

The young man before him had broken through to the Entering the Realm three years faster than even Sect Leader Murong Tian. He was truly a prodigy among prodigies.

In comparison, even the top-ranked True Disciple, Murong Jiutian, seemed to pale.

’The future hope of the Divine Mansion Sect!’

Murong Qing’s eyes lit up. ’With such a genius in the Divine Mansion Sect, how could the sect not prosper?’

As long as Bai Yuan didn’t meet an untimely end, he was destined to one day make his name ring throughout Ling Province, just like Dong Wanjun.

’I must tell the Sect Leader about this.’

Overcome with excitement, Murong Qing’s figure blurred as he sped down the mountain.

...

Bai Yuan’s methods proved highly effective.

Ten days passed, and not a single disciple from Wan Jun Peak went missing again.

The best way to keep a pack of wolves at bay is to show them you’re a tiger.

Only by making them fear, by letting them know that attacking him meant their own death, could he prevent further harassment.

The current Bai Yuan now possessed the strength of a Thirteen Peaks Peak Master. He was an undisputed powerhouse in the Divine Mansion Sect. Aside from Sect Leader Murong Tian, there was no one left who could restrain him.

While there were a few other Entering Martial Artists among the True Disciples, Murong Jiujiang was the only other one to have reached the level of a Peak Master.

Only now could Bai Yuan and Murong Jiujiang be considered the true Twin Prides of the Divine Mansion Sect’s current generation.

"You really broke through?"

You Shengnan looked Bai Yuan up and down in disbelief.

She even wondered if Bai Yuan was the reincarnation of some old monster, though she knew it was impossible.

She was the one who had brought him from Qinghe County.

That was why only she could truly understand just how shocking his breakthrough to the Entering the Realm was.

A few years ago, Bai Yuan had just been a Martial Artist from a small county’s Martial Arts Hall, desperately trying to prove himself to her so he could join the Divine Mansion Sect. But now, he had become a true regional titan.

Back when she was at the Organ Fortification stage, Bai Yuan was at Tendon Transformation. Now, Bai Yuan had already reached the Entering the Realm, and she was still stuck at Organ Fortification.

’It’s true what they say, comparisons will be the death of you.’

In reality, You Shengnan’s progress was normal. It was Bai Yuan’s terrifying breakthrough speed that was simply unheard of, something utterly inhuman.

But such was the way of the Martial Dao. For some, breaking through realms was as easy as eating and drinking. For others, they might never even pass the Skin Tempering stage in their entire lives.

Still, with Bai Yuan on Wan Jun Peak, those petty schemers had finally backed off.

"Master... how is he?"

You Shengnan asked cautiously, terrified of hearing bad news from Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan looked at the Lifebound Gu lying on his sleeve.

"He’s doing great."

Seeing how lively and energetic the Lifebound Gu was, Bai Yuan began to suspect Old Dong was having so much fun in the Northern Plains that he’d forgotten all about returning.

The aura emanating from the Lifebound Gu was growing stronger with each passing day.

Peace returned to Wan Jun Peak.

The death of a True Disciple caused strangely few ripples within the Divine Mansion Sect.

Because the killer was another True Disciple.

Anyone with eyes could see the truth of the matter. Even if Sect Leader Murong Tian were to return and learn of this, would he really destroy a future pillar of the Divine Mansion Sect just to uphold some so-called rules?

Shi Ye was already dead, and a dead True Disciple had no value. At most, Murong Tian would hand down some trivial, painless punishment and put the matter to rest.

Geniuses always had special privileges.

Bai Yuan could also finally resume his grand undertaking of grinding mobs.

Even after breaking through to the Entering the Realm, hard work was still paramount. He couldn’t afford to slack off in the slightest.

His Broken Wave Saber Technique was still only at the Master level.

’If I can train it to the Legendary level, it’ll probably hurt like hell when I cut someone.’

...

News of Bai Yuan’s battle on Feishi Peak quickly spread throughout Huanglong Prefecture. Even the authorities in Ling Province began to pay close attention to him.

This only served to further solidify his moniker, "Little Ren Tu."

Bai Yuan was not happy about this at all.

He hadn’t killed that many people, no matter how you looked at it. ’Demon Slaughter,’ now that was a title that made more sense.

"Brother Bai, you really didn’t disappoint me. But why didn’t you just kill that old turtle? You’re still a bit green."

"You should come up north to the Northern Garrison Army. You can kill people here without any consequences, and I guarantee you’ll get your fill."

Bai Yuan glanced at the letter from Lu Yu and casually tossed it into the nearby brazier.

’That guy must be lonely in the Northern Territory. Why else would he be sending me letters so often?’

The letters were filled with his observations from the Northern Lands and some amusing anecdotes from the Northern Garrison Army, but it was mostly useless chatter, along with constant exhortations for Bai Yuan to head north.

Bai Yuan, of course, ignored it all.

Still, it wasn’t bad hearing some rumors about the Northern Lands from Lu Yu.

For example, Lu Yu mentioned an interesting thing in his letter this time: that there are many Demons in the Northern Lands.

These Demons were the offspring born from unions between monsters and humans.

Demons possessed the traits of monsters and the comprehension of humans, making every one of them an extraordinarily gifted being.

Several Vice Sect Leaders of the Celestial Heart Sect are Demons.

Such a thing was unheard of in the Xuan Yang region. Bai Yuan’s eyes lit up at the thought. ’The enhancement points gained from killing a Demon are much higher than those from a Martial Artist or a regular monster... That’s based on experience from my past life.’

But he didn’t plan to go north for now.

After all, staying in Huanglong Prefecture was far safer than facing the constant risk of death up north.

Killing monsters, allocating points, then cutting down people—what a joyous life.

...

Murong Tian rushed from place to place to suppress the rebels, but Huanglong Prefecture remained in chaos.

With war flaring up again in the north, the Grand General of the North could no longer spare any attention, allowing the Lingzhou General and the Prefect to grow increasingly audacious.

Countless soldiers of the Divine Mansion Army had fallen at the hands of Lingzhou Army troops disguised as assassins from the Soul-Chasing Tower.

"Fuck! Those motherfucking Lingzhou bastards!"

Hu Ben cursed angrily.

He watched as the brothers who had once fought by his side died one after another, his heart filled with suffocating frustration.

The Divine Mansion Army’s Grand Commander Yu Hui silently looked at the sand table before him, ignoring Hu Ben’s curses.

With Dong Wanjun missing, he had become the top commander of the Divine Mansion Army.

Sect Leader Murong Tian had no intention of meddling in the Divine Mansion Army’s affairs. Instead, he took the sect’s experts and, along with Yu Hui, split their forces to suppress the rebels.

Yu Hui was in no way inferior to the Peak Masters in terms of either strength or strategy, but he was still a good deal weaker than Old Dong.

The Lingzhou Army had countless experts, and with the enemy in the shadows while they were in the open, the fight was naturally a difficult one.

"By the way, how has Commander Bai been recently?"

Yu Hui asked suddenly.

Hu Ben was stunned for a moment, then his mouth split into a wide grin. "You mean that kid, Bai Yuan?"

"Yes."

Hu Ben said excitedly, "I heard the kid ran over to Feishi Peak, beat the hell out of Old Shi, and even killed a True Disciple from the Shi Family. Damn, that was satisfying as hell."

A faint smile touched Yu Hui’s lips as he nodded.

He had, of course, already received the report from the Divine Mansion Sect.

The Divine Mansion Army, Wan Jun Peak, and the Law Enforcement Hall were all under Old Dong’s sphere of influence, so the three factions were naturally close. When he first heard that Wan Jun Peak was being secretly targeted, he had planned to send men to help. He never expected Bai Yuan to solve the problem on his own—and in such a gratifying manner.

Wan Jun Peak was being ostracized, but was the Divine Mansion Army any different?

And wasn’t the loudest voice of opposition none other than that same Peak Master Shi whom Bai Yuan had just thrashed?

Yu Hui and Hu Ben had long found that old scoundrel an eyesore but had never found a good reason to make a move. Unexpectedly, Bai Yuan had gone and done the very thing they had always wanted to do.

"Things have been getting restless around Ji Chang lately. Send the Slaughter Camp back. Put it under Bai Yuan’s command."

"Yes, sir."

Hu Ben let out a sly chuckle and immediately accepted the order.

Although the Slaughter Camp wasn’t on par with his own Gang Camp, it was still one of the Divine Mansion Sect’s undisputed elite units.

General Zhao Wu was permanently stationed just outside Huanglong Prefecture, a threat that had to be guarded against. That detachment of the Lingzhou Army was like a sharp sword pressed against the Divine Mansion Sect’s gut, capable of inflicting a grievous wound at any moment.

However, Yu Hui had a deeper motive.

Murong Tian’s intention to groom Bai Yuan into the next Dong Wanjun was already plain to see.

So, Yu Hui decided to add more fuel to the fire. He would hand command of the Slaughter Camp—the most unique unit in the Divine Mansion Army—to Bai Yuan, letting him take over Old Dong’s legacy ahead of schedule. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Because Old Dong himself had gotten his start as the commander of the Slaughter Camp.