Under the night sky, towering mountains loomed in silence. Many people had already gathered in the dense woods, their murmurs making the forest noisy.
The Newborns from the various villages were seething with anger. Entering the mountains today was destined to be fraught with peril; once they stepped into a special node, their survival would be completely out of their hands.
"What's all the racket? Let's see who dares say another word!" A Golden Rooster knight appeared, expression indifferent, sweeping a chilling gaze over the crowd.
The golden rooster beneath him was ferocious, letting out a piercing, high-pitched crow to back him up.
The Golden Rooster knight barked, "You'd better behave yourselves! We're only having you prospect some mines. What's with all the damn whining? Shut your mouths and do whatever you're told!"
The Newborns from the villages swallowed their rage, not daring to speak out. Were it not for their families waiting at home, they would have risked their lives to fight him right there. His words were hardly fit for a human being—by now, even ordinary folk knew that the heavenly light inside special nodes would severely erode the body.
"Move out! Let me make things clear upfront: whoever causes trouble won't like how hard I come down on them!" the Golden Rooster knight threatened.
Beside him stood a large group clad in heavy armor and brandishing sharp weapons. All of them were Newborns from Golden Rooster Ridge, marching the villagers along as though escorting convicts.
They proceeded in silence until they arrived outside the Grand Rift Valley. Another group of villagers was already waiting there, brought by members of the Three-Eyed Cult. As expected, the two local organizations were cooperating.
The Grand Rift Valley was vast, riddled everywhere with fissures. Piles of boulders choked certain areas, vegetation was sparse, and a stone forest landscape coexisted with deep ravines.
Ordinarily, few living creatures ventured here, as the slightest carelessness could send someone plunging into a chasm.
Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult had mobilized a massive contingent this time, waiting here for a long while without doing any prospecting themselves.
"Huh?" Inside the rift valley, another Golden Rooster knight spotted Qin Ming, a sinister glint flashing across his eyes.
He was the one who had taken men to Old Man Liu's home, intending to force the purchase of the fiery-red grass. Afterwards, Qin Ming had reported it straight to Cao Long and Mu Qing, resulting in this man getting slapped several times and losing several teeth on the right side of his jaw.
"Take extra 'care' of that brat in a bit. Make sure he prospects a few more subterranean mines!"
He did not dare lay a hand on him directly. After all, Cao Long and Mu Qing had warned him, and they had not yet departed.
However, this operation was an order issued by Golden Rooster Ridge's top bandits and the Three-Eyed Cult's local leadership to force these villagers into the nodes. He could easily exploit the situation, giving a few casual commands that would torment someone who had only achieved Newborn once to death.
Among the villagers, an elderly man with graying hair murmured with deep worry, "I hope we can find those so-called mysterious resources quickly. Otherwise, if we stay too long, even as Newborns, our bodies will be permanently crippled—or we won't even walk out of here alive!"
"Shut up! Did I give you permission to speak?"
With a sharp crack, the Golden Rooster knight cracked his whip, sending the elderly Newborn staggering. The blow tore through the clothes on his chest, and where it grazed his face, it left a bloody gash.
"Whoever finds mysterious resources can not only leave immediately, but will also receive a handsome reward! And take note: not night silver—you'll be given day gold!"
The people from Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult had not driven everyone entirely into a corner; at the very least, they dangled a glimmer of hope and made promises.
An old man from Golden Rooster Ridge walked over and instructed, "Head underground. This sector has been claimed by us and the Three-Eyed Cult. Right now, every inch beneath the Grand Rift Valley is worth its weight in gold. Search thoroughly for me!"
The area claimed by Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult was near the entrance, not particularly prime ground. After all, their strength genuinely paled in comparison to the contingents from Chixia City.
Qin Ming followed the other Newborns into the subterranean depths. Everyone carried a sunstone prepared in advance in their robes; otherwise, the chasms would be pitch-black.
This was an underground karst cave network, webbed with countless tunnels branching out in every direction. In some spots, faint light flowed, becoming unbearable even upon slight approach; other areas remained dark, where lingering caused no discomfort to the body.
"Everyone, I don't think there's any need to ruin our bodies or throw our lives away," an elder suggested softly. "Even if we enter those glowing areas, finding mysterious resources is a long shot. We'd be better off finding safe paths underground, slipping into the dark zones, and biding our time..."
In truth, many shared this exact thought.
A middle-aged man spoke up. "Let's split into two groups. One group will pretend to search for mysterious resources, while the other urgently scouts an escape route—looking for deep tunnels that might lead outside the Grand Rift Valley. I bet these factions will eventually descend into a melee. Once different powers clash over the special nodes, they'll slaughter each other blindly."
"Right! We have to prepare early!" The others nodded in agreement.
Qin Ming had originally intended to suggest that they hide first, but now he realized that people who scraped a living near dangerous mountains had very sharp survival instincts.
Afterward, he began acting on his own, wandering through the cavern system in search of any potential mysterious resources.
An hour later, before any clashes could break out among the outside factions, another formidable force intervened, triggering bloodshed on the surface.
Above on the surface of the Grand Rift Valley, apes howled and tigers roared. Various mutant beasts emerged in droves, and countless birds of prey began swooping down from the skies.
"The mutants are attacking!" shouted a Golden Rooster knight stationed at the valley's entrance.
Mutant beasts had appeared and clashed with humans before, but never in such overwhelming numbers, nor with any organization. Now, it was an entirely different story.
Leading the charge was a giant white bear five or six meters tall. Perhaps recently awoken from hibernation, it was utterly berserk; seizing two Newborns, it ripped them to shreds on the spot.
On the other side, a giant golden bull snorted flames from its nostrils, rampaging through the ranks and impaling numerous Three-Eyed Cult members on its horns before hurling them into the air.
Such mutant beasts were numerous. Though of different species, they did not fight one another at all; instead, every single one charged at the humans.
The mutant raptors in the sky provided support. A massive silver eagle dove down, ripping the skullcap off a second Newborn cultivator on the spot.
"Earlier, only a few mutants showed up, never in large numbers. They were waiting for us to enter! They're deliberately hunting us down!"
An elder from Golden Rooster Ridge shouted, leaping into the air to seize a twice-mutated eagle owl mid-flight, snapping its neck with a vicious twist.
"What do we do now?"
Panic swept through many. The entrance to the Grand Rift Valley was blocked by a sea of mutants surging into the ravine, while predatory birds circled overhead to keep watch.
...
"Something's wrong—chaos has broken out above! Quick, hide! Block the hidden tunnels with rocks and conceal our escape route!"
In the subterranean world, the hunters from the various villages heard the commotion. Extremely perceptive, they moved swiftly into action.
Qin Ming noticed immediately as well. He had nothing to fear; he could retreat toward passages where heavenly light overflowed. Neither the men from Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult nor the mutant beasts could endure remaining deep within such areas for long.
On the surface, large contingents of Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult clustered together to form a defensive perimeter. Terror gripped their hearts, for mutants swarmed in every direction.
"The higher beings wouldn't intervene personally—after all, they promised Chixia City's higher-ups that they wouldn't hunt in secret. But letting mid- and low-tier mutants loose over here? That's definitely within bounds."
Even so, the situation was dire. Everyone understood now: the mutants had long planned to strike, merely biding their time for this opportunity.
To those from outside the mountains, the blood snakes, silver camels, and fiery-red grasses within held astonishing value, rich with dense spiritual substance.
Yet in the eyes of the mountain's mutant beasts, certain deep-rooted two-legged beasts made them salivate just as much, serving as "medicinal herbs" packed with rich spirituality.
"So this horde of mutants didn't just come for the mysterious resources—they want to hunt us, seeing us as spiritual creatures?"
"Exactly!"
Instantly, the faces of the Newborns from Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult turned deathly pale. Hadn't claiming this ground right at the entrance put them straight in the line of fire?
"The higher beings deep in the mountains wouldn't dare let their mutant subordinates wipe out everyone who entered; that would completely enrage City Lord Ling Xu and the others, inviting cold-blooded retaliation. But wiping out a fifth or a quarter of the Newborns here? They probably wouldn't care."
For a moment, everyone turned ashen. If things continued like this, it would be catastrophic, and many were doomed never to leave the mountains alive.
"Fall back into the caves! We can't stay on the surface! The two of us alone are no match for these mutants!" an elder from the Three-Eyed Cult shouted.
"Move! Get underground, quickly!" The men acted immediately.
They used the narrow tunnels to set up defenses; holding the bottleneck made it difficult for the mutant beasts to push through.
However, the subterranean passages were like a spiderweb. Some mutants naturally adapted to fighting underground were already scouting paths, intending to lead other mutated creatures around the chokepoints and flank inside.
Chaos erupted both above and below ground.
Many Newborns from Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult scattered down different tunnels, hoping to find a route leading out of the Grand Rift Valley.
After all, this was near the exit area.
...
*What a coincidence,* Qin Ming thought, catching sight of a familiar figure—the very Golden Rooster knight who had tried to force Old Man Liu to sell his spiritual substance, and who had glared at him with malice earlier at the valley entrance.
"It's you?" The Golden Rooster knight had long abandoned his mount and was wandering alone through the subterranean passages, searching for an escape route.
"Over here!" He beckoned to Qin Ming. "Have you found any mysterious resources? Also, you heard the racket above—what's the terrain like around here? Tell me in detail."
Qin Ming didn't bother responding. He strolled over at an unhurried pace.
"Are you looking to die? Dawdling like that—I asked you a question!" Ferocity flared in the knight's eyes.
His malice was plain. Earlier, he had planned to have Qin Ming sent to prospect multiple mines, forcing him to die a lingering death from heavenly light erosion. Now, he figured killing him outright here wouldn't matter either. Who would ever know? He could simply blame it on the mutants afterward—dead men told no tales.
Thus, dropping all pretense, he lashed out with his whip. He could guess that this boy and Old Man Liu were the ones who had complained to Cao Long and Mu Qing, as they were the only two parties involved.
Naturally, Qin Ming wouldn't let the whip strike him. He raised his long-handled dark-gold hammer to parry.
"You dare resist?" The knight's eyes turned venomous, and he moved to strike again.
Qin Ming was never one to take things lying down. How could he tolerate this man crossing his bottom line again and again? Lightning-fast, he shoved the heavy hammer forward.
*Smack!*
Stars burst before the Golden Rooster knight's eyes as agonizing pain flared. The dark-gold hammer made intimate contact with his mouth and nose, knocking out his front teeth and caving in the bridge of his nose. The world spun wildly around him, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.
"My apologies. My hand slipped; couldn't hold onto the handle," Qin Ming said.
"I'll... ducking kill you!" The Golden Rooster knight hissed, his speech slurred and leaking air through his missing teeth. Consumed by rage and panic, he could barely articulate his curses.
Tears and snot streamed down his face as he endured the blinding agony. Fury surged from his chest, malice emboldening his spirit. Drawing his saber, he swung to cut the boy down.
As a second Newborn cultivator, he naturally assumed he held absolute superiority and could effortlessly slaughter a punk who had only undergone Newborn once.
Yet before his saber could even fall, a tearing pain shot through his right hand. The long-handled dark-gold hammer smashed down, turning it into mangled flesh. The saber clattered to the ground, and his entire right hand spasmed, its fractured bones contorted until it resembled the claw of the golden rooster he used to ride.
"This is the hand you used to hit Old Man Liu with that Yellow Clay Palm, isn't it? Then have a taste of my dark-gold fist." Wasting no more time, Qin Ming hefted the long-handled dark-gold hammer and brought it down on his face with several resounding thuds. The blows flattened the knight's face into a bloody pulp and caved in his frontal bone, sending the corpse crashing to the stone floor.
Even in his final moments, the Golden Rooster knight couldn't believe how absurd this was. He was a second Newborn cultivator—how could he be outmatched in both speed and power by this boy? As his consciousness faded, realization struck: the youth was already a second Newborn, and vastly stronger than himself!
Dragging the corpse, Qin Ming walked into a remarkably spacious cavern where heavenly light flowed. Comparatively speaking, it was very safe for now.
"Hm?" He spun around sharply to see an old man stepping out from another passage, closing in on him silently.
"Who are you, and what are you doing?" the old man asked, his expression dark.
"I'm from the Three-Eyed Cult," Qin Ming answered. "I just saw this man collapse from heavenly light erosion, so I'm trying to save him."
*Boom!*
The old man shattered the hard rock underfoot and charged violently forward. A faint white glow emanated from his body—the heavenly light of the human body. He was clearly a third Newborn cultivator.
He wasn't so easily fooled. Sensing that something was amiss, he struck immediately, showing lethal intent despite facing a mere youth.
Qin Ming knew he had encountered a formidable foe—an opponent of unprecedented strength. He had never fought a third Newborn cultivator before.
*Let's do this! If I kill a third Newborn master like you, I might just be able to wipe out every last person Golden Rooster Ridge has here!* Steeling his resolve, Qin Ming decided to go all out and strike this old man dead.
Chapter 43