Stealing an Opprtunity

Hun Lian took his horse into the jungle, instead of the road, and since it was very fast, he was soon surrounded by thick trees.

'That's good enough' He thought as he came to a halt and told his horse to eat some grass with the help of his 'Thuum'.

Hun Lian then climbed a tree and sat there, waiting for the people who were tailing him since he entered the Glimmertown.

With his high Spiritual strength, strengthened by the soul of Gu Wanhe, he could easily detect these experience buckets itching to die by his hands and contribute their souls to his 'Thuum'.

He didn't have to wait long, as he saw four horses coming to a halt at the clearing under his tree.

"Where is he!?" All four of them had their faces covered in garb and were looking at Hun Lian's horse, grazing grass not too far away.

One of them was once a part of the Outer Court of the Pepretuity Sect, but when he was not able to cultivate past Level 6 of the Transcendent Realm by the age of 25, he was kicked out of the sect.

Now at 30 years of age, he made his living as a hired mercenary, and formed a group of rogue cultivators but even then also, most of their jobs were taken away by the Perpetuity Sect.

This was one flaw of the Sect that they never measured the level of talent someone had before recruiting them.

They would simply recruit anyone who met their requirements of cultivation, and once they were of no use to the sect and showed no growth, the sect would cut them off like weed.

One of these guys had resentments in his heart against everyone from the sect, and once he saw Hun Lian, spending lavishly in the town, with a spatial ring no less, he decided to loot him.

All 4 of them were in the same realm as Hun Lian, the 6th Layer of the Transcendent Realm, and they were confident that their 30 years of fighting experience would be enough for them to fight against a house flower like Hun Lian who probably has little experience in terms of real life and death battles, which was indeed true.

"That bastard must've noticed that we were tailing him. Let's search for him!" One of the people from the group said as they all nodded and started searching for Hun Lian after tying their horses to a tree.

"No matter how rich he is, he would not leave such a good beast behind. He must be here somewhere. Be alert, boys."

As the four attackers closed in, Hun Lian suddenly fell down, with his spear in hand and coated in his Qi. The attackers were taken aback by Hun Lian's sudden attack, but they quickly regained their composure.

The first attacker summoned hundreds of swords from his Martial technique out of thin air to fall on Hun Lian, but he was able to dodge them by using his speed and agility. He then launched a powerful thrust with his spear, striking the attacker's shoulder and causing him to stumble back.

The second attacker teleported behind Hun Lian, wielding a dagger. Hun Lian turned quickly, but the attacker was too fast. The dagger struck Hun Lian's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. Hun Lian retaliated with a quick strike, but the attacker teleported away.

The third attacker launched a flurry of kicks and punches, but Hun Lian was able to deflect them with his spear. He then launched a powerful strike, but the attacker was able to dodge it by using his agility.

The fourth attacker, the most skilled of the group, stood his ground and prepared to face Hun Lian. He launched a series of powerful strikes, each one more devastating than the last. Hun Lian struggled to keep up, but he was determined not to give up.

With a fierce yell, Hun Lian concentrated his Qi into his spear, and with a powerful thrust, he struck the attacker's chest, causing him to stumble back. The attacker tried to launch a final strike, but Hun Lian was too quick. He launched a powerful counter-attack, striking the attacker's shoulder and killing him instantly.

The remaining 3 wounded attackers quickly attacked Hun Lian at the same time, determined to avenge their friend.

Hun Lian stood firm, his spear at the ready, as the three remaining attackers closed in. He knew he had to be quick and precise if he wanted to survive this fight. Hun Lian took a deep breath, and then he moved.

The first attacker charged forward, swinging his sword with deadly precision. Hun Lian dodged to the side and countered with a swift thrust of his spear, piercing the attacker's side. The attacker stumbled back, wounded but not defeated.

The second attacker was more cautious, circling around Hun Lian, looking for an opening. Suddenly, he lunged forward with a dagger. Hun Lian managed to block the attack with his spear and then countered with a powerful strike, hitting the attacker on the head and knocking him to the ground.

As Hun Lian was dealing with the second attacker, the third attacker yelled 'Myriad Sword Technique' and summoned hundreds of swords, which rained down on Hun Lian like a deadly storm. Hun Lian moved quickly, dodging and blocking as many swords as he could. He knew that he had to end this fight quickly.

Hun Lian used his mastery of Qi manipulation, focusing his energy into his spear. With a fierce yell, he launched a powerful thrust, striking the third attacker in the chest and killing him instantly. The other two attackers, seeing their comrade fall, hesitated for a moment, giving Hun Lian the opportunity he needed.

Hun Lian lunged forward, attacking the first attacker with a flurry of strikes. The attacker managed to block some of the attacks, but eventually, Hun Lian's spear found its mark, striking the attacker in the throat and killing him instantly.

With only one attacker left, Hun Lian was determined to end this fight quickly. The second attacker had gotten back up, but he was wounded and disoriented. Hun Lian saw his opening and pounced forward with a powerful strike, hitting the attacker in the chest and killing him instantly.

The battle was over, and Hun Lian emerged victorious. He took a moment to catch his breath and assessed his injuries. He had suffered a few cuts and bruises, but he was still standing. Hun Lian cleaned his spear, and stored it.

"Battles in the future won't be this easy….-huff"

Hun Lian knew that these rogue cultivators knew little to no martial techniques as they are tightly controlled by the major forces in the Empire and hence he had decided to hone his spear handling and acclimatize himself in a real life battle where no one was prepared to save him at the drop of a hat.

It was important for him to train himself in as real life and death battles as he could or when he starts fighting people from the major forces in the near future, he would not know how he died.

Hun Lian was disappointed that none of them had any Spatial Rings, and just absorbed their soul with his Martial Technique called 'Thuum'.

He decided to put all the 4 souls in his Beast Controlling 'Thuum' called 'Nar hat rim' and sensed it level up.

'Now I can control most beast which are at my realm…This will be useful.'

Hun Lian then killed their beasts aswell but he found that his Beast Controlling Thuum was not able to absorb any souls any longer.

It meant that he needed to Breakthrough to one big realm before he could level it up again.

He just simply put the 4 beast souls in his Thuum called 'Ha hor suf' which still reamined in the first level and could Push away most things in his way.

Hun Lian then took off all his clothes and took a bath in the nearby pond after which he disinfected his wounds with some herbs he already had, and then wore a new blue colored robe of the sect.

After nursing his wounds, he took out all the maps from his spatial ring which he had bought earlier from Mitsy's Map Shop and started studying them in detail.

He was first going to acquire his attribute and because he only had the idea of how he could do that from the original timeline, he studied all the maps in great detail, and when he was sure that he had remembered everything, he lit all the maps on fire and threw them away before resuming his journey.

Hun Lian had an eidetic memory since his last life, which was also the reason why he was very successful.

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Han Yan had bruises all over him as he dug out the flaming beast core from the wolf that had attacked him.

If Hun Lian got to know that even after stealing a big opportunity of Han Yan like the encounter with Mo Xieren and her quest of the Seven Colored Begonia flower, the World still tried to correct his loss and gave Han Yan an opportunity to get a Flaming Beast core of a 3rd Tier Beast which could not only help Han Yan's cultivation but could also help Han Yan's alchemy and a martial technique he practices, he would not know how to react.

Han Yan decided to go back to the Sect and get his wounds checked in the Sect's infirmary as he could not treat his injuries himself, because of them being in some very unreachable and embarrassing areas.

With difficult steps, Han Yan turned around and left for the Perpetuity Sect.

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In a Magnificent city with incredibly spectacular structures, a 50 Stories Pagoda stood exuding brilliance and power.

On the 45th floor of the Pagoda, a handsome man and an extremely beautiful woman were sitting on a lavish sofa as they were both talking to someone wearing a brown suit with tie and a derby hat on a holograph casted by the table infront of them.

"The Ordinance Jury has ruled that the Adjudicators sent there were indeed corrupt and has punished them with he Mayor of the Neverkeep in the incident of the Neverkeep town.

They have also blamed those 3 of the slaughter of the Xiao Family."

As the person in the projected holograph told the news to the man and woman infront of him, he was a bit scared of their lack of response.

"I -I will take my leave now, Respected Patriarch." The man in the Derby Hat bowed, and the holograph disappeared but the eyes of the man were still complicated.

"Oh come on, Love. So our daughter slaughtered some unknown family, big deal. Just drop it! Why are you so serious? Have you forgotten the blood in your hands? Forget that, Have you forgotten the INNOCENT blood on your hand?"

The woman sitting with him put her right hand on his arms and tried to remind him of his past.

The man finally blinked and looked at the beauftiful woman on his left and shook his head.

"It is not what she did that worries me, Xiulan, it is whom she did it for.

She was there on a sect mission to escort a nobody to the sect, but she stays there for a month, slaughters some ants and finally advances in her cultivation and comes back fully healed. This is not simple matter."

The woman named Xiulan smiled at her husband and dismissed his worries.

"Oh come on! There are so many secrets of ours that we have never shared with our daughter. She also has a right to keep secrets. You can investigate all you want but don't force our daughter to tell anything.

It is possible that she found some inheritance from the lost ages and was able to heal her tumour.

After all, from what Zhan Min told me, it was as if that tumour became a Qi whirlpool, passively absorbing the qi for our daughter. It is a blessing."

The man didn't react to his wife's words and just kept staring at another holograph of a picture of the person her daughter escorted to the sect.

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Four days had passed while travelling and Hun Lian finally reached his destination.

A waterfall hidden inside of the dense jungle.

Hun Lian commanded his beast to make sound as soon as he sees another beast or human, and left him near the river which was eating all the water falling from the waterfall.

Hun Lian entered the river and approached the waterfall, and with determined steps, he came under it and penetrated the waterfall to find a hidden cave behind it.

The cave was damp and mossy, the walls slick with moisture. Hun Lian cautiously made his way deeper into the cave, his footsteps echoing through the cavernous space. It was then that he noticed something strange. The floor was littered with traps, some concealed under a layer of moss, others hidden beneath piles of rubble.

Hun Lian gingerly stepped around them, his senses on high alert. He had no idea who or what had set these traps, but he knew better than to let his guard down.

He had only read that a Villain from the original timeline finds this cave and gets extremely powerful; but what else he found inside was not mentioned.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the end of the cave. There, in the center of the chamber, stood a massive altar made of polished black stone. It was intricately carved with images of strange creatures and ancient symbols. Hun Lian couldn't help but marvel at the craftsmanship.

But as he approached the altar, his attention was drawn to something else. Beneath it, lying on the cold stone floor, was a massive coffin. It was at least six feet long and made of what looked like solid gold. But that wasn't what caught his eye. The coffin was emitting a strange, red glow that seemed to pulsate with a life of its own.

He cautiously approached the coffin, his heart pounding in his chest. As he got closer, he noticed something etched into the lid of the coffin. It was a warning, written in an ancient language he couldn't decipher.

Despite the warning, Hun Lian couldn't resist the temptation to open the coffin. He wanted to get powerful soon as he knew that the plot had changed too much from the butterfly effect and his life might be in danger. He reached out a trembling but decisive hand and slowly lifted the lid.

As he peered inside, he was greeted by a sight that made his blood run cold. The coffin was empty, but the red glow had intensified, filling the room with an eerie light. Hun Lian felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that whatever had been in the coffin was no longer there.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling behind him. He spun around to see a figure emerge from the shadows. It was humanoid in shape, but its skin was a sickly gray and its eyes glowed with an otherworldly light.

Hun Lian's heart raced as the creature spoke in a language he didn't understand.

As Hun Lian readied himself for a battle, he heard a voice in his head.

'*Thank you for unseling me, Mortal. It had been a millennia since I laid here, trying to cure a wound that cannot be healed.*'

Hun Lian's muscles tightened as the fact that the creature infront of him could simply project his thoughts inside of his mind dawned on him.

He waited there patiently as the creature spoke again.

'*Don't worry, I am about to leave this world anyway. Since you have unsealed me, I will grant you a gift, the gift of eternal life.*'

Before Hun Lian could say or do anything, he felt two sharp fangs stab into his neck and drain him of his blood and Qi, after which the coffin behind him turned into red energy and gathered at the black altar to make a portal.

'*My name is Lucius Aurelius Nocturne. You'll be sure to remember that.

Once you are strong enough, come find me in the Celestial Realm…*'

Hun Lian fell on the ground, lifeless, as his Qi and blood were drained and he heard the entity infront of him say his name, after which it walked into the altar with slow steps and disappeared from this world.