Chapter 6: Out of the Forest, Pan Yang Town

The sudden system notification did catch Liang Yi off guard, carrying a substantial amount of information.

Let's not talk about the experience for now; it looks a lot but is actually pitifully little. It will be needed in various aspects in the future, but it really won't last long. Plus, a Level 30 Cultivator would normally yield about 100k experience from a kill. This time it was a weakened creature, otherwise, the experience wouldn't have been so low, which also brought down the strength assessment rating quite a bit.

But under normal circumstances, if faced with the man in the black robe, Liang Yi would likely be dead with just a glare from him.

Experience points are a small matter; what really interests Liang Yi are the following two prompts: the main quest and the Devouring Spirit Sect.

Checking the quest panel, this quest was indeed a golden main quest, expected to span an entire version of the game.

[Shadows Cast Aback]: Beneath the peaceful and prosperous facade of the Mystic Mechanism World, currents of darkness are stirring. When the shadows are no longer content to lurk in the dark, that's when peace shatters.

[Quest requirements: Phase One: Find clues related to the Devouring Spirit Sect.]

[Quest clues: 1. The Devouring Spirit Sect harbors murderous intent towards you 2. The Devouring Spirit Sect possesses the Great Dark Escape Technique]

[Task completion: 2%]

[Quest reward: 200k Experience, unlock the next main quest]

"True to a main quest, what generous rewards!" Liang Yi couldn't help but smile broadly at the prize.

In his past life, almost no players would consider NPCs as a source of experience because of their high intelligence levels. They would fight cunningly, and it was common for them to flee if they couldn't win. Some would even feign defeat and then turn around to give you a surprise counterattack.

This time, he had stumbled upon an incredibly good deal.

Even if one successfully killed an NPC, the experience gained would be miserably low.

Normally, if he leveled up to 30 and reached the same Realm, it would only yield 100k experience, and Liang Yi knew that leveling from 30 to 31 required 200k experience.

The effort versus reward was not proportional, which is why players wouldn't bother with such thankless tasks.

Unless that NPC was loaded with cash.

Consequently, players usually go around searching for quests and Secret Realms, which are akin to the dungeons in standard games.

As for the clues mentioned in the quest panel, they're likely not reminders from the system, but rather acknowledgments of some information Liang Yi already possesses.

And then there's this Devouring Spirit Sect, which seems to be the antagonist stirring up trouble in the shadows.

It seemed that Liang Yi was considered an enemy by the Devouring Spirit Sect, but he knew it was the Sect that had run into big trouble.

Because Liang Yi doesn't allow for enemies to exist, and once they do, they're done for!

Moreover, the Devouring Spirit Sect had targeted his Otherworld counterpart. If he hadn't intervened, they would have succeeded. Even just to understand why they targeted him at all, Liang Yi wouldn't ignore this sect.

Wait till I grow strong, your ashes will be scattered to the wind!

As he opened his character panel and saw the experience bar at 90000/5000, Liang Yi felt incredibly satisfied.

Why bother with other Escape Skills when you have the Great Dark Escape Technique, is this not sending warmth and care my way?

Liang Yi silently told himself a few times: level up.

After Liang Yi mentally adorned himself with several golden lights, the attribute panel had changed:

Name: Liang Yi

Gender: Male

Template: NPC

Race: Human Race

Level: 10

Cultivation Technique: None

Life Value: 182/200

Attributes: Strength 20, Agility 20, Endurance 20, Intelligence 20, Insight 10 (Non-upgradable), Charm 10 (Non-upgradable), Luck 10 (Non-upgradable)

Free Attribute Points: 10

Experience: 45000/10000 (Non-upgradable)

Skills: None

Equipment: Very ordinary rolling pin

Feeling an all-around enhancement in his physical fitness, Liang Yi comfortably stretched himself with a yawn.

The Su Youyi behind him gave her senior brother an odd look, feeling that he seemed to have suddenly become a bit stronger, which must have been an illusion.

Liang Yi currently had no Cultivation Technique, and the leveling up function was temporarily locked. In the previous life, at level 10, one could join various Sects to learn their Cultivation Techniques, although the requirements for joining each sect varied, and being admitted simply made one the most ordinary of Disciples. Ordinary Disciples of a Super Force or first-rate force would be taught a blue-quality Cultivation Technique, while other forces would only provide a white-quality one.

Only a True Inheritor would be taught the most fundamental Cultivation Technique of their sect.

Su Youyi, the current junior sister, belonged to Taoist Sect, which was one of the Super Forces, though the entire sect only had two people, her and her master.

Oh, right, now there's also him.

Liang Yi sighed inwardly, blaming his own strength for being too overwhelming, leading to such a perfect start.

"Let's loot the corpse first." In Liang Yi's unique perspective, there was a white glow on the surface of the corpse, indicating that it could be looted.

"Pick up." Liang Yi murmured silently in his heart.

"Congratulations! You have acquired [Great Dark Escape Technique]"

"Congratulations! You have acquired [276 spiritual coins]"

"Congratulations! You have acquired [Devouring Spirit Scripture (Incomplete)]"

"Whoa, pretty lucky, eh!" Liang Yi cheerfully thought to himself as he looked at the two light purple Skill Books inside his bag. What troubled him, though, was that he couldn't practice either the Devouring Spirit Scripture or the Escape Skill, despite their purple quality; the flaws in the Escape Skill were too severe and fatal. As for the Devouring Spirit Scripture, Liang Yi didn't understand why an incomplete version was purple – could a complete one be orange or gold? If this were a game, he would definitely learn it without hesitation, no matter where it came from, as long as it was useful. But this wasn't a game, and the thoughts of his junior sister, his master, and other forces had to be considered.

Moreover, his current Taoist Sect was one of the Super Forces, ranking among the top few in the current era, so why would he need to learn such an incomplete Cultivation Technique?

That's right, Liang Yi was acting lofty, his sights set higher, no longer interested in purple-quality Cultivation Techniques.

White, blue, purple, orange, gold – these were the quality levels classified by the System, and the Cultivation Techniques from his own Taoist Sect were at least of gold quality, so of course, Liang Yi could afford to be bold.

Putting aside the seemingly high-level yet utterly useless Cultivation Techniques into his System bag, Liang Yi turned to look at the young girl behind him.

"Should we bury him here or feed him to those demon beasts?" Liang Yi really had never dealt with killing and disposing of corpses this way.

"Let's feed him to the demon beasts, burying him here carries risks. Feeding him to demon beasts will also make it harder for anyone who investigates to track us." After pondering for a moment, Su Youyi, who didn't have tools specially made for handling corpses, had to resort to this crude method.

"What's our next move?" The current Liang Yi just wanted to quickly figure out what time period he was in; he only knew that seven years after the death of the background version of himself, his junior sister became the undisputed number one. But when players enter the game, Su Youyi was already the number one, so it was difficult to determine the exact time now.

"First, let's find a group of demon beasts, then set off back to the sect when it gets light."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead."

···············

When Liang Yi was finally basked in the unobstructed sun, a whole day had already passed.

The Ten Thousand Miles Mountain was so vast, and although they hadn't penetrated deep into its heart, they were, at most, on the periphery. Even at the peak speed of Su Youyi, who was at the Third Realm, it took half a day to get out, and they were also accompanied by Liang Yi.

Standing outside the small town closest to the Ten Thousand Miles Mountain, Liang Yi took a deep breath, finally arriving at a place he was familiar with.

Pan Yang Town, the southwest-most small town of the Xuanzhou Immortal Dynasty, just beyond the southwestern boundary lies the Ten Thousand Miles Mountain. Seemingly distant from Central State, the town's population flow was no less than that of some famous cities.

The Ten Thousand Miles Mountain itself was filled with innumerable resources, whether it be demon beasts, heaven and earth treasures, or relics left by predecessors, all of which could potentially make someone rich overnight.

According to the agreement between the Demon Clan leader, the Grand Saint of Nine Spirits, and Emperor Zhou of the Immortal Dynasty, the forest outskirts served as a training ground for both sides; humans needed resources, while demon beasts needed blood food. Only those who had awakened their spiritual wisdom could join the ranks of the Demon Clan. Therefore, those who wished to train, get rich quickly, or required certain resources would choose to visit the Ten Thousand Miles Mountain, and Pan Yang Town served as their supply point.

In his previous life, the town was much livelier than now. Deception, betrayal, and intrigue played out daily here. Just grabbing a stool and some sunflower seeds, one could sit at the entrance of the town all day without getting bored. Sometimes, witnessing an explosive event could mean munching on an extra bag of seeds.

Watching his junior sister curiously look around, Liang Yi asked with a smile, "You've never been here?"

Su Youyi shook her head as vigorously as a rattle-drum.

"Eh? Then how did you get into the mountain?" Liang Yi hadn't expected his junior sister to have never been here before.

But as soon as he asked, he noticed the girl's eyes had reddened again.

"Senior brother, did you really lose your memory?" Su Youyi looked at Liang Yi with heartache. She didn't expect her senior brother to truly have forgotten the memories of their time spent together.

"Yeah, I'm not lying to you. I still remember some things, but I've forgotten the past memories and the times I spent with you and master," Liang Yi said helplessly looking at her, speaking nothing but the truth.

"Senior brother, I will definitely help you recover your memory," Su Youyi said with determined eyes.

"Haha, memory isn't that important. I think, even before the memory loss, my biggest wish was just to be by your side all the time, right?" Liang Yi instinctively reached out to pat his junior sister's head, not even realizing this habit he was increasingly getting used to.

But he didn't notice Su Youyi, under his palm, her face blushing so much it almost looked ripe. The senior brother, even with lost memory, still so fond of patting her head – what if it made her not grow tall.