Chen Lu and Fu Bo climb higher into the choking fog, their fingers digging into stone like iron spikes.
The mist parts just enough for them to see it—an eye, vast and dark, the size of their palms, staring directly into their souls.
Terror seizes their hearts.
They scream, let go, and hurl themselves downwards, crashing hard onto the ground below.
Their faces are as pale as ash, their bodies trembling out of control.
The mercenaries rush to surround them, weapons half-drawn.
Chen Wei kneels, voice taut.
"Are you alright?"
But Li Jian cuts across him, voice sharp with impatience.
"What did you see?"
Chen Lu's lips move, but no words come; his throat is locked by fear.
Fu Bo stammers, his teeth clattering, yet nothing coherent escapes him either.
At last, both men can only raise shaking hands, pointing upward into the swirling veil.
Every head turns to follow the trembling fingers.
And there, revealed in the thinning mist, is a colossal crow's head, its black beak glinting, its eyes unblinking.
The great bird stares down at them with lazy curiosity, as though watching ants.
Chen Lu feels the void in his chest deepen—no aura, no pressure, nothing at all leaks from the beast.
Yet from the size alone, he knows.
That crow is above the Master Realm.
Li Jian arrogantly says, "So, there is no spiritual treasure. But a demon beast. It is only a crow demon beast, but from the shine of its feathers, I can make a dress and give a gift to Min Xueyao."
He looks at his guards and the mercenary team, then points at the crow, "Go and hunt it for me."
Chen Wei, who had walked behind Li Jian, darkened when he heard the word "dress."
He strikes at the back of Li Jian's head.
Li Jian's eyes roll back into his head, and he falls into Chen Wei's arms.
Lu Fang and Wu Ming's eyes widen, their voices trembling as they point at Chen Wei.
"What are you doing?"
"How can you attack Li Jian?"
"Guards, attack them!"
The guards don't listen to their orders; instead, they step forward and knock them unconscious, too.
Chen Wei exhales and says to the Li family guard, "Brothers, thank you."
One of the Li family guards says, "We are doing it to protect them."
Chen Wei nods and says, "I understand."
One of the guards walks over to Chen Wei and says, "Give him to me."
He takes Li Jian from Chen Wei's arm.
One of the guards, Li Mu, frowns and says, "Now, what should we do?"
Chen Wei shakes his head, "What can we do except kneel down to grovel and plead for the crow to let us go?"
Li Mu says, "We have to do this. We can escape."
Chen Wei snorts, "Can we escape from such a demon beast? And it can also fly."
Li Mu lowers his head and shakes it slowly.
They laid the three young men on the ground.
Chen Wei looks at his men and says, "Brothers, kneel and pray for the demon to let us go."
The men kneel, their knees pressed into the dirt, their hands trembling slightly.
Above them, Kaelan stands on the cliff, staring at the people below.
He noticed them before they even arrived near the cliff.
But he didn't move, as he wanted to know the humans' goal.
And he finds their goal is him.
Then what follows confuses him, the people knock down three young ones and the rest kneel, saying something to him.
He doesn't understand their language, so he cannot know what they are saying.
Are they praying to me?
And the three young men, are they a sacrifice for me to eat?
He is now a monster and should not be picky about food.
If he had devoured the world, the people would already be in his stomach.
He would have done it because he did not see them with his eyes.
And the void monster's blood inside him also affects him.
It makes him need destruction and killing.
His human mind fights that urge, but it also makes him emotionless.
But now he is only a fragment of his body and soul.
And the cultivation he created also strengthens his soul, allowing it to escape the influence of the void monster's blood.
So, killing demon beasts doesn't matter, but humans are another matter.
He still identifies as human.
And these people, inside and outside, look like humans back on Earth.
There may be differences inside their cells.
But the organs, brains, and what he remembers from class 12 biology all look the same.
He was an engineer, so his human biology knowledge only reached class 12.
So with his limited knowledge, in his eyes and in his spirit, they look human.
And these humans are extraordinary, and the curiosity of human civilisation makes him decide to interact with them.
His spirit links with the minds of the conscious humans, and he asks, "Who are you all?"
The people below freeze, feeling for the first time a voice echo inside their heads.
Confusion grips them—they cannot tell if the sound comes from within or without.
Kaelan speaks again, "I am talking to you. Answer me."
This time, they understand, and their eyes turn toward him before settling on a burly man whose aura is strongest among them.
The man bows deeply and says, "Lord, I am Chen Wei."
He gestures to several around him. "We are the Chen Village mercenary team."
Then he points at the unconscious young men. "They are from the Li family."
Finally, his hand shifts toward five others. "These five are their guards."
Kaelan understands the words even before Chen Wei speaks them. With their spirits linked, the sentences form in Chen Wei's mind, and Kaelan hears not only what is spoken but also what is hidden.
He doesn't care where they come from, but from the introduction, he learns something useful—hierarchy exists in the human civilisation of this world.
He asks, "What are you doing here?"
Chen Wei hesitates. A thought stirs inside him: Should I mention that we came thinking he was a spiritual treasure?
Kaelan's voice cuts into his mind. "Oh… so you thought my cultivation was the birth of a spiritual treasure."
Chen Wei's eyes widen in fear, horror flickering across his face. The crow can read his mind.
Desperation makes him flood his thoughts with frantic praise. Mighty one… great lord… supreme being…
Kaelan interrupts again, tone flat. "Enough. Stop that. Tell me about the human world."
The mercenaries exchange uneasy glances before Chen Wei finally answers, "We live at Qinghe Town, in Yun Province of the Tang Empire."
Kaelan learns from Chen Wei's mind and the minds of the others that Qinghe Town is under the imperial court but ruled in practice by three large families: Li, Min, and Zhao.
He also learns that a new gang has risen at the dock, controlling the waterways of Qinghe and challenging the authority of the three families.
Kaelan then asks the most important question, "Tell me about martial arts."
The mercenaries start thinking about martial arts, their minds filled with fragments of knowledge.
Kaelan gathers the information from all of them and pieces together the truth.
Martial cultivation is divided into realms: Third Class, Second Class, First Class, Master, Great Master, Grand Master, and Supreme Master.
For an ordinary person to advance to the Third Class realm, they must first exercise their body and meditate to sense the Qi flowing within.
Once they succeed, they step onto the path of a martial artist.
From Third Class to Second Class, a martial artist must increase the amount of Qi by practising inner breathing exercises.
When their Qi is able to circulate through the entire body, they advance to the Second Class realm.
From Second Class to First Class, the martial artist must refine and condense their Qi until a Qi field of one meter forms around their body.
When the Qi field is stable, they step into the First Class realm.
From First Class to Master, the martial artist must absorb spiritual energy and fuse it into their refined Qi.
The increase of Qi feeds back into the body, strengthening it and awakening the hidden energy in their blood.
When blood energy and Qi combine, they form True Qi, and the martial artist advances to the Master realm.
Chen Wei is stuck at the half-step Master realm because his blood energy is insufficient to complete the transformation into True Qi.
For those like him, a spiritual treasure is required to stimulate the blood and bridge the gap.
Chen Wei cultivates a fire-attribute inner breathing exercise, so he must consume a low-grade fire-attribute spiritual treasure—be it a spiritual plant, metal, or other rare material.
Kaelan also learns that most people without divine bloodlines or spiritual roots are unable to go beyond the Master realm.