Xan Li Fang spun, his mismatched eyes widening in terror. The voice was immediately followed by the thwack of an arrow, which buried itself deep into the tree trunk beside his head, the wood splintering violently.
Fear seized him. He scrambled behind the wide, bronzed trunk of the Gunsang tree.
"Who are you?! What do you want from me? Why are you attacking?" Xan yelled, his voice cracking.
A figure emerged from the dense shadows of the forest. He wore a simple Gray Robe and a mask that obscured his features entirely. In his hand, he held a long, menacing Spear . Its tip was styled like a trident, engraved with fierce, burning symbols that resembled the mythical Fiery Fire Bird .
— "Boy, I found the Gunsang Tree first," the masked man stated, his voice cold and devoid of emotion. "If you let the tip of your finger touch even one of these fruits, do not expect mercy from me."
— "H-hey, Sir," Xan stammered, attempting a nervous laugh. "I truly just got lost and ended up here. Really! Completely lost."
— "Do you take me for a fool to believe such idiotic rambling?" the masked man scoffed.
Xan was starving. His survival instincts took over, overriding his fear.
"I don't care about your fruit, sir, but I'm starving. I only need ten fruits. Just ten. The rest are yours, deal?" Xan bargained desperately.
A brief flicker of Killing Intent —a dark, cold wave that triggered a sharp pain behind Xan's Red Eye—passed through the masked man's gaze. But he quickly relented.
"You look like a decent boy. Fine. Take them," the man said, lowering his spear slightly.
Xan didn't hesitate. He rushed to the branches, plucked ten of the beautiful, glowing Gunsang Fruits , and began devouring them instantly, rind and all, savoring the sweet, fiery flavor.
"H-hey! Stop! That's the Gunsang Heavenly Fruit !" the man finally yelled, his voice laced with horror. "You can't eat them like that! One fruit helps a cultivator rise one full realm ! Eating too many is instant death!""But... but I already ate them!" Xan choked out, his eyes wide as he swallowed the last mouthful. "Why didn't you warn me earlier?"
The words barely left his mouth when the agony struck.
It wasn't the slow burn of his old illness. It was a catastrophic explosion. The immense, pure Qi from the ten fruits slammed against his sealed Void Dragon Bloodline and his fragile, mortal body. The two forces rejected each other violently.
Xan's heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible giant. His entire body grew impossibly heavy, and the blood vessels under his skin ruptured instantly. Blood burst forth from his eyes, his ears, his nose, and every pore on his skin. He looked exactly like a sack filled with blood that had been abruptly punctured.
He screamed, a high, piercing sound that cut through the jungle noise.
"Fool! The power is tearing you apart!" the masked man roared, stepping back.
Blind with pain, Xan stumbled backward, moving not towards the masked figure, but towards the invisible edge of a terrifying precipice behind the tree.
"Boy, get away from the abyss!" the masked man yelled, urgency in his voice. "If you fall, you land on the Mortal Continent ! Getting back up to the Supreme Continent will be impossible!"
But the warning came too late. With a final, explosive spasm, Xan Li Fang tumbled backward over the edge.
He screamed as he fell, the light from the Supreme Continent shrinking rapidly above him until darkness swallowed him whole. The last thing he saw was the masked man standing on the edge, the Fiery Fire Trident glinting in the light.
LinXu Village, The Mortal Continent Xan's consciousness drifted in a sea of pain. He heard faint, muffled voices.
"The boy fell hard from the sky. His injuries are severe...""But his body is remarkably tough. He will survive this..."
The voices faded again. He was alive, somehow, but the soft voice confirmed one thing: he had fallen. He was no longer on the Supreme Continent . He had traded one deadly jungle for an even more primitive, isolated part of the world.