How long had it been?
Another Jiangshi's body was torn apart, and the sound of breathing echoed.
Breathing is a habit.
Especially controlling an instinctive habit—it shows power beyond human limits.
He began attacking the Jiangshi who were desperately climbing toward the peak, one by one.
The young man dashed forward with incredible speed, facing two of them head-on.
He no longer needed to be on the defensive.
A cold killing intent radiated from him as he held his breath.
His strike reached the Jiangshi, shattering them into pieces.
Gripping his arm, the young man smiled and began to speak.
"Now I'm certain! I thought my body had only grown stronger…
but it seems it's also capable of healing rapidly!"
He grinned wickedly as he spoke.
For some reason, his grasp of habitual instincts was becoming stronger in this place.
Especially his sleeping habit—it had grown absurdly powerful, though he couldn't quite figure out why.
"Could it be magic? If mana is the cause, it makes sense.
In my previous world, power like mana or Qi was so scarce that no one could awaken those asleep.
But here… everything feels different!"
Shouting those words, his excitement surged as he dove back into battle.
Soon, he noticed that the number of Jiangshi was decreasing.
Wanting to push himself even further, another intent began to flow alongside his killing intent— the battle intent, something only true lovers of combat could emit.
He felt his whole being tremble with thrill and took the initiative to attack the remaining Jiangshi.
His fists tore through the air, leaving holes in their chests.
His breathing had changed now more rhythmic, more controlled.
A faint mix of killing and battle intent spread from his body.
As the two merged, his expression grew indifferent.
When all the Jiangshi were finally defeated, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Their motionless corpses gathered in one place, forming a massive Jiangshi.
The young man cursed. How much longer would this go on?
He stopped thinking and relaxed his clenched fists.
He threw his hands forward—not punches, but rapid strikes that reached the giant Jiangshi in an instant.
Each impact left ripples of empty space behind.
He didn't stop—his flurry of hand strikes carried inhuman speed.
He sacrificed raw strength for speed, increasing his tempo even more.
Within seconds, hundreds of blows landed, but his endurance began to fade.
The giant Jiangshi shrank in size, yet he realized it was healing by sacrificing its own mass.
Determined to finish it, he aimed for a fatal wound.
His right fist smashed into its abdomen with tremendous force.
He transferred that power to his left fist, which struck with even greater momentum.
The right hand's power had passed to the left—and his speed only grew faster!
When his strike connected, it created a devastating shockwave.
His fist must have reached the Jiangshi's core, for the massive creature froze and collapsed.
Panting, cold sweat covering his face, he muttered:
"So that's it!
All the Jiangshi I fought were just fragments of a single one.
When they merged, the core coordinating them must have overloaded and shattered!"
Everything fit together perfectly—it had to be as he thought!
But his endurance was gone. His body gave in, and he collapsed, gasping for air.
That last attack had taken everything he had.
His tired eyes slowly closed, and he drifted into sleep where he fell.
...
When the young man awoke again, the sun was already rising over the mountain's peak.
He had fought Jiangshi the entire night—he deserved some rest.
He checked the vitality within his body, aware of how much he had strained it.
Yet strangely, he didn't feel strained at all.
Smiling, he laughed aloud.
"I don't know the source of this recovery, but it's damn effective! Hahaha!"
As he laughed again, he felt his hunger return.
He didn't crave fruit anymore; now that he was stronger, he could venture deep into the forest for real food.
Standing at the border between the mountain and the plain, he sprinted toward the forest's entrance.
---
Inside, a deep silence greeted him.
He stepped on a dry branch without care, breaking the quiet—but nothing unusual happened.
Deeper and deeper he went, exploring the vast forest.
"…"
The forest was huge. He could sense danger from afar and even spotted several wild beasts, though they were too fast to follow with the naked eye.
"This world really is different… maybe even another universe," he muttered as he walked, lost in thought.
For a while, silence reigned again—
until his stomach growled.
He remembered his hunger and hurried forward.
He rarely ate meat—he could feel the pain of creatures dying in agony.
At first, he could eat anything, but as his understanding deepened, he unintentionally gained this sensitivity.
Until he became strong enough to kill without causing pain, he decided to avoid meat.
So, before hunting for food, he searched for water. But there seemed to be no source nearby.
He had quenched his thirst with fruit before, but now, even without thirst, he felt the need for real water.
To get a better view, he climbed one of the tallest trees—his strong body made it easy.
...
From the top, he noticed his vision had expanded—he could see farther than before.
Pleased by this, he scanned the horizon for a river.
It didn't take long to realize the nearest one was about two days away on foot.
He sighed, about to give up, when he noticed something—
a ripple, like a spell dissolving.
He stared wide-eyed as the ripple vanished, revealing something unbelievable:
A waterfall—right there, much closer than before!
Why hadn't he seen it earlier? And the lake below… it glowed faintly!
A shining waterfall—how could he have missed that?
He tried to reason it out, but no explanation came to mind.
So, he decided to head straight for the lake.
Perhaps a closer look would tell him something.
---
Meanwhile, near that very lake, a cultivator named Zhenhua was teaching her disciple.
Her aura was serene, her beauty almost divine. Before beginning, she sat in the lotus position and gestured for her student to do the same.
Then she spoke.
"The Breathing Technique of the Natural Cycle allows you to synchronize the Qi of heaven and earth with your body.
It requires understanding of nature and harmony, and through this principle of cycles, it enables spellcasting with the five elements."
W.N: The five elements commonly known among cultivators are Earth, Water, Wind, Nature, and Fire.
Zhenhua continued:
"Mastering this technique means grasping the foundations of the Core Formation Realm.
It grants insight into elemental resonance and cyclical body regeneration."
Just as she finished speaking, a rustling sound broke the calm.
Soon, a mortal boy appeared.
Startled, both Zhenhua and her bear-like disciple, Xinyue, took defensive stances.
"I can't sense his cultivation level... he looks like a mortal,"
Zhenhua thought. "That makes him even more dangerous—
no mere mortal could survive my spells!"
She shouted, "Who are you? Who sent you!?"
But the young man didn't understand her words.
Losing interest, he simply ran to the lake and began to drink.
Before long, they realized he truly was a mortal.
Zhenhua stopped her spell formation, and Xinyue halted her chant.
They tried to sense his intent—but strangely, they failed.
Deciding he was harmless, they resumed their lesson.
Meanwhile, the young man sighed, watching them from the water's edge.
"I can't understand their language," he said softly, "but I can feel their emotions and intent."
He glanced at the two women.
"Anyone else would be driven mad by their beauty and attack them on impulse.
Luckily, their killing intent sobered me up."
He watched them closely, trying to grasp what they were doing—
and then his eyes widened.
Their intent gathered in their dantian, forming a strange phenomenon.
It was the first time he had seen such a thing. Excitement coursed through him.
"Yes! This must be cultivation! There's no doubt this is another world!"
Even though he didn't know the name "Core Formation Realm," he understood it intuitively.
They were channeling energy into their dantian through intent.
So, he did the same.
His own intent waves surged outward, strengthening his body.
As he merged them, his entire body began transforming into a single dantian.
Zhenhua and Xinyue felt the shift in Qi flow.
They could recognize some of the intents:
-> Killing intent, thick with bloodlust.
->Sorrow, powerful enough to make anyone cry.
->Battle spirit, reminiscent of a sword master's aura.
But there were others they couldn't comprehend.
The boy was surrounded by nine intents.
Among them were Killing, Sorrow, Longing, Pain, Battle Spirit, Combat Hunger, Battle Passion and finally, Death Intent.
This last one was hidden deep, born from erasing his own emotions and personality.
The intent wrapped his whole body, turning it into a vast dantian.
He felt pain, but ignored it. Compared to the suffering of his life, this was nothing.
When the Qi absorption stopped, he felt something in his heart a dead energy pulsing there.
He didn't realize it was Death Qi, but he knew it was different.
His "Dead Heart" was something only those who despised themselves could possess—
a heart born from endless sorrow, pain, and longing.
This "Dead Heart" could eventually give rise to Death Magic.
But he didn't know that yet.
When the phenomenon ended, he slowly descended.
Xinyue asked her master,
"What just happened, Master?"
Zhenhua's expression darkened.
"I don't know… I've never seen anything like it.
The only thing I can say is—he's stepped onto the path of cultivation."
She recalled her own journey as a prodigy.
Even she, a genius praised across her sect, had never caused such a phenomenon.
"If I was called a genius… then what is he? A genius among geniuses?"
She clenched her teeth and approached the boy, Xinyue following behind.
...
Within two days, the boy spoke their language fluently.
Zhenhua was struck speechless.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Two days ago what was that phenomenon? How did you do it?"
He thought for a moment before answering.
"I watched how you drew Qi into your dantian and observed the intents behind it.
Soon, I understood how to use intent and absorb Qi.
But… I'm certain what I did isn't true cultivation."
Zhenhua frowned.
"Don't be ridiculous! What you practiced is cultivation! Who do you take me for?"
He sighed.
"You're not entirely wrong. But I didn't copy your method exactly. I adapted it to myself."
Zhenhua's eyes widened.
"You… you created your own cultivation method?!"
He nodded calmly.
Her knees almost gave out. Xinyue rushed to support her.
Xinyue bit her lower lip and stared at the ground.
The helplessness of being unable to follow the wordplay between her master and this stranger weighed on her heart like a heavy stone.
She could only settle for listening in silence.
"What if you hit a bottleneck someday?" she asked weakly.
"Then I'll deal with it when it happens," he replied, shrugging.
Zhenhua sighed heavily.
Channeling Qi into a ring on her finger, she summoned a tent-like house.
"I need to rest," she murmured. "I've witnessed the birth of a monster."
If they didn't want the entire continent to chase him, they'd have to keep this secret.
Xinyue helped her master inside. Before resting, Zhenhua whispered:
"He's a monster. Even the elites of legend can't compare.
Stop comparing yourself to him.
Instead, cultivate—and perhaps you'll share in the miracles he brings."
Xinyue couldn't hold back her tears.
Despite her talent, her confidence had crumbled in just two days.
...
Later, she stepped outside, her eyes swollen.
The young man truly felt her sorrow through intent.
He approached and sat beside her, gazing at the sky.
"I don't have a name," he said quietly.
Xinyue wiped her tears, confused.
"W-What do you mean?"
Still staring upward, he smiled faintly.
"I never had a family to give me one.
Most called me a bastard.
The kindest among them called me the nameless child."
He chuckled.
"I guess even my parents feared my talent and abandoned me."
When he woke up in this world, he thought a name didn't matter.
But now, he realized the suppression of his own power had numbed that part of him.
Even the fact that others didn't reject him felt strange.
until he understood that his ability was affecting them.
During the past two days, he and Xinyue had talked often, unintentionally growing closer.
Through her, he practiced the language and learned new terms.
Xinyue often praised his face, mistaking his beauty for femininity.
With his smooth, hairless skin—thanks to the technology of his previous world—she had even convinced herself he was a girl.
...
"So even if you ask my name," he said softly, "I truly don't have one."
They sat in silence for a while, gazing at the sky.
Then, Xinyue spoke gently.
"Would you like to have one?"
He thought for a moment.
"And how would you do that?"
She took a strange stone from her spatial ring and handed it to him.
"Here, take this… It's called a Name Token. It displays the name written in one's destiny.
Usually… noble families use this when naming their children."
His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"If you don't mind, may I use it?"
She nodded and gave it to him.
Infusing it with Qi, he saw a name form in his mind.
He whispered it aloud—
"Lian Feng."
But the names didn't stop there. He had many within him.
For now, he'd use the first.
The second 'Kael' he'd reserve for times when he needed to hide.
Xinyue smiled softly through her swollen eyes.
"Lian Feng… it suits you perfectly."
...
To be continued...