Surrounded by forest yet in a different place than when he 'saved' Xu Wen'an from the very bored Queen snow fox, Herman breathed in the cold mountain air and realized how close he was to the heart of this world.

In his past life, he chanced upon a meeting in the Heavenly Realm with executives of a Saint-rank sect. In order to show off their strength, they brought five encased maps and presented it to the attenders. Among those five there was a full map of the Westmount territory.

"Each one of the twenty territories available for cultivators to adventure in is a world on its own. All of them are huge planets that took the Immortal World thousands of years to fully explore. Each time a cultivator is teleported in the Westmount territory, the area they usually explore is at max 10-15 square kilometers. Not only because of the expansive land but also because of the limited rations and the dangers they must face at all times. The System also limits the resources one can find to specific areas, so further 'exploration' is unnecessary."

The Westmount territory was a world that literally had a mountain in the middle of the planet, so huge, that it reached into the outer space of the planet. Herman himself returned to the Earthly Realm of the Immortal World and visited this territory just to take a look at the famous landmark. The view was indeed spectacular, as long as one could climb over the vegetation and fly over the blanket of clouds.

Taking his Clouding Sword out and extending his perception as much as he could, the first exploration since he returned to the past began. It wasn't as glamorous as one might think with the dense vegetation and having to continuously hack your way through it, while an army of insects was assaulting your skin. Fortunately, he could reinforce the topmost layer of his skin with Primordial Qi, making sure that those pesky things don't bite him to death.

"Thank the Heavens for the System acting as my personal GPS, otherwise I might be lost for decades in this horrifying jungle. There's also no actual civilization except for your occasional gatherings of monsters or misfits into what's called 'evil dens'. You couldn't be called anything but unlucky if you happened to chance upon... one... ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!?"

In front of him, there was just one of the previously mentioned 'evil dens' from the territory marking around him. And to make matters worse, it was a Stone Beast lair, one of the worst types of monsters out there. These things were just a step shy from being ranked as actual beasts instead of monsters when it came to cultivation. Due to their advanced intelligence, they were far worse than actual beasts that cultivated higher than the Golden Core Realm and far more tenacious.

To make matters more difficult, they were also incredibly vicious and held an innate hatred towards humans. Their senses were on par with those of dragons, being able to pick up an intruder's presence in their territory from the moment they set foot inside. It was mostly due to the scent, but their hearing was amazingly keen as well.

"They look like a combination between a fox and a wolf, with blue-silverish fur and long pointy ears. Their most dreadful trait is their voracious appetite for human flesh. I need to get out since I don't know the size of the den. And that, before they notice me..."

*Roooooooar!!!*

"...of course... Well, I did want to get my killing intent back. I don't get that back by running away from combat. I just hope I won't get fully devoured by them in the process..."

Before he could even get ready, four of such monsters were already jumping him, each from a different direction. His body didn't have the same flexibility that it had in his past life, making his best choice to charge at one of the Stone Beasts on his left. The beast lunged with its front claw at his throat, which he parried with his sword and kicked at the chin of it, sending it flying. Before he could recover and take another step further, a different set of claws ripped through his clothes and left four bloody marks on his back.

He rolled forward towards the downed Stone Beast, moved the sword to his left hand, got up to his knees, and rotated in a full 360. The sword easily dug in the neck of the fallen one, decapitating one of his enemies.

The result didn't deter the remaining three, but rather sent them into a berserk-like condition, attacking him with much vigor while more and more roars were making their presence known. The scent of blood, especially their own blood, was drawing in the attention of the entire den, not only it's patrol team Herman encountered first.

Four hours later, covered in blood and scars, he dropped to the ground under a tree. Failing to catch his breath due to hyperventilation, he pressed with his less dirty hand on one of the deeper wounds, allowing the pain to wake up the body. Fifty-seven! That was the number of grown Stone Beasts he killed from this den, while the remaining young and elderly probably fled already to their next 'safe-house'.

"The damage I took is far worse than I originally thought. While my mind still holds much knowledge of fighting and I know how I should react in each situation, the body is too weak to keep up with it. I need more training like this. Hopefully, after I recover a little..."

Getting his bloodied ass off the ground after more than half an hour of recuperating and moving Primordial Qi through his injuries, he managed to stop the bleeding temporarily. He would, however, still need some medicine to fully heal. If he was to fight again, he could at most kill five to six more Stone Beasts before dying himself. He needed some pills or plants that could help hasten the healing process plus, maybe, a good night's sleep.

And he knew just the location where he could find such useful things.

"The den! All these dead f*ckers came from the same place, even if they attacked me from different locations. I should be able to track the exact location of their home and ransack whatever they didn't take with them. It will also be a good location for a power nap."

It took him half an hour to follow their prints and branches they broke on their way to him, but he finally found their den. It was a cave dug into a fairly big hill, so Herman was certain that he could find some good stuff there. Hopefully, some other things than herbs and prey could be found inside. The System was not reacting to this area being a treasure location, meaning that they probably didn't kill too many cultivators after moving into this den.

Either that or they moved here recently.

"The treasure maps that the System provides is based on two things: natural treasures this world has and dead cultivators. The former wasn't something often encountered, but dead cultivators were more often than I would like to admit."

This was yet another one of those things that prove just how stingy and greedy the System really is. Picture it this way: Herman had all those items in his Inventory and if he was to die, they would usually fall to the ground just like they do in a dungeon game, right? Wrong! Everything in the Inventory disappears into the System's pockets once the user died. To express its generosity, however, if the cultivator died while adventuring a small percentage of his possessions would become the 'treasures' found through the use of treasure maps.

But mostly, it was yet another trick the System came up with in order to steal money from the foolish cultivators. Upon use, obviously depending on the level of the treasure map used, a small number of resources could be found. The resources in question would never exceed the amount of money spent on the treasure maps themselves. For example, a Level 2 Treasure map would bring him around 10 pieces of an uncommon-type of herb or metal. Their use could be obviously for alchemy or blacksmithing.

"The unsettling thing is what you get besides the usual resources. The Talisman Soul Stone. Urgh! My skin crawls just when thinking of it."

The Talisman Soul Stone was a type of resource that could be used after reaching the Nascent Soul realm to further enhance his own soul. The creepy and disturbing thing was that this specific resource was coming from the souls and cultivation of the dead unfortunate bastards. It was a crystallization of pieces of someone's soul and his/her own Primordial Qi. Herman always considered them similar to a piece of someone's flesh, a finger or an ear.

"Just thinking of how some cultivators put them on display as a symbol of wealth makes me shiver. Those psychotic bastards! Crap! Who would put someone's eyeballs on display and pet them while presenting them to your guests?"

As unable as he was to hold the Soul Stones in his hands, he couldn't ignore or be a disclaimer of how useful they are. The extra attributes gained from them would be just perfect for his ascension plans, but they were of no use to the current him that's far from the Nascent Soul realm.

When he got less than a hundred meters away from the cave, even if he couldn't see it, he could smell it. There was a very distinct one among the huge mixture of everything else: the scent of blood.

He found once inside many dead Stone Beasts, probably elderly ones that would slow them down on the road to their new den. He was lucky enough to find 70 x Soul-clearing Grass, 35 x Cojoined Flowers, 20 x Blood Essence Lotus and 40 x Soul Flowers. Not only that, but he found some herbs with healing proprieties among the pile gathered in a corner of the cave. There were no metals that he could find since Stone Beasts weren't very interested in casting them, nor had the ability to do so. What he did find was a pile of Spirit Stones, only about 300-something and more bones than he cared to identify.

"Since it's already past noon and I need to recover from my injuries, I could use this as a temporary hideout. After I recover enough, I can get moving tomorrow morning."

Without wasting another second, he used two bigger stones to grind the medicinal plants into a paste that he applied onto his wounds. He drank some water and brought out some food rations. He initially prepared a bed using the furs the Stone Beasts used and lied down on them, only to rose to his feet immediately after due to the strong smell. Going back out, he cut out some branches and stacked them together in the form of a makeshift bed.

He didn't realize just how tired the whole fighting thing made him until the passed out, covered in the smell of chlorophyll and surrounded by a graveyard of bones, waking up with the first ray of light to the smell of blood and rotting meat.

"Urgh... I suddenly miss the women perfume from the room I stayed in the Fallen Blossoms sect. Hmm... It seems that I'm only sore, but the wounds closed up nicely. *Sigh* Another day in paradise begins..."

After eating some dried meat and drinking one of the few water bottles he had left from Earth, he started his search for the 'treasures' the System hid in the Westmount world. Two days later, after exhausting all his rations and water, he returned to the comfort of his Dwelling.

He forced himself to march for 48 hours straight and uncovered every location the System led him to. After exhausting the first fifteen maps on the first day, he purchased the remaining fifteen from the Treasure Hall that got refreshed recently.

His first Inventory space now held 700 Talisman Soul Stones. Once used, every 15 maps available in a week gave a total of 350 Soul Stones, based on the difference between levels used. It wasn't this that made this exploration successful, but rather, the herbs and casting materials he was able to find.

He now had 420 x Soul-clearing Grass, 375 x Cojoined Flowers, 320 x Blood Essence Lotus and 400 x Soul Flowers making his aspiring alchemist a happy newbie. On the blacksmithing side, he didn't have a trainee just yet, but he did have resources for when he would start. To be exact 260 Obsidian pieces, 120 Nether Stones, 320 Mystic Bronze Iron ingots, and 210 Chrysolite stones. He even got 40 Lunar Stones that will come in very handy later on and 20 Mystic Black Stones.

[Oh... you're alive...](Celeste)

"Miss Celeste, how about you show some positive emotions when seeing your employer returning alive? You'd be out of a job normally, you know?"

[Mhm... You look as if a cat chewed you and then spat back. I'm gonna prepare a bath and a fire. Bath is for you, fire is for your clothes. Go, before I change my mind about what goes where...](Celeste)

"It's a System provided costume. It doesn't smell... it's just me."

[So, how was it? Let me see.](Celeste)

"..."

Turning around to look at his slightly annoying but still terrifying housekeeper, Herman released his newly acquired killing intent. Using a technique he learned in the past, he added some Spiritual Qi in order to make the pressure feel even more real. Seeing his glorified maid flinch, he was happy with the result and closed the valves.

[Jeez... did you massacre anything that entered your path? And how do you know to add Spiritual Qi?](Celeste)

"Not sure if I should consider myself lucky or unlucky, but I did chance upon three different dens."

[How many of them were Stone Beasts?](Celeste)

"...all three. How can you tell?"

[I can smell it on you. Go and wash please, before we need to burn down the entire pavilion because of your smell infecting it.](Celeste)

Undressing and getting into the large heated pool, Herman began furiously scrubbing every inch of skin. Midway through the wash, he took out his sword and swung it behind him at full force.

[And here I wanted to help wash your back... Do you greet all your female friends this way?](?)

"Miss Xue, I am honored to think that you consider yourself my friend. Sorry for the sword. I'm still on edge after returning from the Westmount territory."

[Yeah, I can tell.](Tianxia Xue)

"I know, I know. The smell is bad, but we are talking about Stone Beasts. I had to actually sleep in one of their dens, so please give me a break..."

[I wasn't talking about that smell...](Tianxia Xue)

"Then?"

[Blood. You reek of it! Seems like you had a productive hunt.](Tianxia Xue)

"That... I did! What about our next prey? Any movement?"

[Nothing yet, but I don't want to get close. Even if there's a small chance of me being detected, I don't want to take it.](Tianxia Xue)

"Smart! You made the right call. We only need to wait another week and a half and we can eradicate them from the face of the world."

[About that... how are things coming along on your end?](Celeste)

"Not sure. I just came back and didn't have a chance to talk with miss Qian. I hope I can do this in a diplomatic way instead of just sect crashing. But if push comes to shove..."

[It's fine. I like that second option better anyway. ](Tianxia Xue)

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, do you plan to join me or do you just want to stare there and stare?"

[Cute try, but we're not even close to that yet. I do like what I see, however.](Tianxia Xue)

Alert!!!

Tianxia Xue's Favor increased to positive 40!

Leaving behind a truly baffled Herman, the lady disappeared and with it any explanation of why did the favor go up. If it were up to Herman, he would think that it was because he was properly endowed, although the truth might have more to do with him being closer to the type of person she likes to be around. As a Wanderer, she made a living out of monster-slaying and killing evil cultivators, therefore she was used to the smell of blood.

But to think that it would be to this extent...

"As long as it works..."

The rest of the day he spent going back to the sect and checking with everyone there. The girls noticed something different about him and they all agreed once Yi Xuan pointed it out. At the end of their social meeting, he asked the youngest to follow him back to the dwelling, once more earning the contempt of the Custodian and winks from the other two.

The sect master was busy negotiating meetings between the other sects and Herman, so she was nowhere around to be seen.

[I don't think I'll ever get used to this sight. Your Dwelling is really something else big brother Herman.](Lan Yue)

"I'm glad to hear that, miss Yue. I called you because I want to ask something of you."

[Hehe! Big sis Xuan said that you will say something like that, but I'm not that easily convinced.](Lan Yue)

"..."

Noticing the blush on the girl's face and her shy demeanor, Herman did his best not to curse aloud at that unreasonable woman. He wasn't planning anything dirty like that!!! Just what kind of monster did she think him to be?

"Miss Yue..."

[It's alright, I was just teasing you. But big sis Xuan indeed warned me about you.](Lan Yue)

"*Sigh* Well, I'll take whatever small victories I can. The reason behind my request is a cultivation covenant."

[Huh!? You can do one so soon? Aren't your meridians damaged from last time with big sis Xuan? She is four realms above your own after all and so I'm I. I don't want to see you implode or my cultivation going awry.](Lan Yue)

"It won't be the case. We will stop at the first sign of something going wrong."

[Hmm... if it happens properly, I might be able to also break through two consecutive levels as well. Hehe! Sis Ye would be out of her mind if I suddenly reach the same cultivation level as her.](Lan Yue)

"That depends on how stable your foundation is. To be fair, I held back with miss Xuan since it was my first time and I was at the first level of the Qi Gathering Realm. I want to try for real with you."

[I see... What's your estimation?](Lan Yue)

"For myself, in the worst-case Foundation III and the best case Foundation V."

[And for me?](Lan Yue)

"Did you recently break to Nascent Soul II?"

[Yup. Two days ago.](Lan Yue)

"Did you get the chance to properly stabilize?"

[Yeah! Big sis Xinyan helped me.](Lan Yue)

"Hmm.. probably Nascent Soul IV if we're efficient. But you must let me lead the rotation."

[When do we start?](Lan Yue)

"Now if you have pills ready."

[I do, but only for my realm.](Lan Yue)

"No worries, I took care of mine."

In the following morning, tribulation clouds poured out lightning over Herman's Dwelling under the surprised eyes of Celeste, Tianxia Xue, and Xu Wen'an.