“Is this… really a sect? Are we even still in the Endless Desert?”

Wu Jian didn’t realize he had spoken those words out loud until Huǒ Shuchang turned to him with a grin.

“I guess I didn’t tell you, did I? The White Tiger Sect is located inside of its own dimension. Large sects often create their own dimensions to avoid dealing with issues like not having enough space or getting into conflicts with other sects. Of course, only the most powerful sects can do something like that.”

“I see. So that gate we passed through really did warp space around us,” Wu Jian murmured.

He had felt the space folding around them when they passed through the gate. It was like a much larger version of his technique. Instead of just warping a single part of someone’s body, that gate sent entire people to the gate connected on the other side.

More people were passing through the gate. Several of them stopped and stared like Wu Jian did, but most of them immediately rushed deeper into the sect.

“We should go too. Let’s not waste time,” said Huǒ Shuchang.

Wu Jian nodded. “Right…”

Truth be told, Wu Jian didn’t quite want to head off yet. He would have preferred sticking around to make sure Hou Jingshu was okay, but he also needed to become much stronger. She was already half a step into the Asura Realm. Meanwhile, he was only at the ninth subrealm of the Anima Realm.

The surrounding area was nothing but jungle. Trees filled most of his view, but rising above the treeline were several massive structures that were unlike anything he had ever seen before. They were ancient and made of stone. What really surprised him was that they were still intact. He had heard the White Tiger Sect had been destroyed by the combined might of several other sects, so he’d been expecting the ruins to look more… well, ruined.

There were no paths to follow, so Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang merely waded through the line of trees. Their destination was the structure looming in the distance.

“Why is there a jungle surrounding this place? I still don’t even know where we are,” Wu Jian said.

“Neither do I! Isn’t it exciting?!” asked Huǒ Shuchang.

“Well… I guess, but… what’s that?”

“What’s… hey! What is that?!”

“… I just asked that.”

Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang had emerged into a small clearing with a lake, or maybe he should have called it a pond? It was a bit too small to be a lake. In the middle of the lake was a small island with a tree, which had several large fruits hanging from it.

Several people were surrounding the lake. They looked stumped.

Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang watched from a distance as one person, an older man, tried to enter the lake. Wu Jian’s eyes widened when he saw the man get thrown back. He wasn’t imagining it. The space around the lake had distorted and warped. He thought at first that maybe the surrounding area was protected by spatial distortions, but he hadn’t felt anything like that. The man who’d been thrown back was also bleeding from several cuts.

“Damn it! How are we supposed to get past this wind barrier?!” the man growled.

“Even high-grade earth rank profound spirit armor can’t protect us from the wind,” another cultivator said. It was a woman with grayish brown hair. “To think a barrier like this could still exist in this place even after thousands of years. The White Tiger Sect was mighty indeed.”

Several more people tried their luck, but none of them could get past the wind barrier. They were thrown back, their bodies littered with cuts.

Wu Jian looked at the fruit hanging from the tree. He could tell it was a powerful natural treasure, but he didn’t know what it was.

“Shuchang, do you know what that fruit is?” he asked.

Cupping a hand to his chin, Huǒ Shuchang hummed several times, then slowly said, “I think it might be Lìliàng Fruit. It’s a natural treasure that’s often used to refine alchemy pills. Um… I don’t know what pill it’s used for though, but I do know it’s a powerful ingredient.”

Wu Jian debated what to do for a moment before ultimately deciding to try his luck. Even if he couldn’t use the fruit himself, he could auction it off for money.

He walked up to the barrier. The others spotted him and Huǒ Shuchang by this point. They stared at him with open hostility, but they didn’t attack. It was foolish to attack someone without knowing their strength.

He gingerly reached out and touched the barrier, immediately pulling back with an invisible wind blade sliced into his finger. He stared at the blood trailing down the shallow cut on his skin. Thinking for a moment, he channeled chi into his hand and activated Nihility, then slowly stuck his hand into the wind barrier.

His hand passed through unhindered.

So I can get through this if I can use Nihility to negate the wind barrier… but I don’t have enough power to use this on my entire body. I’m gonna get injured no matter what I do. I’ll need to choose what to sacrifice… I guess.

The first thing he did was remove his mask. He didn’t want it to break. Then Wu Jian took a deep breath walked into the wind barrier.

“Hey, brat! What do you think you’re doing! Do you wanna… huh?!” the man who had first tried to pass through the barrier gawked when Wu Jian walked through the barrier. Huǒ Shuchang whistled.

Wu Jian gritted his teeth as several cuts appeared on his shoulders, arms, and legs. He was using Nihility on his vitals. He was mostly protecting his head since his armor was doing a good enough job protecting his internal organs.

He thought he would be able to pass through like this, but Wu Jian soon found his manner of thinking to be naive. As the cuts piled up on his body, he was forced out of the pond.

“Ha ha ha! I knew a brat like you couldn’t get past this wind barrier!” the man laughed. His companions laughed too.

Wu Jian ignored them and Huǒ Shuchang, who asked if he was okay. He took out a healing pilled, popped it into his mouth, and sat down to stare at the barrier.

So just using Nihility won’t work. There are too many wind blades to pass through like that, which means… what? How can I pass this?

“Hey, Wu. Maybe we should just leave this. I’m sure there are even better treasures inside the sect’s main buildings,” said Huǒ Shuchang.

Wu Jian shook his head. “You may be right, but I believe getting past this wind barrier will help me improve my abilities. I’d like to try a few more times.”

“Haaaaah. All right. Suit yourself.”

Wu Jian continued to study the barrier as he healed. The wind blades were invisible. If only he knew where they were, maybe he could use Nihility to fold space around just the part of his body where the blades were passing through? That would require a lot of concentration, but since he couldn’t use Nihility on his entire body, this was the only thing he could think of.

Once all of his wounds had healed, he stood up and went to the barrier again. The people who mocked him had already left. None of them could get passed the barrier, so there was no point in staying.

Wu Jian touched the wind barrier and extended his senses. Just like he thought, there wind barrier wasn’t constantly producing wind blades. It sensed when someone had entered the barrier and produced wind blades to attack them. Wu Jian kept his hand inside the barrier and used Nihility to fold space. He only folded space around the areas of his hand where a wind blade passed through.

He soon felt like he had gotten the hang of this, so he put his arm all the way, then stepped through. Wind blades immediately attacked him. Several wind for his legs, a few for his arms, and some for his head. Gritting his teeth as he waded forward, Wu Jian used his senses to let him know where the wind blades were coming from, then folded space only around the parts of his body that were being attacked.

Sweat soon formed on his face. His eyes became unfocused. Even his sense of hearing wavered. He couldn’t afford to focus on anything except the wind blades. That took all of his concentration.

His concentration slipped at times, and a wind blade cut into his skin. Sometimes it slipped while the wind blade was passing through his body and cut up his insides. Large bruises formed on his skin as blood seeped to the surface underneath it, but he pressed on, making sure to at least protect his vitals.

And then the wind stopped.

Wu Jian blinked.

Standing before him was the tree. It looked similar in some ways to a bonsai tree, except it had no leaves. Just the fruits. There were nine hanging from the branches. Wu Jian picked eight and left the ninth one so the tree could replenish itself. Then he turned back to the wind barrier.

I didn’t think about it, but I’m gonna have to pass through that again, aren’t I? Wu Jian grimaced at the thought, even as he stored the fruits inside his storage ring.

Despite his complaints, Wu Jian still ended up passing through the wind barrier. Huǒ Shuchang whistled in admiration when he emerged on the other side.

“That was impressive. I’m not sure anyone else could have pulled that off.”

“You think so?” asked Wu Jian.

“Definitely.” Huǒ Shuchang nodded. “I’m pretty sure you need to be a Human Limit Realm cultivator to pass through that normally. That’s probably why no one’s bothered grabbing that fruit until now. Speaking of…”

“Here, you can have one.”

Wu Jian summoned a single fruit and tossed it to Huǒ Shuchang, who looked very putout.

“Just one?”

“Just. You’re my friend, so I’ll give you that, but you also didn’t help me at all.”

“Stingy.”

Despite his complaints, Huǒ Shuchang still stored the fruit into his ring.

They continued on. Several times they saw cultivators on their way. A few of them were fighting against magical beasts. Wu Jian was shocked to see magical beasts inside here. Wasn’t this a dimension created by the White Tiger Sect? How did these magical beasts get in here? Or had they been here this whole time?

As they pressed forward, Wu Jian soon heard shouting and the sounds of battle once more. He would have ignored it, but the voice issuing commands was one he was familiar with.

“Ah?! Hey, Wu! Where are you going?! Dammit! Wait for me!”

Wu Jian didn’t focus on Huǒ Shuchang’s shocked shouts as he turned toward the source of his worries and dashed through the trees.

***

“Quickly! Surround it and attack from all sides! Don’t try to fight it alone!” Hou Jingshu issued orders and then moved to follow them.

She, Wu Yong, Yin Wuhan, and Zheng Yawen surrounded the magical beast. It was a majestic tiger with bristling white and black striped fur, golden orbs for eyes, and a row of very sharp teeth. The muscles beneath its skin bunched together as it growled at them.

It was called a Bangle Tiger. It was a magical beast at the second subrealm of the Asura Realm, which made it quite powerful. It had attacked them when they stepped into its territory. She guessed that made them intruders, but it wasn’t like they had wanted to attack it.

“Try not to damage its hide or internal organs! Bangle Tigers are very rare. Their hide and organs will sell for a high price.”

“You might be asking for the impossible,” said Wu Jian.

The Bangle Tiger roared at them, releasing a sound wave that caused Hou Jingshu to stumble backward. It felt like her innards were being shaken. She wanted to vomit, but she reinforced her body with chi and wethered the attack.

Wu Yong and Zhen Yawen rushed forward and attacked the Bangle Tiger. Since Hou Jingshu had forbidden them from damaging its hide, they were forced to use other methods. Wu Yong leapt onto the tiger’s back, looped his sash around the creature’s mouth, and pried open its jaw. Zheng Yawen darted forward and stabbed the creature in the upper jaw. Her dagger penetrated its brain, instantly killing it.

“Yin, can you dismantle this thing?” asked Hou Jingshu after the creature died.

The oldest among them nodded. “Leave this to me.”

As Yin Wuhan went about dismantling the creature, carefully removing its skin, organs, and the monster core, Wu Yong and Zheng Yawen secured the perimeter. They didn’t want other cultivators interfering with the man’s work.

Yet just as they were moving off, a glint of light caused Wu Yong to leap backward. The light stabbed into a tree. It was a knife.

“Who’s there?! Come out and show yourself, coward!” demanded Wu Yong.

Hou Jingshu narrowed her eyes when Retou Meng and several other people stepped out from the trees. There were six of them, not including Retou Meng himself. She tried to scan their cultivation but couldn’t, meaning they were all stronger than her. That meant they were at least at the Asura Realm. She didn’t know what level, but it didn’t matter. Even if they were only at the first subrealm, she and her bodyguards were outnumbered.

“We meet again, princess,” Retou Meng said.

“What do you want, Meng?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“What do I want? I want a great many things. I want to become the head of the Burning Flame Sect, to have power beyond compare, to become the greatest cultivator of all time.” Retou Meng’s arms remained at his side, relaxed as though taking a stroll through the park, but his eyes were narrowed even as he smiled. “But what I want the most right now is you. Since you’ve spurned me so many times now, I’ve decided to simply take what I want.”