Chapter 125: Setting Out on the Journey

The next morning, at the break of dawn.

In a forest somewhere unknown, Su Yi sat on the ground, leaning his back against a tree trunk. His eyes were slightly narrowed and his breathing rhythmic; he appeared to be still fast asleep. The surrounding woods were lush and verdant, but there were no alarming cries of beasts or insects, suggesting this was merely an ordinary little forest.

Not far in front of Su Yi grew a patch of wild weeds. With thick roots and vigorous growth, they stood over a man's height, completely obscuring Su Yi’s figure from a distance. It was, truthfully, a well-hidden and inconspicuous spot.

A morning breeze, carrying the crisp scent of earth, suddenly swept through. The tall grass swayed, rustling with a crisp sound. Whether woken by the wind or startled by the delicate noise, Su Yi’s eyelids flickered before slowly opening, revealing a pair of clear, bright eyes.

"Strange... why is my head so dizzy?..."

He propped himself up shakily against the tree, his other hand rubbing his throbbing forehead. Su Yi blinked forcefully, then leaned back against the trunk and scanned his surroundings. His pupils contracted sharply, his expression shifting to one of shock, confusion, and disbelief.

"Where is this?! How did I get here?! I remember... I was sleeping in my bed at my cottage. What is going on?!"

As he tried to think, a wave of dizziness washed over him. Su Yi instinctively shook his head. The events of last night began to surface in his mind like fragmented shards: the white mask, the head of the Liu family, the Grand Elder of the Auben family, the Void-Breaking Crossbow, the destruction of the Auben estate, Auben Yu, Auben Shan, and that pavilion. Though not entirely clear, he gained a hazy understanding of what had transpired late last night.

Was I controlled by that evil spirit again? Su Yi felt a sudden jolt of alarm. A vague, ominous feeling took root—a sense of unease different from before. He could not pinpoint exactly what was different, but hidden within this ambiguity was a deep-seated trepidation and a sense of threat.

Su Yi had experienced this feeling before, but this time it was clearly more profound. For a fleeting moment, he was struck by a chilling thought: he might never be able to rid himself of the evil spirit within.

He exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself. What is fated cannot be avoided, and worry would not help. Regardless, based on the current situation, the Blood Emperor could not control his body at will; otherwise, it would not be him waking up now.

Settling his mind, Su Yi stopped dwelling on these troubling thoughts and began to reflect on the previous night. Because his body had been possessed, his memory of its actions was blurred. After much thought, he finally muttered, "According to my hazy memory, after leaving Changling City, the Blood Emperor controlled my body and flew east for half the night... That means I must be to the east of Changling City now."

He turned his neck to survey the forest, but it felt entirely foreign. After a long while, Su Yi shook his head helplessly. "I have left Changling City on business before, but I have never seen this environment. It seems I am quite a distance away... Just how far did that damned Blood Emperor fly?"

"Never mind. I was planning to head east to search for the Blood of Heaven and Earth anyway; this saves me quite a few days of travel." Su Yi offered himself this optimistic consolation. His heart stirred, and he reached into his robe, fumbling for a moment before pulling out two items: the mysterious white mask and the golden currency card he had obtained from the Auben family.

"I seem to recall the white mask changing last night, and my storage ring seems to be gone. It all feels like a dream; I wonder if it was real..."

He searched his person, but other than the Mystic Dragon Tendon wrapped around his right arm and the jade pendant in his robe, he could not find his storage ring. He began to ponder. According to his foggy recollections, the ring had shattered, its contents spilling out, only to be absorbed by the white mask.

The bone scythe and the crystal box containing the medicinal pills seemed to have undergone a transformation, likely absorbed as well. That left only the combat technique scrolls, two currency cards, and over one hundred thousand loose gold coins inside the mask.

Su Yi touched the white mask with a sigh. He had never imagined it possessed the functions of a storage ring. Most storage rings on the continent were crafted by alchemists; despite various improvements, their form remained constant. This mask, however, might not be the work of an alchemist at all.

Furthermore, using the mask did not require the support of Dou Qi—a feat beyond the capabilities of known alchemists. If this leaked, it would surely be seized for all manner of experiments. Feeling uncertain, Su Yi focused his mind and released a sliver of soul perception toward the mysterious mask.

This was not his first time probing the mask with his soul, but previous attempts had been met with a wall of fog. This time, however, the result was a clear improvement. As his perception entered the mask, he was met with a strange sensation—the familiar feeling of interacting with a storage ring.

With the sensation now familiar, his subsequent actions were fluid. He confirmed the items inside were as he had imagined. While relieved, he felt a twinge of regret; setting aside the crystal box, that bone scythe was a fine weapon, and its loss was a pity.

With a thought, the two currency cards appeared in his hand. One belonged to the deceased mysterious black-robed elder, the other to the dead Auben family fighter, Zhong Yuan. Su Yi now held three cards in total. He transferred the funds from two of them onto the black-robed elder's card and then crushed the empty ones.

Checking the remaining card, he saw the number "800,470" displayed in the bottom right corner. Su Yi’s heart skipped a beat. Eight hundred thousand gold coins, plus the loose change—nearly a million in total!

Such a massive sum was something even the Lie family, at their peak, could not easily produce! If Su Yi had spent his life as an ordinary guard, he would never have earned such a fortune. Thinking of the source of these coins, he shook his head; no wonder so many people turned to robbery—it was truly a fast way to make money.

He thought of the pills and medicinal herbs he had consumed. Their value far exceeded a million gold coins, yet they had all been poured into him. He felt his own body had become quite precious. But these treasures had not been wasted; they had forcibly transformed him from a "waste" unable to cultivate Dou Qi into a powerhouse comparable to a peak tenth-level fighter.

While this level of strength was not yet truly formidable, Su Yi realized that without immense financial support, relying on herbs and pills to improve one's cultivation was nearly impossible.

Now that he had these funds, he might be able to purchase more helpful herbs. Su Yi smiled faintly, tucked the currency card into the mask, placed the mask inside his robe, stood up, and looked toward the east.

"If I can truly find the Blood of Heaven and Earth, it will certainly increase my strength significantly, perhaps even lead to a rebirth!"

Clenching his fists, Su Yi’s heart raced. Though his memory of last night was blurred, the recollection of killing the Grand Elder and destroying the Auben estate remained vivid. The Auben family, which had once seemed like a behemoth before him, had been so fragile. Absolute power was truly terrifying! It was no wonder that after the Martial Arts Tournament, no one dared to provoke Mei Ya. When the gap in power is vast, even an entire family is no match for a single individual!

The fate of the Auben family was a living example. The feeling of possessing such power was truly intoxicating! Even though it wasn't Su Yi himself who had acted, he could still feel the thrill of looking down upon the world. When he had first become a tenth-level fighter, he had felt a thrill, but compared to this, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

"It seems I cannot return to Changling City for now. But I swear, the next time I return, I will be a powerhouse that even the likes of the Lie family can only look up to!"

With his resolve set, Su Yi stopped dwelling on the past. The auction house would surely know of his unannounced disappearance, but he could not worry about that now. As for the Lie family's young lady, Lie Feifei, he wondered how she would react—surely she wouldn't come chasing after him?

He shrugged slightly, steeled his spirit, and began his walk toward the east, embarking on an unknown journey.