?Jiang Chen melted into the shadows of a stalagmite. He smeared a handful of cold cave mud over his face to hide the shine of his skin.

  ?The footsteps echoed closer.

  Two figures emerged from the gloom, their white outer-sect robes glowing faintly with protective wards. They held "Illumination Stones" in one hand and steel swords in the other.

  ?"I'm telling you, the signal stopped here," the taller one said, tapping a small compass made of bone. "The tracking bug Elder Han put in the boy's food... it's dead."

  ?"Maybe he died," the shorter disciple scoffed, kicking a dead centipede aside. "Or maybe he just shit it out. Why are we hunting a trash-tier janitor, Li? We should be cultivating."

  ?"Han pays well," Li muttered. "And he said the boy stole something. A ring."

  ?Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed in the dark.

  Han knew.

  The "payment" of three spirit stones had been a distraction. The real test was whether Jiang Chen would try to hide the ring he found in the sludge.

  ?[Targets Detected:]

  [1. Disciple Li (Qi Condensation Layer 3 - Mid).]

  [2. Disciple Zhang (Qi Condensation Layer 3 - Early).]

  [Threat Level: Moderate.]

  ?Layer 3. They had Qi barriers. They could coat their swords in energy.

  In a fair fight, they would cut Jiang Chen to ribbons.

  So Jiang Chen decided there wouldn't be a fight.

  ?He gripped the charred pickaxe handle.

  He waited until they passed his hiding spot. Their backs were turned.

  ?[Skill: Thunder-Blood Burst.]

  ?Thump.

  The world slammed into slow motion.

  The faint blue light from their illumination stones stretched into long, blurry streaks.

  Jiang Chen didn't breathe. He exploded from the shadows.

  ?He crossed the five meters between them in a heartbeat. Static electricity crackled over his skin, making the hair on his arms stand up.

  ?He didn't aim for the taller one, Li. He aimed for the weaker one, Zhang.

  The pickaxe swung.

  ?CRUNCH.

  ?The rusty tip slammed into the back of Zhang's knee.

  In normal time, it would have been a crippling blow. With the momentum of [Thunder-Blood Burst], it severed the leg.

  ?"ARGH!"

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  Time snapped back to normal.

  Zhang collapsed, screaming, blood spraying black in the dim light.

  ?Li spun around, his sword flashing up in a practiced defensive arc. "Ambush!"

  ?Jiang Chen didn't stop. He didn't monologue.

  He dropped the pickaxe and lunged at Li, his hands hooking into claws.

  [Rending Claw.]

  ?Li was fast. He was a trained martial artist, not a brawler. He side-stepped the lunge and slashed Jiang Chen's chest.

  Shing.

  The sword cut through the [Iron Skin], carving a shallow, bloody line across Jiang Chen's pectorals.

  "Filthy servant!" Li shouted, channeling Qi into his blade. The steel glowed white. "Die!"

  ?He thrust for the heart.

  Jiang Chen didn't dodge.

  He raised his left arm.

  ?SCHLICK.

  The sword pierced his forearm, sliding between the radius and ulna. It stuck there, wedged in the dense muscle and bone.

  ?Li's eyes widened. He tried to pull the sword back.

  It didn't move.

  Jiang Chen had flexed his muscles, trapping the blade with his own flesh.

  ?Jiang Chen smiled. His teeth were stained with beetle blood.

  "Got you."

  ?He stepped forward, driving the sword deeper into his own arm to close the distance.

  His right hand, glowing with red Qi and blue lightning, clamped onto Li's face.

  ?[Thunder-Blood Burst (Point Blank Discharge).]

  ?ZZZ-CRACK.

  ?It wasn't a sophisticated spell. It was just raw bio-electricity dumped directly into the disciple's skull.

  Li seized. His eyes rolled back. Foam bubbled at his mouth as his brain scrambled.

  ?Jiang Chen squeezed.

  [Rending Claw.]

  ?Squelch.

  ?Li went limp.

  ?[Target Neutralized: Disciple Li.]

  [EV +80]

  ?Jiang Chen ripped the sword out of his arm. Blood gushed, but the wound was already closing, the [Furnace Body] knitting the flesh together with visible steam.

  ?He turned to the other one.

  Zhang was crawling away, leaving a trail of blood. He had lost his sword. He was sobbing, clutching the stump of his leg.

  "Don't... don't kill me," Zhang wept. "I'm... I'm an Inner Sect cousin... my family..."

  ?Jiang Chen walked over. He loomed over the crippled boy.

  "Han sent you," Jiang Chen said. It wasn't a question.

  ?"Yes! Yes!" Zhang blubbered. "He wants the ring! He knows you have the Cleaner's Ring! He said... he said if we bring it back, he'll give us a Marrow Cleansing Pill!"

  ?Jiang Chen crouched down.

  "Does he know where I am?"

  ?"No! The tracker died! We were just guessing!"

  ?"Good."

  Jiang Chen stood up.

  He raised the stolen sword.

  ?"Wait! I have money! I have—"

  ?Thud.

  ?[Target Neutralized: Disciple Zhang.]

  [EV +70]

  ?Silence returned to the mine.

  Jiang Chen stood over the bodies. He felt the hunger rising again—the cost of using the Burst twice.

  He looked at Li's corpse.

  ?Waste not, the Serpent whispered.

  ?Jiang Chen knelt. He didn't eat the flesh—cultivators were full of impurities from their pills. Instead, he placed his hand over Li's Dantian (lower abdomen).

  He focused.

  [Skill: Energy Siphon (Basic).]

  ?It wasn't a System skill yet. It was instinct. The [Venom Heart] reached out, sensing the concentrated Qi stored in the disciple's body.

  Wisps of white energy drifted from the corpse into Jiang Chen's palm.

  ?It was sweet. Refined. Much cleaner than the beast cores.

  ?[Consumed: Human Qi (Refined).]

  [EV +20]

  [Qi Density Increased.]

  ?He did the same to Zhang.

  [EV +15]

  ?He looted the bodies efficiently.

  ?Two standard steel swords (Low Grade). ?Two pouches of Spirit Stones (Total: 12 stones). ?One bone compass (Tracker - Broken).

  ?Jiang Chen tossed the swords into the storage ring. He ate the spirit stones immediately.

  [EV +60]

  ?[Current EV: 541 EV.]

  ?He stood up, wiping the blood from his face.

  541 Evolution Points.

  He was rich.

  ?But he couldn't go back.

  Han knew about the ring. Han knew he was dangerous. If Jiang Chen returned to the lab, he wouldn't be put in a cell; he'd be put in a jar.

  ?Jiang Chen looked deeper into the mine.

  The "Drainage Pipe" was a back door. But the mine itself... it had to connect to the main network of the sect eventually. Or deeper underground.

  ?"System," Jiang Chen asked. "Map status?"

  ?[Map: Abandoned Spirit Iron Mine.]

  [Exploration: 15%.]

  [Path Detected: The Deep Shafts.]

  [Warning: Zone Level exceeds current host capabilities.]

  ?Jiang Chen grinned.

  "Exceeds capabilities? Perfect."

  ?He turned his back on the surface.

  He wasn't going to be the prey anymore. He was going to disappear into the dark, get stronger, and when he came back up...

  He was going to eat the whole damn mountain.

  ?He began to walk deeper.