Chapter 774: The First Day

Niu Youdao rarely revealed his hidden cards to others so easily. He had laid this one out openly for the sake of steadying the people around him.

Deliberately saying that he still had people elsewhere was meant to give them confidence.

The three were only half convinced.

They believed he had people across the Seven States.

But if he meant that among the forces the Seven States had sent into the Tiandu Secret Realm, every single state happened to contain his people, then how enormous a network would he have needed to operate outside for the selected entrants to just happen to include his agents?

Yun Huan tried asking, "Brother Niu, you aren't joking, are you? You're certain there are people of yours among the forces every one of the Seven States sent inside?"

Niu Youdao said, "You hid away on Duyun Mountain while I competed throughout the Seven States. We were never operating on the same level, so it's normal that you don't understand. Forget the Seven States—even inside the Demonic Sect, we have people. Do you believe that?"

His gaze drifted almost imperceptibly toward Wu Zhaoxing.

Yun Ji and her son exchanged a look.

They did not really believe him.

Wu Zhaoxing slowly turned his head aside.

He believed him.

He was also thoroughly speechless.

"Talking more is pointless. First we find people!" Niu Youdao swept a hand outward.

Yun Ji looked around. "Wandering around blindly like this, where are we supposed to look?"

Niu Youdao gazed across Heaven and earth, a trace of heroic spirit seeming to rise from him. "Blessing leans on disaster; disaster gives rise to blessing. Being reduced to this point may not be a bad thing. Perhaps it's a new beginning. The road is ahead of us. What matters is how we walk it."

"Search. Just search. Anyone will do."

Yun Ji gave him a sidelong look. "By that reasoning, why don't we turn around? We know where Yan's people are. They'd be easy to find."

"Now you're arguing with me for the sake of arguing." Niu Youdao waved the point aside. "Anyone will do. We only need a beginning. Catch hold of one end of the thread and keep following it. Follow the vine and we'll find the melon."

If that was all, then things became simple.

The four casually chose a direction and set off.

Once they were moving, Wu Zhaoxing suddenly felt something was wrong.

He had come here to protect this fellow. How had he somehow become one of the fellow's subordinates?

Without realizing it, he had started following Niu Youdao's orders.

Once the thought occurred to him, he could not help looking at Niu Youdao a few more times. He sensed that there was something about the man that naturally drew others into following his lead.

The sky was high and the land boundless. They traveled wherever they pleased, but the road ahead was long.

Along the way, Niu Youdao sighed. "If only we could bring flying mounts inside."

He was only saying it.

For one thing, bringing flying mounts inside was inconvenient. This world had its own vicious, aggressive flying creatures. The moment an outside mount intruded into the territory of certain native flyers, it would be attacked by entire flocks in the air.

There had been precedents.

Not one flying mount brought inside had managed to escape.

Misty Pavilion later used the opportunity to establish a rule forbidding flying mounts entirely, claiming it was for fairness so those without flying mounts would not be disadvantaged.

Whatever Misty Pavilion said was right, no matter which way it said it.

Still, from an outsider's perspective, this truly was a new world. The scenery, the creatures, and the strange, vividly colored plants and flowers together formed a magnificent and turbulent landscape unlike anything outside.

There were grasses taller and broader than a person, trees taller than buildings, and ants as large as pigs that traveled in packs and hunted them as prey. Ferocious beasts the size of small hills charged at them.

They passed sleeping giants whose breaths heaved like great bellows.

Tens of thousands of vicious featherless flying creatures, like an enormous swarm of giant bats, swooped from the sky and hunted them as though they were rabbits. Fearless of death, impossible to kill off, and endlessly harassing, they finally forced the four into a miserable retreat until they found somewhere to hide.

In circumstances like this, how could flying mounts from the outside world possibly survive here?

The trouble had begun because Niu Youdao indulged a wild idea and tried to capture one of the large flying creatures to use as transportation.

Instead, he provoked an overwhelming mob that chased them without end. Yun Ji and the others, packed together inside a cave to hide, did not know whether to laugh or be furious.

The giant-bat-like creatures could not only fly but crawl along the ground. They gathered at the cave entrance, croaking noisily as their claws scraped and dug at the opening. Long, sharp beaks stabbed inside as though they were determined to excavate the four humans no matter what.

Fortunately, the rock was hard.

The four squeezed farther back into the cave.

Yun Ji, a woman, was forcibly crushed right up against Wu Zhaoxing. The two were practically hugging. The situation was indescribably awkward.

Yun Ji was still panting from the flight. Being chased so far by a sky full of those things had exhausted her badly.

She gasped, "Master Dao, fine, I'll call you Master Dao. I'll call you my ancestor if that's what it takes. Can you please stop fooling around?"

All along the way, Niu Youdao had kept trying to acquire some kind of mount and had already caused trouble several times.

This time, he had truly made a disaster of it.

The others simply could not understand what was wrong with him. If it did not work, then forget it. Yet he kept trying to take shortcuts.

Niu Youdao had tucked his sword into his belt. Both hands pressed down on a wriggling "little bat"—the juvenile of one of the large flying creatures. The youngster kept croaking without end. After being held captive so long, it sounded as though its voice was about to go hoarse.

Niu Youdao had wanted to capture a small one and use it to threaten the adults.

Who could have known the flock would not respond to threats at all? Their only answer had been attack after attack. They had come blotting out the sky and nearly prevented the four from escaping.

Still pressing the youngster down while keeping an eye on the cave entrance, Niu Youdao looked back. "You've experienced it yourselves. Flying around all day consumes too much spiritual power. Fly for half a day and you need to rest for another half. If we keep doing this for an entire year, it'll become a major problem. We have to find a solution."

Wu Zhaoxing sighed. "Master Dao, fine, I'll call you Master Dao too. I'll even call you my ancestor if that's what it takes. You've seen it yourself. This doesn't work. Will you please let it go? As long as you keep their young one, they'll chase us to the death."

Yun Huan sighed repeatedly. "Brother Niu, let it go."

"A pack of beasts. If they still don't retreat, do you believe I'll kill it?" Niu Youdao seized the youngster by the neck and made as though to twist it, trying to frighten the adults outside.

Wu Zhaoxing reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him. "Don't mess around. You don't understand their habits at all. If you kill the young one and provoke them into fighting us to the death, we'll have real trouble."

Yun Ji warned him as well. "Niu Youdao, if you keep fooling around, don't blame me for escaping underground and leaving you here."

If she had not been worried about this incorrigible fool who refused to stop causing trouble, she would have escaped underground long ago. She never would have let herself be chased into such a miserable state.

Niu Youdao looked down at the ground in surprise. "You can escape through solid stone too?"

Yun Ji said, "Can I not fight my way outside first and then go underground?"

Seeing the reactions of the other three, Niu Youdao realized he was about to provoke public outrage.

After putting in so much effort, fleeing for so long, and exhausting himself like a dog, he truly hated giving up.

In the end, however, he tossed the youngster outward.

The little creature flapped its wings and desperately crawled outside.

The adults at the entrance made way, croaking as they received it.

Once the youngster had escaped, the adults continued clawing around the cave entrance for a while. When they finally realized they truly could not dig it open, they gave up and took to the air one after another.

The youngster, still unable to fly, was carried away in a pair of claws.

The outside finally grew quiet.

Niu Youdao drew his sword from his belt and crept sneakily toward the cave entrance. He stuck his head outside and peered carefully in every direction.

Only after confirming there was no problem did he step out, still watching the surroundings vigilantly.

Yun Ji and the others emerged in equally sorry states. Seeing that the creatures which had hunted them were truly gone, they finally relaxed.

"I refuse to believe that in a place this big, with this many creatures, we can't find even one thing to carry us!" Niu Youdao muttered, still unwilling to give up.

Yun Ji straightened her clothes. "I'm warning you. Stop messing around. I'm not joking."

The words had barely left her mouth when all four suddenly turned toward one side.

Heavy footsteps could be faintly heard approaching.

A moment later, a ferocious beast with sharp fangs and claws appeared.

Without a word, the four flashed away.

The beast did not chase them. Instead, it stopped beside the dead flying creatures and began tearing into the carcasses.

That was often how this place worked. The smell of blood would draw other predators with keen noses thundering over.

In short, unexpected situations could arise at any moment.

While skimming lightly across the surface of a river, a huge bloody maw might suddenly erupt from below and attack.

After leaping clear and looking back, they would see water exploding as some colossal shadow churned the waves beneath the surface. They had no idea what sort of monster it was. The sight alone made one's heart pound.

Passing through a gorge, Niu Youdao's curiosity caused trouble yet again.

He spotted an enormous earthen mound hardened against the cliff face, its surface riddled with holes.

All he did was casually poke it once with the tip of his sword.

Who could have known he had truly stirred up a hornet's nest?

A swarm of fist-sized bees immediately poured after them—an enormous, enormous swarm, streaming endlessly from the mound.

As they fled, Wu Zhaoxing and Yun Ji cursed someone roundly.

Niu Youdao urged them to calm down, saying now was no time for internal conflict...

Their impression of this world was both fresh and thrilling. With their strength as cultivators, these things were not necessarily fatal, but dangers were everywhere and difficult to guard against. One moment of carelessness truly could cost them their lives.

Dinosaurs?

With Niu Youdao's limited knowledge from his previous life, there were very few creatures here he could recognize. This world contained far too many strange birds and beasts of every kind.

There were only four of them, but their luck was not bad.

In a mountain forest, they happened upon a Spirit Tree.

Since they had found one, there was no reason to leave it behind. At minimum, carrying more Spirit Seeds gave them insurance against accidents and allowed them to survive longer in this world.

The Spirit Tree collapsed with a crash.

Yun Huan collected the fruits and opened them to harvest the Spirit Seeds.

Nearby, Niu Youdao stood atop the treetops, gazing toward the molten-red sun setting along the distant horizon. The radiance staining Heaven and earth also dyed him red.

Night fell.

The sky filled with stars, yet two moons hung in the darkness. There was also an enormous sphere, its cratered surface visible to the naked eye.

Niu Youdao looked up at the stars and quietly wondered what sort of world this truly was, and in what corner of the universe it might lie.

Whether mortal or cultivator, faced with this vast and unfathomable universe, people would always be so very small.

He strained his eyes, trying to find a blue planet.

He could not.

He would never find it.

In the end, a strange loneliness surrounded him.

Under the night sky, the four hid in the trees to rest.

Sleeping on the ground was simply too dangerous. Even in the branches they still had to guard against poisonous insects, rats, ants, and similar creatures. Only in the ancient forest near the entrance had they escaped that sort of harassment.

They took turns standing watch through the night. Niu Youdao was no exception.

He remained silent in the dark among the branches, not daring to release a Moon Butterfly and invite trouble.

And so, for this exiled group, the first day passed.

[End of Chapter 774]