A few hundreds of kilometers east of the Jia Ma Empire's border fortress, beyond rolling hills and scattered tribal settlements, lay a region whispered about by mercenaries, criminals, and cultivators alike.
The Black-Corner Region.
Known across the continent, not for its beauty, but for its raw, brutal freedom. A land where civilization's chains didn't reach. Here, strength ruled. Reason was optional.
The law of this land was simple—eat or be eaten.
For the past month, Xiao Feng had traveled through isolated lands, stopping only to rest, refine Dou Qi, and recover. He passed through silent forests, crossed winding rivers, and occasionally met wandering merchants or small-time mercenary groups. None of them dared to step further east.
But Xiao Feng continued on, never slowing.
Eventually, the rich green of the land began to die. Grass turned ashen. The trees grew fewer. The wind carried a dry, heavy scent—metallic, almost like dried blood.
And then, he stood at the border of the Black-Corner Region.
The soil beneath his boots had turned black. Not dark brown or charred—pure black, as if the land had been cursed, its vitality drained long ago.
There were no trees. No chirping birds. Just silence. And the occasional gust of dry wind that swept loose stones and dust across the barren ground.
Of course, not all of the Black-Corner Region looked like this—this dead land only marked its edge. Farther in, towns thrived like tumors in a wild jungle. Lawless, teeming with power, blood, and greed.
Xiao Feng rose into the sky, flying for two more days deeper into the region. The terrain gradually shifted—green returned in patches, broken hills rolled through the landscape, and wild beasts prowled openly in the distance.
Eventually, he spotted it.
A town.
Encircled by wooden walls reinforced with steel spikes, the settlement sat like a vulture's nest, dense with crooked buildings and crooked people. It buzzed with noise even from high above—shouts, fighting, laughter, screams.
The gate was wide open.
Xiao Feng slowly descended a short distance away, concealing his presence before approaching on foot.
There were no guards. No inspection.
Just a few cultivators leaning against the entrance, sipping from iron flasks and watching people come and go with lazy eyes. Corpses lined the dirt path outside the wall—some fresh, some long ignored. A child rummaged through a dead man's bag.
Inside the town, chaos breathed like a living beast.
A group of mercenaries laughed in the middle of a street where a shop had just been looted. Two cloaked figures clashed Dou Qi in broad daylight, neither side caring for property damage. Across a corner, a man was being beaten bloody for stepping into the wrong alley.
And no one stopped it.
But amidst all the madness, one thing was clear: power was everything.
Only the strong moved freely here. And from the looks of it, everyone was dangerous.
Xiao Feng entered the town, his expression calm and his aura carefully veiled. His pure white-silver robe had gathered dust from travel, but his posture remained upright, purposeful.
His presence draw attention—but he didn't mind. In this place, observation was constant. The weak avoided eye contact. The strong sized you up from a distance.
It was a town that welcomed killers, and rewarded survival.
And he had just arrived.
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Current Status:
Travel Time: 1 month + 2 days
Current Location: Outer Town of the Black-Corner Region
Daily EP: 400,000
Total EP: 74,452,000
Cultivation Level: 1-Star Dou Ling
Gear: Battle outfit (White-silver robe, cloak, half-mask)
Known Dou Skills:
Tempest Swords – Gale Pierce
Great Compassion Wind Rend Palm
Falling Wind Slash variations
Shadow Gale Steps