I Start with a Mysterious Island

"Surrender! In your current state, you’re no longer a match for me. Surrender now and save yourself the pain."

Having expended a good deal of her stamina, Liu Jialin was breathing heavily.

Her chest heaved rapidly. Although she had used more stamina than Tie Qiu Heng, she still had over half of her Spiritual Energy remaining.

With her remaining stamina, she could definitely hold out until Tie Qiu Heng exhausted his Spiritual Energy.

At that point, even with her limited stamina, as long as she could still use her Superpower, it would be easy to subdue Tie Qiu Heng once he ran out of Spiritual Energy and reverted to his normal state.

"I admit you’re stronger than me, but if you want me to surrender, in your dreams!" Tie Qiu Heng completely ignored her demand.

"You’re just hopelessly stubborn!" Catching her breath, Liu Jialin charged at Tie Qiu Heng once more.

This time, she would press the attack and drain all his Spiritual Energy.

However, as good as her plan was, her opponent had already anticipated it.

This time, just as she charged, before she could even get close, she saw Tie Qiu Heng pull an egg-sized silver sphere from his pocket and throw it at her.

’It’s a spherical flashbang.’ Liu Jialin instantly identified the silver orb as he threw it.

She immediately spun around to shield herself from the flashbang.

BANG.

The flashbang exploded, emitting a blinding light. But since Liu Jialin was prepared, the glare didn’t harm her in the slightest.

"You can’t escape..." Liu Jialin spun back around after the flashbang went off, only to see Tie Qiu Heng running away.

So that was it. Tie Qiu Heng had used the flashbang to create an opportunity to escape.

Panting for breath, Liu Jialin gave chase.

She quickly realized something was wrong. It seemed her stamina wouldn’t be enough to catch the fleeing Tie Qiu Heng.

He fled, and she pursued.

Her stamina failing, Liu Jialin watched as Tie Qiu Heng—now back to his normal self—steadily pulled away from her. All she could do was grit her teeth and force herself to keep running; she had no other options.

RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...

Sprinting for his life, Tie Qiu Heng burst out of a dense thicket of grass and onto a road.

Just then, he spotted a silver van driving toward him in the distance.

SCREECH...

Afraid of hitting the man, the driver slammed on the brakes, stopping the vehicle just a meter away from Tie Qiu Heng.

Tie Qiu Heng was nearly out of Spiritual Energy, and the mad dash had consumed most of his stamina. As he looked at the young driver, an idea struck him and his eyes lit up.

"Hey! You got a death wish, running into the middle of the road like that?" Lin Li yelled as he rolled down his window, shouting at the bald, tatter-clothed man blocking his path.

The next moment, his Perception picked something up: the tattered-clothed bald man was emitting the Spiritual Energy Wave of the Second Order Middle Stage.

’Hmm? This guy’s a Cultivator, and a Second Order Middle Stage at that. But his Spiritual Energy Wave is really unstable... it’s fluctuating between strong and weak. He looks like he’s about to collapse.’

STEP, STEP, STEP...

Tie Qiu Heng strode over to the driver’s side, yanked the door open, and snarled at Lin Li, "Kid, if you don’t want to get hurt, get the hell out..."

With that, he reached out to grab Lin Li’s clothes, intending to drag him from the driver’s seat.

"What the fuck???"

Faced with this, Lin Li froze for a second in the driver’s seat. A thought immediately flashed through his mind. ’Shit, I’m getting carjacked.’

"Fuck off."

The thought flashed through his mind. Snapping back to his senses, Lin Li’s expression turned icy. As he shouted, "Fuck off," he raised his left foot.

He viciously kicked Tie Qiu Heng in the chest just as the man reached for his clothes to drag him out of the car.

THUMP.

With his Spiritual Energy and stamina almost completely gone, Tie Qiu Heng had no time to dodge.

Besides, seeing that Lin Li was young and driving a van, he’d mistaken him for an ordinary delivery driver and hadn’t put up any defense.

Lin Li’s sudden, explosive kick landed squarely on his chest, and he immediately let out a pained cry.

"AARGH!"

Kicked in the chest by Lin Li, Tie Qiu Heng was sent flying backward.

Although Lin Li had only just broken through to the Second Order Middle Stage, he had achieved it by eating three Magical Little Fruits.

His current overall combat strength was far greater than that of an ordinary Cultivator who had been at the Second Order Middle Stage for years.

THUD.

Having been caught completely off guard, Tie Qiu Heng flew backward from the kick and crashed to the ground, immediately spitting up a mouthful of blood.

"You... Second Order Middle Stage. You’re actually a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator."

Intense pain shot through his body. With a look of utter shock, Tie Qiu Heng gritted his teeth against the agony and scrambled back to his feet.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Tie Qiu Heng focused on the Spiritual Energy Wave coming from Lin Li. He stared in disbelief at the young man before him, who looked to be in his early twenties at most.

"You bastard. You actually tried to rob me? You’re really looking for a beating!" Lin Li unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the driver’s seat.

’Perfect,’ he thought. ’I just broke through to the Second Order Middle Stage and haven’t had a chance to test my new strength yet.’

’What a coincidence to run into a mugger right now. I can use him for some practice.’

"Damn it, how did it come to this..." Tie Qiu Heng cursed under his breath as he watched Lin Li approach. He bitterly regretted his decision to try and steal the young man’s car.

He had used the flashbang to force Liu Jialin back, using the opening to escape. Thanks to his superior stamina, he had managed to temporarily shake her off after a long sprint.

But now, because of one bad decision, he had to face a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator who was in peak condition.

’If we fight, I don’t even need to think about the outcome. I’ll definitely be the one getting my ass kicked.’

"I’m sorry! I’m not right in the head. I forgot to take my medicine this morning, that’s why I couldn’t help myself and tried to steal your car.

I was wrong... I’ll pay you! Can we just call it even?" Tie Qiu Heng pleaded, seeing Lin Li get closer.

"Uh...???"

Hearing Tie Qiu Heng claim he wasn’t right in the head and had forgotten to take his medicine, Lin Li stopped in his tracks.

...