The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Bai Yuan walked about a hundred feet into the cave before pausing.

He could sense that Mr. Yuan, who had been outside the cave, was gone.

Just as Mr. Yuan said, he was merely a guide. From here on, every choice was Bai Yuan's to make.

Bai Yuan continued deeper into the cave.

Suddenly—

The view before him opened up. In the deepest part of the cave, there was a delightfully clear pond, only about ten feet across. What struck Bai Yuan as magical was that the water hadn't frozen.

Although the cave blocked the blizzard outside, the temperature was still frigid.

Below freezing, at the very least.

There was only one explanation: the pond wasn't filled with water, but with some other substance that had a lower freezing point.

Bai Yuan walked to the edge of the pond.

The liquid in the pond was nearly indistinguishable from water, yet he was certain it couldn't be.

'Is this the thing Mr. Yuan wants me to kill?'

Back in the courtyard, Mr. Yuan had said he would give him a chance to prove his path through killing.

Bai Yuan had originally assumed Mr. Yuan would use his extraordinary status in the Demon Sect to find some Demons for him to kill. Now, it seemed he had been overthinking things.

'Could the Demon God live here?' Bai Yuan wondered.

'Since Mr. Yuan once met the Demon God here, I should be able to as well. Or maybe, since it was a remnant soul, it's already dissipated and Mr. Yuan just doesn't know?'

He quickly dismissed his own theory.

'A man like Mr. Yuan wouldn't make such a rudimentary mistake.'

Just as Bai Yuan's mind was racing, a ripple suddenly spread across the surface of the pool.

There was no wind, and nothing had fallen into the water, so the bizarre ripple naturally caught Bai Yuan's eye.

An ordinary person would have been terrified by the sight and fled in a panic, but Bai Yuan didn't move. This was due not only to his trust in Mr. Yuan, but also to his confidence in his own strength.

Soon, the disturbance on the surface grew, until the entire pool began to churn as if it were boiling!

At the same time, a light flashed from within Bai Yuan's robes.

It was the Divine Palace Profound Soldier!

In the next instant, a head slowly emerged from the water, followed by a body. When the entire figure was revealed, Bai Yuan's pupils constricted.

It was Kuaidong!

He couldn't believe the person who had appeared from the pool was Kuaidong.

Just as he was about to try and communicate with this "Kuaidong," the figure pounced like a savage tiger, its fist—strong enough to shatter mountains—smashing down toward Bai Yuan's head.

Bai Yuan's gaze turned icy.

He met the attack with a fist of his own.

Two different martial arts styles, channeled through two powerful bodies, collided again and again. The force of their blows shook the very cave, threatening to bring it down.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Thunderous explosions rocked the cave. Bai Yuan fought with increasing ferocity, pushing his combat prowess to its absolute limit.

He had fought Kuaidong countless times in the Divine Palace Immortal Realm; he knew his opponent's patterns inside and out.

One punch... then another.

This "Kuaidong" was like a fearless killing machine, showing no sign of retreat. Its expression was terrifyingly calm, as if life and death were of no consequence.

A brilliant light erupted from Bai Yuan. He frantically channeled the power from his other Divine Mansions into his Heart Divine Mansion, instantly doubling the power of his martial arts!

Before, his advantage over Kuaidong had been slim. Now, he could completely overwhelm him.

There was no day or night in the cave.

Even Bai Yuan lost track of how long he fought Kuaidong.

Finally, more and more openings appeared in Kuaidong's defense. His stamina seemed to have reached its limit.

BANG!

With a savage blow, Bai Yuan finally tore a wound into Kuaidong's body, which was as hard as Divine Iron.

Once a wound appeared, it only grew wider!

Every punch, powerful enough to crack the earth itself, hammered at Kuaidong's vital points.

Strangely, however, Kuaidong seemed indifferent to his injuries, continuing to trade blows with Bai Yuan, wound for wound.

After Bai Yuan landed thousands of punches, Kuaidong's heart finally exploded.

The instant his heart was destroyed, Kuaidong's body dissolved into a pool of liquid right before Bai Yuan's eyes and flowed back into the pond.

Reinforcement Points +36781!

Bai Yuan stared in disbelief at the numbers ticking up on the panel, his heart pounding.

'So this is the great gift Mr. Yuan wanted to give me.'

'This is basically an upgraded version of the Divine Palace Immortal Realm!'

In the Divine Palace Immortal Realm, he could only practice his techniques. Even killing his opponents there didn't grant Reinforcement Points. This mysterious pond, however, perfectly solved that problem.

This wasn't a pond at all; it was an experience pool.

"Allocate points!"

Bai Yuan wasn't lacking for Cultivation Techniques right now. He looked at the "Demon Transformation Technique" on his panel.

That's right. For his final Divine Mansion, he had chosen the Demon Transformation Technique.

Because the Demon Transformation Technique had no other techniques to complement it, its progress had all but stagnated after he reached the Grandmaster level.

In fact, even within the Demon Transformation lineage of the Demon Hunters, no one had reached the Legendary Realm in nearly ten thousand years.

But ever since he had felt the power of transforming into a Zhu Yan, Bai Yuan believed the Demon Transformation Technique held immense potential.

'If there's no established technique, then I'll just use time to forge a legendary path!'

'I refuse to believe I can't perfect the Demon Transformation Technique even with ten thousand years of cultivation!'

[795th year of cultivating the Demon Transformation Technique. Zhu Yan imitation progress: 31%.]

...

[895th year of cultivating the Demon Transformation Technique. Zhu Yan imitation progress: 37%.]

...

[914th year of cultivating the Demon Transformation Technique. Zhu Yan imitation progress: 40%.]

...

Bai Yuan poured all tens of thousands of his Reinforcement Points into the Demon Transformation Technique.

"Again!"

Bai Yuan roared at the pond.

He had already figured out how to use this pond.

The instant the words left his mouth, another figure began to rise slowly from the water's surface.

This time, it was Xia Han!

The pond was different from the Divine Palace in one regard: you could only kill each person once. So, replacing Kuaidong was Xia Han, the Vice Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect whom he had killed previously.

'It seems I'll have to kill everyone I've ever fought all over again!'

Fortunately for him, other than perhaps Big Beard, Bai Yuan had killed more Mingxin Powerhouses than anyone else in the world.

After another unknown period of time, Xia Han was also obliterated.

Reinforcement Points +19876

"Allocate points!"

[2,315th year of cultivating the Demon Transformation Technique. Zhu Yan imitation progress: 63%.]

...

[2,538th year of cultivating the Demon Transformation Technique. Zhu Yan imitation progress: 65%.]

...

Just as Bai Yuan expected, the more refined the Demon Transformation Technique became, the more Reinforcement Points it consumed.

'But it doesn't matter... I still have plenty of Reinforcement Points.'

Fighting two great experts back-to-back had nearly exhausted Bai Yuan's stamina.

This was an extremely rare occurrence for him.

To exhaust the stamina of a physical monster like him—one who possessed a legendary-grade body art, the Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength, and the Supreme Purity Record—showed just how difficult it was to kill a Mingxin Grandmaster.

Bai Yuan simply sat cross-legged in the cave to recover his strength.

Here, he had completely lost track of time. His days consisted of nothing but fighting and resting.

He was thankful he had brought plenty of food pills made from the Five Spirits; a single one was enough to provide energy for several days.

Once he had recovered, Bai Yuan stood up again.

This time, the figure emerging from the pond was the Crow Spirit with half-Golden Crow blood that he had slain on Cang Mang Mountain.

Another bloody battle ensued.

The Crow Spirit was once again obliterated by Bai Yuan.

'That familiar feeling...' The Reinforcement Points skyrocketed.

The feeling of growing stronger so rapidly was intoxicating. The thrill of endlessly grinding mobs was just too satisfying.

"Again!"

Jiu Moshi.

...

Time flowed on, and the cave once again fell silent after the great battle.

Bai Yuan lay sprawled on the ground, his arms and legs splayed out. Sweat plastered his hair to his face, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

He had killed every Mingxin Powerhouse he had ever fought. He didn't even spare his old opponents from the Zhigan or Rujin realms. While the points from each were few, the sheer number of them added up.

Finally, the Demon Transformation Technique was nearing perfection.

Bai Yuan's eyes gleamed with excitement.

'I can't wait to see just how powerful a one-hundred-percent Zhu Yan bloodline will be.'

"Allocate the points!"