The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Two minor demons were patrolling the mountain, shouldering their weapons.

"Big bro, I hear something major happened down south."

A pig-headed minor demon looked worried. Even though they were alone, he deliberately lowered his voice, afraid other demons might overhear.

At this point, there was hardly a demon who didn't know.

The other, a goat-headed monster half a head taller than the Pig Demon, shot him a look. "As long as Big Beard is around, Cang Mang Mountain won't fall into chaos. You're really... what's that human saying again?"

The Pig Demon chimed in at the right moment, "Worrying about the sky falling."

The goat-headed monster grumbled, annoyed. "What's the use of learning all this Human Race crap every day? We still end up as lowly mountain patrol grunts."

The Pig Demon turned his head away.

Ever since that big shot from the Human Race came to the Northern Plains, more and more demons had started learning their idioms.

When it came to admiring strength, demons and humans were exactly the same.

Just as the two minor demons decided to walk a little farther before calling it a day and heading back, a dark shadow suddenly streaked across the sky.

The Pig Demon rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Did a bird just fly past?"

The goat-headed monster rolled his eyes and corrected him, "That was a person."

The two minor demons were about to argue the point when they realized a human had appeared before them out of nowhere.

"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Big Beard's?"

The moment the two minor demons saw the human, all four of their legs went weak.

It wasn't because the human looked particularly terrifying, nor was it due to some ethereal aura of a powerful expert. It was simply the object he was carrying.

A demon's head.

And it just so happened to be the head of their own great king.

"Th-that way... Just keep going straight."

"Thanks."

The human nodded, then leaped high into the air.

The Pig Demon and the goat-headed demon exchanged a glance. Looked like their patrol was over for the day.

Bai Yuan soared through the sky with Cloud Ladder Leap, but Cang Mang Mountain was so vast that he had to stop frequently to ask for directions.

Yes, he was finally back in Cang Mang Mountain, returned from the Extreme North Snowfield.

If he ran into any unperceptive demons who tried to stand in his way, he didn't mind taking them as experience points—like the lion-headed monster whose head he now held.

He was very close to Big Beard's place now. Since he was visiting, he ought to bring a gift.

Big Beard was quite the gourmand. A "braised lion's head" should be right up his alley.

After flying for dozens more miles, Bai Yuan finally spotted a familiar lake and a small wooden cabin.

"Senior."

He landed in front of the cabin and called out loudly.

Ever since Mr. Yuan had forcibly taken him away, he wasn't even sure how long he'd been gone.

In the Northern Plains, few people bothered to keep track of the date, and demons were even less likely to do so.

Bai Yuan had barely finished calling out when the cabin door creaked open.

But the person inside wasn't Big Beard. It was an unfamiliar young Barbarian boy.

The Barbarian boy looked to be about seventeen or eighteen.

Of course, Barbarian People tended to look older than Profound People of the same age. The boy's true age was likely only thirteen or fourteen.

The Barbarian boy gazed at Bai Yuan with curiosity. "You're Bai Yuan?"

Bai Yuan was a little surprised. "You know me?"

The Barbarian boy nodded.

"Where's Big Beard?"

Bai Yuan glanced around. An expert at the Divinity Communication Barrier had already achieved a state of perfect simplicity, concealing their presence so well that not even he could detect them.

The Barbarian boy replied, "Grandmaster-Ancestor has already left."

'Grandmaster-Ancestor?'

Bai Yuan was taken aback by the boy's title for Big Beard. 'So Big Beard has a lineage, and it's already three generations deep? Otherwise, the boy wouldn't call him Grandmaster-Ancestor. But how have I never heard about this?'

He couldn't help his curiosity. "Who is your master?"

But the Barbarian boy simply looked at Bai Yuan with a determined expression, then dropped to his knees with a THUD. "Master, please accept this disciple's respects!"

"??!!"

'What is going on?'

Even someone as worldly as Bai Yuan was completely baffled for a moment.

'This is just... what the hell?'

'How did I suddenly gain a Barbarian apprentice?'

Before Bai Yuan could ask a single question, the Barbarian boy began kowtowing, his head hitting the ground with a series of loud THUDS. He was nothing if not sincere. If not for the naturally tough skin of the Barbarian People, he would have surely cracked his skull open. Even so, his forehead was already covered in dirt, with a few small pebbles embedded in the skin.

The Barbarian boy said in a muffled voice, "Grandmaster-Ancestor said he was accepting a disciple on behalf of his grand-disciple. My master is named Bai Yuan. Grandmaster-Ancestor left three months ago and told me to wait here for my master and give him something."

"Hold on, let me get this straight."

'There was a lot to unpack in that one sentence.'

'I've heard of a master accepting a disciple on a disciple's behalf, but I've never heard of someone accepting a disciple on a *grand-disciple's* behalf.'

'If I really take this kid as my disciple, his grandmaster would be Old Dong. And by this maneuver, Big Beard would effectively become Old Dong's and Xu Dingchun's peer.'

'That Big Beard really never lets himself get the short end of the stick.'

'And second, Big Beard has been gone for three months?!'

He clearly remembered staying only a single day at Mr. Yuan's courtyard in the Northern Plains after being taken from here. Even accounting for travel time... 'that means I was in that cave for a full two and a half months!'

'As for the boy's last statement, the meaning was even simpler.'

'Basically, if I don't accept this Barbarian boy as my disciple, I won't get the item Big Beard left for me.'

'Of course, I could just choose to take it by force.'

'This Barbarian boy is only at the Bone Tempering stage; he can't stop me. But I don't believe for a second that Big Beard didn't leave some other trick up his sleeve.'

Bai Yuan shook his head and chuckled.

'Knowing Big Beard, this is probably the most convoluted scheme he's ever cooked up.'

'Big Beard really went to great lengths to make me take on a disciple.'

'Of course, by accepting this Barbarian boy, I'd also be acknowledging Big Beard as my master.'

'The old man's scheming was so obvious it was practically smacking him in the face.'

Meeting the Barbarian boy's earnest gaze, Bai Yuan spoke slowly. "Alright. From now on, you are my third disciple. You have a senior brother and a senior sister. You can stop kowtowing." He added the last part when he saw the boy was about to start kowtowing again. "By the way, what's your name?"

He also realized that he'd just accepted a disciple without even knowing his name. 'There can't be many masters who do things this way.'

The Barbarian boy's eyes filled with delight. "Master, my name is Huyan Shan."

'Huyan?'

Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Few in the Northern Plains knew Big Beard's real name, but Bai Yuan did. It was Huyan.

'Could I have been mistaken all this time? Is his surname Hu, and his given name Yan?'

'Is this kid one of Big Beard's illegitimate children?'

Just as his imagination was running wild, the young Huyan Shan spoke up. "Grandmaster-Ancestor gave me this name."

Bai Yuan understood.

'That explains it.'

He had stayed in a Barbarian village before, so he knew that most Barbarian People didn't have formal names. They usually went by nicknames like "Ah Da" or "Ah Gou." Only the powerful were worthy of a true name.

In the village he'd visited, for example, only Gu Ta and the old village chief had been qualified to possess names.

Bai Yuan said, "Good. You are my disciple now."

'Since Big Beard chose this disciple for me, he must be extraordinary in some way, or he wouldn't have been picked. But even if the boy's talent were merely average, I would still accept him.'

If it hadn't been for Big Beard's staunch support, he never would have progressed so quickly in the Northern Plains, much less mastered the true Barbarian Body Technique.

Bai Yuan had never forgotten that debt.

The young Huyan Shan stood up obediently. "Master, Grandmaster-Ancestor left something in the room. Before he departed, he gave me specific instructions to deliver it into your hands. He said, 'Where the item is, you must be.'"

Bai Yuan patted his new disciple's shoulder. "You only need to do something like that once. In the future, no matter what the object is, your life is always more important."

Huyan Shan looked completely taken aback.

He hadn't expected his master to say that, and a warmth spread through his chest.

Then, he led Bai Yuan into the room. From a crack in the floorboards beneath the bed, he retrieved an object that looked like a miniature palace.

The moment Bai Yuan saw the object, his eyes widened dramatically.

It was unmistakably one of the three Divine Palace fragments!