The Transformation

Chao burst forth at the greatest speeds, pushing his body to the absolute limit.

Even though he couldn't confront any cultivator directly, Chao still trained his body to the peak mortal limit. He went as fast as humanely possible, reaching top speeds no other peak mortal could compare to.

His destination was an open gate leading directly towards an eerie-looking forest.

At the same time Chao sprinted off, the three boys were momentarily stunned. Through their dirt filled eyes, they still caught Chao sprinting off.

"Damn thief!!" The young boys had to use a few seconds to wipe off the dirt from their eyes.

Within just a few seconds, Chao had already run over a few hundred meters. He already reached the entrance to the eerie-looking forest.

By this time, the young boys finished wiping off the dirt from their eyes. Stress veins wrinkled their foreheads from the overflow of anger coursing through their bodies.

The young boys quickly collected their cosmos sacks and dashed straight after Chao.

In the lower class district, there was no sense of justice or rules. Everything is decided on one's personal strength.

If the young boys wanted their profits back, then they would need to take it right back from Chao themselves.

The young boy's speed was incredible. Each of them even slightly surpassed the peak limit of average human speed, reaching superhuman territory.

Even though they had unintentionally given Chao a massive head start, they reached a few dozens of meters behind him within seconds. They crossed over 300 meters of distance in merely two seconds.

Such speed came with the power of being an otherworldly cultivator!

But by the time the boys quickly caught up, Chao had already rushed into the dreadful, dark forest.

The boys paused for a second, cation evident within their eyes.

One of them muttered, "Damnit. This guy is crazy to go to the Broad Wilderness?"

"This place is dangerous for even those grand Sky Origin experts. Much less us puny Origin realm cultivators. And definitely much less for some punk without any cultivation." The second boy cursed.

The leader only furrowed his brows for a moment. He contemplated all possible scenarios, weighing the pros and cons. A second later, he came to his decision.

He directly orders the first boy, "Look, any loss of profit makes it harder for us to eat. Lian, you have the most stamina of us. I want you to go in after that punk. By yourself, you can safely retreat without any worries. We'll stay here just in case that thief decides to come back here."

Lian appeared slightly unwilling, but he knew he had no such luxuriously to argue back. He quietly nodded, settled his sights in a specific direction, and took off into the woods.

At this time, Chao frantically sprinted in a seemingly random direction. He clenched his legs as hard as he could, pushing past the soreness aching his legs and overall body.

But even though Chao put forth his best effort, he soon heard a chilling voice shout out to him.

"Little thief! A mortal can't run from a cultivator! Come here and accept your death!"

Lian rapidly gained distance. His soul sense was naturally more powerful after reaching the Origin realm. It caused his range of detection to reach around 15 meters and to be able to identify familiar life auras.

Lian shot past through the trees and bushes, never once losing sight of Chao. He soon reached merely ten meters behind Chao.

And just when it seemed like Lian would wring Chao by the neck, Chao suddenly stopped.

Lian couldn't even question it when he felt a tremendous sense of crisis rise from his soul. He suddenly stopped in his track but it was already too late.

A ferocious cry of a beast reverberated throughout the area.

"Skwaa~!!"

The bestial roar was powerful, the force from it even cause a fierce wind to frantically brush around.

Chao and Lian fell to their ass, unable to withstand the fierce wind.

A hundred meters ahead of the boys was a giant Vicious monster beast. It resembled the appearance of a tiger, only except for the fact it was several times bigger than any mortal tiger. Furthermore, it had blood-red light glowing from its eyes and long protruding teeth shooting out of its mouth.

The Vicious monster savagely glared at its prey, already marking both as decent enough meals.

But before anything could erupt, Chao made the first move. He quickly took out a small silver knife from the inside of his coat pocket and tossed it behind him without even glancing back.

A flash of silver suddenly reflected in Lian's eyes. He didn't know when, but a fierce pain assaulted his gut.

When looking down, horror filled his face.

Somehow, a knife had already entered the right side of his gut!

Lian was already fraught with fear from the sudden appearance of the Vicious monster. It was a genuine peak early first-layer Origin beast that can easily kill him within seconds.

He could have never expected Chao to suddenly attack without regard for his own life. Not a single shred of his defenses was up. And even though his body is tougher than a mortal, Chao's strength was enough that the small knife could soar with great force.

Not being able to properly react, a first layer Origin cultivator had a knife pierced into his body by a mortal.

"You!! Damnit-Ahh!!" Lian coughed up a botch of blood. His killing intent fully erupted and crushed down onto Chao.

However, before he could strike Chao's back, the Vicious tiger beast focused all of its attention on Lian. More specifically, the blood pouring out of its wound.

At the scent of fresh human blood, the Vicious tiger beast turned ballistic!

With a low growl, the Vicious tiger beast shot toward Lian in a savage frenzy. Its killing intent aura shrouded only Lian, completely ignoring Chao.

"This damned beast!" Lian fiercely clenched his teeth.

Despite how unwilling he was, he had no other option but to get up and run far away. He didn't even have a chance to glare at Chao as he frantically ran back towards the city gate.

At this time, Chao quickly got out of the bush he briefly hid in. His mind made some quick deductions within a few seconds.

Obviously, he wasn't going to go in the same direction Lian and the beast went off. And he most certainly wasn't going back to the city gate, knowing full well that Lian's partners are awaiting a plan like that.

Left with no other options, Chao placed his sights in a specific direction. The forest wasn't completely dark and Chao could spot some ordinary cave just running a distance from him.

No hesitation was allowed in this situation. Chao summoned the last bit of strength in his mortal body and burst forth in a last mad dash!

Every time his feet crush the grass beneath him got Chao's heart to pump tremendously fast. His joints were quite literally screeching in pain.

Yet, Chao determinedly persisted.

When Chao reached 10 meters from the cave, he could almost taste the safety. However, before he could step in, Chao felt a rush of danger prick his soul's sense!

A chilling feeling was rapidly approaching his back, ready to smash right into him.

Chao swiveled around, his pupils contracting to a stream of visible air hurdling at speeds nearly naked to his eyes.

'Shit! How unlucky!' Chao vehemently cursed.

This stream of air came from just a Spirit Monster beast sprinting at top speeds. The energies within their bodies gushed out in wild waves as they push their power to the limit.

Chao really was unlucky to be caught in the wake of this monster's speed. As a mortal, all Chao could do was center his body and crossed his arms in front of his face.

'Bang!'

The rush of air violently slammed into Chao's arm, knocking him straight into the cave.

Chao's body smashed into the ground like a broken rag doll. Extreme pain wracked his entire body. He vomited up mouthfuls of blood while feeling numerous bones throughout his body crack. Adding on to his already severe injury, several of his organs started to rupture.

All of this came from just the remnant wind force of a Spirit Monster who was most likely more powerful than the average 1st layer Origin realm cultivator.

The separation between a mortal and an otherworldly cultivator was akin to a god and a mortal human.

Sprawled out on the ground, blood flowing through his mouth, Chao didn't look upset or pained at his fate.

In fact, he still put on a smile with bloodstained teeth. He thought to himself, 'I've been doing this for so long and this may be the greatest injury I had ever experienced. Damn...I can't even twitch my fingers anymore.'

Memories flashed through Chao's mind. For as long as he can remember, it was only him and his little sister fending for themselves in this merciless city. He's been stealing and running so much that it practically became a routine.

Such a lifestyle could be depressing or suffocating for others. But Chao took it all in an eager stride. And with a mix of luck, his own strength, and determination, he was able to scrape by for so many years.

However, it seems that today, his luck had finally run out.

Chao's once eager smile turned humorless at this thought. 'Li'er...I'm really am a failure as a brother. If only...If only I was a cultivator...'

If he could just attain that otherworldly strength, Chao knew he could absolutely take control of everything. He wouldn't be so helpless against cultivators, instead, he would dominate all otherworldly cultivators!

But such a thought seemed pointless now.

Soon enough, Chao felt his eyelids grow heavy. He no longer keep them and his vision gradually faded into chilling darkness.

When Chao nearly lost all hope and his consciousness slipped away, a voice suddenly boomed into his mind.

'Tutorial Mission completed. Asura Conqueror System Initiating.'

Upon hearing those words, a tremendous change, one that would eventually affect the course of the future, erupted within a seemingly ordinary cave.

'Bang!'

An explosive rush of energy surged throughout Chao's entire being!

Chao felt as if a bomb had suddenly exploded within him. The explosive noise he heard rattled his entire consciousness.

But one thing to be sure, he could feel strength, incredible strength, immense strength bursting within.

Chao's eyes swung open, a cold light reflecting within his pupils. This new surge of energy allowed him to finally move his body into a sitting position and try to understand just what the hell was going on.

Chao had no idea what to do. The energy within him gave him a mixture of great power and great pain.

With no other options, Chao just had to fiercely clench down on his teeth, bearing with the pain.

After a few moments passed, he could even feel his teeth cracking from just how intense he clenched down on them.

But at the same time, Chao experienced a cool, refreshing sensation course within the lower half of his stomach.

Chao's eyes widened over this. That spot was exactly where his dantain was located! His excitement raised to a massive degree and his determination burned like lava.

Over time, this refreshing sensation replaced the pain wracking his body.

When it seemed like hours passed, a click went off within Chao's body. Almost like a key to a door finally being unlocked.

'Chi!'

A crimson pillar of energy erupted from underneath Chao. It smashed right into the cave ceiling, causing the whole interior to shake.

The glow from the crimson energy was so intense that it could be seen from a mile away.

Several minutes passed until the crimson glow vanished.

What was left was Chao sitting on the ground, his face a mixture of bewilderment and absolute glee.

Everything about him had completely changed. His mind felt incomparably clearer as if he could understand multiple subjects at once.

By just slightly stimulating his soul and briefly bringing out his soul sense, Chao could feel his detection range massively expanded.

Just a brief scan can go up to 30 meters around him!