New Expansion: Cultivation World

Lin Hei sat in silence, his wounds aching with every breath, his body still bandaged and stitched together from his escape. 

Around him, the faint light of dusk spilled into the entrance of the cavern, casting long shadows across the stone walls.

And there, just a few feet away from him, his Lifebound Beast stood frozen in place like a living statue.

It was an eerie creature—beautiful, sleek, and silent.

Its body shimmered with pale white fur that gleamed even in the dim cave light, trimmed by stark black markings that curved along its flanks like runes of warning. 

Its limbs were lean and muscular, built for sudden, devastating motion, with curved claws that scraped lightly against the cave floor.

But it was the creature's head that made it unforgettable.

Its eyes—two glowing crimson orbs—held an intense, almost intelligent focus, their sharp gleam piercing into the unseen distance. 

Long, pointed ears tilted slightly as if listening for whispers in another world, while a jagged black horn jutted from its forehead and stretched down the side of its face, forming a symmetrical contrast that split one half into shadow. 

It was elegant and dangerous. 

It looked like a beast that walked the border between nightmare and dream.

Moonsoul.

Lin Hei's bonded Lifebound Beast.

And on its back, standing upright as if riding a throne of fur, was the little mist girl.

Eyes shut.

Arms crossed.

Completely still.

Lin Hei watched her with growing unease.

"…What are you doing now?" he finally asked, his voice hoarse but edged with tension.

The mist girl didn't open her eyes.

"I'm using Shadow Stalk."

She said it like she was talking about plucking a flower.

Lin Hei blinked. "What's that?"

Still calm. Still seated with the air of a sovereign, she replied, "A passive resonance Moonsoul inherited from its shadow lineage. It lets him stalk a target through space-folding shadows, particularly when the target is soaked in killing intent."

"…And who are you stalking?"

She slowly raised a single finger and pointed forward—beyond the cave, through the rock, as if reality was just mist and illusion.

"The one who killed the red dragon."

Lin Hei tensed.

"You found them?"

Her eyes opened, and for a brief moment, they gleamed with something primal.

"I saw it," she whispered. "Not all, not clearly, but enough."

Her voice dropped to a murmur.

"A dragon. No… a ground dragon. But not like the common ones. This one didn't crawl with four limbs. It stood upright. Two massive hind legs, arms small but curled like razors. Its movements were full of grace—and it was fast. And it looks Brutal."

She paused, almost as if trying to find the right words.

"Covered in blood. The dragon's blood."

Lin Hei's mouth opened slightly. "A… ground dragon? But… aren't they just the bottom-tier among draconic beasts? They carry the lowest concentration of dragon blood. Not even real contenders for ascension."

The little mist girl nodded solemnly.

"That's what makes this more disturbing."

She clenched her hands tightly.

"This… this thing didn't look like it was cultivated. It didn't have the aura of refined spirit power. It didn't ascend through traditional means. And yet—it matched the red dragon in level. Maybe even suppressed it."

Lin Hei swallowed hard.

He had seen cultivators take on strong beasts. But he had never seen something like this. The sheer implication made his blood chill.

"…And it won?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"How?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

She adjusted her stance on Moonsoul's back. Her eyes glowed now with deeper focus.

"It's like… it didn't care about technique. Or aura. Or dominance. It just killed. It used instincts honed not by training—but by survival. It was… unreasonably efficient."

Lin Hei's breath hitched.

There was something terrifying about that.

A beast that had no interest in eating or improving, it just killed.

A beast that just wanted to win.

To kill.

To survive.

The mist girl continued, her voice lower now, more careful.

"It's looking for something. Or someone."

Her eyes shimmered with the effect of the Shadow Stalk, linking her sight with Moonsoul's senses.

"The ground dragon—it's not retreating, not searching for territory. It's not hunting. It's searching. Every few steps, it stops. Sniffs the air. Checks the trees. It turns rocks. It listens to the wind. It's… like it knew what it was doing."

Her expression shifted from confidence to discomfort.

"This isn't random. This isn't instinctual. It has purpose."

Lin Hei leaned forward, despite the pain.

"A lifebound beast?"

She didn't answer right away.

Her expression was distant, her lips parted slightly.

"I'm not sure… Could be, but I don't feel it is...I'm trying to get closer. Maybe I can read its energy response."

Seconds passed in silence.

Lin Hei watched her carefully.

Then—

Suddenly, the girl stiffened.

Her eyes flew open.

"What?" Lin Hei whispered. "What is it?"

Her eyes were locked forward, unmoving.

"No… no no no no no… that shouldn't be possible…" she whispered.

Lin Hei stood halfway up, ignoring the pain. "What?!"

She looked at him.

"It saw me."

The cave went silent.

"What…?"

"It turned," she said, her voice trembling with disbelief. "It turned right at me. It looked at me—straight through the veil. I used everything. Moonsoul's suppression, the double-layered ethereal masking, dimensional fold shadows—everything!"

Her form flickered slightly.

"And it still saw me."

Lin Hei backed away from the beast instinctively.

"You said that was impossible."

"I know I said it was impossible!"

She grabbed her head, gripping at her misty hair as if trying to tear it off.

"I checked the ley-lines. The spatial tension. The scent trail. Everything was clean. But when I looked deeper into its aura…"

She shivered.

"There's something there. Like a storm that doesn't roar until you're inside it. Like standing next to a statue that suddenly breathes."

And then—

Suddenly, a deep chill ran through the whole cave, making it far colder than usual.

Lin Hei looked around, his breath fogging.

Moonsoul's fur raised along its back.

The mist girl froze.

Her body twitches violently.

And then—

A voice.

It wasn't loud.

It didn't scream.

It didn't echo.

But it hit the core.

A voice that sounded like a mountain crumbling and the wind of death wrapped into one ancient murmur:

"If any of you move… death will come."

The air turned black.

And everything stopped.

Suddenly, the deep voice echoed one last time, it was heavy and slow, like it was lingering in their ear with a chill of death itself.

"Why have you come to my place?"

The words twisted around the stone walls of the cave, brushing against the mist, cutting through silence like a blade through silk.

No one moved.

Not the beast with crimson eyes.

Not the girl shaped from mist.

Not Lin Hei, whose limbs trembled from both injury and sheer spiritual pressure.

Only the voice remained, its source unseen—hidden.

But somewhere… watching.

…

Far beyond the mouth of the cave, crouched within the dense thicket of gnarled blackwood trees, Jurra didn't move either.

His body was still, knees bent and low to the ground, perfectly balanced like a beast ready to spring. 

Around him, his loyal raptors and warlock sentinels waited in perfect silence. 

None of them breathed. He was planning to ask the teen about the world but it was too dangerous to be direct so he had to think of something to get information about this world. 

Suddenly, Jurra's sharp eyes narrowed closely. 

Seeing the familiar look, one could confirm that it is a human. 

And the little girl made of mist?

A summoned spirit, perhaps. Something spiritual, bound to the teen's side.

And the beast…

Jurra's eyes lingered on it. The white fur, the horn, the unnaturally crimson eyes.

That wasn't an ordinary beast.

However, what's more disturbing was the clothes on the side. 

Despite playing a War of Warlocks game, he is also a reader. And reading cultivation novels was one of them. 

He knew the signs. And now, seeing this teen in bandages—dressed in half-tattered robes with deliberate symmetry, folds precisely aligned, spiritual fabric woven into the threading—Jurra understood something he'd hoped wasn't true.

He had an idea that this wasn't a fantasy world.

He stayed hidden, crouched in the dark, but let his voice drift outward like fog rolling through the hills.

"You seem calm for someone caught trespassing," he said. "You came here without fear. So… why are you here?"

The boy, startled but respectful, stepped forward slowly and lowered himself into a deep bow—carefully avoiding putting pressure on his wounded side.

"Senior," the young man said, his tone humble but clear, laced with the formality of someone raised in reverence for power, "this junior did not mean to offend. I apologize for the intrusion."

His voice was steady. Controlled. But Jurra could hear the subtle quiver underneath.

"I—Lin Hei—did not realize a mighty senior had claimed this place. I acted out of desperation and curiosity. I was searching for the red dragon so I could leave this place but I saw it died… so I wanted to know if there are far more terrifying creatures around. 

"After all, such a creature shouldn't have fallen so easily. I—I simply couldn't believe it. So I asked my companion to investigate. That was all. I did not mean to spy on you."

Jurra blinked.

That tone.

That way of speaking.

The layered etiquette, the reference to seniority, the way he delivered his name like a formal offering…

Yes.

This really sounds like a world of cultivation.

Not just a game.

Not a simulation.

A real one.

Jurra's thoughts began to race. His heart thumped, not with fear—but with excitement.

The expansion… was this?

His voice dropped an octave, adding weight and gravity to his next words. If he was going to blend in, he had to act the part.

"Is that so?" Jurra said coolly. "You were curious enough to risk your life?"

Lin Hei didn't hesitate.

"Yes, Senior. If I am to cultivate further, I must witness the heights that exist beyond my comprehension. That is the path of immortality."

Jurra raised a brow. He couldn't help but smirk.

Path of immortality.

Now it was confirmed.

This was an immortal cultivation world.

And somehow, someway, the end-of-service expansion to War of Warlocks: Metamorphosis Online had thrown him into it.

Jurra straightened and let his voice become colder.

"Then prove you mean no offense," he said. "Give me a map of this land. And explain to me what is happening in this world. Now. Recent events, I want to know it all."

Lin Hei nodded quickly. "Yes, Senior."