Despite Wen Ran having lost yet another portion of his lifespan, his gaze remained fixed on the system screen. Lines of numbers and letters flickered rapidly across the display, shifting and rearranging at a dizzying speed. The chaotic stream of symbols made no sense to him, and for a brief mont, he wondered if the system was toying with him.
Is this thing just playing with after robbing again? The bitter thought gnawed at him.
[Found seven Ice Spirit Lotuses around the area]
[Would you like to proceed to the closest from your current location?]
Wen Ran's teeth clenched tightly as rage simred in his chest. His fingers twitched, and for a mont, he was tempted to punch the system window in a blind attempt to shatter it — to sohow break free from this cursed trickster that dared to call itself a system.
Even I, soone skilled at conning others, would never stoop this low...
"Fine, take there…" he spat through gritted teeth.
The mont the words left his lips, a strange ripple surged through his chest. It wasn't painful, but it was unnatural, like sothing foreign had gripped his heart. A faint, invisible pull spread through his body — an unfamiliar sensation that felt as if an unseen hand had wrapped around his soul and was now gently dragging him forward.
Before Wen Ran could even process what was happening, his legs began to move on their own. His steps quickened, and soon he was sprinting through the forest, compelled by the system's unseen guidance.
So this is how it works… Wen Ran realized. Instead of giving a location or coordinates, it just… leads straight to what I'm looking for?
The concept was useful — but also dangerous. His brow furrowed deeply as new concerns crept into his mind.
If I'm searching for a moving object... will it track them until the ends of the earth? Or will it only take to their last known location?
The uncertainty made his stomach twist. He knew there was only one way to find out.
I'll have to test this later…
But testing ant sacrificing more of his lifespan, and Wen Ran's instincts scread that it wasn't worth it — not unless there was soone he desperately wanted to kill.
His fingers curled tightly into fists as he pushed those thoughts aside. He moved quickly, each step burning like a fla on the verge of being snuffed out. Days passed, and his body teetered on the brink of collapse. Every breath felt heavy, and his muscles scread in agony, yet Wen Ran pressed forward.
The mont he stepped into the territory where fresh snow and ice blanketed the mountains, he knew he was close. He could feel it — his target was nearby, waiting to be claid. His legs, almost numb from the biting cold, trembled with each step, and the skin on his feet stung sharply, his toes on the verge of frostbite.
Why am I even doing this? The question gnawed at him. Why would I go this far... for soone I barely know?
He knew the answer, yet refused to acknowledge it. Survival demanded pragmatism, yet here he was — chasing a fading hope for a man he once considered expendable.
The icy energy flowing within his body kept him sane, warding off the creeping frostbite that threatened to devour him from the inside out. Yet in this frozen land, where beasts prowled under thick blankets of snow, death was an unpredictable force that could strike without warning.
Wen Ran learned that the hard way when a sword suddenly slashed out from the snow.
His instincts saved him. Pure reflex guided his body, and in a flash, he twisted away from the strike, narrowly avoiding the blade. His heart pounded furiously, adrenaline coursing through his veins.
There was no killing intent... Wen Ran realized, and that unsettled him more than the attack itself. Whoever — or whatever — had ambushed him was no ordinary foe. It felt unnatural, as if his attacker was an expert at masking their presence — soone with perfect control over their heart.
But the truth was far stranger than that.
As Wen Ran turned his gaze to the snowy expanse before him, dread pooled in his chest.
In the middle of nowhere, where snow blanketed everything in blinding white and the sunlight reflected off the ice like shards of glass, an army of skeletons began to rise from the snow. Their bones were caked in layers of frost, and their hollow eye sockets burned with a cold, bluish-gray fire that flickered faintly like a dying candle.
But the true horror lay in their chests.
Where a heart should have been, each skeleton bore a twisted web of flickering blue veins — thin, fire-like tendrils that pulsed and stretched through their ribcages like a grotesque nervous system. These veins seed to carry so form of energy, snaking from their chests and spreading throughout their skeletal fras, fueling their cold, unnatural movents.
"Shit… just where did you take …" Wen Ran muttered under his breath, his gaze locked on the eerie horde before him.
He instinctively tried to sense their power, yet no aura escaped their bodies. It was as if they were purely physical beings, lacking the energy signatures he had co to rely on.
Body cultivators...? But they're skeletons… how does that make sense?
Wen Ran's eyes narrowed. He had never heard of skeletal body cultivators before, and body cultivators were known to store all their power in hardened muscles — not bare bones. Yet here they stood, silent and unmoving, their glowing veins crackling faintly as if daring him to make the first move.
"You want to fight?" Wen Ran growled, his voice rumbling with cold defiance. "Well, I've never been afraid of one... so bring it on!"
His roar thundered through the frozen air, laced with a surge of spirit energy that exploded outward like a shockwave. The blast swept across the snow-covered ground, sending sharp gusts of wind crashing into the skeletal horde. The frost-covered bones groaned under the pressure, and several of the skeletons staggered back a step, their footing briefly lost.
That was all Wen Ran needed.
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