The impact didn't just break bones; it liquefied the ground.
Jiang Chen lay at the bottom of a crater roughly the size of a wagon, surrounded by the splintered remains of iron-bamboo. The air smelled of ozone, pulverized rock, and the coppery reek of his own blood.
Pain wasn't a signal anymore. It was background noise. A constant, white-hot hum.
[System Alert: High-velocity impact detected.]
[structural_integrity: 45%]
[Initiating rapid repair protocols... consuming excess caloric reserves.]
Steam rose from Jiang Chen's skin. His left leg, twisted at a sickening angle, snapped back into place with a wet crunch that echoed through the silent forest. Muscle fibers knit together like restless worms under his skin.
He sat up, spitting out a mouthful of dirt and blood.
"Still alive," he rasped.
The voice that came out wasn't his. It was deeper, rougher—like gravel grinding against granite.
He dragged himself to a stagnant pool of rainwater gathered in a hollow of tree roots. The moon filtered through the canopy, illuminating the reflection.
A stranger stared back.
Gone was the smooth-skinned, handsome seventeen-year-old servant. In his place was a man pushing forty. His skin was leathery and pockmarked. A jagged, ugly scar ran from his left temple down to his jawline, pulling his mouth into a permanent, cynical sneer. The [Mask of the Faceless] didn't just sit on his skin; it felt like it had fused with his skull, a parasitic second face.
[Host Identity: Obscured.]
[Current Persona: "Rogue Cultivator." Status: Active.]
Jiang Chen touched the scar. It had texture. He felt the phantom memory of a wound he never received.
"Good," he muttered. "Jiang Chen died on Alchemy Peak."
Snap.
A twig broke. Two hundred meters East.
Jiang Chen's head snapped toward the sound. His [Predator's Instinct] flared, dilating his pupils until they were almost entirely black. The forest wasn't dark to him; it was a tapestry of grey tones and heat signatures.
Three heat sources. Human. Moving in a search formation.
"Check the ridge!" a voice shouted, carrying poorly over the wind. "The Elder said he fell this way. Look for a body!"
"He's meat paste by now," another scoffed. "Waste of time."
Jiang Chen stood up. He cracked his neck. The hunger in his gut—the side effect of the System's healing—roared.
He didn't run. He walked out of the crater and leaned against a mossy boulder, crossing his arms.
A moment later, three figures emerged from the fern line. They wore the azure robes of the Iron Sword Sect's Enforcement Hall. Outer Sect disciples. Layers 3 and 4. In the past, they were gods to him.
Now? They moved like they were wading through molasses.
The leader, a disciple with a thin mustache, froze when he saw the figure in the shadows. He raised a glowing tracking talisman.
"Hold!"
The three disciples fanned out, surrounding him. Their swords were drawn, gleaming with weak Qi.
"Who are you?" the leader demanded, pointing his blade at Jiang Chen's chest. "Identify yourself! This is a restricted Sect operation."
Jiang Chen stared at the sword tip. He didn't blink.
"I'm resting," Jiang Chen growled, the mask's voice thick with menace. "Is resting illegal in these woods, boy?"
The disciple on the left sneered. "Watch your tone, old man. We're hunting a fugitive. A servant. Seen him?"
"I saw a comet fall," Jiang Chen lied, jerking a thumb south toward the ravine. "Loud. Messy."
The leader narrowed his eyes. He looked at Jiang Chen's robes—tattered, bloodstained, but clearly made of high-grade silk (stolen from Han's lab). Then he looked at the lack of a Sect token.
"He's a Rogue," the leader muttered to his companions. "Covered in blood. Suspicious."
"The order said 'no witnesses'," the third disciple whispered. "He might have seen the boy."
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The air grew heavy with killing intent.
"Kill him," the leader commanded. "Quickly."
The three disciples lunged in unison. A standard triangular kill formation. One thrust to the heart, two slashes to the kidneys.
To a normal eye, it was fast.
To Jiang Chen, it was boring.
[Combat Mode: Engaged.]
[Threat Analysis: Negligible.]
[Agility Differential: Host (10.0) vs Targets (3.5).]
Jiang Chen didn't summon Qi. He didn't use a skill. He just stepped forward.
WHOOSH.
The air cracked. He moved inside the leader's guard before the man's brain could register the movement. Jiang Chen's hand—massive and calloused—wrapped around the leader's face.
"Too slow."
CRUNCH.
Jiang Chen slammed the man's head into the boulder he had been leaning against. The skull collapsed like a rotten melon. Brain matter and blood sprayed across the moss.
[Biomass Acquired. +5 EV.]
The other two disciples froze mid-swing, their eyes bulging. Their leader was dead before his body hit the ground.
"M-Monster!" the left disciple shrieked, slashing wildly.
Jiang Chen caught the blade. Not the hilt—the blade.
His [Iron Skin] passively hardened his dermis. The steel bit into his palm, drawing a thin line of blood, but stopped against the bone. Jiang Chen didn't flinch. He gripped the steel and twisted.
PING.
The sword shattered.
"My turn," Jiang Chen whispered.
He flicked his free hand.
[Skill Activation: Void Claw (Lvl 2)]
Black smoke erupted from his fingertips, coalescing into three-inch talons of pure void energy. The light around his hand warped, sucked into the darkness.
He swiped.
There was no resistance. The Void Claws shore through the disciple's Qi barrier, through his leather armor, and through his ribcage.
The disciple gasped, looking down at the five gaping holes in his chest. The wounds didn't bleed; the entropy of the Void cauterized and rotted the flesh simultaneously. He collapsed, eyes rolling back.
[Target Terminated. +40 EV.]
The last disciple, the one on the right, dropped his sword. He scrambled backward, tripping over a root.
"Layer 5..." he stammered, staring at the black aura radiating from Jiang Chen. "You're... you're a Grandmaster Rogue..."
Jiang Chen dissipated the claws. He walked over, his heavy boots crunching on the dry leaves. He loomed over the terrified boy.
"The bounty," Jiang Chen asked, his voice low. "How much for the servant?"
"T-Ten thousand!" the disciple squealed. "Ten thousand Spirit Stones! The Grand Elder... he says the boy stole the Sect's future! Please, Senior! I won't talk! I swear!"
Jiang Chen tilted his head. The [Mask of the Faceless] made his expression unreadable, but his eyes were cold.
"Where are the patrols?"
"Everywhere! The perimeter is sealed! The Inner Sect Elites are guarding the passes!"
"Good to know."
Jiang Chen reached down.
[Puppet Protocol: Suggestion.]
[Kill him. He is food.]
Snap.
Jiang Chen broke the boy's neck with a quick, merciful twist.
He stood in the silence of the forest, surrounded by three corpses. He felt a vibration in his chest—a deep, purring resonance. It wasn't his heartbeat. It was Apeiron.
[Sync Rate Increasing.]
[The Host displays acceptable ruthlessness.]
Jiang Chen knelt and quickly looted the bodies. He found a patrol map, a small pouch of 15 Spirit Stones, and a handful of ration pills.
He popped a ration pill into his mouth, chewing it dry. It tasted like chalk, but it stopped his stomach from cramping.
He looked at the map. The exits were blocked. The forest was swarming with hunters.
"They think I'm trapped in here with them," Jiang Chen muttered, tracing the patrol lines with a bloodied finger.
He looked up at the moon, his eyes flashing with a predatory light.
"They're wrong. I'm not trapped."
He turned North, deeper into the dark, toward the dangerous heart of the forest where the Spirit Beasts roamed.
"Dinner is served."
[SYSTEM LOG: END OF CHAPTER 17]
HOST: Jiang Chen
Identity: "Scarred Rogue" (Disguised via Mask of the Faceless)
Location: Black Spirit Forest (Outer Perimeter)
Status: Hunted / Injured (Regenerating)
Attributes: Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 5 (Peak) Strength: 10.0 Agility: 10.0 Constitution: 9.5 Spirit: 5.0 EV: 2,745 (+45 from kills)
Skills: Phantom Step (Rank 2 - Beginner) Void Claw (Lvl 2) Venom Heart (Lvl 2) Serpent's Breath (Novice) Iron Skin (Intermediate)
Inventory: Mask of the Faceless (Equipped) Ruined Robes 15 Low-Grade Spirit Stones Patrol Map Ration Pills
PARASITE: Apeiron (The Void Serpent)
State: Awake / Observing
Sync Rate: 6% (Rising)
Current Directive: Observe Host combat efficiency.
Notes: Host adaptation to lethal force is proceeding faster than projected.