How long have I been here, I wonder?

A day? A year? Two hundred years?

It’s been too long since I last saw the sun. I hope there’s -still- a sun when I awaken.

Will I awaken though? It’s been so long… Maybe I’m alread-

Hm! What’s this? A wisp of… magic!

Will it be time soon? Yes. Thanks be to the Three, I will see daylight again.

What should I say to the king and the council? “Who dares awaken me, King Aryon!?”

No. Too overbearing. Perhaps “I have awoken at last. Who calls upon my power once more?!”

Haha. That’s a good one. Yes. Ah! More and more magic is being poured into the coffin. Soon. Soon…

Road near the Green Blade Forest, just north of Slow Wind Village

Feng Yan was fighting for his life right now.

They immediately set off when the reinforcements came. Green Blade Forest Sect truly spared no effort to carry off such a rare monster harvest; One Soul Core practitioner, ten inner disciples in the Foundation level like him and dozens of outer disciples with varying Spirit Gathering levels were sent to aid in the operation.

They loaded the squid parts in seven specialised carts that hid the scent of meat and preserved its freshness. Because the carts couldn’t fly, the caravan traveled through the north road towards a village under the Sect’s jurisdiction.

Feng Yan and his team were placed in the center, keeping eyes on all of the carts. As for the rest, they were scattered evenly around the rest of the caravan

The Soul Core practitioner stood guard on extra cart. The one bearing the black box.

The team initially tried opening the box on their own, to no success. They did notice that it absorbed Spirit Energy, but the amount required was too great for their cultivations to muster. When the Soul Core elder saw the box, he deduced it to be valuable and thus “took over the burden of guarding it.”

There was no arguing with a practitioner on the Soul Core Realm. Feng Yan, for all his genius and status as an inner sect disciple, could not hope to top the strength (and influence) of a man one realm higher than him. So he could only grit his teeth and abandon any attempt at getting merit from this.

But now, he was right next to the box, fending off attackers.

As the caravan reached the midpoint of their journey, they were ambushed by none other than the Red Wolves bandit group.

The infamous Red Wolves had been the scourge of Dragon Border Gate Prefecture for a decade now, raiding small villages and disrupting trade before vanishing away into the hidden passes at the southern foot of the Encircling Serpent Mountains.

The area they were in now was far from their usual strike range. But Feng Yan didn’t have time to wonder how they got here so fast.

Most of the bandits possessed cultivations varying at high Spirit Gathering to low Foundation levels. Easy opponents to trained and disciplined sect disciples. But they also brought along two Soul Core practitioners, who wasted no time in attacking their sole Soul Core elder.

When the ambush began and the sect disciples were pushed back, Feng Yan and his team retreated to the center of the caravan. Girding his will, he began unleashing technique after technique at the coming bandits.

Dancing Iron Wind Blade, Fluttering Leaves in the Wind!

His sword swept outwards in arcs, cutting down two Foundation bandits easily. Those who dodged his steel were, instead, sliced by blades of wind that followed the path of his strike. The other disciples held their ground and fought with group tactics, barely holding on.

He cut and slash over and over again as the enemy drew close to their stand. Several disciples joined their resistance, and soon the surviving disciples were gathered near the center cart, surrounded by bandits.

A flame mystic art shot out from the trees, hitting the cart with the black box and destroying the former. Seeing the box unharmed, Feng Yan hurriedly had the box moved over to serve as cover against ranged mystic arts.

Though encircled, the disciple group fought with high morale and tactics. Outer disciples didn’t have a lot of battle strength on their own, so the Sect trained them for group combat. Lead by the remaining nine inner disciples, they pushed the bandits away time and again as they came.

Feng Yan ducked as another flame mystic art struck the box. ‘It’s chaotic but we’ve got the upper hand.’ he thought. ‘If we can rout these bandits, we can rush over to help elder-”

There was a flash, and the body of their elder flew out from the trees. Feng Yan felt his heart sink in despair as he saw the elder’s unmoving body broken and bloodied on the floor.

“Hahaha. Good fight. That one gave me quite the workout.”

“Easy for you to say, Captain Gong. I did all the work!”

The two Soul Core Realm bandits floated over on their flying swords. The one complaining was swathed in brown cloth, hiding his appearance. The other was a bald, rough, muscular man with a bare torso covered in scars.

“Green Blade Forest Sect!” bellowed the one called Captain Gong. “Drop your weapons and surrender! Unless you want this daddy to crush you underfoot!”

They still had three-fourths of their outer disciples and nine inner disciples, but even together they could not match the difference between their cultivation realms. One Soul Core practitioner could decimate their ranks with some effort. Two would be a bloodbath.

Tall and arrogant, the muscular man approached them at a leisurely pace. “Well, little brats? Must I show you what happens when you don’t listen to your elders?”

He bent down and took some dirt into his hands, then tossed it forward. The dirt shaped itself into a stalactite of stone as it flew towards the frontmost disciple…

“Move!”

CRACK!

Feng Yan panted heavily, but he was able to move the black box forward in time to block the attack. Though it was heavy, his Foundation level physique gave him the strength double that of a regular man.

“Hm! To block my attack like that… what an interesting box you got there! I’ll be taking that with the rest as well.” boasted Captain Gong.

“Could it be a mystic treasure?” said the other Soul Core bandit. He leapt over to stand next to his companion to get a closer look, then flung a flame mystic art at the box.

The shapeless flame collided with the box and was absorbed into the black sides. “Fascinating.” wondered the robed man. He pointed to the disciples. “Let’s drop the act and kill these sect dogs already. I want to research this thing as soon as possible!”

Feng Yan and the rest of the disciples took up battle stances. Even in the face of death, Green Blade Forest Sect prepared to fight to the end.

“Tch. You and your toys.” the muscular man spat on the ground and flexed his shoulders. “Alright, boys. Kill the sect dogs an-”

He interrupted his orders when he saw the lid of the black box slowly slide off. A steel-clad hand pushed off the heavy lid, which fell dully onto the earth.

Both bandits and disciples looked on, dumbfounded, as an armoured man stood up from within.