Lin Feng and Mei Lin entered the forbidden land. They were both pleasantly surprised by the sight, snow-covered the land for as far as they could see, Lin Feng immediately wanted to capture the scenery in a painting, but first, he had to enjoy the scene, the boat flew in a slow speed so that the two could enjoy the scene.

"Intruders!" Below the boat, a white owl that was barely visible due to the whiteness of the background, suddenly spoke up.

"Report to the lord... report to the lord.... intruders..... report to the lord." The owl jumped off the tree and flew in a particular direction while repeating the words.

In a cave below a particular mountain, some distance away from Li Feng's boat, a middle-aged man was sitting inside in a lotus meditative posture. The old man had a long white beard. His eyes were currently closed. Whether he was sleeping or contemplating was unknown. He wore white robes that matched perfectly with his surroundings. If one were to look carelessly, they would assume it was a lump of snow.

Suddenly the old man opened his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot, ruining his saintly look. The old man got up with a frustrated sigh.

"This old man has been trying to break through the pseudo-saint realm, but I have failed again and again." The old man voiced his frustrations to no one.

"Maybe I can get a chance if I get out of this damn place." The old man spoke with anger in his voice. He remembered how he first got into his current predicament. Back then, hundreds of thousands of years, he had been a little boy who had just started cultivating, and since if one wanted to be a strong cultivator, you had to get fortuitous encounters.

Hence, he began wandering in the hope of getting his lucky chance.

One day when he was wandering, he encountered a water core, not knowing what it was. He went to grab it, thinking it was a treasure. The unexpected happened.

The core directly entered his body. He panicked. But he soon discovered it was not a curse but a blessing that skyrocketed his cultivation speed.

He had been happy knowing his fortuitous encounter had come. His cultivation experienced three breakthroughs before it finally stopped. He immediately set off to his sect, intending to brag to his friends. It was then that he discovered a problem. A barrier had been set up locking him in, he had spent years trying to break the barrier, but it was useless.

After spending one hundred years inside, the barrier suddenly broke. He saw that as his chance, so he immediately stepped out.

He had just stepped out when he suddenly felt a strong sense of disgust towards creatures that didn't belong in the forbidden land, so he started to kill them, humans, cows, and dogs. None were spared, him, together with other residents of the forbidden land, massacred their newfound enemies.

Things had continued like that until the humans started retaliating. His allies were slaughtered, their numbers reduced to a handful, it was then that they felt a sudden pull, and they were returned to the forbidden land. He was frustrated. He started feeling he was nothing more than a puppet.

He continued cultivating until another hundred years passed. This time, he tried to be cautious and used all of his energy to escape as far as possible. Still, the first cycle started again. He killed, humans retaliated, reducing his allies numbers, and the strongest were pulled back to the forbidden land. It became a survival game with the weak dying and the strongest surviving. He wondered how long the outsiders could take it because, after each cycle, they came out stronger than before.

He started to think of the events that had happened during the two hundred years. It was then that he discovered they were never free in the first place. It was like they were being selected. The strongest survived while the weak fell in the hands of the humans, he resigned to fate, and the cycle continued until his cultivation arrived at the immortal venerable. After that, he never felt an increase in his cultivation. He tried to talk to the core in his body, but he only got vague responses from it.

"Intruder... report to the lord... intruder.." The old man's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden noise.

"What does this stupid bird want? One hundred years are not over." Seeing the bird, the old man spoke in an angry tone. He hated this bird more than anything. It always appeared after one hundred years and repeatedly reminded him it was time to go out.

"Intruder?" The old man was taken aback after listening to the bird's words.

Has someone managed to break inside? The old man asked himself, a situation like this had never appeared before. It was always them going out, not others coming in.

"Where is the intruder?" The old man asked.

"Intruder!" The owl repeated the words then flew towards a particular direction. The old man followed behind.

On the other side, Lin Feng and Mei Lin had already got off the boat. Lin Feng saw the place was genuinely worth painting. He took his painting equipment and started to draw the area.

While Lin Feng was beginning to paint, a snow-white owl came and landed on his shoulders. Lin Feng was pleasantly surprised at first before calming down. His animal handling skills were perfect, so he assumed the owl was captivated by his one-with-nature aura. Thinking of this, he ignored the owl and continued painting.

Mei Lin initially wanted to chase the bird away but seeing her master was okay with it, she didn't bother anymore.

Behind them, the old man was observing them with caution. He wasn't an idiot that would charge at enemies without knowing their weakness and strength. He assumed the other party to have a higher cultivation base than him since they had managed to enter the barrier, a feat he was unable to accomplish.

"How is it possible?" The old man was puzzled when he observed the intruders' cultivation. He found no trace of cultivation, no matter how hard he tried to investigate. They couldn't be having a treasure as he would have discovered it. The old man thought of many possibilities, but only one seemed to make sense. Their cultivation was much higher than his.

"Are they saints?" The old man thought to himself, the thought itself made him shudder, did he somehow anger one of them unknowingly? The old man continued to wonder while panicking.

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently. The few metre deep ice started to melt at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Fine beads of sweat could be seen on the old man's forehead despite the cold temperatures. In a panic, the old man tried to mobilize his qi to escape but it was futile. He felt a stinging pain on his chest.

The core that had been silent for several years showed signs of movement.

"AAAARGH"

The old man screamed in pain as the core forcefully got out of his body and flew in a particular direction. Having no way to escape, even if he wanted to, he gritted his teeth and observed the core. The core hovered on top of the painting for a brief moment then suddenly entered the painting, shocking the old man.

The situation continued for a while before stopping.

Lin Feng finished painting and observed his masterpiece. He had to agree his paintings were perfect. Perhaps only a few could compete with him. Lin Feng looked around, and he was immediately shocked. The ice that filled the land just a moment ago was gone. He had been absorbed in his painting, so he missed the change.

"Where did the snow go?" Lin Feng asked the shocked Mei Lin.

Mei Lin was shocked because she never guessed her master intended to take the forbidden land with him. Lin Feng's question confused her further. How was she supposed to answer the question?

"I also don't know what happened." Mei Lin answered.

Seeing that Mei Lin didn't know the reason, Lin Feng decided to let the matter go. He thought the ice disappearance had something to do with the place being called forbidden despite them being able to enter. Lin Feng rolled his picture and put it in his space ring. His trip was intended to find new things to do, but he ended up doing the same old things.

"Little owl, fly away. We are about to leave." Lin Feng addressed the owl on his shoulder. The owl flew off his shoulders and perched on a nearby tree.

Lin Feng was preparing to go, but he suddenly saw a dishevelled old man hiding in the bushes.

"Old man, are you alright?" Lin Feng asked the old man.

" The seniors don't need to be concerned with this old slave's life." The old man spoke as politely as he could, he had tried to hide desperately, but he was still discovered, now he could only helplessly beg and hope the seniors don't lower themselves to kill him.