The mysterious bamboo forest seemed to possess its own guidance; as the thought of leaving arose in Xia Yu's mind, the path through the forest gradually became clear.
After walking along the path for a moment, a suspended walkway appeared ahead.
The suspended walkway led all the way up to a platform at the peak. The platform looked like an inverted hill, with its pointed tip facing down and its flat surface facing up, floating entirely in mid-air.
Seeing this platform, Xia Yu thought of that scene from the early stages of the game. If nothing unexpected happened, there should be two cultivators, one righteous and one evil, confronting each other on that platform.
Then, they would be caught in the aftershocks of a suddenly appearing Thunder Dragon, falling into a state of near-death from heavy injuries.
Hmm... for the sake of his own safety, Xia Yu was in no hurry to step onto the suspended walkway. He wanted to wait for the Thunder Dragon to appear before moving forward; otherwise, it would be a joke if he got caught in the crossfire.
About the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, the sounds of argument on the platform grew louder, to the point where even Xia Yu, hiding at the exit of the bamboo forest, could hear the shouting.
Could it be that the Thunder Dragon was disturbed by the noise, which is why it struck those two guys with lightning?
Just as Xia Yu was thinking this, suddenly, the winds and clouds between heaven and earth shifted abruptly.
A pressure belonging to the primordial wilderness suddenly appeared. Even Xia Yu, hiding at the very bottom, felt a surge of palpitations.
Pitch-black dark clouds accompanied by fierce winds appeared, and a slender yet not frail black dragon spiraled out from beneath the valley.
Dense lightning flickered on the black dragon's ink-green scales. Its pair of cold white pupils showed no emotion, like a deity from the high heavens descending to inspect the mortal world.
Its mere appearance made the surroundings feel as if they had entered a silent, primordial land. Under this pressure, no creature dared to make a single sound.
This oppressive atmosphere didn't last long before the black dragon flew directly away from the area.
But in the next moment, countless thick bolts of lightning mixed with black pressure suddenly struck the platform from the firmament. Accompanying the explosion of lightning was a loud and long dragon's roar.
The long dragon's roar echoed across the eight desolations, and the majestic dragon thunder swept through the four directions.
A moment later, the dark clouds and lightning dissipated together, and the surroundings returned to tranquility once more.
"Phew, good thing it didn't notice me."
At the exit of the bamboo forest, Xia Yu lay tightly against the ground, lifting his head to observe the distant sky. If he could, he really wanted to bury himself in the dirt right now.
He didn't immediately walk out of the bamboo forest; after all, no one could say for sure if that Thunder Dragon would pull a U-turn and come back.
He wanted to learn from a certain Big Boss surnamed Li: the 'Gou' way—the way of playing it safe—is the true path of cultivation. The word 'cowardice' is the primary element of cultivation.
So Xia Yu directly traveled to another world, intending to come back in a few days. Surely it would be safe enough by then... A few days later, the bamboo forest path.
Xia Yu's figure gradually manifested, a lollipop hanging from his mouth.
He first scanned the surroundings warily and found nothing unusual. Only then did he take out a magic pistol from the Chat Group's Red Envelope.
Let him make the Ashina Sword Style famous in this world; the Ashina Sword Style is invincible!
Once all precautions were in place, he finally stepped onto the suspended walkway with great caution.
Before long, he arrived on the suspended platform. At this moment, a man and a woman were lying on the platform, both in a wretched state with tattered clothes and traces of blood on the corners of their mouths.
No chance to save them while they're warm, because the two were already stiff as boards.
They had already suffered heavy injuries from the black dragon's lightning strike, so it wasn't surprising that they died without anyone to help them.
Looking at the way the two died, a trace of sorrow suddenly rose in Xia Yu's heart.
This is the world of cultivation—a world where one can easily encounter an accident and die if they aren't careful. Mortals all yearn for cultivation, but how can they know the dangers of the path?
Fortunately, he had the Chat Group, a trump card for escaping. Furthermore, his goal was to never go out and cause trouble until he had safely cultivated to immortality.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu was about to leave through the teleportation array here, but he paused when he caught sight of the two bodies left out in the wild.
"Actually, you could have been saved, it's just... sorry."
In the game, players could choose to help the two and let them survive, or they could choose to kill them and loot the bodies for benefits.
In reality, it meant he actually could have helped them. However, for one, he was completely unfamiliar with these two, and for another, this was reality, not a game.
The story of the Farmer and the Viper was not uncommon in the cultivation world. Therefore, for his own safety, he didn't choose to help them. But no matter how he put it, he had stood by and watched them die.
"Fine, fine, I'll still give you a proper burial to rest in peace."
As he spoke, Xia Yu took out a shovel from the Chat Group's Red Envelope. He didn't know which guy had put it in there, but he'd use it for now.
Combined with his own physical fitness and telekinesis, two square grave pits were quickly dug out by him.
Considering these two were opponents, Xia Yu dug the two grave pits on separate sides, not burying them together.
After burying them separately, Xia Yu conveniently took their storage rings. You can't bring things with you when you're born, and you can't take them when you die. Instead of being buried with their wealth, he'd take it as his burial fee.
After all, he was penniless. With these two's storage rings, he could at least have some starting capital.
After observing a three-second silence for the two who died from the undeserved disaster, Xia Yu examined the two rings in his hand, silently using his spiritual power to sense if there were any tracking marks on them.
He wasn't so naive as to think there was nothing on the rings. However, with his fine sensing, he confirmed that these two rings were indeed just ordinary storage rings.
Furthermore, with the death of their owners, the restrictions placed upon them had also disappeared.
"Not bad. Thanks, you two,"
Xia Yu said, looking at the two mounds of earth on the platform. Before leaving, he lit three sticks of incense for each mound. Since he didn't know their names, he didn't set up tombstones.
"The next stop should be Yu Village, right?" Xia Yu muttered to himself as he stood on the teleportation array.
The teleportation array on the platform was still functional. He didn't know which mighty expert had set it up, but it could teleport one directly out of here.
With a flash of light, the scenery before Xia Yu's eyes instantly changed. He appeared on a main road leading to the mountains, and stepping onto this road meant he had officially entered the world of cultivation.
"Phew~ Cultivation? Not bad at all." Xia Yu smiled faintly and took a large stride forward... [Tale of Immortal]: I've decided. I'm going to learn from Big Boss Li Changshou and go straight to Yu Village to stay safe until I reach immortality before leaving the village.
[dark souls iii]: That's the spirit. That's how we successors of the 'Gou' way should be.
[nier: automata]:... [do you want to cultivate immortality]: Then what about your breakthrough materials? I remember that in Tale of Immortal, you need breakthrough materials to advance your realm.
[Tale of Immortal]: Ah, that... [Tale of Immortal]: Damn! I can't stay safe anymore. No, wait, I still can! As long as I learn an avatar technique or something similar, I can have my avatar help me search for advancement materials.
[Tale of Immortal]: Or I could just refine an avatar body. An avatar artifact seems even more useful than an avatar technique. It looks like my next goal is to learn artifact refining and look for avatar techniques.
[do you want to cultivate immortality]: No need for that. I can refine artifacts here too. You just go look for avatar techniques and natural treasures, and I'll handle the artifact refining.
[Tale of Immortal]: Deal. Then I'll head to Yu Village first. I remember it seems to be isolated from the outside world. Only by solving the problems there can one go to the outside. I'll go there and see if there are any techniques for sale.
[elden ring]: Good luck, everyone. I'm going back to clearing the map. I want to move my body a bit after getting tired of research.