Chapter 1: Brutality (Part 1)

The Eagle Demon also became careless for a moment. Since ascending to the first-tier Physical Altar, he hadn’t faced a proper battle, and fighting against a professional from a third-tier altar revealed his severe shortcomings. As soon as the fight started, he suffered a heavy loss—his life altar nearly collapsed, forcing him to retreat in panic.
Being suppressed by the opponent’s attacks was extremely dangerous. The Eagle Demon wasn’t alone in the vast grasslands back then; he had no companions and had to handle everything on his own. But now was different—he had powerful allies, so he immediately sought help. Guo Shier and Luo Jie rushed over at the same time.
Luo Jie’s soul-shaking roar made the altar expert chasing the Eagle Demon pause for a moment. Guo Shier also charged in with a howl, using his altar to strike again.
Boom!
The old man couldn’t help but curse, “You wastrel… hitting again!” No wonder he cursed—after all, the altar was like a house, one he lived in all year round. Having someone randomly smash into others’ houses gave him every right to be furious.
The man was flung away by the fierce impact, and soon Luo Jie arrived. A giant hand formed of black flames slammed down on him, instantly destroying his defenses as the altar burst into flames. The professional sitting on the altar stared in disbelief—he never expected the gap in strength to be so vast; he couldn’t even withstand a single strike from his opponent.
Guo Shier turned and left. As long as Luo Jie intervened, that guy had no chance of survival.
The Eagle Demon, still shaken, looked at his opponent turned to ashes and muttered, “Damn…” He then rushed toward Luo Zhan. Guo Shier teleported to Nan You’s side and said, “Go help Uncle Luo. I’ll take care of this!” Moonblade immediately shot out.
Like a storm, they struck down several altar-level experts one after another. The professionals chasing behind realized the situation was dire and fled in panic.
Luo Jie stopped them from pursuing, saying with a smile, “Let’s play tag with them, hehe.”
Guo Shier said, “It would be best to find a city and rob it…” He was already addicted to robbery. If not for their successful heist last time, they wouldn’t have gathered enough materials to advance to a fourth-tier altar. Not only him but even the Eagle Demon enjoyed robbing. As for Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan, they didn’t care about materials as long as it could cause trouble for the Gu Mi family—they were happy to do it.
Nan You urged, “Let’s go. If we delay any longer, the larger group will catch up.”

Chen Tianyao, a professional from the fifth-tier altar, was quite clever. He managed to escape almost as soon as the two sides came into contact, and he also got away from a professional from the fourth-tier altar. All six who pursued them were killed. By the time Chen Tianyao gathered a larger group and returned, not a single person was in sight—Luo Jie and the others had already left.

Chen Tianyao gazed into the distance thoughtfully. He could trace the direction Luo Jie and the others had gone, but he was too timid and pretended not to know, saying, “We can’t find any trace of them…” He had already resolved to find a way to leave right after returning. Seriously, fighting desperately against two professional experts with soul altars was no different from seeking death.

Only if a few professionals from the seventh-tier altar appeared could they possibly hold them back, but whether the Gu Mi family had such professionals was still uncertain. He himself was only at the fifth-tier altar and not a member of the Gu Mi family—there was no reason to risk his life for some materials or gold talismans.

Gradually, Chen Tianyao fell behind the group of altar professionals. Once they were a bit farther away, he immediately turned around and sped off. He regretted chasing so eagerly earlier; it had almost cost him his life.

…

Luo Jie, with a slight headache, looked at the endless mountains and said, “Without map charts, this continent seems huge. We can’t just wander around randomly. We need to find map charts of the Gu Mi Continent as soon as possible.”

Guo Shier said, “Wait a moment.” His soul fluctuated slightly. “Elder Shuai, we took things from the guy we killed earlier—things from his storage space for map charts… does he have any?”

Elder Shuai replied, “Let me check. This guy does have quite a few talismans. I’ll sort them out. If I find any, I’ll give them to you…”

Luo Jie asked, “How?”

Guo Shier smiled. “We just robbed a guy from the third-tier altar. I’m checking if he has any map charts in his storage space.”

Luo Jie said, “Okay, let’s wait. Strange, how did you manage to steal from an altar professional’s storage space? That’s absolutely insane.”

Qi Nanshan laughed. “He’s always been this monstrous; he’s been like this since childhood.” This remark about him being monstrous reminded everyone of events from many years ago. Unexpectedly, after all these years, although everyone had become advanced professionals, the entire continent had been destroyed. They knew that if their sect still existed, the North Talisman Sect would surely have thrived.

A moment later, Guo Shieru cheered. He took out a talisman map and said, “There really is one, haha.” He stuck the map on his forehead, examined it briefly, then frowned and said, “We’ve strayed far. There are no cities in this area, only some supply points. Hmm, we need to head south… that’s where there are many cities.”
Luo Jie took the map and glanced at it, saying, “Hmm, this map isn’t very detailed either. Let’s head south…”
The six of them flew quickly toward the south.
After about half a day, they flew out of the mountainous area. Luo Jie pointed in the distance and said, “There’s someone…” A streak of talismanic light flashed across the sky, flying southward. Luo Jie immediately teleported over, followed closely by Qi Nanshan.
Guo Shieru said, “Let’s go there too. Hehe, it must be a lone altar professional.”
In an instant, Guo Shieru and the others also teleported there.
Chen Tianyao’s soul suddenly fluctuated, startling him. Such a kind of soul intuition was usually only possessed by altar professionals who had reached level five or above; of course, a few professionals with extremely pure souls might have it earlier. Without hesitation, he slapped his altar, trying to teleport away. But at that moment, he was horrified to find that he had been locked down and couldn’t teleport.
Then he saw Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan appear on either side of him. Desperately, he retreated, but when he looked back, Guo Shieru and the others also appeared. Panicked, he shouted, “Wait! Listen to me…”
Luo Jie sneered, “Buying time? That won’t help!”
Chen Tianyao pleaded, “I was just hired. I’ve quit… I’ve left!”
Qi Nanshan cursed, “Quit your damn ass! You were the fastest and most persistent in chasing… Why didn’t you say you were quitting back then? Damn you… Quitting as soon as you lose? There’s no such thing!”
Chen Tianyao was at a loss. If he had known these people were so monstrous, he would never have chased after them. It was too terrifying. Stammering, he said, “Um… my grandma died long ago. It has nothing to do with her…” He blurted out nonsense.
Guo Shieru burst into laughter, “Damn you… pretty good at talking!”
Chen Tianyao continued, “My grandpa died long ago, and he was mute—he can’t talk…”
Everyone was speechless. They were used to Guo Shieru’s style of cursing, but they never expected to encounter such a jokester.
Luo Jie lost his smile and said, “Kill this guy!”

Chen Tianyao screamed, “I surrender! I give up! You can’t bully someone who’s surrendered!”
Guo Shier didn’t hold back his sigh. “A professional from the fifth-tier altar… are you really that weak? You should rather die than yield!”
Chen Tianyao hurriedly said, “I don’t want to die! I was just hired… to make a living, hehe, hehehe…” Facing such a stubborn person, it was hard for everyone to take action. If he were from the Gu Mi family, these people would have torn him to pieces without hesitation, but since he was just a hired hand with no direct hatred between them, none of them dared to act.
Luo Jie cursed, “Weakling!”
Chen Tianyao repeated, “Yes, yes! I’m a weakling!” He thought to himself, “If I weren’t clever, I’d have died countless times by now. Fine, I’m a weakling, but at least I’m still alive. Sigh, I made a mistake this time by taking on such a task. I got nothing out of it and almost lost my life. I shouldn’t do this kind of business.”
Qi Nanshan stared at him for a long time until Chen Tianyao was drenched in sweat before he said, “I can spare your life…”
Chen Tianyao quickly replied, “Just give me orders. I’ll obey, hehe, I definitely will!” He felt like a lamb surrounded by wolves, trembling all over, or like a girl trapped by perverts—utterly miserable.
Guo Shier shook his head silently, though he didn’t really disapprove of Chen Tianyao’s approach; it was a way to survive. It wasn’t strange that this guy had reached the fifth-tier altar. The world was full of dangers; a single mistake could mean death. Only by staying alive could one progress and advance further.
Qi Nanshan said, “It’s simple—join us!”
Chen Tianyao was stunned. He inwardly groaned in despair, but he couldn’t refuse. The rune light in Qi Nanshan’s eyes flickered as he said indifferently, “You don’t agree? Of course, I won’t force you, hehe.”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. Those words were quite oppressive—refusing meant certain death. How could he not agree?
Chen Tianyao said, “I… I… I’ll do it!”