Qin Ming stood where he was. Not chosen. Not bothered.
Xu Yueping worried for him. Yang Yongqing felt the sting too — he'd once joked that a noble lady would come down during the sweep and Qin Ming should show his best.
Wei Zhirou was gracious. She praised Qin Ming openly, said she'd have loved to take him, but Cao Long and Mu Qing wouldn't agree. After the sweep, he should come find her in Redcloud City.
Qin Ming didn't posture. He smiled. If he ever left the area, Redcloud City would be his first stop.
"I'll take Qin Ming." Mu Qing spoke.
A stiffness ran through him — barely visible, but there. He'd been calm when Wei Zhirou passed. Now, discomfort.
The cloaked figure whose sex he couldn't determine, whose species was in question — going into the mountains with this one felt like stepping into a trap.
He suspected Mu Qing might be a high-tier being who'd joined Redcloud City. No human body, however transformed, grew a golden tail.
But what choice did he have? He nodded. Brightly.
Mu Qing was pleased. Noted the chopping knife. "You need a proper weapon. What do you prefer?"
"Haven't settled on one yet."
Mu Qing considered. "Some mountain creatures have thick scales — blades skip off them. I'll give you a long-handled hammer. Use it well, it's devastating. One strike can crush a skull. But it's heavy — might not suit you."
Someone brought a dark-gold hammer. Long handle, heavy head.
Qin Ming took it. Swung it a few times — casually, one-handed. Afterimages trailed. The air hummed. He handled it like a toy, flicking it like a spear form, then flowing into a sword dance.
"Good." Mu Qing approved. The strength was clear.
Wei Zhirou was quietly startled. Her standards were high. That effortless swing suggested Qin Ming's power was already approaching the six-hundred-jin threshold.
She'd had both Golden Foundation boys assessed — she'd thought Xu Yueping exaggerated. He hadn't.
But she wasn't disappointed. Zhou Wubing had suffered damaged vitality in childhood. New Life was restoring it. His potential was immense — stable at six hundred jin and likely climbing. And Xu Kong himself had trained him.
Cao Long was unbothered. His path was the Giant Spirit route — born with divine strength.
Mu Qing added: "A short sword too. If something gets inside your guard, you'll want a fast blade."
"Thank you." Qin Ming took it. Finally — weapons better than the patrol's.
---
Selections accelerated. Old Liu, at seventy, was initially passed over. Then he volunteered — advertised himself as a man who knew these mountains like his own backyard. Suddenly, all three factions wanted him.
"I go with Little Qin. Same village. We look out for each other." Old Liu planted his flag.
The picks wrapped up.
"Leadership will hold the final negotiation with the deep-range beings soon. Until then, we wait," Cao Long announced.
The three leaders would return to Silver Elm Town — their current base. Selected New Lifers should prepare.
As the crowd dispersed, dozens of armored fighters emerged from the timber — the three families' real muscle, following their young masters.
On the way home, Xu Yueping sighed. "They're polite. But we're guides — they don't rate our strength at all."
Yang Yongqing nodded. "The youth squads are here to train. Those veteran fighters are the actual sweep force."
Old Liu accepted it. They had advanced manuals. How could locals compete?
Xu Yueping disagreed. "I've been to Redcloud City. Only the innermost core of each noble family holds complete high-grade texts."
His read: the rewards wouldn't be a family's true heritage. That would undermine their foundation. More likely, high-grade fragments collected from outside — enough to train a New Lifer to completion, but not the family's deepest secret.
Yang Yongqing's eyes burned. "Even a fragment of a high-grade manual — just the New Life portion — would make people lose their minds."
Qin Ming murmured, "If the three families are willing to part with something this valuable, what are they really after in those five-colored zones?"
"More than three families came," Old Liu corrected. "Over a dozen."
They reached the village as the Shallow Night neared its end.
---
Qin Ming arrived at Old Liu's door with a slab of donkey meat. Officially, to share dinner. Actually, to ask about the Blood Bamboo Grove.
Old Liu lived at the village entrance, near the fire spring. Red light touched his gray-brick walls.
A yellow dog burst from its kennel. Adult shoulder-height, coat gleaming with a faint luminous sheen, white fangs bared.
Qin Ming thought of the Golden Mastiff. Looked the dog over. Good condition. Probably good eating.
The dog read something in his gaze. The snarl collapsed. Tail tucked. It dove back into the kennel and didn't come out.
"Little Qin, why bring meat?" Old Liu appeared instantly — sharp for seventy.
Qin Ming smiled. "Old Liu, trade you two Blade-Antler Deer for this yellow dog?"
The dog whined from the kennel. Tucked tail, sideways glance at its master.
"Strong spiritual sense, this dog. It's afraid of you — means you've built killing intent from hunting." Old Liu chuckled. "No trade. He's almost mutated. Feeds the family — brings back game on his own."
"That strong?" Qin Ming was surprised.
Old Liu stroked his goat-beard. "Two months ago, he was so old he could barely walk. Vanished for a few days. Came back improved. He'll mutate before Yang Yongqing's black goat."
"Old dog returns to the mountain — either dies or comes back strong. The old saying has proof." Qin Ling stared at the dog.
Old Liu grinned. "Speaking of — you fell into that fissure, nearly died, got sick, then had your New Life right after. Same pattern, isn't it?"
Qin Ming wanted to hit him. The old man's mouth was a blade — no wonder he'd never married the prettiest girl.
Old Liu lowered his voice. "That fissure is worth watching."
The city families were mapping nodes. There had to be a reason.
Qin Ming shook his head. "Not until my Second New Life. I won't go near that zone."
Then he pivoted. "Old Liu, you know every legend about the mountain's spiritual things. Tell me."
"You rascal. I knew you wanted something." Old Liu pointed, then went serious. "If spiritual things were easy to take, I wouldn't have wasted my life out here. You've got a Golden Foundation — you'll have your Second New Life naturally. No need to risk it."
"You said a young man should have sharp edges. What's youth without daring? I want to advance early and see the view from higher up."
"Did I say that?" Old Liu squinted. He'd had half a cup of rough wine last night — not drunk.
"Close enough," Qin Ming smiled.
"Dreams shrink with age. Better to aim high early." Old Liu conceded.
Wind and snow hammered the windows. Inside, the table steamed — donkey meat in every dish. They talked late.
Old Liu shared what he knew. Spiritual creatures, their names, their haunts — all in dangerous territory. And he told Qin Ming where the Blood Bamboo Grove was.
Qin Ming had guessed. Feng Yi'an and Shao Chengfeng had been watching it. It had to be in the patrol's territory.
Correct. Six li from the patrol's base.
The grove was home to a snake — body like red coral, blood and gallbladder rich with vitality and spiritual essence.
But deadly. Venomous. One bite could kill a New Lifer.
"If you're lucky enough to catch one, cut off the head immediately. Remove the venom glands. Otherwise it's not medicine — it's a death sentence."
Beyond venom, the snake's body was iron-hard, freakishly strong, and capable of flight. Even a three-foot specimen was more dangerous than most mountain beasts — it could launch like an iron arrow and punch through a body in an instant.
Hence the names: Blood Snake. Arrow Snake.
If you saw one over ten feet long, run.
Old Liu recalled the nest from his youth. Decades had passed. There had to be twice-mutated snakes in there now.
"As long as there's no ancient elder snake," Qin Ming said.
"Blades bounce off them. Sparks fly. For their tier, they have almost no weakness." Old Liu suddenly stood — nearly flipped the table. His wife glared. His youngest grandchild nearly cried.
"You old fool — what's wrong?"
Old Liu's face flushed. He looked young again, arms waving. "I forgot! The mountains are in chaos — if the Blood Bamboo Grove's fire spring dies, the snakes will freeze solid. Free for the taking!"
He wanted to sprout wings and fly.
Qin Ming jumped on it. "Let's go tonight, you and me. Pick up frozen snakes."
"Yes!" Old Liu nodded hard. Then stopped. Sat down. Deflated. "If I figured it out, Feng Yi'an and Shao Chengfeng did too. They've been watching this mountain. They'd have thought of the spiritual creatures in their own territory."
The old man sat there, slapping his thigh, cursing the patrol.
"Lucky dogs. Probably produced another Fu Entao. I want to pour a ladle of golden filth over their heads."
---
Qin Ming had been going nonstop since midnight. Kill the patrol. Meet city nobles. Listen to Old Liu's mountain stories all evening.
He came home tired. Slept.
Next morning, early — he entered the mountains.