I'm here in the martial arts world just to find love.

There were seven crows in the forest. Three were on guard, while the other four were fighting a large snake.

The giant snake was entirely crimson red, as thick as a water bucket, with gleaming scales and prominent horns. Its massive body, over two zhang long, coiled around a protruding rock in the forest, its head raised and its tongue flicking, looking exceptionally ferocious.

The flock of crows that were fighting and killing it were no ordinary creatures either. Each of them had glossy feathers, a color as black as ink, a body as large as an eagle, claws like iron hooks, and beaks like steel knives. Each time they swooped down and pecked, they aimed straight for the eyes of the giant snake.

Many of the snake's scales had peeled off, leaving it covered in wounds, but the marks did not appear to be from crows; rather, they seemed to be from swords or knives.

Jiang Chao, who was observing from the shadows, saw a broken sword stuck in the belly of the giant snake.

As the giant snake dodged the crow's pecking, the broken sword's edge was revealed, its cold light gleaming faintly.

After observing for a while, Jiang Chao was certain that the flock of crows had come to finish off the giant snake while it was still seriously injured.

The one who truly caused the giant snake to be covered in wounds was someone else!

Finally, the giant snake, unable to bear the torment any longer, decided to give up on dealing with these annoying, hairy creatures.

Its snake tail suddenly swung, whipping up the pebbles on the ground and hurling them at the flock of crows in the air.

shhhhh--

The sound of shattered stones whistling through the sky.

The four crows circling in the air were unable to dodge in time. Two of them were hit by the pebbles, their glossy black feathers flying everywhere, and they fell to the ground cawing in pain.

Seeing this, the other two crows seemed to be aroused, letting out piercing screams and swooping down relentlessly, using their sharp claws and beaks to tear at the wounds where the snake's scales had been peeled off.

This scene was completely unexpected by Jiang Chao.

The fighting prowess displayed by these crows was completely different from that of the two pairs he kept.

They were extremely fierce and fearless, even when they knew they were no match for the enemy.

The large, crimson snake hissed as it faced the crow's attacks, its massive body writhing in agony.

It ceased its fight, loosened its grip on the entangled rocks, and seemed ready to flee.

So, the other three crows that had been perched on the treetops as lookouts also joined the chase, which seemed to be a case of the many bullying the few.

Jiang Chao was secretly observing and watching with great interest when he suddenly realized that the crimson snake was fleeing in his direction.

The boy was slightly taken aback, wondering if he was really that lucky.

The crimson serpent was a species he had never seen before. Though called a serpent, it was more like a python, its crimson scales gleaming, clearly an extraordinary creature. Such strange beasts often contained many valuable things.

When martial arts practitioners reach the pinnacle of their skills, they can condense their inner energy into a pill, known as Dan Yuan, which is the essence of their blood and qi.

According to the ancient books he consulted, in ancient times, those who had achieved great mastery of martial arts could refine the elixir within their bodies into weapons. Once unleashed, these weapons possessed immense power, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, destroying cities and slaughtering nations—truly terrifying.

  

He once asked his father, Jiang Buwen, whether such a person truly existed in the world.

Jiang Buwen mocked him for being naive and ignorant, telling him to read less nonsense books and focus on practicing martial arts.

They even confiscated and destroyed the few books he had read before, those with yellowed covers, forbidding him from reading them again, lest he have wild thoughts and go astray.

This is also why Jiang Chao never really cared much about martial arts back then.

Even his father, Jiang Buwen, a grandmaster of martial arts who stood at the pinnacle of the martial arts world, scoffed at such legendary things. It's conceivable that no matter how great the path of martial arts may be in this world, it can't be that great.

But Jiang Chao, who was born with knowledge, was still unwilling to give up, and a sliver of hope remained in his heart.

He always felt that the path of martial arts should not be as simple as it appears on the surface.

Otherwise, why discuss it in terms of "martial arts" instead of "martial skills"?

Practicing martial arts is kung fu, not the way.

In his understanding, the word "Tao" is not something that can be spoken of casually.

The Way is the truth.

This is also one of the truths about the martial arts world that he wanted to find when he secretly ran away from home and traveled down the mountain.

Another truth he sought to uncover was the origin of his Qilin bloodline.

Why is he born with superhuman strength, able to split stone tablets and lift thousands of pounds at such a young age?

This is clearly unreasonable.

As the large, blood-red snake drew ever closer, Jiang Chao activated his inner energy, preparing to unleash its power.

We just wait for the other party to come at us, then deliver a crushing blow.

It's a classic case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Who would have thought that just as Jiang Chao was fully focused and preparing to make his move, a long howl suddenly came from the distant, cloud-shrouded mountain peak.

The loud whistle startled Jiang Chao, making his hair stand on end.

The long howl was neither human nor beast; it sounded like it was coming from some kind of instrument.

It was this long howl that caused the giant snake, which was about to collide with him, to temporarily change direction.

The snake's body was naturally agile; with a twist and a sway, it slithered sideways, catching the five crows in its tracks off guard, leaving them staring at Jiang Chao in disbelief.

A crow with jet-black pupils met Jiang Chao's equally black eyes. Both were taken aback. Jiang Chao was the first to recover, awkwardly waving his hand and saying:

"Hello, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, the five larger crows cawed in unison, ignored him, flapped their wings, and chased after the fleeing snake.

A strong wind howled, and a unique, fishy smell of birds wafted over, leaving Jiang Chao frozen in place.

I originally thought that these fierce crows would swarm me without warning, but to my surprise, they completely ignored me.

Jiang Chao stood there awkwardly for a while, but finally decided to leave the dense forest that gave him a strange feeling and go outside first.

Carefully retreating back to the stream, the chestnut horse was still waiting in the same spot.

However, compared to before, Xiao Hong seemed a little anxious and restless. Her four hooves kept pawing at the ground, and the pebbles by the stream were thrown around and splashed into the stream, which was only knee-deep.

Clearly, the whooshing sound from the distant mountaintop had frightened it.

Although Jiang Chao was carefree, he wasn't the type to court death.

With no martial arts grandmasters or fellow disciples from the Wind and Snow Temple protecting him, Jiang Chao immediately decided to leave this place, which exuded an eerie atmosphere, and return to explore it again when he had the chance.

He leaped across the stream, came to the anxious Little Red, patted the horse's head to comfort it, then mounted the horse and galloped back the way he came.

The fog on the way here dissipated, revealing the original rugged mountain path, and Jiang Chao spurred his horse and galloped away.

After traveling for about an hour, as darkness fell, a much wider dirt road, frequented by people and horses, came into view.

When Jiang Chao came to his senses and looked around again, he found familiar memories flooding back, and the scene before him gradually overlapped with the map on his back.

This is clearly an official road leading towards Yunzhou.

On the dirt road, there are crisscrossing tracks of carts and horses, clearly indicating that people often walk on it.

Jiang Chao slowly slowed down his horse and sighed in admiration.

"I never imagined there would be such a mysterious place outside Qingzhou City. I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to enter again in the future..."

By this time, Jiang Chao could no longer be unaware that he had accidentally stumbled into a little-known secret realm.