Battle Through the Heavens: A Dragon at the Start

Chapter 4 Leaving the Black Corner Region

into the night.

In the inn's room, Qi Lie sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, as the surrounding energy of heaven and earth was drawn in and continuously flowed into his body.

After a long while, the energy of heaven and earth gradually stopped surging, and Qi Lie slowly opened his eyes.

"My battle aura has finally fully recovered, but my injuries will take some time to heal."

With his fighting spirit fully restored, Qi Lie felt somewhat safer. After all, in his weakened state, it was quite dangerous for him to go out. If it weren't for needing to comfort Zi Yan, he wouldn't have gone out at all.

Qi Lie raised his hand and clenched his fist, feeling the powerful battle qi within his body. His eyes flickered as he recalled the arduous journey of the past few years.

Back then, he traveled to the Crimson Sun Empire in the Northwest Continent and became a child, wandering the streets and begging for a living. Later, through various coincidences, he finally embarked on the path of cultivation. Although he lacked resources, he was fortunate to have good talent and advanced to the Dou Shi realm at the age of fourteen!

He originally intended to join Canaan Academy with his talent, get through the novice period, and improve his strength as soon as possible. However, he accidentally killed a student in the Canaan Academy recruitment team, which made him afraid to participate in the Canaan Academy recruitment anymore. He even had to worry about being recognized by the people of Canaan Academy!

His exceptional talent for cultivation fueled his high spirits. Despite the difficulty in acquiring resources and the fact that he had offended Canaan Academy, he remained ambitious and unwilling to serve any power. He even refused to befriend Xiao Yan in the Jia Ma Empire. In his mind, what did Emperor Yan matter? He could replace him!

In order to better acquire resources, he came to the chaotic Black Corner Region, put on a mask to conceal his appearance, and then began a seemingly endless cycle of robbery, ambush, and assassination. As long as he could obtain resources such as pills, gold coins, and cultivation techniques, his moral bottom line could be flexibly adjusted.

However, because he started cultivating late and his early cultivation techniques were too inferior, he only advanced to the Dou Wang realm at the age of twenty. Furthermore, as a lone wolf, he had difficulty acquiring resources, and currently he is only cultivating a high-level Xuan-rank cultivation technique!

Although a Dou Wang is already considered a strongman in the Black Corner Region, Qi Lie doesn't think it's anything to be proud of. His goal is to become a Dou Di, and even if he goes through hardships, he will not change his mind.

Having traveled through time, one should always have some ambitions. As for whether he can achieve them, that answer awaits him in the future.

Qi Lie's eyes narrowed slightly as he began to consider his next move.

He managed to snatch three Battle Spirit Pills and one Imperial Extreme Pill at the Black Emperor Sect's trading site. The intelligence he had previously obtained did not mention the existence of the Imperial Extreme Pill, which led him to underestimate the Black Emperor Sect's defensive capabilities, resulting in a disastrous outcome and nearly being killed.

However, the accuracy of intelligence sources cannot be guaranteed, and there are always risks involved in doing this kind of thing; it's just that we were unlucky this time.

He's currently a two-star Dou Wang, so seeking revenge against the Black Emperor Sect isn't very realistic. Destroying some strongholds wouldn't be very meaningful either. He'll just make a note of it for now and take revenge later.

Now that we've encountered Zi Yan, we can reduce the frequency of robbing the rich to help the poor in the future, since this mishap is a lesson learned.

In the future, we can go into the mountains more often and travel around more. With Zi Yan's treasure-hunting ability, we can quickly find rare and precious materials. If Zi Yan is capable, it should be faster than him going to rob them alone.

Moreover... it's time to face reality. Without a backer or background, relying solely on his own efforts, he might still be stuck at the Dou Zun realm when Xiao Yan advances to Dou Di, or even not live to see that day. Of course, if he's lucky, he might become a Dou Sheng.

Of course, how to improve is a matter for later. The most urgent task now is to recover from his injuries. Moreover, he has already sensed that he has reached the bottleneck of the Three-Star Fighting King, and he will be able to break through in at most half a month!

Next, recover from your injuries, improve your strength, and then raid one of the Black Emperor Sect's branches before leaving the Black Corner Region.

Zi Yan has already appeared, and there shouldn't be many years left before the plot begins. It's time for him to get involved and compete!

What would it be like if two people from the same hometown met?

Thinking of this, Qi Lie thought to himself, it's impossible for him to be teary-eyed, but a backstabbing is more likely.

Qi Lie pondered for a moment, then put his mind at ease and turned his head slightly to look to his right. Zi Yan was in the room next to his.

"The Ancient Dragon of the Void... perhaps we could try to strengthen our bond..."

Qi Lie's calm eyes flickered slightly. After a moment, he calmed his mind, closed his eyes, circulated his cultivation technique, and began to cultivate.

……

The next morning, Qi Lie woke up from his cultivation.

After a quick wash, Qi Lie went to Zi Yan's room and knocked on the door.

"Knock knock knock!"

Soon, the door opened, and little Zi Yan looked up at Qi Lie with her big, blinking eyes, her delicate face asking a question.

"Walk."

Qi Lie spoke succinctly, and as he spoke, he raised his hand and put on a black mask, then handed a small black robe and mask to Zi Yan.

Back when they killed students from Canaan Academy, some escaped. That's why Qi Lie always wore a mask to conceal his appearance when he was in the Black Corner Region, and Zi Yan had to do the same when she followed him.

Zi Yan muttered to herself as she took the black robe and mask back to her room to change. Then she followed Qi Lie and left the inn, since she didn't have much to pack.

Fengye City is located in the eastern part of the Black Corner Region. If Qi Lie wants to participate in the plot, he must go to the Jia Ma Empire. The two places are nearly 10,000 miles apart. If he only focuses on traveling, he can arrive in a few days. However, Qi Lie did not just rush. With Zi Yan, the treasure-hunting dragon, by his side, he could scavenge along the way to enrich himself.

Qi Lie took Zi Yan with him and set off from Fengye City. They first spent a few days leisurely sightseeing. Then, Qi Lie began to venture into the mountains and forests, letting Zi Yan sense the treasures. If there were magical beasts guarding them, Qi Lie would lend a hand, and the two of them would split the rare treasures they obtained.

Although the scene of Qi Lie risking his life to save her that he wanted didn't happen, the two became much closer as they spent time together and played around.

During the day, they traveled leisurely, searching for rare and precious materials, making their journey easy. At night, they sought safe places to cultivate. In this slow and leisurely journey, Qi Lie and Zi Yan gradually approached the Jia Ma Empire. It wasn't until two months later that the two finally arrived at the mountains outside the border of the Jia Ma Empire.

"Ghost-Suppressing Pass".

Qi Lie stood atop a precipitous mountain peak amidst the towering mountains outside the Jia Ma Empire, gazing at the massive fortress that stood like a primordial beast on the border of the Jia Ma Empire, and murmured to himself.

"Brother Qi, is that the Gama Empire just ahead?" Beside Qi Lie, a little girl with light purple hair and dressed in white also looked into the distance and asked curiously in her childish voice.

"Yes, once we pass the Ghost-Suppressing Pass, we'll enter the Gama Empire."

Qi Lie explained softly, then looked away and took the lead in walking forward. Zi Yan quickly followed with her short legs.