One-Eyed Monster

Kuren hobbled toward the depths of the mountain, concealed by the bushes. His location at Dawn Peak had been exposed.

He couldn't explain why his Spirit Paintings were brutally devoured by a monster. His poor paintings, once so vivid, had become mere remnants.

Nor could he understand why he, who had stayed well behind the incident, was inexplicably attacked—and not lightly, either.

Anyhow, his mission to protect Dawn Peak of Guru Mountain could be considered a failure, and he was unable to determine the current situation of his companion, Dastan.

Kuren felt that his World Setting Technique had no obvious flaws, yet somehow the enemy had seen through it. They had immediately spotted the locations of his paintings; without the paintings, the Alchemical Markers disappeared too. His watchful eyes set on Dawn Peak of Guru Mountain had been plucked out one by one by those who climbed the mountain.

This was a highly abnormal occurrence. Over many years, his World Setting Technique had endured numerous Deep Winter Seasons without any missteps. Why did it fail this year, before winter had even arrived, and get cracked by someone? The situation had become unbelievable.

He couldn't figure it out and was plagued by headaches. At the same time, he felt he had betrayed his Great Mentor's trust. For the World Setting Technique to be broken while under his care was, no matter how one looked at it, a betrayal of his Great Mentor's fervent hopes.

He now felt unable to face his Great Mentor's gaze.

When he first started to learn the World Setting Technique, his Great Mentor had given him personal guidance, marveling at his Spirit Paintings and holding high expectations for his skills with the technique. Kevin and Xiso had arranged for him to be at Dawn Peak precisely because it teemed with Treasure Hunters. This provided him with ample material and opportunities for experimentation, allowing him to continuously improve his World Setting Technique.

After all, having escaped from the bloodthirsty monster, all he had left was the ability to create Spirit Paintings. His previously impressive Physique Techniques and incredible fighting strength had vanished with the monster. Although others saw it as a pity, he did not miss them in the least. Those were things he hated, things he had long wanted to discard.

Now, it seemed as if everything had lost its meaning…

Kuren still remembered the scenes that had unfolded not long ago. Among the groups of people who climbed the mountain, the first to crack the World Setting Technique were Joela's people. Reflecting on their earlier infighting, he realized it had indeed clouded his judgment; he had never before made the mistake of arranging two paintings in the same scene. Perhaps this was the loophole that allowed the operatives from the Alchemy Workshop to spot the anomaly. Speaking of which, their methods of destruction were the most ruthless. That Hunter had directly used his pet to devour most of the Spirit Paintings. Those paintings, crafted with such painstaking effort, were now a wretched sight.

The damaged Spirit Paintings left behind by the Alchemy Workshop created a stark contrast to the second group who broke through the formation. This second group hadn't panicked when they were trapped. They used a special method to crack the World Setting Technique: they brought forth dark clouds that obscured the sunlight, turning the entire mountain path into a black vortex. These people seemed to have a special sensitivity to darkness. Through the reflections between the Alchemical Markers, they had managed to attack Kuren.

The moment the formation was broken, the bamboo sticks and sand table in front of Kuren collapsed with a CRASH. The bamboo sticks, as if possessed, flew rapidly towards Kuren's face. If Kuren hadn't reacted quickly, he would likely have been riddled by those bamboo sticks until he resembled a porcupine.

Kuren naturally didn't understand how such an attack was accomplished, but the force of the bamboo sticks was on par with Dastan's curved sword. Although Kuren's battered face managed to avoid the bamboo sticks, his leg was struck. Now, he limped painfully along the mountain path.

He didn't know if the second group would find him again and catch up, so he could only hobble along on his injured leg, carefully concealing his tracks. His destination was the deep mountains; he needed to report to Xiso and Kevin.

The monster on Guru Mountain is perhaps about to re-emerge, Kuren thought quietly to himself.

Kuren considered himself one of Guru Mountain's 'monsters' too, but he had no desire to appear before others. With his current appearance, nobody would like him. Instead, they would treat him as a monster among monsters. His current face would only draw strange stares. After such unsettling scrutiny, people might ridicule him, fear him, or perhaps even attack him...

Who could blame them? His current appearance was that of a monster—an out-and-out monster!

Just hold on until I reach Grey Eagle Peak... Kuren's leg throbbed with numbness again; he felt it was about to lose all sensation.

I just have to make it to Grey Eagle Peak. That's Kevin and Xiso's territory. With their strength, they shouldn't be so easily attacked.

But there was still some distance between Dawn Peak and Grey Eagle Peak. Even though Kuren had chosen a shortcut, it would still take half a day's travel to reach the borders of Grey Eagle Peak. Dawn Peak was his and Dastan's territory, and Dastan had ordered him to report to the Great Mentor as soon as anything unusual happened. But before he could get any news from Dastan, their position had been attacked by some unusual method. Now their territory was completely exposed. With the World Setting Technique on Dawn Peak broken, Grey Eagle Peak would also be unknowingly exposed...

Kuren had a feeling that the people who attacked their position were closely related to the incident two years ago. He could clearly sense the attackers' swiftness and decisiveness. It was as if they had thoroughly studied his methods, knowing that each Alchemical Marker corresponded to a bamboo stick connected by Spirit Power. Destroying a marker was equivalent to destroying its corresponding bamboo stick. However, Kuren still couldn't understand how the enemy had made those bamboo sticks attack him.

One of his legs grew increasingly heavy, and the wounded one seemed to have lost all feeling. He felt that before long, he would collapse right there on that hidden mountain path.

Kuren thought, I'm done for! Great Mentor, I am so sorry! Not only did I fail to complete my mission, I couldn't even deliver a warning in time. To fall midway... I have truly shamed you all!

Kuren no longer had the strength to stand. His leg was completely numb, devoid of any sensation. At this moment, all he could do was lament his fate…

"Kuren! What happened? Weren't you supposed to be at Dawn Peak? How did you end up back here?" A deep, powerful voice floated down from above.

This powerful voice jolted Kuren, who was on the brink of despair, snapping him back to his senses. It was the voice of Joseph, the flying eagle from Grey Eagle Peak!

"Joseph!" Kuren was too overwhelmed to say anything more.

"What happened?" Joseph, circling down, quickly landed beside Kuren.

"Our position at Dawn Peak has been exposed! We were attacked, Joseph!" Kuren stammered. Seeing a friendly face, he wanted to blurt out everything at once.

"Calm down, don't rush."

"There's no time! It's the Alchemy Workshop! And those people from two years ago! We must alert the Great Mentor immediately!"

"What!"

Kuren's words shocked Joseph as well. It seemed the 'monsters' of Guru Mountain were about to be drawn into a conflict of no small proportion.