“Hahaha, there you are!” A voice came from behind Yuki and Elder Eijiro. It was a young man on a flying sword. He looked down at them with a bit of a confused expression. “Hmmm? A human?”

Elder Eijiro’s expression turned cold. He looked at the young man who had just landed on the ground and was walking towards them and gently placed Yuki down. He patted her head and sent a voice transmission into her mind: “Go. No matter what, don’t stop. Remember what I said, you are our clan’s only hope. Grow strong and…. One day, search for us…. They do not wish to kill us but capture us. Our blood is special. So go, girl. Run and do not look back!”

Yuki's eyes were still filled with tears as she looked at the young man who was only steps away and then at Elder Eijiro. She hesitated…. She did not wish to leave him, but when she heard his words, she realized that this is why they wanted her to escape… She bit her lips and quickly turned and ran. She ran with all her strength, not daring to look behind her.

Seeing the young girl run off, Elder Eijiro let out a sigh of relief before turning and looking at the young man in front of him. He drew his sword as his two tails danced behind him. “I may be out of practice, but a mere four fate star cultivator is not my match!”

“You old dog!” The young man charged forward. He was told to keep these people alive, but he was also not going to allow them to kill him either! Their swords clashed, and Elder Eijiro seemed to have the upper hand. But he was not going for any killing moves, no, he was buying time. He was buying Yuki time to run as far away as possible. His old life was worth nothing. He would die in a few years' time as his lifespan came to an end, so he did not care for his life. He never planned to leave this place alive in the first place.

Branches and thorns cut Yuki’s skin as she pushed her way through the forest, it was not her first time in the forest, but it was her forest time running past the barrier, which had always been her stopping point. The tears of sorrow still rained down as her blurry vision made it hard to see.

“Ah!” Yuki tripped over a root and tumbled down a steep slope. Turning end over end until she crashed shoulder first into a tree, stopping her descent. She lay against the tree and looked up the slope, and wondered why her peaceful life had ended up this way. She knew from cultivation novels that such worlds were always a might makes right, but still…. This was just too soon. Everything was happening too fast. Yuki began to feel like it was hopeless to run, but as soon as this thought came to mind, a loud explosion was heard once more as a pillar of light filled the sky.

Yuki did not even need to be told what had just happened. She remembered Elder Eijiro’s words and forced herself to get up. She slapped her face and continued forward. Gritting her teeth, trying to get used to the pain, Yuki made a personal vow. “I will rescue those who were caught…. I will one day find out where you have all been taken and figure out a way to save you all. From this day forth, I will do everything possible to grow stronger. No matter what, I will grow so strong that no one will be able to defeat me!”

Dizzy and exhausted, Yuki continued walking until nightfall. As she climbed up a tree, she couldn’t help but feel something was off. She had not once run into a demonic beast since she started running. She felt it was strange. Even after going so far, not a single demonic beast could be heard. “Probably just my nerves. I should try to rest a little….”

Yuki was already having a hard time keeping her eyes open. She climbed up to the highest sturdiest branch in the tree that was covered on all sides by leaves and leaned against the trunk. It was not her first time sleeping like this. She had done it a few times in the forest around her village. While it was much safer there to do this kind of thing, she could not keep going without at least resting her body for a few hours. “Let’s just hope I do not get eaten in one bite…. Mother… Father….”

Yuki slowly drifted off to sleep with tears rolling down her cheeks. She had no idea how long it had been since falling asleep, but she woke up when she felt the tree shaking under her. She looked down to see a massive demonic beast below her making its way up the tree. She could only see two yellow glowing eyes and the outline of the demonic beast, which led her to believe that it might be a large snake! Yuki drew her sword and stared at the huge beast. She was slightly scared because she was used to fighting smaller demonic beasts, but she was not going to allow herself to be eaten! She was now cursing her earlier words! She wanted to take them back!

“I will not die!” Yuki yelled out as she jumped through the leaves off the tree towards the tree next to her. As she did, the demonic beast's large head suddenly darted toward her while she was in mid air! Yuki frowned as she spun her body around with great difficulty and slashed out with her sword.

*Clang!*

The sound of metal hitting something hard as heard as Yuki was suddenly sent flying. She crashed through the branches of the tree to the ground and tumbled across it, hitting her head off a few rocks. She tried to quickly get up as blood dripped from her head. She wanted to turn and run to try to get away, but the demonic beasts were not willing to let her go. Dizzy and unstable, she took a step back only to step on air! She fell backward with a loud splashing sound as she sank into the water. Yuki gasped for air, which resulted in her breathing some in, causing her to start choking. She felt dread as she tried to swim to the surface. Her eyes felt heavy as they slowly closed.....