The Arid Continent was vast and sparsely populated, with scarce resources and large county cities being a rare sight. Within tens of thousands of miles, there was only one city: Zhongnan City.

Outside the county city, there were some small towns and villages. Without exception, these places all built high walls, enclosing themselves to form sturdy defensive shelters against the attacks of demonic beasts.

“Demonic beasts” were ferocious beings far superior to ordinary animals, with powerful bodies and immense strength. Some high-level demonic beasts could even spit water or breathe fire, their abilities mysterious and unpredictable.

Demonic beasts were ranked by “tiers,” with a total of nine tiers. It was said that they were intricately connected to the demons—beings with their own civilizations, standing in opposition to the human race.

Demonic beasts were so fierce that even a single lowest-tier, first-tier beast could not be handled by a hundred ordinary people. Only martial artists could stand against them and fight.

This was the main reason why martial artists were so highly respected and revered.

Once martial artists achieved mastery, they would leave the city and descend the mountains to hunt demonic beasts—not so much to rid the people of harm, but because every part of a demonic beast was valuable, and killing them brought great profit.

Of course, for ordinary hunters, they could only deal with regular wild animals.

The hunters of Kuangbei Village were just like that.

Fortunately, the village was not too far from Zhongnan City, so under normal circumstances, there would be no attacks from demonic beasts, making it relatively safe. There were more than a dozen other settlements like Kuangbei Village around the city.

Upon entering Kuangbei Village, Brian Carter paid two jin of spirit rice as the price. He told the village chief that they were a brother and sister whose hometown had been attacked by demonic beasts, their family destroyed, and they had no choice but to leave and wander here.

The elderly Old Village Chief, well past sixty, had no doubts. After accepting the two jin of spirit rice, he arranged for them to live in a two-bedroom stone house on the east side of the village.

Brian Carter then spent another two jin of spirit rice to exchange with the villagers for some essential supplies, such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

After tidying up, a simple, temporary home was set up—since it was the dead of winter, surviving outdoors was extremely difficult, and traveling far was not an option. For now, hiding in the village to recuperate was the wisest choice. Although the The Cooper Family was powerful, they wouldn’t be able to track them down here for a while.

At this point, Brian Carter had only six jin of spirit rice left. But as long as they were alive, there was hope.

Lily, despite her injuries, boiled water and cooked, busying herself with chores. Brian Carter had also been injured, having taken a heavy kick. During their escape, they had relied on sheer willpower, but now that they were finally settled in a safe place, their tightly wound nerves could finally relax.

Perhaps it was due to catching a chill on the road, but by nightfall, Brian Carter suddenly developed a high fever, burning hot to the touch, and began muttering strange, delirious words:

“Lily, there’s a sword flying in my head…”

“What a beautiful sword!”

“I caught it!”

“Sigh, it flew away again…”

Lily listened in terror, but there was no doctor in the village. The slightly knowledgeable Old Village Chief checked his pulse and brought over some herbal medicine, instructing Lily to boil it and feed it to Brian Carter.

Before leaving, Old Village Chief sighed and said to Lily, “Your brother’s illness is very serious. Whether he can make it through the night is up to the heavens.”

Despite the sudden crisis, Lily did not panic. She had once been a naive and charming fifteen-year-old girl, but after her grandfather’s tragic death, she had become strong.

After feeding Brian Carter the medicine, she sat by the bed to care for him. Looking at Brian Carter, whose face was flushed with fever, she tightly held the boy’s hand:

“Big brother, you have to hold on. You promised to take care of me. A real man keeps his word—do you hear me?”

As she spoke, two streams of silent tears slid down, dripping onto Brian Carter’s dry lips…

Chapter 11: Comprehension

A small sword spun in his mind!

About three inches long and two fingers wide, its blade was sharp as a needle, and it gracefully traced out all sorts of flight paths.

The trajectories were smooth and beautiful, intoxicating to behold.

Bang!

The small sword suddenly exploded, splitting into countless points of light, densely packed, bursting like raindrops and filling his entire mind. Each point of light instantly transformed into a character, combining into a text—

This is…

It was actually a martial technique manual, called “The Tanhua Sword Qi Formula.”

I understand now…

The joy of enlightenment erupted like a volcano, flooding his body and mind, making every part of him feel blissful—so much so that he almost wanted to shout out loud.

At that moment, some unknown liquid dripped into his mouth, salty to the taste. Curious, he opened his eyes.

“Big brother, you’re awake! You’re finally awake!”

Lily cheered with joy, completely ignoring the tears still streaming down her face.

Brian Carter had awakened, and his high fever had miraculously subsided. Perhaps only he knew what had truly happened.

“Lily, you were crying.”

He reached out his rough hand to gently touch her delicate yet haggard face, deeply moved in the softest part of his heart.

When he woke up the next day, Brian Carter was full of energy, and the injuries from the beating were completely gone. As for Lily, after worrying all night and having no time to rest and heal, she had started coughing.