Chen Feng felt an unbearable pressure on his chest, the intense pain causing the slightly conscious awareness he possessed to slip back into darkness.

"Grandpa, what happened to Big Brother?" A childish voice sounded near his ear.

"He's badly hurt, eight ribs broken, and one actually pierced his lung. If this fellow hadn't been lucky, he'd have been dead ages ago!" A voice, slightly aged but clearly capable, followed.

"Oh!" The childish voice replied with a vague understanding, then curiously asked, "Grandpa, how did this Big Brother get hurt?"

"It's strange, I can't quite tell, but the wound on his chest looks like it was caused by an explosive impact!" the elder said.

"Grandpa, when I first saw Big Brother, I remember there was an ice hole on his chest. Why is it gone now? Did you heal it? You're amazing, Grandpa!"

"Cough, cough... Hmm, I don't know either. I found the most powerful Light Mage in town, and even he couldn't fix it. But unexpectedly, it healed by itself on the third day. Truly strange!"

"Water..." Chen Feng's faint voice managed to emerge!

The childish voice exclaimed in surprise, "Grandpa, Big Brother woke up! I'll go get him some water!" He then ran out excitedly.

"Sigh!" The elder let out a sigh, turned, and also walked out of the room.

Chen Feng's consciousness gradually returned, his eyes weakly scanning the surroundings.

It was a small wooden hut; the air carried a faint, cold, and dry scent. The walls were hung with various bows, arrows, weaponry, and animal hides.

"Where am I?" Chen Feng held his head, feeling like it was about to explode.

He had been fighting the Qilin. The azure flame in his hand collided with the creature's essence core, causing a massive explosion that knocked him unconscious! What happened after? Where was he now?

Waves of confusion swirled in his mind.

No matter where he was, lacking strength meant danger. Chen Feng thought to himself, checking his internal state. A single glance made him inwardly groan.

His Dantian was empty, and the broken ribs caused agonizing pain.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Feng looked at his hands. Thankfully, the ring that transformed into his water flask was still there. He took out some water from the Biyun Spring and dabbed it on his injuries. Just this small effort caused cold sweat to drench his entire back once more.

It seemed the initial explosion had been too violent; even with his robust physical cultivation, he nearly died on the spot.

What happened after the blast? How did he get here? Xiao Hu...

Thinking of Xiao Hu made his heart clench again. He feared that in that explosion, Xiao Hu's body must have been blasted to smithereens! Alas, he couldn't even manage to resurrect him in the end!

He couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow.

But grieving was useless now. The most important thing was to figure out where he was and how he ended up here.

"Big Brother, you're awake!" A child of about seven or eight skipped in, carrying a bowl of boiled water.

Chen Feng glanced at him. The child wasn't tall, his hair was tied up in a spiky topknot, and his cheeks were rosy, looking quite adorable.

"Where is this?" Chen Feng asked.

"This is my home!" The child beamed happily, "Big Brother, your red hair is so pretty!"

Chen Feng's black hair had all turned red after he reversed the flow of his Qi cyclone; it hadn't returned to normal yet.

Seeing Chen Feng remain silent, the child immediately smiled and offered the water, "Big Brother, are you thirsty? This is water I just boiled. Drink it quickly!"

Chen Feng smiled back at the child's pure face before slightly lifting his head to take the bowl and drink.

"Big Brother, what's your name?" After Chen Feng finished drinking, the child continued to ask.

"My name is..." Chen Feng paused. His name was Chen Feng. Back at Dragon Mountain, he had used the alias 'Kusanagi' when impersonating someone. Now, with his completely red hair and using techniques from the 'Eight Gods,' well, since things were this way, he might as well continue using a name from King of Fighters!

"My name is Yagami," Chen Feng said flatly.

…………

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed since Chen Feng awoke. Upon regaining consciousness, he learned that he had been teleported by a formation array to the northernmost part of the Rocky Empire, near a common little town bordering the Frostbound Demon Garden.

This town was much smaller than Dragon Mountain Town, where he had reincarnated, housing only just over a hundred thousand people. His rescuers were an old blacksmith named John and his grandson, Yas. They lived at the foot of a mountain closest to the Frostbound Demon Garden. One morning, young Yas went exploring alone on the slope behind the house and discovered the unconscious Chen Feng, leading the grandfather and grandson to bring him back.

Half a month after waking, Chen Feng could finally move around with effort. The battle with the Qilin had depleted his body to such an extent that not a drop of his Dark Qi Cyclone power remained. He had no idea when it would recover.

Snowflakes drifted from the sky, blanketing the outside world in white. The Frostbound Demon Garden was eternally covered in ice and snow, extremely cold, and the surrounding area, affected by its proximity, retained snow year-round.

Chen Feng, clad only in thin clothes, sat cross-legged in a small grove on the back hill. The moment he could walk, he rushed here to begin recovering his strength as quickly as possible.

The area on his chest pierced by the Qilin's Profound Ice Battle Qi had already healed completely. Chen Feng couldn't understand it at first, but eventually realized: he possessed the Flame Dragon bloodline, carrying an intense Fire attribute within him. Therefore, a force like Profound Ice Battle Qi couldn't inflict substantial damage upon him!

Realizing this, Chen Feng was ecstatic for a long while, but then confusion set in. Logically, when executing Kusanagi's techniques by performing a forward rotation of his Qi Cyclone, the Flame Dragon bloodline should allow him to exert maximum power. Why did it feel easier to wield the power of Yagami with a reverse rotation?

Was it because he didn't understand Kusanagi's techniques deeply enough, or was he failing to properly utilize the Flame Dragon bloodline?

Pondering for a long time without an answer, Chen Feng shifted his focus because he discovered that both the reverse-rotating Dark Qi Cyclone power and the forward-rotating Yellow Qi Cyclone power could utilize the same method for absorbing vital energy.

Understanding this brought him great relief. If it weren't so, he didn't know how many years it would take to master an entirely new cultivation method.

He needed to raise his cultivation quickly. Once he reached Level Nine Fighter, he could use the Heavenly Sun Dragon Fruit to directly advance to Battle Master! With the cultivation of a Battle Master, perhaps executing Yagami's various techniques wouldn't drain his internal Qi Cyclone power completely!

He had given the Heavenly Sun Dragon Fruit to Xiao Hu back then. Xiao Hu had kept it in his water flask because he had nowhere else to store it. Now the object remained, but the companion was gone—this fact was hard to bear. However, this negative emotion didn't trouble Chen Feng for long; he returned to the state of cultivation.

At this moment, the muscles beneath his skin contracted and expanded rhythmically, radiating a strong sense of power. The vital energy between heaven and earth slowly converged toward his Dantian. He realized the vital energy here wasn't very dense, making absorption somewhat strenuous.

Closing his eyes, he focused his mind on his Dantian, observing the single thread of dark-colored cyclone that had just formed.

When Chen Feng had gone into a rage transformation previously, he hadn't carefully observed the anomaly of the Qi Cyclone power. Now, settling his mind for observation, he finally detected a slight difference.

The pale-yellow Qi Cyclone within his body had been extremely stable; no matter how it was used, it remained solid, making backlash or similar events difficult. The current dark-colored cyclone, however, was wildly restless, seemingly on the verge of exploding at any moment.

Yet, this manic cyclone, whether in potential or absolute power, held him captive, plunging him into a deep fascination.

ps: Ugh, I originally intended to put this chapter in the next volume because the story is shifting focus, but I decided against it and will keep it in Volume Two, aligning perfectly with the volume title...

Ugh, Old Ya has been working very hard these past two days, only getting back after 7 PM every evening. Please forgive me if the updates are inconsistent! Tomorrow is the last day of the new book period, and Old Ya plans a small burst of updates the day after tomorrow... Hehe!! We're only about 400 votes away from the recommendation list, hurry up and support Old Ya...