Shui Lei’er froze. Since yesterday, seeing Bi Luo wearing that oversized hood covering her face, he had assumed she was doing so because she was ugly.

The sunlight reflecting off the white snow cast a brilliant sheen, yet it could not compare to even one percent of Bi Luo’s own radiance. Her exquisite features seemed carved by the greatest artistic master with a lifetime of devotion, possessing a trace of timidity inherent in her nature, yet her eyes shone with a resolve never before witnessed—even the stars scattered across the night sky could not rival her slightest glimmer. Beauty! Shui Lianying’er had always been quite confident in her own appearance, but the instant she beheld Bi Luo’s visage, she felt as if struck by lightning. She had never seen such breathtaking beauty! That large mage’s hat was not meant to hide ugliness, but to shield this peerless countenance! “I trust him! He wouldn’t do that.” Bi Luo bent down, retrieved the mage’s hat, and quickly settled it back onto her head, once again obscuring the face that was capable of inciting wars among powerful men.

The woods and the stone forest were not connected closely; a clearing spanning nearly a thousand meters separated the two areas. Gan Jin cautiously surveyed the vultures circling overhead. Although these creatures were mere raptors, not true Magical Beasts, they possessed enough strength to snatch a newborn foal, and their razor-sharp talons could instantly tear an ordinary man’s head from his body.

The vultures circled left and right in the sky. Sensing Gan Jin drawing close to the stone forest, the raptors’ instinct told them that if this prey entered the maze of rocks, it would become far more difficult for them to execute a dive attack. Suddenly, one vulture vibrated its wings, its body plunging from the air like an arrow, a pair of talons gleaming with cold menace locked firmly onto Gan Jin’s shoulders.

Gan Jin, keeping his head down and moving carefully, felt the sudden dive from above. He violently split his legs into a wide archery stance. Gripping the hilt of his Zanbato (Horse-Slaying Blade), he swung upward in a reverse arc. The power of Level Ten Dou Jin surged into the blade like a rushing, long river. For the first time, Gan Jin felt as if he and the Zanbato were connected by blood. The vulture, sliced by the flash of steel, split into two corpses that landed in the snow, convulsed a few times, and finally died.

Gan Jin glanced at the vulture on the ground, then toward the distant woods, smiling faintly as he muttered to himself, “This thing should last me a few meals. It’s winter anyway, and the ice and snow will keep it from spoiling quickly. I’ll bring it back when I return.”

Gan Jin once again poured his Level Ten Dou Jin into the Zanbato. Only now did he truly begin to grasp what it meant to have a Dou Bing (Battle Weapon). Infusing the strength of a Level Ten Warrior into a Dou Bing was entirely different from the sensation when he was only Level Nine. As a Level Nine Warrior, it felt like simply injecting his Dou Jin into a somewhat smooth container; now, however, there was a distinct feeling of being connected by blood. Facing those three Level Nine Warriors again, Gan Jin was certain he wouldn't need to exert much effort in combat. The experience of linked Dou Qiao (Acupoints) versus individual, separate Dou Qiao represented two different realms of cultivation. This was merely the threshold of becoming a Level Ten Warrior. As time passed, Gan Jin knew the meridian connecting the ten Dou Qiao would widen, allowing him to unleash ever-stronger bursts of Dou Jin. Combined with the brute strength honed in the Endless World, he could certainly eliminate this life-threatening tumor, even if he had to hire someone who had been a Level Ten Warrior for many years as a bodyguard for Lucas.

The stone forest was as silent as the small wood, the only sound being the crunch of Gan Jin’s boots sinking into the deep snow. “The snow is a bit thinner over there.” Gan Jin observed the snow cover in the stone forest and quickly spotted three patches where the snow was noticeably thinner than elsewhere. A closer look revealed faint signs of artificial disturbance. “Compared to the wolf packs and assassins in the Endless World, this method of concealing tracks is rather clumsy,” Gan Jin sighed inwardly as he followed the trail. The formation of this adventurer team was flawed; they should have at least included a member better skilled at covering their traces. Perhaps they were poor? Any adventurer with a specialized skill would command a high price and would have long been poached by larger teams or mercenary corps. The concealed tracks stretched until they abruptly vanished before a massive boulder. Gan Jin looked up at the stone, which stood two or three men high and measured nearly two meters in radius. He calculated that its weight must easily exceed fifteen hundred jin. Given the weight, plus the icy water poured around the base that had frozen solid with the snow, moving the monolith would be nearly impossible even for someone possessing fifteen hundred jin of strength.

Gan Jin set down the Zanbato, pushing his internal Dou Jin to its absolute limit. He pressed both palms against the base of the stone and shoved with all his might, but the rock didn't budge in the slightest. “This thing is way too heavy.” Gan Jin circled the massive stone, reluctantly admitting that although he had trained a powerful physique in the blacksmith’s shop, he might still be weaker than the combined strength of three adult adventurers. Yet, even so, the stone shouldn't refuse to move so completely. Before he began his physical conditioning, back in Black’s forge, he could manage to drag that thousand-jin heavy hammer slowly across the floor after an hour of effort. Why was this stone completely immovable today?

In the Endless World, Gan Jin had learned the value of meticulous observation. He circled the boulder for a long, long time, finally noticing very faint rope markings etched onto its surface. Gan Jin quickly searched the surrounding stones and soon understood how a few adults could have moved it. Clearly, they had utilized the nearby stones, ropes, and a pulley system. However, he had no idea where the ropes and pulleys had been stored. Gan Jin searched everywhere for a long time, eventually abandoning the hope of finding the mechanism. He considered using his Zanbato to cleave the stone into smaller pieces but quickly dismissed that tempting notion. Once the entrance was open, it would be difficult to close, and some Magical Beasts enjoyed consuming Dou Stone to enhance themselves; opening the passage might attract unnecessary trouble. “Forget it! Since I know the location, what’s the rush? I’ll find the Fengyun Dou Qi first!” Gan Jin gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, picked up his Zanbato, and cautiously hurried deeper into the stone forest, unconcerned that his footprints might be discovered. Two avalanches in one day, plus three Snow Tigers roaming the accumulated snow—anyone trying to enter from the outside would first have to contend with those three ferociously territorial beasts.

The stone forest was far more expansive than Gan Jin had imagined, stretching nearly the entire distance leading to the entrance of the Four Seasons Valley before he finally emerged from the vast area. The distance to the lake was less than twenty meters. As soon as Gan Jin stepped out of the stone labyrinth, a wave of intense heat washed over him, like entering a steam-filled bathhouse, completely devoid of the winter chill characterizing the Four Seasons Valley. Gan Jin ignored the source of the heat for the moment, pulled out the map from his robes, studied it intently for a long time, and then quickened his pace, heading toward the hot, steaming lake shore to his right. Hot! Walking along the bank, Gan Jin felt as if he were caught in the scorching heat of summer, sensing nothing of the winter in the valley. The lake water clearly radiated intense heat but showed no sign of boiling or churning. Occasionally, several golden fish, over a foot long, leaped high out of the water. “What kind of fish is this? It hasn’t been cooked!” Gan Jin was growing accustomed to the oddities of the Four Seasons Valley, but he remained highly alert to the placid lake, wondering if some gigantic, monstrous fish might suddenly leap out and bite him to death. Dying in the jaws of a fish seemed too ignominious.

This lake, filled with hot water, was enormous. Gan Jin walked along the shore for over an hour before spotting a colossal stone, about twenty meters high and ten meters in diameter, bringing a smile of genuine joy to his face. This marker matched the map's description perfectly. Since few people normally ventured into the Four Seasons Valley, it seemed that, according to the map, the "Fengyun Dou Qi" should be located on the far side of this massive rock. Gan Jin quickened his steps and circled the giant stone, but found no carved markings on its surface. “Could it be… buried underground?” Gan Jin recalled stories from traveling bards where someone found the remains of a powerful figure, kindly buried him near the place of his death, and subsequently found the source of his own strengthening power buried beneath the earth. Having come this far, Gan Jin had no intention of turning back. Since the Elven King’s bloodline had not awakened, the path to becoming a great warrior was fraught with thorns. The Gan family would not expend any resources or energy on someone whose bloodline awakening had failed; everything had to be accomplished through his own efforts! His expensive Zanbato, the Dou Bing, temporarily served as a shovel, hacking away at the dirt piece by piece. If the Lord of Oakland were to witness this scene, he would surely curse Gan Jin for his extreme extravagance in using a Dou Bing as a digging tool.

With the strength of a Level Ten Warrior combined with his formidable brute force, it didn't take long for Gan Jin to excavate a pit deep enough to bury himself twice over. “Perhaps it’s not in this layer…” Gan Jin climbed out of the pit, covered in dirt, carrying his Zanbato, and began digging again in a different spot…

One pit. Two pits. Three… five pits. It was high noon. Gan Jin had relentlessly dug more than ten pits. Beside the hot, humid lake, sweat poured from him constantly, and his arms were once again experiencing the long-absent sensation of fatigue. “Say, what exactly are you digging for?” “Relics,” Gan Jin replied casually, but the word abruptly halted his movements. A shiver ran through his body, and his hands tightened around the Zanbato as he looked up toward the source of the teasing, slightly baritone voice. The sun poured blinding light from the sky, allowing Gan Jin, for an instant, only to discern a burly, dark silhouette. Viewed from the bottom of the pit, this silhouette projected a majestic aura that seemed capable of supporting the sky and crushing the earth beneath his feet.

Let me briefly explain why I chose the protagonist’s name to be Gan Jin. Gan Jin means ‘to advance.’ When I started this book, I hoped my success would take another step forward, that this work, following Silent Heaven’s Pride, could truly dominate the scene—which is why the book is titled Dominating the Scene. ‘Gan’ represents Heaven, and it also represents Yang; ‘Jin’ naturally signifies strength. It is the strength of Heaven, the strength of Yang. When I began creating this book, I envisioned something beyond the fierce intensity of Silent Heaven’s Pride. This time, I hope to write with an unstoppable momentum: advance, advance, advance, advance! And I hope my success reflects that same momentum. To be honest, the first-hour subscription numbers for this new book were slightly better than the first-hour subscriptions for Silent Heaven’s Pride. I am truly grateful for everyone’s support. During the first month, regardless of the New Book Rankings, Weekly Recommendation Rankings, or Weekly Popularity Rankings, this has been the best performance achieved by a new book since the beginning. So, can the monthly tickets also advance one step further? Could you spare me a monthly ticket and let me truly dominate the scene for a while!