Luo Ji was a Wolf. As a Wolf, his work was usually serious. Once, Elder Zhang Zhenking ordered him to massacre a budding sect. It was a ruthless order, but one he executed perfectly. There was also a confusing mission of unknown origin, identifiable only by its color code as originating from either the Patriarch or one of the Twelve Elders. This mission required him to infiltrate a kingdom ruled by a mortal, spread rumors, and incite rebellion. It was a shame, as the king, though mortal, was charismatic enough to attract even several cultivators to his service. Still, an order was an order, and he executed it flawlessly, as usual.

Initially, when he was accepted as an inner disciple of the Purple Moon Sect, he boasted to his friends and imagined a life full of respect. He envisioned people worshipping his footsteps every time he stepped outside the sect, and indeed, that was what happened at first. However, an elder pulled him aside and offered him a position as a Wolf, a position he had never heard of. The elder promised higher-ranking missions and greater rewards.

He accepted, of course. To him, it was proof that the sect acknowledged his prowess, and he would soar even higher, gaining more resources, advancing faster in cultivation, and bedding many more beautiful fairies, princesses, and even queens. At that time, he did not know what being a Wolf truly meant. It took a crippled girl, someone so weak yet so beautiful, to change him as a person.

Remembering her caused Luo Ji to press his hand tightly against his chest, as if trying to suppress unimaginable pain. Behind his black mask, tears threatened to fall, and he knew that if he let one tear escape, they would not stop for hours. Thinking about that girl filled him with grimace and shame, welling up in his heart to the point that he wanted to slap himself—occasionally he truly did—and wished to die, to start over, to save the girl.

"Stop," Luo Ji whispered. He could not dwell too much on the past. He needed to value the present. That was what he had learned from that girl. He vowed to become a better person, one who was useful to the world and dedicated to protecting the weak. While he was a Wolf, he would also be a shield, protecting everything and everyone he cherished.

Luo Ji currently ran atop a flowing river. His current job was easy. He simply needed to ensure that his juniors did not cause too much trouble or get into too dangerous a situation. Although he could not truly call it easy, since he knew that his fellow Wolves had failed, considering the chaos erupting in almost every important territory of the Purple Moon Sect.

As he ran, he suddenly felt his token vibrate three times. Instantly, he stopped running and stood atop the flowing river. Koi fish, a freshwater turtle, some eels, and even snakes swirled below him, feeding from his qi. He took his token and pressed it to his chest and a message reverberated in his mind.

"Important mission. Purple color."

Hearing the color code, Luo Ji gulped beneath his black mask. A mission coded purple meant it involved an individual considered important by the sect. Usually elders, VIPs, or even Hao Yun. Remembering his interaction with Hao Yun, his shadow wriggling and his eyes staring down at him like a devil ready to devour him, he shuddered.

"Go to the southeast and meet an outer disciple named Liu Xing," a flat voice ordered. "Tell him to go to the Wild Tide Region to finish a mission. The full details are as follows."

The voice then promptly briefed him on his new mission. The mission came from Elder Zhang Zhenking and was connected to the ongoing race. Apparently, there were several outer disciples with good prospects, and this Liu Xing was one of them. Missions from Elder Zhang Zhenking were usually not overly complicated, but since he bothered to use the communication function of the token—a function accessible only to certain individuals—Luo Ji expected complications.

"Accepted," he acknowledged. The connection from his token abruptly vanished.

Luo Ji began to run southeast. If he remembered correctly, that was the direction of Mystic Moon City. As he ran, he wondered about the disciple named Liu Xing. He felt like he recognized the name from somewhere.

"Hopefully, we are not acquaintances." In the past, he had made quite a few enemies. Although he wore a nondescript mask that signified his role as a Wolf, some people might recognize him.

Thus, Luo Ji ran toward Liu Xing, not recalling that they had a deep history. For him, the name Liu Xing, while familiar, was not particularly significant.

Luo Ji ran at a measured pace, but even so, he moved through the trees and greenery with incredible speed. Each step propelled him forward several meters as if he were gliding. Anyone who saw him would assume Luo Ji was a ghost. One moment he appeared, the next he disappeared. A keen observer might have realized that Luo Ji only appeared when his feet touched the ground, and a cultivator would recognize the thin mist surrounding Luo Ji, enhancing his body to appear almost transparent while propelling him through the air. A small white trail, almost like water vapor, materialized briefly behind him, then vanished as quickly as it appeared, like an illusion.

Luo Ji knew this forest area quite well. Not many people used it, not only because it led to more underdeveloped cities, kingdoms, empires, and even small sects, but also because it was considered dangerous. Not due to dangerous spirit beasts, but because, in the distant past—thousands of years ago, perhaps even longer—a girl had lived here who the Patriarch had been quite interested in. It was only a rumor, but the story said that the Patriarch respected this girl. Some said he loved her like a lover, others said that he respected her like a mother. No one knew the truth. Even the Wolves, who possessed more knowledge than some elders.

After exiting the forest area, he ran straight toward Mystic Moon City. There was a chance his target was far from the city, but since it was a purple-coded mission, the sect's intelligence system would certainly guide him.

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Indeed, as soon as he reached the outskirts of the city, his token buzzed again. He pressed the token to his chest and learned that his target was actually nearby. Soon, Luo Ji found himself crouching near a bush. Hundreds of meters from his position stood a small hut, and behind it, a serene little lake. Luo Ji might have considered the view beautiful if not for the shabby hut, and the Luo Ji of the past would have surely marched to that hut and reduced it to rubble, but the current Luo Ji, striving to become a protector of the weak, simply accepted the little hut as part of the view.

"Alright, now, how to approach this?" he muttered.

Liu Xing was an outer disciple, meaning he must be at the Lock Opening realm. Compared to Luo Ji, a Core Splitting cultivator on the cusp of breaking through to the second stage, this disciple would be nothing. Not that it was a problem. In the past, he would have scoffed at and bullied those weaker than him, not to mention robbing and humiliating them to feel superior. But he intended to erase his past and start with a clean slate. Luo Ji had even considered changing his name but hesitated. It felt like ditching his past was not the right way.

He inhaled deeply, cycling a technique that slowly veiled his presence. Wolves had many ways to mask their presence, but Luo Ji had an affinity for his current technique. Once his presence was fully concealed, he activated a technique that sharpened his senses to an extreme degree. He could hear the sound of butterfly wings flapping around flowers, see through the tiniest gaps, and possess a sense of smell that would make a real wolf envious. Using this technique, he attempted to see, hear, and smell the people inside the little shabby hut. There were two qi signatures within, and he assumed one of them was his target.

"But it's strange," he muttered softly.

Focusing on his qi sense, he realized that one of them had a remarkably heavy presence, as potent as his peers among the inner disciples, while the other felt so weak he doubted the person was even a disciple of the Purple Moon Sect.

Luo Ji frowned. Has his target already left? If so, he needed to track him quickly. But before he could think further, he sensed something wrong, which he then pinpointed to the two people inside. From the smell of bitter tea, the sound of sipping, and their body movements visible through the gaps, they seemed to be enjoying a refreshing drink, yet their movements felt somewhat stiff.

"Ah, alright. I too enjoy my company, you remind me a little bit of my grandson," a man said casually, though Luo Ji detected a slight tremble in his voice. "Take care, Liu Xing. It's dangerous out there."

"No need to worry about me," the other replied, one with qi that felt quite heavy.

Upon hearing the name Liu Xing, Luo Ji's frown deepened. There was no way that guy was his target, right? While there were people at the Core Splitting realm in the outer sect, they were usually either old or past their prime, and their qi was usually not as strong. After all, they typically forced their cultivation to advance using pills or elixirs. Still, the other man had called him Liu Xing, so perhaps he truly was his target. He had heard rumors of some outer disciples with monstrous talent, and perhaps this was one of them.

"Still, that name feels a bit… familiar," he muttered, trying to remember where he had heard it, but nothing came to mind.

He decided not to dwell on it and to consider his plan. The order he needed to deliver to Liu Xing was not a secret, but as per protocol, it would be better to do so without outsiders present. He needed to wait for Liu Xing to come out and then follow him for a bit.

Luo Ji observed them more closely, but despite their conversation suggesting Liu Xing would leave soon, he ended up waiting another five minutes as the weaker of the two—an old man, from what he could glimpse—began packing beef jerky, several waterskins, liquor, some herbs, and much more for Liu Xing. Their conversation was a bit off and stiff, filled with small talk about the weather, flowers, and trivial things, making Luo Ji feel their exchange was odd. However, he did occasionally hear genuine concern and laughter from them.

"Thank you," Liu Xing said.

"No, thank you," the old man replied, his voice trembling slightly, "thank you."

Luo Ji could see, through a small gap in the hut, that Liu Xing nodded and turned around. Seeing this, Luo Ji readied himself. This guy had crossed into the Core Splitting realm, but he doubted he was truly dangerous. Luo Ji knew for a fact that he was strong, and cultivators outside of the great sects were generally weaker. They usually practiced inferior cultivation scriptures or possessed inferior techniques. Since this guy was already at Core Splitting even as an outer disciple, and considering he was from a new batch, that meant he had reached the peak of the Lock Opening realm using an inferior scripture and had just advanced to Core Splitting realm. No trouble at all.

When the door to the little hut opened, Luo Ji expected to see the man fully. Liu Xing wore gray clothes—not the robes given to all disciples of the Purple Moon Sect—and a large straw hat that concealed most of his face. The guy's body was facing toward his position, which made Luo Ji frown. His instincts reacted as if the man was looking directly at him, but that was impossible. He was concealed and veiled. Unless the man possessed superior senses, it must be a coincidence.

The man turned to the side, said goodbye to the old man inside the hut—who now stood in front of a window—and began to walk away. Luo Ji moved from his position and followed his target. The mission was not an assassination, merely to deliver a message, yet he felt a similar sensation to when he was about to assassinate someone. This made him wonder why this feeling arose, and when he realized it, his eyes widened.

"So it's like that," he muttered.

Most of his targets had been oblivious to their impending deaths. But there were occasional targets who knew they were being hunted and lived anxiously before Luo Ji ended their lives with his bare hands. These types of targets were usually jumpy, nervous to the point of paranoia, and always assumed they were being watched.

The off feeling he had experienced when Liu Xing and the old man were together, their stiff conversation and jerky movements, it was as if they were in danger. This meant they knew about his presence.

"Impressive," he muttered. Although he had only concealed himself after approaching the hut, for Liu Xing to realize he was there meant he possessed superb senses. Since he was also already at the Core Splitting realm, it made sense why Elder Zhang Zhenking would want to test this disciple.

As Luo Ji ran on a dirt path while Liu Xing leaped from branch to branch like a squirrel, exposing his back, Luo Ji wondered about their upcoming interaction. Since Liu Xing was now alerted and knew someone was following him, he assumed Liu Xing would try to ambush him.

To prevent any conflict, he needed to reveal his presence so Liu Xing would know he was also a disciple from the Purple Moon Sect. Liu Xing would still be alert, but at that point, he probably would not blindly attack, giving Luo Ji time to explain himself.

As Luo Ji reached into his pocket, Liu Xing suddenly turned his head to the side, as if trying to look at him, and jumped behind a large tree. This maneuver would usually amuse him. Hiding from him was useless, and since he knew Liu Xing would ambush him, he would not be surprised. But Luo Ji stopped running abruptly, his mind reeling, as if he had just hit a wall that rattled his head.

When Liu Xing jumped to the side, Luo Ji had caught a glimpse of half his face, and seeing that face, memories of his past suddenly slammed into his brain. The name Liu Xing was no longer insignificant.

He was his victim.

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