The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 258: Chapter 258: Microscopic

On a cliff on Shenfu Mountain.

The mountain wind, blowing from who-knows-how-many-thousands of miles away, pressed Bai Yuan’s clothes tightly against his powerful frame, his long hair dancing.

Raccoon Power was a demon, so it could move.

Bai Yuan had been secretly tracking Raccoon Power’s position.

The Great Demon Raccoon Power was now in the earth beneath this very cliff.

Bai Yuan had seen Raccoon Power in action a few times. Defeating it was naturally out of the question, but he was confident he could escape its clutches.

After all, he was a Demon Hunter...

"Demon Transformation!"

Bai Yuan let out a low roar.

But this time, it was different. He wasn’t just borrowing the power of the Zhu Yan as usual. White fur began to sprout from his exposed skin as his body swelled, shooting up from six feet to eight.

His clothes burst apart, and most eye-catching of all was a pair of crimson feet.

The moment Bai Yuan transformed into the Zhu Yan, a sudden change occurred!

The cliff first trembled slightly, then the shaking grew more and more violent.

Finally, a colossal monster, a full thirty feet tall, appeared before his eyes.

It was a monster that looked like a pig but had the feet of a chicken. An aura of primordial wilderness washed over him.

This time, Bai Yuan finally saw the true face of the Raccoon Demon.

Although the Ten Thousand Demons Painting depicted Raccoon Power’s appearance, seeing it in person was far more shocking.

"Zhu Yan?"

Raccoon Power spoke slowly.

It used a language Bai Yuan had never heard before.

But somehow, Bai Yuan could understand it. It must have been the common tongue of ancient, exotic beasts.

"Raccoon Power."

Bai Yuan forced himself to remain calm. ’Though he was panicking internally,’ at least Raccoon Power hadn’t attacked immediately. That meant there was a chance to talk.

"How have you become so weak?"

Raccoon Power spoke again.

"It must have been those humans! Yes, it must have been those detestable humans! If not for the Demon Ancestor’s mercy, we would have devoured them all long ago!"

The more Raccoon Power spoke, the more agitated it became, showing signs of going berserk.

Bai Yuan quickly interjected, "The Demon Ancestor still exists?"

Hearing the words ’Demon Ancestor,’ Raccoon Power calmed down. "I don’t know."

"Raccoon Power, why are you here?"

Bai Yuan finally voiced the question on his mind.

A human-like resentment appeared in Raccoon Power’s eyes. "It was a human. That detestable human! He first tricked me into building palaces for him, and then he imprisoned me here."

"Palaces?"

"Yes, palaces. Three of them in total."

Bai Yuan forcibly suppressed his excitement. ’He felt he was on the verge of touching the core secret of the Divine Mansion.’

"Where are those palaces?"

Raccoon Power suddenly paused. After a long moment, it spoke, "That human was too strong. Whenever I finished building a palace, he would knock me unconscious. I don’t know where they are either."

"..."

Bai Yuan was speechless.

’Still, a human who could use a Tier Eight Great Demon as a common laborer... his power must have been far too immense.’

’At least, among all the people Bai Yuan had ever met, none possessed such absurd strength.’

"Oh, right. Not long ago, a little human child promised to find that person for me, but he never showed up again. Humans are all liars!"

At this point, Raccoon Power’s disgust for humanity had reached its peak.

Bai Yuan frowned imperceptibly.

’Not long ago? A human?’

He suddenly thought of the Founding Ancestor of the Divine Mansion Sect.

As an ancient, exotic beast, Raccoon Power’s lifespan was already frighteningly long. If it remained in a state of slumber, its lifespan would be even more terrifying.

To Raccoon Power, a thousand years might be like a single nap. So, of course, that would be ’not long ago.’

Legend had it that the Murong Ancestor had received a great fortune on Shenfu Mountain. ’Thinking about it now, he must have met Raccoon Power. He might have even entered the palaces the demon spoke of—the Divine Mansion itself.’

Bai Yuan swallowed hard. "Are the palaces here?"

Raccoon Power shook its head. "Not here."

Hearing this, Bai Yuan felt a pang of disappointment.

But Raccoon Power’s next words piqued Bai Yuan’s interest once more. "However, that human left behind a... map. But only humans can understand it."

Bai Yuan was overjoyed. He grinned. "Let me see it. Maybe I can find a suitable human for you."

Raccoon Power thought for a moment. "Exotic beasts are all brothers. More reliable than humans."

Its great maw opened once again, and it spat out a piece of beast hide with a torn corner.

Bai Yuan took the hide.

The hide was half the size of a person and was densely covered in writing.

’The piece of hide previously stuck in Raccoon Power’s teeth must have been that missing corner.’

Bai Yuan said, "Raccoon Power, don’t worry. I’ll find someone to solve your problem."

Raccoon Power was deeply moved. "Zhu Yan, you truly are a good demon."

Raccoon Power had been imprisoned here for so long that its thinking had become rigid. Otherwise, it wouldn’t still be at the eighth tier after cultivating for thousands of years.

But perhaps it was precisely because it moved so little that it had managed to live this long.

At least, according to Bai Yuan’s knowledge of ancient exotic beasts, very few could live for several thousand years.

Raccoon Power seemed tired from talking. It yawned. "Zhu Yan, remember to come save me. I’m sleepy. I’m going to nap for a bit."

With that said, Raccoon Power vanished into the ground with a PLOP, like a fish diving into water.

’As expected of an ancient demon that controls earth and wood!’

Bai Yuan was dumbfounded.

’He had previously noticed Raccoon Power moving about irregularly. Now it seemed it was probably just rolling over in its sleep. It would be a miracle if there were any pattern to it.’

He looked down again at the beast hide in his hands.

’He’d hit the jackpot this time!’

Bai Yuan didn’t dare linger on the cliff. He rolled up the hide and ran down the mountain.

...

「At the foot of the mountain.」

Xiao Qiaoniang was already waiting on the mountain path.

"Brother Yuan, where are your clothes?"

Her eyes widened. She saw that apart from some branches covering his vitals, Bai Yuan was completely naked.

She clearly remembered him wearing clothes when he went up the mountain.

Bai Yuan scratched his head in embarrassment.

It was his first transformation, and like the Hulk, he wasn’t very practiced.

He hadn’t expected the Zhu Yan form to be eight feet tall. Of course, even if he had known, there wasn’t a better solution. With current production capabilities, it was impossible to make clothes that wouldn’t rip. At best, he could have a larger set of clothes custom-made specifically for transforming.

Xiao Qiaoniang hurried back up the mountain to find a set of clothes for Bai Yuan to wear.

Only then did Bai Yuan resolve the awkwardness of having truly turned into an ape-man.

Once properly dressed, he looked at the beast hide in his hands.

This beast hide was the greatest reward from this venture.

The Murong Ancestor’s transformation from an unremarkable, hunted Jianghu Martial Master into a Grandmaster of his generation was likely all thanks to this very beast hide in his hands.

According to Raccoon Power, the Murong Ancestor achieved that level of success after just three days of studying this hide.

Old Dong once said that in his later years, the Murong Family’s ancestor left Shenfu Mountain to search for the Divine Mansion.

He must have gone looking for the palaces Raccoon Power mentioned. For some reason, however, he never returned.

Bai Yuan and Sister Qiao returned to the Sect Leader Hall on the main peak.

He immediately went into seclusion.

"Among the Martial Artists of this world, few reach the level of a Divinity Communicator. But above Divinity Communication, there are still other realms."

"I call it the Microcosm."

"A cultivator trains their own body. Skin, bones, muscles, blood, and organs are all superficial. The microcosm is the foundation. Only by refining one’s energy to the microcosmic level can one achieve the Great Freedom Realm."

...

Bai Yuan studied the text on the beast hide, character by character.

As his Martial Dao realm had grown, he naturally became aware that there were Divine Communication Grandmasters in the world who had broken through the Divinity Communication Barrier.

Beyond that, there were supreme experts who had surpassed Divinity Communication. It was rumored that the founding Grand Ancestor Emperor of Xuan Yang was such an existence.

The world called that realm the Martial Saint Pass.

The mysterious human expert who wrote this text on the beast hide, however, called this realm ’Microcosm.’ Bai Yuan didn’t know if it was the same realm as the Grand Ancestor Emperor’s.

The text on the hide described in detail how humans could stimulate something in their bodies called ’micro’.

Bai Yuan felt it was likely the same thing as the cells from his previous life.

Even if one couldn’t enter the legendary Microcosm Gate by cultivating the technique on the hide, they could still obtain immense benefits.

The Murong Family’s ancestor had practiced this very technique to establish the thousand-year foundation of the Divine Mansion Sect.

After tempering the cells, the genes within them would also change.

It was precisely because of these altered genes that the Murong Family was able to produce experts for generations.

But because the Microcosm cultivation was never perfected, only one member of the clan could enjoy this benefit at a time.

As Bai Yuan gazed at the text on the hide, his horizons were broadened.

Genetic engineering, which scientists in his past life had researched for a hundred years, had actually been made a reality by that mysterious expert.

’For this contribution alone, he deserved a Nobel Prize in Biology.’

However, Raccoon Power had said this beast hide was a map containing clues to the three palaces. This left Bai Yuan scratching his head.

What was recorded on the hide was clearly a cultivation technique, having nothing to do with a map.

The moment Bai Yuan finished reading the cultivation technique, lines of text appeared before his eyes.

[Special Class discovered. Hidden.]

[Divine Mansion Technique must be cultivated to Mastery to unlock the Special Class.]

[Current class level is too low. Unable to cultivate Divine Mansion Technique!]

Bai Yuan stared at the prompts.

’As expected of a dungeon that even the pro gamers of his past life would flock to. It really has some substance.’

In short, Bai Yuan’s current level was too low to cultivate such a high-level technique.

It wasn’t hard to deduce from the prompts that he was at least two levels away from that hidden class.

’But he had a cheat. He could always grind it out...’

He looked at his panel.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Classes: Demon Hunter, Sword Ghost, Boxer, Spirit Cooker, Skin Painter]

[Skills: Divine Mansion Technique, Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber (Proficient), Manggu Zhuhe Technique (Proficient), Demon Transformation Technique (Master), Spirit Extraction (Master), Spirit-Seizing Technique (Master)...]

[Enhancement Points: 0]

The three words ’Divine Mansion Technique’ appeared on his skills panel.

However, the three words were currently grayed out.

Anyone who played games knew this meant the skill was unusable.

Unless he could unlock a higher-level class, he wouldn’t be able to use enhancement points to improve it, even though he had obtained the Divine Mansion Technique’s legacy.

One only had to look at the Murong Family’s ancestor to know how difficult the Divine Mansion Technique was to practice.

Only after obtaining the Divine Mansion Technique did Bai Yuan realize that the Founding Ancestor of the Divine Mansion Sect had only scratched the surface in his entire lifetime, never grasping its true essence.

Relying on his own comprehension, Bai Yuan feared that even after a hundred years of practice, he might not reach the Murong Ancestor’s level. Therefore, he decisively chose to grind until his level was high enough before practicing the Divine Mansion Technique.

’He was already using a cheat, so why make things hard on himself?’