The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 279: Chapter 276: Acknowledging as Godfather

CRUNCH... CRUNCH...

The sound of boots treading on snow echoed across the snowfield.

It had snowed heavily for another five days. In the deepest parts, the snow was half a man’s height, and a moment of carelessness could send one falling into a snow pit.

Of course, these were no difficulties for Bai Yuan.

After leaving Cui Shui County, he had resumed his life as a Demon Hunter.

Maybe it was time for the mobs to respawn, as the demons near Cui Shui County were far more numerous than usual. Or maybe he had just happened to avoid those experts from the Demon Sect. Who knew?

As for the demons that had foolishly run into him, intending to swallow him whole, Bai Yuan had of course unceremoniously turned them all into spirits and roasted meat. Inadvertently, Lu Yu owed him yet another favor.

In this way, although he was isolated from the world, he didn’t lack for food. And his tiger-skin coat made him look exactly like a Hunter from the mountains.

’No wonder Old Dong said you need to bring a hammer to take a piss in the Northern Plains.’

Bai Yuan couldn’t help but shiver. Even with his physique, he was having trouble withstanding the cold.

He simply found a cave and used the flint he carried to light a campfire.

The blazing firelight warmed his body again.

He rubbed his hands together as he looked at his panel.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

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

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

[Enhancement Points: 0]

After his efforts during this period, he had finally raised his Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber to the Master level.

Not only had his strength soared, but more importantly, he was one step closer to Legendary.

The Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber was of too high a grade. Cultivation Techniques of a similar grade were almost all secret arts of the great clans and sects of Xuan Yang. Trying to use another’s stone to polish his jade seemed unfeasible, so Bai Yuan chose to grind out a Legendary-level Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber.

’Fortunately, Dingzhou has enough demons...’

Bai Yuan was very satisfied with his current progress.

Once his body warmed up a bit more, he would prepare to set off again.

’Achieving what I have today is inseparable from self-discipline.’

Just as Bai Yuan’s mind was wandering, the flames suddenly flickered. To be precise, the ground was vibrating slightly.

Bai Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly.

’Warhorses!’

He made the judgment almost the instant the vibrations began. It was the unique sound of galloping warhorses.

To be able to gallop in this snowy weather, they had to be Demon Horses.

Therefore, a troop of Demon Cavalry was not far from him.

Deducing this, Bai Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’Forget it...’

He scooped up a handful of dirt, smothered the campfire, and slowly rose to his feet.

This was still within the borders of Cui Shui County. That kid Lu Yu’s foundation was far too weak to have such a large Demon Cavalry force.

So there were only two possibilities.

One, the Fang Family’s Demon Cavalry was passing through.

Two, it was an enemy’s Demon Cavalry.

Bai Yuan leaned toward the second possibility. It was most likely the Demon Cavalry of the Jiangnan Commerce Association.

’This is clearly a move to wipe out Cui Shui County.’

’Lu Yu owes me a lot. If he just dies like this, there will be no one to repay the debt.’

Bai Yuan felt that Lu Yu would have to, at the very least, acknowledge him as a godfather this time. Only then would the two of them be considered even.

...

「Cui Shui County.」

"Demon... Demon Cavalry!"

A blood-soaked Fang Clan Member, gasping for breath, burst into the County Magistrate’s Office.

Lu Yu shot to his feet.

"What exactly happened?"

"The Jiangnan Commerce Association’s Demon Cavalry is attacking."

Lu Yu’s expression instantly turned ugly.

’The Jiangnan Commerce Association is ready to tear off all pretenses.’

Although the last veneer of civility between the Fang Family and the Jiangnan Commerce Association had long been torn away.

Initially, the four parties had maintained a final shred of decency. But as they consolidated their territories, the conflicts between them grew increasingly intense, even escalating to sieges.

The Xuan Yang Court only cared whether these northbound forces could reclaim the lost territories. As for internal strife, they couldn’t care less. Now that the situation in the Northern Territory had eased, they were even happy to see these forces wear each other down. That way, no one could pose a threat to the Court.

Lu Yu’s eyes flickered.

’Run... and all the years I’ve invested in the Fang Family will go up in smoke.’

’Don’t run... but Cui Shui City cannot possibly withstand the Jiangnan Commerce Association’s Demon Cavalry.’

"Take everything valuable in the city that you can carry. What you can’t... burn it all!"

Lu Yu said to the Fang Clan Member beside him.

"Yes!"

The man acknowledged the order and left.

Lu Yu had made his decision.

’Compared to my future, my life is more important.’

Worst case, he could start over from scratch, or even join another family and start anew.

If he lost his life, everything would be over.

Soon, thick smoke billowed from all over Cui Shui City. The Fang Clan Members were indeed quick to act.

Lu Yu stood on the second floor of a small building in the County Magistrate’s Office, gazing out at the city.

The moment he made his choice, it meant he would have a hard time rising within the Fang Family. The Fang Family would not tolerate a son-in-law making a mistake, especially since his surname wasn’t Fang.

Just as he was feeling melancholic, another Fang Clan Member hurried over to him.

The expression on that Fang Clan Member’s face looked off, no matter how you looked at it.

Lu Yu frowned. "What is it now?"

"The Demon Cavalry... they seem to have retreated."

"Retreated?!"

Lu Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had already made plans to flee, and now they were retreating.

"Fuck! Put out the fires, quickly!"

...

「In the mountain forest five li outside Cui Shui City.」

Bai Yuan hid in the shadows, watching the large troop of Demon Cavalry retreat.

’He’d saved that godson’s life again.’

This troop of Demon Cavalry was led by a Sensing Master. Combined with three hundred Demon Cavalry charging, Lu Xiaoyu wouldn’t have been able to escape even if he wanted to.

No matter how good his Lightweight Technique was, could he outrun a Demon Horse?

Not to mention there was also a formidable Martial Artist.

Bai Yuan had set up a Poison Array on the path the Demon Cavalry had to take, which was what had deterred them from advancing.

But this method wouldn’t last long. The Poison Array would dissipate in half a day at most, and the Demon Cavalry wouldn’t give up so easily.

He watched the departing Demon Cavalry and silently withdrew.

...

"Someone is at the city gates asking for an audience. They say their surname is Bai."

Lu Yu was overjoyed.

He had been wondering why the Demon Cavalry had suddenly retreated. It seemed the one who had intervened was none other than Bai Yuan.

He immediately went downstairs to personally greet him at the city gate.

Before long, the gate of Cui Shui City was pushed open, leaving a crack just wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Big Brother!"

Lu Yu was even more delighted when he saw Bai Yuan’s face.

Bai Yuan: "More money."

Lu Yu, of course, knew what Bai Yuan’s two words meant. However, he was already so deep in debt that he wasn’t worried about being pressed for payment. He’d just add it to his tab.

If he could, he would love to imitate that talented individual from a previous dynasty who loved making people his godfather. That way, all his debts would be cleared.

"Don’t worry, little brother remembers everything."

Seeing Lu Yu thump his chest resoundingly, Bai Yuan finally stepped into Cui Shui Mansion.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready?"

Lu Yu was confused by Bai Yuan’s words.

Bai Yuan rolled his eyes. "Ready to run, of course."

Lu Yu: "..."

Well, looks like they had to burn it after all.

Bai Yuan had only temporarily scared off the Demon Cavalry. Did they really think he was Kuaidong, capable of slaughtering three hundred Demon Cavalry single-handedly?

Lu Yu was decisive. He immediately ordered the Fang Clan Members to burn the city and fled east with over a hundred people.

Bai Yuan... Bai Yuan wasn’t his real father, so of course he wasn’t going to continue protecting him on his journey.

There was some camaraderie, but he also didn’t want his investment to go down the drain.

After Lu Yu returned, the situation between the Fang Family and the Jiangnan Commerce Association would only worsen. It was highly likely that a large-scale, chaotic battle would break out.

However, Bai Yuan wasn’t optimistic about the Fang Family’s chances.

Although the Fang Family had an ambiguous relationship with the Celestial Profound Sect, if the Cao Bang and the Jiangnan Commerce Association joined forces against them, the Celestial Profound Sect would most likely not intervene.

After all, if the Fang Family was eliminated, the Celestial Profound Sect would have a pretext to annex the other seven provinces.

In the end, it was all about interests and schemes.

But these were not matters Bai Yuan could concern himself with.

He was just an ordinary Demon Hunter who also happened to take jobs hunting Demons and barbarians.

...

The situation in Dingzhou was becoming visibly more chaotic.

Bai Yuan visited several more cities.

Seven or eight out of ten were embroiled in great battles—not against the Demon Sect, but infighting among the Profound People themselves, and it showed signs of escalating.

Bai Yuan saving Lu Yu and triggering the war between the Fang Family and the Jiangnan Commerce Association was merely lighting the fuse.

For those great clans and sects, their own interests were far more important than any national grudges or family feuds.

Sects are forged from iron; imperial dynasties flow like water.

The history of great clans like the Fang Family even surpassed that of the Li Family Dynasty. They were long accustomed to the rise and fall of dynasties.

Even if Xuan Yang fell, they could just pledge allegiance to a new emperor and continue to enjoy endless glory and wealth.

Expanding their own power was their primary objective.

The Demon Sect seemed pleased to see this happen. They intentionally or unintentionally concentrated their forces in the north to entangle the Celestial Profound Sect, leaving it unable to interfere with the chaos in the south.

Bai Yuan could clearly feel that the concentration of Demonic Qi seemed to be getting higher recently.

This was not a good sign.

According to the Celestial Heart Sect, Demonic Qi was a gift from the Demon Gods. The more Demonic Qi there was, the stronger the Demon Gods’ power became.

The Demon Sect had once summoned a Demon God to crush the Northern Garrison Army. No one could be certain if a Demon God would descend again.

’I should leave this land of strife sooner rather than later,’ Bai Yuan thought.

’It’s just a shame to leave such a great grinding spot.’

Although he didn’t know what kind of existence a Demon God was, he knew that the Nine Heavens Profound Soldiers were truly powerful.

If he encountered the Nine Heavens Profound Soldiers now, it would be a dead end.

Compared to leveling up, his life was definitely more important.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky.

It was starting to snow again.

Bai Yuan scanned his surroundings, found a hollow with less wind and snow, and lit a campfire.

The campfire was suppressed by the wind, the flames barely visible, struggling to stay lit.

"Hm?"

Bai Yuan suddenly sensed a wave of demonic energy.

There were about twenty demons. This was a considerable force.

Gathered together, they must be planning to attack the Profound People.

Bai Yuan slowly rose to his feet.

’Then let’s do one last job!’

...

「Half an hour later.」

The demons that had gathered in the hollow had all disappeared, leaving only a large pool of blood on the ground.

This was, of course, Bai Yuan’s handiwork.

He finished the deed and left, seeking neither credit nor fame.

He killed the demons and headed straight south.

The waters in Dingzhou seemed deeper than he had imagined. Since he was powerless to stop it, the best solution was to get far away.

The matter of the Nine Heavens Profound Soldiers was something for the big shots in Xuan Yang to worry about. It wasn’t his turn to be concerned.

It had been almost three months since he left Ling Province. It was time to go back.