Justinian sidestepped a sword strike. As soon as he was safely out of the way of the strike, he slammed his fist into his enemy's face. Metal met bone, and the man collapsed. Despite the victory, Justinian didn't like his current situation. He wasn't sure why the people from the other world were out in force. Over the last three days, something had changed. They were hunting for something, or rather someone. At first, he assumed it was him; after all, he had tried to kill their king, but that wasn't the case. He still had more than a few hunters try and take him out, but the overall hunt wasn't for him. He was annoyed by that but wasn't going to protest it. At least not any more than he already had. He had gathered a lot from the trial and had encountered several puppets. Every battle felt like a dance on the edge of a knife. He had gotten used to being at the top of the food chain, or rather, near the top; now, he wasn't. He stopped his musing and looked down at the warrior. He was from Earth, though he wasn't sure where the man came from. He wasn't dressed like a member of a faction. It was hard to believe he was a cultivator at all. He wore the robes, but he had thrown on some football pads. It reminded him of one of those zombie movies. He doubted the "armor" was of much use. He knelt and collected the man's token. He then carried him into a nearby building.

  He doubted it would make a difference. The man wasn't exactly strong, especially for this region. Still, he would give the guy the best chance. With that dealt with, he turned his attention to he rest of the city. The difference between him and Maximilian had only grown since the start of the trial. He wasn't sure if the man had found some special grinding zone or if he was on a slaughter spree. At this point, he wasn't willing to ask. If they didn't do something soon, they would fall too far behind. His hand tightened around the shaft of his spear as he set out. There was no point in worrying about it. He needed to fight. He needed to get energy, and he needed to do it all fast. That was there was to it. He looked up at the fading sunlight and nodded. He had avoided fighting at night, but that was no longer an option. The puppets were likely the strongest source of power in this place. His mind was made up, but that didn't mean he didn't have a few things he wanted to take care of first. He looked just as he rounded a corner and headed into his makeshift command center. His gaze relaxed when he found his companions. They looked tired but in good spirits. The empire had only managed twenty tokens for the trial. Of those, fifteen had either been killed or retreated from the trial. The people left behind hovered around level 10. As strong as they were, their ability to stay in the game was fading.

  "Kennith." Justinian began as his gaze moved across the rest of the gathering. "We are heading out tonight. We need more strength. If the last circle was any indication, we aren't strong enough to contend with whatever is in the core." He shifted his gaze to the group as a whole. "If anyone here wishes to head back, now is the time. We need to take gambles if we want to get anything done."

  Kennith nodded. His hand moved to the curved sabre on his belt. He hadn't complained when Justinian brought him here. He hadn't even complained when the fighting started. The man was in his early twenties, a soldier before the world ended. He couldn't tell if the man was loyal to him or if he just wanted something to fight for. The so-called government lacked the power to back up what it wanted. He doubted they would survive the year, let alone control the world. Part of Justinian wondered what the hell had happened that caused this madness. He vividly remembered the announcement, but it didn't explain what happened. Why had the world met requirements it hadn't before? Part of him wanted to complain while another part felt guilty. As chaotic as things were, he was stronger now. He had far more power.

  "Sounds good to me," Cletus added. The southern man stepped to the front of the line. He was the largest and strongest of the group. The man was almost seven feet tall with skin like leather. Justinian's gaze shifted to the warhammer he carried. It was one of the few Talismans he had seen. The hammer was only "middle" quality according to Cletus. A whole lesser stage beneath his own spear, but it was frightening all the same.

  "Prepare yourselves. We will go with the tested battle plans. I don't want to gamble with the puppets in this area. Cultivate until we move out." Justinian waited until the other five settled down before he did the same. They had trained and worked together long enough now that they could be called a team. Though they certainly weren't up to the standard of any armed force. He knew that would change. That if the individual wasn't strong enough, then the group would be. He placed the spear across his front and closed his eyes. Only he didn't start up his cultivation technique. The fastest route to power for him wasn't through energy. At least not right now. His last real fight had shown him the path forward. He just needed to crystallize it. He needed ot focus. At first, there was nothing, then came a feeling. A stillness. A calmness that made everything feel right. The perfect calm was soon replaced with power. With a sharpness that made him feel like he could pierce straight through a mountain. His eyes flew open as power and energy surged through him. The sensation was overpowering. Almost to the point where he had to get up. Had to fight. Instead, he closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down.

  "Well, I'll be." A thick southern drawl brought Justinian back to the present. His eyes opened and settled on Cletus and moved onto the others. They all had the same astonished look on their faces. It wasn't hard to figure out why. He had gained a dao. He had long believed that the power from one of those wasn't worth it. That they were just tricks and that you'd be better off relying on a skill to handle all of it. Now that he had one, though. He realized he had been wrong. He opened up the notification and nodded. He had gained twenty points. Spread evenly between Agility and Strength. His comprehension was listed as Early, which was both good and bad. It was good because it was obvious he could keep growing. His attributes would continue to soar if he kept at it. It was bad because this meant the same was true for Yao Wei and Maximilian Croft. If they had more dao than him, then he'd be in trouble. Not just in trouble, they might be so far ahead of him that he'd be unable to catch up. Or that he'd have to spend years just to make up their pace. He doubted it, though. They all had the same start, so they should be close. He just needed to work on it.

  "I thought you were just catching up on shut-eye over there, but this is different. You feel sharp and not like those business types." Cletus said.

  Kennith slowly nodded. "You got one of those dao, right? Can you show me how to do that?"

  Justinian nodded and twirled his spear. He was amazed at the difference ten attribute points made. It wasn't night and day, but it was enough to make him feel off. It was like he had input lag before. Lag that was now gone. He spent a few minutes just getting used to the slight changes in his movements before he gave his team his attention. "I can. How long do we have until nightfall?"

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  "Afraid we overshot that target by about two hours, boss," Cletus replied.

  "We decided not to wake you up in case you needed the rest," Kim added. The Korean woman fiddled with one of her arrows. "We were just talking about leaving you behind or calling it for the night."

  Justinian shook his head. "No. I doubt anything I say can help you at the moment. You should feel it if you are at the threshold of gaining a lesser Dao. I have a few recommendations for what you should do, but we can discuss them after the hunt. Get ready. I want to move out in ten minutes. Stick together and keep it quiet. I want to find them before they find us."

  Yao Wei opened his eyes. His cultivation session had come and gone. He knew he had made good progress. He had avoided using too much of his spiritual energy. Thanks to his hand-to-hand training. His skills weren't good at dealing with the puppets, but the people were a different story. The imperials were strong, but their fighting styles were archaic. There weren't any direct analogs to things from Earth, but there were some similarities. Unfortunately, the enemies weren't liable to face him in fair fights. He stood up and turned his attention to his hiding place. He had stolen one of the elder's homes. The city's history was interesting. They used a unique cultivation technique. One that lets them fight using the puppets. It was as if they were emulating combat robots. That didn't explain why the puppets were still functioning. The few slips he had found said they needed a controller. Either there were people still alive in the city, or the Network had somehow taken control of them. If it were the latter, he wasn't sure what they were supposed to do. He wanted to say the puppets couldn't be infinite, but he couldn't say that for sure. He couldn't say anything for sure. He shook his head and focused on his current objective. The building across from him had drawn his attention over the last week.

  It was an alchemical hall. Daoist inner alchemy was real here. He wasn't sure if the Daoism of Earth was original or if it had somehow come from the greater multiverse. If what his father showed him was real, then the latter was likely. People had visited Earth and left things behind. Either way, he would need to get strong enough to access the tablet. The only way to do that was the trial. The alchemical hall would make that easier. He circulated spiritual energy through his body as he stepped forward. As soon as he passed the threshold, the presence locked onto him. He had less than a moment before a blast of fire came for him. He leapt to the side. As soon as his feet his the ground, he moved. Blasts of fire rain toward him from all directions. He dodged the ones he could and blocked the few he couldn't. Seconds later, he reached the center of the room. The furthest he had ever gotten. He scanned the room to plan his next move. It was large and reminded him a bit of a metal processing plant. Large cauldrons sat on tables to his left and right, Cauldrons that still had a spirituality. He wanted those, but there were no safe pathways. He was forced to abandon them when a gout of flame shot from an array above him. He narrowly avoided it as he charged forward. His eyes locked on a symbol on the back wall. Each time one of the arrays attacked, a symbol would flash. He had memorized every symbol so far, and this was the only one that hadn't appeared. He leapt into a spin when two gouts of flame came for him at opposite ends of the room. As soon as he landed, he placed his palm on the wall. There was a drain on his spiritual energy, and everything stopped. He tensed, every muscle ready to react at the first sign of danger. When nothing happened, he nodded.

  "Was that a trap? Or was it some sort of test?" He wasn't sure what was possible, but he assumed that his skills weren't that much better than the average cultivator specialized in Agility. Which should mean others could have done what he did. He also knew that the current situation was far from ideal for them. He had gotten through, but it had taken time. If the city were at its height, guards would have arrived by now. Not that it mattered. He had accomplished his goal. The cauldrons would be a steal for his clan regardless of what else he did in the trial. No matter what his father said, he did not have faith that he could beat the monster in human skin. Yet he also knew he didn't need to. Physical power was but one avenue in this new world. If the Wei Clan could corner the world's pill making they could sit atop the throne without the strongest fighting force. Worst case, they could guarantee a seat at whatever table is formed. He went through the room and collected each of the cauldrons. He wanted to take the stone tables as well, but he couldn't. He hoped the Network would let them keep these bags later. His own wasn't half as good. When he finished his work, he turned his attention to the back wall. He wasn't sure why, but his gut told him there was more to this place. Well, he couldn't say it was just his gut. He doubted whoever led the alchemical hall lived somewhere else. Which meant there should be a separate space. He walked around the room twice before he decided to try something else. As impressive as everything was in this new world, there were things he did not like. This was one of them. He had tested the walls for a hollow space, but either the construction no longer followed any rules he knew or the material was too thick for it to work. Either way, he had to shift tactics.

  As much as it annoyed him, brute strength was the best way. He slammed his fist into several walls before he found what he sought. The back left-most wall was hollow about a foot into the wall. A distance that should have made it impossible to find. At least not without whatever mechanism opened it. A few minutes later, he had punched an area large enough for him to move through. He took a moment to make sure the wall wouldn't repair itself and trap him. After that started down the newly exposed staircase. It was oddly ornate. He had expected some sort of bunker. A place for a survivalist, but it made some sense. Alchemy likely made the elder wealthy, and he likely spent it on luxuries. The spiraling staircase was a waste, but still very nice. The still lit stonches were a welcome surprise. When he reached the bottom, he paused. It was divided into three areas. One of which was likely a cultivation chamber, and another was a bedroom. Which was just odd. He barely needed to sleep as it was; he doubted anyone respected as an elder still needed the biological function. The strangeness was further emphasized by the large harem-esque bed. It looked large enough to hold four or five adults. He decided not to explore that room any further. He wasn't sure what the bed contained, and he wasn't willing to think about it too hard. The third room was the interesting one. It was a private alchemical lab. One with a beautiful cauldron in the middle. This cauldron was much larger than the others. The whole thing was made of bronze or a bronze-like material. It sat on three simple legs with two handles, one on either side. On top of a lid with the image of a unicorn-like creature.

  The artistic value alone was impressive, but that wasn't the part that drew his eye. The cauldron was a talisman. Its spirituality was the strongest he had seen. If he could take this home, the benefits would be immeasurable. He had only taken a step forward when his instincts warned him. These weren't the supernatural impulses he gained from the Network. No, these were the instincts he trained in the military. Instincts that told him he was being watched. Spiritual energy surged toward the skill in his right arm. He resolved himself to fight for what was now his and spun around. Only to freeze. What he saw made no sense to his rational mind, yet it was real. A squat man floated in the lotus position a few feet in front of him. He was at eye height, even though most of his body floated in the air. Yao's mind raced to figure out what was going on, but it was the spectral man who spoke first.

  "When the Network turned this place into a trial ground, I had hoped to find someone more interesting."