Chapter Three: Mount Kumotori

Li Xia carefully examined the treasure chest that had appeared in his palm. It was about the size of a smartphone box, fitting perfectly when held in one hand. It appeared to be made of some kind of wood, with clear grain and a smooth surface, its corners and edges reinforced with brass. Intricate patterns were carved into its sides, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be silhouettes of himself fighting a demon. It felt like a... highlight reel?

However, compared to the carvings, the most dazzling feature was the green gemstone embedded in the lid. The emerald, roughly the size of a pigeon egg, was teardrop-shaped, emitting faint flickers of green light—truly magnificent.

[You have obtained a treasure chest for the first time. Opening instructions:]
[Treasure chests vary in grade and quality.]
[Grades are categorized as Common (white), Fine (green), Rare (blue), Epic (purple), and ??? among others.]
[Quality is categorized as Inferior, Standard, Exquisite, and Magnificent.]
[The probability of obtaining high-quality chests varies with grade. Explore the specific rules yourself.]
[Treasure chests are the materialized form of loot collected by the Temple. Some enemies carry spatial or dimensional storage items.]
[Apostles may open chests to obtain loot; unselected loot will be reclaimed by the Temple.]
[Special Note!!!]
[Items obtained from chests are 'Equipment,' which are special objects infused with resources by the Temple and can be taken out of the world.]
[Most items obtained within a trial world can only be used within that world and cannot be taken out.]
[For more information, please consult the interior of the Temple.]

Li Xia closed the notification; the meaning was clear enough. After killing an enemy, the Temple processed the body, stripped away anything useful—including spatial items carried by the deceased—and packed it into a chest for him to draw from. Anything he didn't draw was kept by the Temple as a "processing fee." Perhaps the mission completion rewards were simply loot dropped by enemies previously killed by other Apostles.

It made sense! The Temple and its laborers, the "workhorse" Apostles. Still, it saved a massive amount of time. Many spatial items were famously impossible to open once the owner died. Furthermore, with animal or plant-type monsters, he wouldn't even know which parts were most valuable or how to process them. If the Temple handled the logistics, a small service fee was a fair trade.

After rationalizing it, Li Xia weighed the chest and decided to open it immediately. Even though his luck stat was zero, worrying about not getting good loot and thus refusing to open it would be like skipping a meal for fear of choking. Even if he only got basic rewards, it was better than dying with a backpack full of unopened chests.

Open!

*Click.* The latch on the chest popped open automatically. Accompanied by a wisp of black smoke, several faint streams of light jumped out from within, and then the chest slowly faded into nothingness.

Floating before Li Xia were several objects wrapped in small orbs of light.

[You have obtained: Meiji Dragon Silver*10, Plum Rice Ball*2, Pure Demon Blood*1, Temple Points 200.]

How should he put it... The Meiji Dragon Silver resembled a silver dollar, except one side featured a flying dragon, hence the name. The other side had "Trade Silver" written in Chinese characters. Perhaps because not much time had passed, they looked quite new.

[Meiji Dragon Silver: Current trial world currency, can be taken out of the trial.]
[Valuable Item · Currency]
[Rating: A silver-based currency; perhaps in some worlds, collectors would pay a high price for it.]

Toying with the silver coins, Li Xia checked the other items and was pleasantly surprised.

[Plum Rice Ball (Temple Enhanced)]
[Quality: Green]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Effect: Infused with a hint of life force. Consuming it slowly restores 20% of HP (can heal certain wounds).]
[Rating: A rice ball that only serves to fill the stomach, but in a trial world, it heals—quite reasonable, right?]
[Note: Percentage-based recovery items have floating values based on rank, physique, etc.]

Great stuff! Li Xia looked at the two baseball-sized rice balls and couldn't help but smile. The Temple was different from the "Infinite Flow" stories he had read; it operated on a "wound status" concept. For instance, if an arm were severed, unless it was perfectly reattached or regenerated, even if the HP bar were refilled, the physical injury would remain. This meant that the health bar would reflect injuries that couldn't be healed by natural regeneration alone. Recovery items that could actually heal wounds were incredibly useful.

Li Xia checked his own HP. The bar, which had been slowly dropping due to blood loss, had stabilized. His 200% bonus to natural healing was working effectively. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up a rice ball and took small bites. No one knew what lay ahead; staying in peak condition was the only way to go. The soft, sticky rice ball carried the fragrance of fresh grains and a hint of sweetness.

Li Xia looked at the final item.

[Pure Demon Blood]
[Bloodline Item]
[Rating: D-grade]
[Effect: 60% chance to transform into a 'Demon' upon use. Significantly enhances self-healing and physical attributes; creates a fear of sunlight and vulnerability to 'Sun-attribute' items and skills.]
[Rating: A common bloodline in Tier-1 worlds, composed of a mixture of faint curses, mysticism, and the dark side. It relies on consuming others to bypass the limits of cell division, thereby extending lifespan. If not for its massive flaws, it might have reached C-grade.]
[Note: 'Blue Spider Lily' and ??? can be used via mystical refinement to evolve this into perfect Demon Blood, overcoming its flaws.]

A bloodline item? Li Xia tucked the Demon Blood into his personal space. He had absolutely no intention of becoming a demon. The Temple had practically spelled it out: the upper limit was low, there was no development potential, and the item needed to overcome its flaws was marked with "???". He could try to sell it after finishing the trial; who knew if some fool would buy it.

That was all the loot from the chest, but there was also a map. It was very crude, with a small red circle in the center representing his current location. Surrounding it were several striking landmarks.

"Mount Kumotori... Mount Sagiri..."

Looking at the sun symbol below the small characters for Mount Kumotori and the water symbol below Mount Sagiri, Li Xia nodded thoughtfully. These were likely the locations of the five breathing styles. Sun Breathing was at Mount Kumotori, Water Breathing at Mount Sagiri, Flame and Stone Breathing were near the Butterfly Mansion, and Thunder Breathing was at Mount Momoyama. This map was likely the base reward for completing the mission.

Which breathing style to choose? Li Xia fell into deep thought. Distance-wise, the closest was Mount Kumotori, home to Sun Breathing. The map didn't have a scale, so the exact distance was unclear. Next was Mount Sagiri for Water Breathing, and the farthest was Mount Momoyama. Although the mission didn't specify, there were surely prerequisites for learning these styles. Perhaps the distance also represented the difficulty of those prerequisites?

Li Xia hesitated for a while, then finally jabbed his finger firmly at a spot on the map, making up his mind.

Mount Kumotori! Sun Breathing!

The reason for choosing Sun Breathing was simple: it was the strongest and the original breathing style. And, most crucially, Mount Kumotori was the closest!

Li Xia checked his HP; after eating the plum rice ball, it had recovered to over 50%. Though his body still ached—much like the feeling the day after an intense workout—it no longer hindered his movement. He picked up his axe and tucked it into his belt; for a beginner, this thing was much more useful than any sword.

Standing at the doorway, the sky in the distance was already faintly turning white. Before long, the morning light would dispel the darkness. Li Xia peered into the distance; smoke was already rising from a farmhouse a few hundred meters away. Farmers were always up early, no matter what country one was in.

Set out! To Mount Kumotori!