9: Chapter 9 Dark Valley, the Prey Appears

Lin Yuan left the Beast Fighting Arena, hailed a cab, and went home. As he reached his doorstep, he saw his father, Lin Tianming, standing there smoking, looking utterly distressed. The smell of low-quality tobacco was extremely pungent...

"Dad, I'm back," Lin Yuan greeted him.

Hearing this, Lin Tianming looked up, saw that it was Lin Yuan, and quickly stubbed out the cigarette, tossing the butt into the trash can.

"Xiao Yuan, have you eaten? There's food in the pot," Lin Tianming quickly opened the door and went to the kitchen to bring Lin Yuan a meal.

Lin Yuan had actually eaten already, but every day when he returned, he would still eat a symbolic amount, otherwise, they would worry again.

At the dinner table, Lin Yuan ate while asking, "Dad, how has Anran been these past few days?"

"Sigh---Not good. Her wound keeps getting infected. Our family's circumstances are truly too poor. It's all my fault for being useless; I can't even afford the money for Anran's hospitalization," Lin Tianming said, repeatedly beating his own leg.

Lin Yuan grabbed his father's hand and pulled it away. He took out a bank card from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward his father.

Lin Tianming stared blankly at the bank card before him, not understanding what Lin Yuan meant.

"Dad, there is 1 million in this card. It should be enough for Anran's treatment. When I earn more money in the future, we'll trade up for a more comfortable house," Lin Yuan said slowly, watching his father's eyes gradually widen.

"O-one---million? Xiao Yuan, w-what is going on? You didn't go and do something illegal behind our backs, did you?" Lin Tianming stood up, pointing a trembling finger at the bank card on the table.

"Of course not, Dad. I am a true martial artist now. Earning some money is very easy. Don't worry, this is all earned through my hard work, and the source is absolutely legitimate. Stop agonizing over it and quickly arrange treatment for Anran," Lin Yuan said calmly. His sincere tone influenced his father, who immediately believed his words.

"Good, good, good! Xiao Yuan, Dad is truly so proud of you! My old Lin family has finally produced someone remarkable! Xiao Hui! Xiao Hui, hurry up and come out!" Lin Tianming shouted happily. His mother, Yu Hui, immediately rushed out. After Lin Tianming explained the situation, Lin Yuan smiled and nodded.

The elderly couple then excitedly rushed into the house to call and contact the hospital. Lin Yuan, meanwhile, went to his sister Lin Anran's room.

Lin Yuan sat by the bedside and affectionately stroked Lin Anran's hair.

"Anran, big brother has earned enough money. Mom and Dad are calling the hospital for you now. Don't worry, you'll be able to stand up soon."

Hearing this, tears instantly flooded Lin Anran's eyes.

"Brother---thank you. You must have worked very hard, right?" Lin Anran hugged Lin Yuan's arm, her tears soaking his sleeve.

"It wasn't hard. Anran, stop crying and be happy. You just focus on recuperating now. Big brother is waiting for you to stand up."

"Mm, mm."

Soon after, the hospital vehicle arrived. Lin Tianming and Yu Hui accompanied Lin Anran to the hospital, while Lin Yuan remained home alone.

...

The next morning, Lin Yuan left early and headed to the south of the city, where there was a Void Rift named the Gloomy Valley.

Void Rifts like this existed all over the Blue Star; every city had at least several. Spring City had three, all of which were relatively low-level.

Over three hundred years ago, countless Void Rifts suddenly appeared on the Blue Star. Fierce beasts poured out of the rifts and rampaged across the planet.

Many places suffered devastating invasions and heavy losses. Later, a group of human powerhouses emerged in Great Xia, completely annihilating the fierce beasts. They then guarded every Void Rift to prevent large-scale breakouts of the beasts.

Great Xia was considered fortunate; some weaker nations were completely destroyed in that catastrophe.

Three hundred years later, people undertook certain modifications to the more stable Void Rifts and opened them up to martial artists. Martial artists could enter to kill fierce beasts and obtain materials from their bodies.

Lin Yuan arrived at the entrance of the Gloomy Valley. It was his first time seeing a Void Rift.

He saw a purple portal, nearly twenty meters wide and thirty meters high, suspended about ten meters in the air. The situation inside was invisible from the outside.

Outside this portal, there was an artificially constructed high platform from which one could enter the portal.

Around the high platform, many soldiers wearing battle knives at their waists and holding firearms patrolled constantly. After all, it was a Void Rift; even if stable, they feared problems might arise.

Lin Yuan arrived at the base of the high platform, where an elevator ascended to it. At the elevator entrance, there was a ticket booth and an exchange office.

One had to buy a ticket to enter the Void Rift to hunt fierce beasts; the materials inside belonged entirely to the martial artist.

The exchange office outside was where materials were redeemed. The prices were slightly lower than the outside market, but the advantage was speed and safety, allowing immediate exchange for great xia coin.

Lin Yuan paid the twenty thousand fee for the entrance ticket and boarded the elevator to the high platform. He looked at the massive and mysterious purple portal and stepped right in without hesitation.

Suddenly, a dizzying sensation washed over him. Lin Yuan felt as if he were in a special space. As a space-type ability user, he was extremely sensitive to this feeling of traversing space.

"This purple substance is very special; it slowly expands the size of the Void Rift. This substance is extremely corrosive to space. Perhaps because of this unremovable substance, humanity has never been able to completely resolve the Void Rifts," Lin Yuan thought. As he considered this, the scene before his eyes suddenly shifted, and a dim valley appeared before him.

The sky was a dark gray, with some overcast clouds. Around him were some brown and black vegetation, looking very bizarre and vastly different from the Blue Star.

"Th-this is another world?" Lin Yuan looked at everything before him in astonishment.

That's right; this was another world, a world belonging to fierce beasts. The Void Rift was the spatial passage connecting this world and the Blue Star.

However, the edges of this world were separated by spatial barriers, so the area of the Gloomy Valley wasn't very large, roughly the size of Spring City.

Moreover, there was another teleportation gate here that humans could not enter. Fierce beasts would occasionally enter this small world through that gate, which is why fierce beasts continuously appeared on the Blue Star.

Lin Yuan didn't dwell on it and immediately began exploring the Gloomy Valley. Along the way, he encountered some fierce beasts at the Body Tempering Initial Stage, whom he easily dispatched. He consumed some soul body and also obtained a beast crystal.

"This Void Rift is truly a good place for me. Not only can I hunt fierce beasts, but I can also consume the soul body left behind by others who killed beasts everywhere. It feels like I'm getting stronger just lying down..."

Lin Yuan explored for a distance and discovered the marvel of this place. The space here wasn't small, and not many martial artists entered; mainly because the beasts were too low-level, and the materials weren't very valuable.

Lin Yuan kept exploring until close to noon when he returned near the entrance. He found a hidden spot and observed the Void Rift.

After exploring all morning, he gained 700 ability points and two beast crystals. The main reason was that the fierce beasts here were too scattered and few in number, making it suitable for novices to train.

"Even when hunting a rabbit, one must use full strength. Although 700 ability points aren't much, I'll put them all into combat power." Lin Yuan unhesitatingly went all-in again. His combat power reached 6800 points, increasing by another 350 points. Now, he just had to wait for prey to arrive.

Just then, the purple light flickered within the Void Rift portal, and three figures appeared at the entrance of the Gloomy Valley—it was Liu Ning and his two lackeys.

"They're here!" Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes, like a predator waiting for its prey.

He didn't act hastily but silently followed the three men. This was the entrance area after all, not a good place to make a move. He would wait for the right moment to strike...