Chapter 41
The morning light shone brightly as a fresh breeze greeted every creature in the vast Daemon Forest. Inside the illusionary mountain, a number of cultivators had already gathered near the entrance. This time, there were more than before, as the others who had stayed within the mountain were returning with the group.
Shin Jiao stood not far behind Qin Lou at the front of the line, as it was still her duty to be part of the student facilitator group. This time, no one looked at her with scorn, as they all knew she was the new genius of the alchemy school. Behind her stood two elders at the peak of the Gold Core realm, acting as her protectors.
After the gate opened, the procession of students began to march forward. Not long after, Shin Jiao once again saw the thick, green forest. When he stepped outside, his danger sense kicked in. It felt like a long time since he had walked these paths, and his nerves were on edge.
Once everyone was out of the illusionary mountain, the elder protectors of each school, who carried spatial tools with them, took out carriages and had the lower-level students and mortal servants get inside. The journey would take a long time on foot since those people couldn't fly yet.
Since they were using carriages this time—unlike the first time, when Qin Lou and many other contestants had flown through the forest—the rest of the students also decided to leisurely ride in their own carriages.
Along the way, Susu Ling once again decided to ride with Qin Lou, which almost made the other facilitators curse, but upon seeing who it was, they let her be. What made them frown, however, was that she seemed to be always talking to Shin Jiao, as if they were discussing something, while Qin Lou would just casually nod every now and then.
At this time, Susu Ling was trying to convince Shin Jiao and Qin Lou to make a downgraded version of the rapid hemostatic pill. She also tried to convince Qin Lou to give her the sole right to sell the pills so that she wouldn't be tricked by other merchants. Shin Jiao knew her purpose was good, but she was truly a merchant's daughter; even when helping others, she would still think about business, which was like hitting two birds with one stone.
"Okay, when we get to the school, we'll work on it," Qin Lou said with exasperation, as Susu Ling was truly relentless.
"Alright, you said it, Senior Sister. I'll be expecting that. I'll be expecting a new product from both of you. For compensation, just give me 5% for my commission fee. Hehe…"
Upon hearing her demand, both Qin Lou and Shin Jiao were dumbfounded. They never thought she would ask for such a small amount. Seeing their stunned expressions, Susu Ling scratched her head.
"Is that too much? Okay, how about 2%?"
"No, no… I mean, are you okay with just 5%? You're the one who's going to market and sell the product," Qin Lou asked with worry.
"Geez… that's not a problem. We're friends, right?"
"Well, yes, we are friends, so how about no commission fee?" Shin Jiao interjected.
"You're shameless… Hmph! I'm not talking to you, mortal man… I'll just talk to Senior Sister Lou then," Susu Ling said coquettishly, hugging one of Qin Lou's arms and sending a glare while sticking her tongue out at Shin Jiao.
As the three happily bantered with each other, their friendship began to deepen. Whenever the group stopped, the three would share a tent and engage in small talk. Shin Jiao enjoyed their company; he had never had this kind of friendship in his previous life.
3 Days Later…
The group had arrived a bit far from the forest border. It had taken them a while, unlike flying, as they had no other choice.
Suddenly, the carriages stopped, and the beasts pulling them became restless. The students immediately felt a change in their surroundings, as did the protectors and student facilitators, who quickly got out of their carriages. They were now in front of a ruined land where trees had fallen, and broken rocks and dirt were everywhere. It was as if a great stampede of giant beasts had just come through, trampling everything in their path.
"What happened here?"
"This is too horrifying. What if there's a beast horde on our way? I don't think we can protect everyone in this situation."
"The ruined land's direction is toward Haven Town. This is bad… the town should be warned."
The students began to discuss and chatter, feeling anxious. They were just students and still not strong enough to face beast tides, and some were even pampered young masters of big clans, so these kinds of things were a little scary for them. Of course, not everyone was scared; some were prepared to fight the beasts if necessary, which was true for the Gold Core realm students and the elder protectors.
"Alright, everyone, we should proceed with caution. I think the elders who went ahead of us have already warned the town and may be protecting it right now. So we need to think about our own safety in this area. Maintain high alert at all times," an elder who was with Qin Lou shouted, giving his instructions.
The group followed his lead, as the elder had a high cultivation level and commanded a powerful aura. So the group continued to travel through the forest and into the ruined land.
Not long after traveling for dozens of kilometers, they reached an area where they could see a lot of carcasses of different kinds of beasts. It seemed that the beasts in this area were trampled by the stampede, as their bodies were almost mangled, and their bones were broken everywhere.
"Everyone, gather any carcass and cores that can be salvaged. With this number, your schools can benefit from it, and this will be useful for increasing your cultivation. Go now!" an elder shouted as the people who carried spatial tools quickly ran forward and grabbed as many beast carcasses as they could.
Before long, the area was clean of any dead beasts, as if nothing had happened, and the only evidence was the dried blood on the ground, which had dyed it crimson red. Soon, the group once again continued on their way. As they approached, they noticed that the ground was trembling, and a sound of fighting could be heard from not too far away. It seemed they were nearing the borders of Haven Town.
As they entered the area, they immediately noticed a large number of Level 3 beasts, along with some Level 4 beasts, fighting against a number of cultivators who seemed to be the town's defenders. The elders and protectors quickly decided to assist the cultivators fighting the beasts.
"All students, prepare to fight! We cannot just let Haven Town defend this attack by themselves. Those who are at the Gold Core realm should prepare to advance with us. The other lower-realm cultivators and the alchemists should prepare to help those who are injured. Now let's go!" a protector from the Snow Wind School shouted and rushed toward the beasts along with the other protectors.
It was a common thing for these elders and protectors to fight in these beast tides, as this usually happened at least four or five times a year. So they were all prepared, and everyone almost already knew what to do, everyone except for Shin Jiao, as it was his second time seeing beasts rampaging in the forest.
He wanted to go with Qin Lou and Susu Ling, but as a mortal servant, he was deemed weak and would be a liability, so he was put in a single carriage with the other mortal servants, protected by some cultivators.
When he entered the carriage, everyone had a scared look on their faces. It was normal for them to feel this way, as they felt powerless against any kind of beast, even those at Level 1. The only thing they could do was hide and hope that the cultivators outside would win this battle.
Upon seeing this, Shin Jiao felt a little dejected. It was okay for him to hide if the threat was minimal, as he didn't want to display his skills too much, and he wanted to live and just cultivate in peace. He knew that a human's heart would always be dark and would cause him trouble if they discovered his abilities, and he knew this from his own experiences. But for this kind of threat, he really needed to help, as his two friends were out there and might face trouble. As a man, he wouldn't be able to face himself if anything happened to them without him doing anything.
So he planned to help but, at the same time, hide his identity. An idea entered his mind as he slowly hid his presence from the group. Not long after, no one noticed that one of them was already missing as Shin Jiao stealthily walked outside. Even the lower-realm cultivators who were anxiously watching the battle far ahead didn't notice his presence.
On a treetop stood a man wearing a dark, weird suit and a head cover. Strapped to his sides were two glossy metals with weird craftsmanship, and on his back was a black wakizashi sword. The clothes the man was wearing were pure black, which made him look like a specter or even a spirit. And on the man's eyes was a familiar thing that a certain human always had on his head: black goggles.
This was Shin Jiao after putting on the hunting suit that he hadn't worn for a long time. When he wore it, he found that it didn't fit him perfectly; it was like he had lost a lot of weight in the last couple of weeks. Still, he felt happy and excited to have a chance to wear the thing he had crafted, which had also helped him become stronger before. But now was not the time for him to reminisce about those days, as the battle in front of him was intensifying. Using his goggles, he noticed that the auras of the beasts were a little suspicious. It was like there was a huge amount of energy inside their bodies, which made them erupt in fury and violence. Upon seeing this, he felt a little suspicious, but it wasn't the time for that; he would just investigate this later after the battle.
"Susu! Watch out!" Qin Lou shouted as she quickly grabbed Susu Ling's arm and dragged her backward, evading the sharp, sickle-like claws of a huge Nue.
While being dragged, Susu Ling flashed her whip toward one of the Nue's eyes, hitting it directly in a surprise attack. The two ladies worked in tandem, attacking as one, as if they could read each other's thoughts.
Roar!
The Nue roared in anger and pain, shaking its head while glaring at the two small preys in front of it. Then, all of a sudden, its tail moved and flew forward, shocking both Qin Lou and Susu Ling. Although they knew that a Nue could attack with its tail, they suddenly felt that they couldn't move. This was a stunning effect of the Nue's roar, catching them off guard. The target of the tail, which had the head of a poisonous snake, was Qin Lou, as the Nue judged that she was the most dangerous opponent of the two.
The snake's fangs gleamed with a dangerous aura, as poison dripped from its tip little by little while the wind carried them away with the speed of the strike. The Nue's tail seemed to stretch as it neared Qin Lou, who had a horror-filled look in her eyes under her mask.
Three meters…
Two meters…
One meter…
BANG!
Blood and gore were strewn everywhere as the snakehead of that tail exploded. Qin Lou's movement recovered, and she lifted her hand to block, but she was still startled by the bloody substance, making her wince in disgust.
The Nue yelped in pain as it rolled on the ground, flicking its tail as if doing this would stop the pain. Unluckily for it, the pain didn't stop. Before the two could recover and analyze what had happened, another sound came, and the Nue's head had an additional bloody hole between its eyes before it slumped to the ground, dead.
Qin Lou and Susu Ling watched wide-eyed in disbelief. With just two hits, a Level 4 Nue died just like that. Then they saw a figure flash by them.
When Shin Jiao saw that Qin Lou was in danger, he didn't hesitate to pull out one of the Glock-like pistols and shot twice without any hesitation. But he didn't stop because the area was still in danger, as many beasts around Level 4 were present. His goal was to eliminate them all, as they were the only threats in this area that were giving the cultivators a headache. If he could eliminate them faster, then his heart would feel at ease.
After dashing forward, he just threw a quick glance back toward Qin Lou and Susu Ling, who had dumbfounded looks on their faces as their gazes followed him. Then he just moved to the next Level 4 beast he saw on the battlefield.
When Shin Jiao started moving, a lot of cultivators actually discovered him and at first thought he was a ghost. After he would kill a Level 4 beast with a single strike, either with the black sword he was holding or that weird, small, shiny thing, they would be stunned and a little relieved. Now, on the battlefield, a black figure would weave in and out, and every time he flashed by, a beast would die.
The elders who saw this felt a little worried, as they didn't know if the stranger was an enemy or a friend, so they were on guard toward him. But Shin Jiao didn't care about that, as his goal was to lessen the load so the battle would be over fast.
Not long after Shin Jiao began exterminating the highest-level beasts, the rest of the cultivators also began to have an advantage in the fight. So after a while, upon seeing that everything could be handled by them, Shin Jiao immediately hid his presence and went back to the area where the mortal servants like him were being protected.
But before he could sigh with relief and enter, a bloodcurdling shriek was heard from behind the carriage.