In the silent night, Nie Li was currently training, sitting cross-legged.
Gradually entering a meditative state, his soul realm also became extremely calm. As he operated the [Heavenly God Technique], the energies of heaven and earth began to converge into his body. His soul force continued to grow steadily.
A slight whistling breeze passed, and the night became even quieter.
Under Nie Li's control, the soul force floated around his body. The muscles throughout his body began to tremble rhythmically and strengthen, much like the strings of a zither vibrating after being plucked. This was the effect of the [Heavenly God Technique], capable of training both soul force and physical strength simultaneously. Nie Li stopped practicing after midnight.
He had to wait until his soul force was strong enough—otherwise, training at midnight would cause side effects. He took out his soul crystal and tested his soul force.
His soul force had already reached 135. It seemed that the results of the past few days of practice were quite good. Looking around, he noticed some shadows moving back and forth, talking amongst themselves. They were the ones assigned to keep watch.
He felt a faint fluctuation of soul energy coming from the tent beside his. Unlike Nie Li, Chan Wei, due to his Yin affinity, had no trouble cultivating at midnight. In fact, it was one of the rare times he could increase his soul force without relying on his shadows.
Suddenly, a strange scent appeared—it seemed to be the fragrance of a demonic beast.
Nie Li's expression became alert, and he stood up. It would be troublesome if the camp were attacked by demonic beasts!
Nie Li immediately got up and headed toward the depths of the forest, quickly followed by Chan Wei, who had sensed him moving away.
Within a 10-meter radius deep in the forest, various types of branches were scattered all around. The scent of urine still lingered in the air, and there was also gray fur clinging to the branches.
The strands of fur were about two inches long.
Upon seeing the fur, Nie Li immediately identified it—it belonged to the Fox Bears, a massive species of demonic beasts!
"What is it?" A cautious voice suddenly rang out.
Nie Li turned toward the voice and only now noticed that Chan Wei was behind him. A figure emerged from behind a tree. Upon seeing the person, Nie Li was slightly surprised—it was actually Chen Linjian. Moments later, a few more people appeared behind Chen Linjian, two of whom were his subordinates, and one of them was unexpectedly Shen Yue.
"Why are you here?" Chen Linjian looked at Nie Li and Chan Wei before asking.
"When I was practicing, I caught a strange scent in the air and followed it here!" Nie Li replied, sweeping his gaze between Chen Linjian and Shen Yue.
Chen Linjian and Shen Yue barely knew each other and were not in the same group. Otherwise, in the previous life, Chen Linjian wouldn't have killed so many members of the Sacred Family.
"I sensed Nie Li moving away, so I followed him," Chan Wei answered.
Shen Yue glared coldly at Nie Li, his dark eyes filled with malice, but the moment he met Chan Wei's gaze, his entire body trembled as he felt his spirit shake.
A strange smell? Why hadn't they noticed it earlier?
"When two of my subordinates were scouting the area, they found this spot, so Shen Yue and I came to take a look!" said Chen Linjian. His relationship with Shen Yue was still relatively amicable. Since both were direct descendants of great families, they maintained a polite and superficial relationship.
Shen Yue coldly said, "Alone here in the middle of the night? You must have ulterior motives." Shen Yue couldn't wait to throw all the blame onto Nie Li.
Nie Li was too lazy to refute him. Speculative accusations like these, with no evidence to support them, were meaningless. It wasn't like Chen Linjian would believe such nonsense. However, Chan Wei wasn't as forgiving.
"Ulterior motives? It seems to me that such thoughts could only come from Young Master Shen Yue, am I wrong?" Chan Wei stated in a highly sarcastic tone, casually running three fingers down his face, which made Shen Yue turn pale.
Chen Linjian glanced at Shen Yue, then at Nie Li, and finally at Chan Wei, who had stopped his motion once Shen Yue noticed it. He had heard about the conflict between Shen Yue, Nie Li, and the latter's expulsion from the institute due to the dispute with Chan Wei.For someone with so little experience to dare oppose the Sacred Family—was Nie Li truly confident, or was he just ignorant? Chan Wei was slightly known within his own family due to a brief encounter with the Huyan family.
"This demonic beast nest has been abandoned for a long time," Shen Yue remarked while looking around. Now that Nie Li had arrived, he had no interest in staying here any longer. Since this journey was heading toward the ruins of the Ancient Orchid City, he would have plenty of opportunities to deal with Nie Li. There was no need to waste time arguing here.
"This demonic beast nest does seem to have been abandoned for quite some time," Chen Linjian agreed, nodding as he examined the scattered branches around them. Suddenly, as if noticing something, he turned to Nie Li and asked, "What do you see?" Given Nie Li's extensive knowledge, Chen Linjian was curious about his perspective.
"There are fur residues on this part of the trunk. Also, judging by the way the nest is constructed, I'd say it belongs to a species of demonic beast called the Fox Bear. A Fox Bear isn't particularly large—an adult usually measures about one meter, with two meters being considered massive. Given the size of this nest, there must have been at least sixty Fox Bears living here," Nie Li analyzed.
Upon hearing Nie Li's words, Chen Linjian and the two subordinates behind him were all stunned. With so little information, Nie Li was actually able to deduce what kind of demonic beast had once lived here. That was simply too frightening. After all, in the St. Ancestral Mountains, there were tens or even hundreds of thousands of beast species.
It seemed that bringing Nie Li along had been the right decision, Chen Linjian thought.
"With so little information, you concluded this was once a Fox Bear nest? Isn't that too arbitrary!?" Shen Yue immediately refuted from the side. As long as Nie Li spoke, he would oppose him.
"Go on," Chen Linjian ignored Shen Yue, focusing on Nie Li instead.
Shen Yue opened his mouth in frustration but said nothing. Even though he was a direct descendant of the Sacred Family, there were seven other direct descendants his age. He was not the one who held the most influence.
If he could marry Ye Ziyun, only then would his position in the Sacred Family rise, making him one of the candidates for the next family head. Chen Linjian was different from him—since birth, Chen Linjian had already been destined to become the next head of his family, and his talent was extraordinary. Therefore, Shen Yue didn't dare to strain their relationship.
Moreover, the look in Chan Wei's eyes contained something unsettling that seeped into him, filling him with fear.
Nie Li completely ignored Shen Yue and continued, "In general, adult Fox Bears are Silver-rank demonic beasts. Based on their living habits, Fox Bears spend three-fifths of the year hibernating in their caves, passing the coldest periods of the St. Ancestral Mountains. They only come out at the beginning of summer to hunt in the forest."
"Is that the time of year we're in now?" Chen Linjian asked, astonished.
"Correct." Nie Li nodded. "The air in this area still carries the scent of urine. If it had been left from last year, after months of wind and rain, the smell would have long faded. Fox Bears are highly territorial and mark their territory with urine. I suspect they'll return soon."
Nie Li thought carefully. Only through meticulous observation had he been able to gather so much information, which made Chen Linjian admire him even more. He now saw Nie Li in a different light—Nie Li was practically an encyclopedia of demonic beasts!
"What should we do, then?" Chen Linjian asked, beginning to value Nie Li's opinion.
"We need to leave this area immediately—tonight. Fox Bears have a highly sensitive sense of smell. If they discover that intruders have entered their territory, they'll fight us. Although we have enough strength to take down the pack, we would inevitably suffer casualties.Our goal is the ruins of the Ancient Orchid City!" Nie Li recalled that in his past life, Ye Ziyun had mentioned that during their journey to the ruins, they had been attacked by Fox Bears, resulting in casualties. This assured him even more that this place was dangerous.
Chen Linjian pondered for a moment and then said, "Alright, we'll leave here tonight!"
"Young Master Chen, don't listen to his nonsense. If this place is empty, there wouldn't be any Fox Bears. It would be even more dangerous to travel at night. We should wait until dawn before moving!" Shen Yue immediately refuted.
"Shut up! What knowledge do you have besides relying on others and your wealth? Stop opposing Nie Li at every turn! Your short-sightedness has already damaged your family's reputation," Chan Wei snapped, his patience wearing thin. A burst of his soul force surged out, revealing to the three others at least the strength of a Bronze three-star Demon Spiritualist.
"How is this possible? You've already reached Bronze three-star, but you weren't even ranked a few weeks ago…" Shen Yue stammered in disbelief.
Nie Li placed a hand on Chan Wei's shoulder to calm him down. Whether they stayed or left was Chen Linjian's decision. Either way, it wouldn't be a threat to him.
"We're leaving!" Chen Linjian declared firmly. Without question, he chose to trust Nie Li's judgment. Besides, Chan Wei had also made a good impression on him.
Chen Linjian was a wise man—he knew whom to trust and whom to ignore.
Back at the camp, Chen Linjian gathered everyone who was still dreaming in their tents moments ago.
"Young Master Chen, what's going on?"
"Yeah, why are we traveling in the dark?"
Everyone was filled with endless doubts.
"Don't worry about it. Just follow my orders!" Chen Linjian said resolutely. Ignoring everyone's objections, he led the group out of the forest.
In the Fox Bear Nest
Chan Wei quietly distanced himself from the group, patiently waiting for them to move further away. He concealed himself in a tree and observed as the group departed before noticing three figures trailing behind them, skillfully avoiding the Fox Bears, who roared in frustration at the intruders.
Once everyone had left, Chan Wei unleashed his shadows, plunging into their midst and savoring the thrill of hand-to-hand combat. Despite being only a Silver 4-star Demon Spiritualist, his raw physical strength already rivaled that of a Gold-rank fighter.
He faced two adult Fox Bears alone, leaving the rest of the nest to his shadows, filling the surroundings with deafening roars. Like a skilled boxer, Chan Wei struck the demonic beasts with his fists alone, noticing slight burn marks forming at the points of impact. The battle lasted around twenty minutes, granting Chan Wei invaluable combat experience.
"I should ask Nie Li to help me train if I want to improve my technique. Raw strength won't always be enough, unfortunately," Chan Wei thought.
While collecting materials and refining shadows, Chan Wei made an important discovery. Most of the Fox Bears were Silver-ranked, but he had already reached his limit. Extracting a Silver-ranked shadow caused any excess soul force to return to his body, while the shadow itself reverted to Bronze rank. This revelation made his heart race—his strength could increase even faster if he hunted more beasts beyond his current limit.
Earlier, back with the group…
Nie Li walked alongside Ye Ziyun. Although she was a little confused, she chose not to ask any questions.
After the group exited the forest, they felt the ground tremble beneath them, accompanied by the furious roars of the Fox Bears echoing through the trees. Instantly, everyone understood what had happened.
"Young Master Chen is truly wise!"
"Thankfully, Young Master Chen led us out; otherwise, we would have been forced into battle with those Fox Bears!"
Everyone praised Chen Linjian. However, he knew very well that all the credit belonged to Nie Li. If he hadn't followed Nie Li's advice, they would have certainly been ambushed by the Fox Bears. While they could have won the fight, casualties would have been unavoidable!
At that moment, admiration for Nie Li filled Chen Linjian's heart. Since childhood, he had always been an outstanding leader among his peers. Yet, for the first time, he had to admit that his knowledge was far inferior to Nie Li's. And Nie Li was even younger than him by a few years!
Meanwhile, Shen Yue felt deeply frustrated. He never expected that Nie Li would be completely right about the Fox Bears appearing. After several confrontations with Nie Li, he had lost every single time. This only fueled the growing resentment in his heart.
Fortunately, the elder in charge of major affairs had sent three Silver-ranked experts to follow them. Shen Yue's gaze darkened. As soon as Nie Li strayed from the group, he would seize the opportunity to have him killed! But Chan Wei seemed aware of the danger. He would have to find a way to eliminate him as well.
Nie Li walked calmly at the rear of the group, accompanied by Ye Ziyun. Glancing back, he smirked slightly. He was already well aware that they were being followed. Judging by Shen Yue's sinister expression, Nie Li could easily deduce that the people trailing them were from the Sacred Family. And noticing that Chan Wei was missing, he suspected his brother had likely stayed behind to massacre the Fox Bears.
They were probably waiting for the right moment to strike!
Ye Ziyun and the others had yet to notice their pursuers. However, nothing could escape Nie Li's keen instincts. If he had failed to detect Silver-ranked individuals following them, then he would have lived his previous life in vain.
"One, two, three... Three Silver-ranked medallions!" Nie Li walked calmly.
As dawn gradually broke, Chan Wei discreetly returned from another path, smiling—it seemed his harvest had been fruitful.
Chen Linjian slowly walked over to Nie Li, looking at him as he said, "Thanks to Nie Li Bro's foresight, we avoided an attack from those Fox Bears. Even if we weren't completely wiped out, casualties would have been inevitable. I, Chen Linjian, owe you one. If there had been casualties on the first day, the team's morale would have been severely affected."
Hearing Chen Linjian's words, Ye Ziyun looked at Nie Li in astonishment. She had never expected that it was actually Nie Li who had detected the presence of the Fox Bears.
"Young Master Chen is too kind," Nie Li replied calmly, without a hint of arrogance.
Chen Linjian nodded slightly. Since meeting Nie Li, he had realized that Nie Li was incredibly capable. Seeing how composed he remained even in the face of praise, Chen Linjian admired him even more. His gaze then shifted to Chan Wei, noticing a few bloodstains on his hands, but he chose not to comment—after all, no one in the group seemed to be missing or injured.
Nie Li lowered his voice and said, "Young Master Chen, we are being followed."
Hearing Nie Li's words, Chen Linjian was taken aback. He turned his head slightly, glancing at the forest behind them.
"Don't look. There are three Silver-ranked individuals. I don't know who sent them," Nie Li quickly added.
"I spotted them from a distance—they're dressed entirely in black, so their intentions are definitely not good," said Chan Wei.
Chen Linjian quickly retracted his gaze and pretended to remain relaxed. "What are their motives?" he asked, furrowing his brows. He hadn't made any enemies in Glory City!
"They could be from the Dark Guild," Nie Li suggested. Though he was certain these three were from the Sacred Family, he deliberately stated that they were part of the Dark Guild.
Upon hearing this, Chen Linjian's eyes turned cold. The Dark Guild was notorious in Glory City, a secret organization of criminals.
The Dark Guild rarely acted openly. Instead, they operated in the shadows, committing all kinds of heinous crimes, making them a common enemy of all the noble families in Glory City.
"You can leave this matter to me," Chen Linjian said, patting Nie Li's shoulder before walking ahead.
Shen Yue never expected that the three Silver-ranked subordinates sent by the Sacred Family would actually be detected by Chen Linjian. Now, Chen Linjian would undoubtedly find a way to eliminate them!
If he knew they were from the Sacred Family, Chen Linjian might have shown them some leniency. However, after hearing Nie Li claim that they were from the Dark Guild, there was no way he would let them go!
You want to play games with me? You're still too inexperienced! Nie Li thought. He didn't even need to act personally to put Shen Yue in danger!
Chan Wei had already made some preparations for the three Sacred Family members. He had secretly deployed a hundred Bronze-ranked shadows and ten Silver-ranked ones before rejoining the group.
Once Chen Linjian confronted the three, the shadows would eliminate any who tried to escape. Chan Wei also intended to test whether he could extract the shadow of a human being.
(Author's note: As promised, two chapters for this weekend.)