Chapter 16 – Day 4: Unveiling the Under Currents.

  The moon hung high over the Iron Root spectator camp, its light casting eerie shadows across the pavilions. A large round table sat at the center of the grand tent, where elders from the three great families and senior instructors of Iron Root Martial School were gathered. The tension in the room was as thick as the incense smoke curling from the center brazier.

  “Instructors, I respect the concern of your wounded student,” scoffed Patriarch Chen Wei, folding his arms across his broad chest.

  “But we’ve hosted this hunt for over a century without interruption. Why should this year be any different?”

  “Because,” Fang Duan interjected sharply.

  “She described a beast that devoured a squad of spirit beasts and vanished without leaving a single sound. That’s no ordinary spirit beast.”

  “A child in fear will exaggerate. Perhaps it was a mid-level Spirit Beast at most,” said Fang Patriarch Zhen dismissively.

  Fang Duan’s gaze narrowed. “Or perhaps you’re too blinded by clan pride to see the storm approaching.”

  “Watch your tongue, Duan,” Chen Wei growled.

  Before another retort could leave his lips, the tent flaps parted with a theatrical flourish.

  Tap, tap, tap.

  The sound of delicate footsteps echoed through the room. All heads turned toward the entrance as a petite figure stepped into the room, her flowing silver-threaded robes shimmering like moonlight. Lady Chan-Chan entered with grace and confidence, a subtle smile that made several elders sit up straighter.

  “I couldn’t help but overhear your… passionate debate,” she said, unfurling a black medallion etched with a silver flame. “The headmaster said I’m allowed to act as I please in the martial school… so here I am,” she said with a smile, flicking the medallion into the air and catching it casually. “You don’t mind being overruled by a ‘child,’ do you?”

  The eyes of the elders narrowed, except for the Bai Clan, who subtly bowed in recognition.

  “Why would the headmaster give this girl such authority?…”

  “Who exactly are they….?”

  Mumbles of people in confusion.

  Disbelief began…

  The Chen clan’s elders' faces darkened. “ You? A child with…”

  The room froze.

  From the shadows behind her, Steward Gu stepped forward. A faint, effortless pressure leaked from his body,

  just a hint of his cultivation, but it struck like a falling mountain.

  Even the most seasoned elders instinctively clenched their teeth.

  The patriarchs of the Fang and Chen clans turned pale and lowered their heads without a word.

  Lady Chan-Chan smiled sweetly, satisfied by the effect.

  “I don’t wish to cancel the exam prematurely,” she continued.

  “But based on the student’s testimony and traces of a powerful aura, we may be dealing with a creature of the Spirit Lord Realm, or higher.”

  “Spirit Lord?!”

  Whispers exploded around the table.

  Lady Chan-Chan nodded. “We will form an investigation party at dawn. If the threat is confirmed, the hunt will be halted, and all students will be recalled immediately. I trust there are no objections?”

  There weren’t.

  The room remained in dead silence as she turned and exited, her long black hair trailing behind her like pure strands of Yin.

  Only once she had left did the elders exhale.

  Fang Duan shook his head. “I can’t see through that young lady’s cultivation, the world is truly vast…”

  ?

  Later that night, the flickering light of a small campfire danced across Kong Ming’s silver eyes as he sat cross-legged beside Gu Bi and Xing Cai. The roasted azure rabbit meat crackled over the flames, the scent savory and nostalgic.

  “Brother Ming,”

  Gu Bi mumbled between bites.

  “I still can’t believe you took down thirty of these little demons. I fought one last month, and it nearly bit my leg off!”

  Kong Ming chuckled lightly. “As much as I would like to shake my weakling label, it was a victory earned from planning.”

  He looked toward Xing Cai, who blushed and fiddled with her fingers.

  “I noticed they always travel in clusters of five to seven, with one acting as a scout and another as bait. Their strength isn’t individual, it’s coordination. But coordination also means… predictability.”

  Gu Bi’s brows furrowed.

  “So I made them rescue themselves until death,” Kong Ming said simply.

  With a stick, he drew a map in the dirt.

  “We lured the scout with noise, led it into a fake cave, Xing Cai designed using her basic formation skills.”

  “We coated my traps with crushed Azure Berries, that’s lethal, and enough to kill them in fifteen to thirty seconds.”

  Xing Cai added quietly, “I embedded a resonance seal that made it sound like other rabbits were crying for help. They rushed in without thinking…”

  “And with their senses dulled by poison,” Kong Ming concluded, “they became disoriented. That’s when we struck.”

  We killed even the azure rabbits, who weren’t poisoned with ease, due to the confusion.

  Gu Bi’s jaw dropped. “You made the rabbits think they were saving their own?! That’s terrifying!”

  Kong Ming smiled faintly. “A cultivator doesn’t always need a sword. Sometimes a mind is sharper.”

  Gu Bi stared into the flames. “I wonder how big brother Kong Tian is doing…”

  The fire cracked, sending sparks into the sky.

  ?

  The next Day.

  A Sudden Chill.

  Dawn.

  Kong Ming stirred from his slumber. As he stepped outside the tent, he immediately noticed the shift. Instructors whispered among themselves, faces grim. A line of senior personnel was moving toward the southern forest at the front gate, Lady Chan-Chan and Steward Gu led the charge.

  Kong Ming narrowed his eyes.

  “Something happened…”

  Nearby, Xing Cai hummed to herself as she roasted more rabbit meat. She waved as he approached.

  “When are you heading back to your clan?” he asked casually.

  She tilted her head. “I… I was thinking of staying. My family didn’t come to watch, and I like being around you and Gu Bi. It’s peaceful.”

  Kong Ming scratched his neck awkwardly. “You don’t have other things to do?”

  Before she could answer, a loud voice thundered across the camp.

  “Xing Cai! You useless brat!” Shouted someone in the distance.

  A tall, thin man with dark, sunken eyes stormed toward them. His presence sent a chill down Xing Cai’s spine. Her body tensed.

  She stepped back, face pale.

  “You failed again, didn’t you?”

  “Do you know what your father will do if you bring back shame to our clan?!” The man said, wobbling from intoxication.”

  Kong Ming stood in front of him.

  “She passed.”

  The man blinked in surprise.

  “Who the hell are you?!”

  Gu Bi popped up, arms crossed.

  “He’s Kong Ming! And I’m Gu Bi! Together, we don’t let people bully our team!”

  Gu Bi swallowed his fear and stood next to Kong Ming.

  The man sneered but said nothing more. Instead, he glanced coldly at Xing Cai. “Your father will hear of this… disobedience.”

  Then he turned and walked off, leaving a lingering veiled threat in his wake.

  Xing Cai collapsed into a squat, visibly shaken. Kong Ming stood still, uncertain, but offered a hand.

  She took it, trembling.

  “Who was that?” Kong Ming asked. Observing the departing figure.

  Xing Cai fiddled with her fingers.

  “He’s….um..like a personal servant of my father.”

  “I’m actually not from Iron Root Town, but was sent here to train because I’m too weak compared to the kids in the city I’m from…”

  Xing Cai sighed. “My father is considering abandoning me if I can’t prove my worth here at this school, I failed at everything I tried until now, so this Xing has always been useless…”

  Kong Ming placed a demon core in her hand.

  “Would a useless person be able to obtain this?..”

  ?

  Elsewhere in Iron Root Northern Forest.

  The sounds of desperate cries echoed faintly through the northern quadrant of Iron Root Forest. Leaves rustled and birds scattered, signs of another ambush concluded.

  Five Fang Clan disciples gathered beneath a stone outcrop, faces lit with cruel satisfaction.

  “Eight students today,” one boy said, holding up a bulging pouch. “None of them dared fight back.”

  Fang Zhu leaned against a tree, arms folded. “That’s how it should be. Fear is as good a weapon as a sword.”

  Fang Hong exhaled, less enthusiastic. “Are we really going to keep doing this? Some of them barely had enough cores to defend themselves.”

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  “Are you getting cold feet again?” Fang Zhu sneered. “This is how the Fang Clan dominates.”

  Before Fang Hong could reply, one of the scouts returned with hurried steps.

  “There’s a girl up ahead. Alone. Looks like she’s collecting beast cores.”

  “Another one?” Fang Zhu grinned. “Let’s make it nine.”

  The five broke into formation, moving swiftly through the trees until they spotted her.

  She stood beside a broken stump, her cloak fluttering slightly in the breeze. A cloth masked her lower face, with two daggers in each hand.

  Her eyes were sharp, watchful of the incoming fang students.

  “You there!” barked the lead Fang student. “Drop your pouch and walk away. You’re outnumbered.”

  The girl didn’t flinch. Instead, she calmly slid her pouch onto her hip.

  “You’ve been busy,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but it carried. “Too bad you picked the wrong prey this time.”

  One of the Fang students scoffed. “Big words for someone surrounded.”

  They charged.

  The clash was immediate.

  The first attacker’s sword met her twin daggers mid-air clang! and the sound echoed as sparks danced between them. She spun low, avoiding a second blow, then delivered a swift kick to another’s ribs, forcing him back.

  Two students swung their swords at her back.

  She did a back slip barely dodging. The blade grazed her rib making a shallow wound.

  She winced but kept moving.

  The Fang students stood in shock at the girl’s strength.

  “I’m at the 6th level of body tempering and I can’t even see most of her movements”

  A third attacker came from behind, trying to grab her. She ducked, drove an elbow into his stomach, and rolled aside as a fourth tried to pin her down with his strong grappling technique.

  Boom!

  Dirt exploded where she had been.

  “She’s fast,” Fang Hong muttered.

  “8th level of body tempering?!” A Fang Lackey Shouted.

  The five surrounded her again, more cautious this time.

  Na Ran, though they still didn’t know her name, took a deep breath.

  She flicked one of her daggers, and a faint ripple of physical qi shimmered along the edge.

  “If it were nighttime, I would be able to dispatch these losers with ease.” She sighed.

  A second round erupted.

  This time, she didn’t dodge everything. A punch grazed her side. One of the Fang disciples grabbed her shoulder, but she twisted in mid-air and drove a dagger into his thigh before vaulting off him, using his body to catapult herself toward a tree.

  She spun midair and landed on a branch, breathing heavily.

  Three of the five lay groaning on the ground. The other two hesitated.

  “Damn it…” one cursed, wiping blood from his mouth.

  Suddenly,

  Crack!

  The branch split as someone landed behind her, Fang Zhu.

  “You made a mess of my brothers,” he said, flaring muscles and physical qi.

  And beside him, Fang Hong appeared, more hesitant but ready.

  Na Ran said nothing.

  Fang Zhu and Fang Hong struck together. The wind roared toward her as she darted backward into the trees.

  She didn’t try to win this time.

  Instead, she disappeared again, vanishing into the forest with a soft whisper of wind.

  The Fang brothers landed where she had just stood. Only leaves remained.

  “She escaped,” Fang Zhu growled, wiping a cut from his cheek.

  Fang Hong watched the woods carefully. “Who was that girl?”

  Fang Zhu clenched his fists. “Someone dangerous. As dangerous as Chen Kai.”

  “And perhaps just as strong,” Fang Hong added quietly.

  They both gulped involuntarily….

  __________________________

  Far above Iron Root Town, among mist-veiled cliffs and ancient pine, the Cloud Seeking Sect sat in silent grandeur. Its towers reached like spears into the heavens, each layered with flowing jade tiles and inscriptions older than the continent itself.

  In the Inner Courtyard, a lone youth sat on a hammock beneath a flowering spirit tree. A letter fluttered open in his lap, its wax seal broken by indifference.

  Fang Longwei, number one Inner Disciple of the Cloud Seeking Sect, looked anything but threatening. His robe was loose. His posture relaxed. His eyes were half-lidded. Face Hansome in a frivolous way.

  “Another letter from home,” he muttered.

  A junior disciple stood nearby, arms clasped respectfully. “Senior Brother, it’s from your father.

  It appears urgent.”

  Longwei sighed. “He wants me to look after some kid named… Kong Tian.”

  He looked up, gaze sharpening. “From Iron Root Town.”

  The junior disciple blinked. “Isn’t that beneath you?”

  Longwei chuckled. “No such thing as ‘beneath’ when fate’s involved.

  And if Father says he’s worth watching…”

  He folded the letter neatly. “Then I’ll watch.”

  “Are you planning to leave the sect?”

  “Maybe.” Longwei grinned. “It’s been a while since I saw the forest.”

  The junior bowed deeply. “Senior Longwei, if you do descend, the sect may send guards. You’re too valuable.”

  “Relax,” Longwei said with a wave. “I’ll be back before the petals fall.”

  The wind blew, scattering a few of the spirit tree’s blossoms across the marble path.

  ?

  Far below the surface of Iron Root Town, in a stone chamber hidden beneath the Chen Clan’s ancestral compound, the air was stale with age and secrets.

  Candles flickered against rough-carved walls.

  Chen Wei, patriarch of the Chen Clan, knelt on both knees before a masked figure cloaked in inky black robes.

  The man’s face was hidden behind a lacquered wooden mask, etched with sigils that pulsed faintly with demonic qi.

  No one spoke.

  The silence gnawed at the edges of Chen Wei’s composure.

  Finally, he bowed low.

  “Everything proceeds according to your guidance. Chen Kai will pass the trials. The Cloud Seeking Sect will name him an elite disciple.”

  The masked man did not react.

  Chen Wei’s throat tightened. “And once he is in, he will carry out the task. He will become your eyes.”

  Still no response.

  Only the subtle sound of breath, steady, inhumanly calm.

  “About the… medicine,” Chen Wei added, lowering his voice. “My daughter’s condition worsens.”

  “Please…”

  The figure raised a hand, holding a small vial. Inside, an iridescent fluid shimmered like starlight dissolved in blood.

  Chen Wei’s eyes locked on it.

  The masked man spoke at last. His voice was distorted, low, echoing, like it came from a well too deep to see the bottom.

  “If your clan delivers the spy, your daughter lives. Fail… and her soul fades with the next new moon.”

  Chen Wei trembled, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.

  “We have obeyed every command. If we succeed, if we place an inner disciple as your agent, will the Chen Clan… finally be accepted?”

  The figure tilted its head.

  “Vassalage is earned in blood, not favors.”

  Then, like mist parting, the figure vanished into shadow, no flash, no sound. Just absence.

  Chen Wei remained kneeling long after the candlelight stopped flickering.

  ????????

  North Iron Root Forest.

  Beneath a jagged cliff, the dense mist of early dawn clung to the forest floor like breath from a sleeping beast. Chen Kai stood at the edge of his campfire’s dying embers, tightening the gloves over his calloused hands.

  A rustle. Then many more.

  Sixteen shadows emerged from the trees, encircling the clearing like vultures. All bore the azure robes of the Fang Clan.

  Leading them, Fang Zhu stepped forward with a smirk twisted across his face. “Chen Kai,” he said mockingly, “the prodigy who walks alone. How noble… and how stupid.”

  “You really are reckless,” Fang Zhu said, cracking his knuckles. “Camping alone? Not even a trap? No ambush?”

  Chen Kai didn’t turn. He merely adjusted the gloves on his hands. “I don’t waste energy preparing for trash.”

  Gasps rippled through the group.

  “You arrogant piece of, ” one of the Fang disciples barked, stepping forward.

  Fang Zhu raised a hand, halting him.

  “Let the dead man speak,” he said coolly.

  A ripple of laughter from a few Fang lackeys. Fang Zhu’s smile faded.

  Chen Kai finally turned. His eyes were sharp, cold, devoid of fear. “You people always confuse numbers with strength. A lion doesn’t fear hyenas. It pities them.”

  “You could’ve ruled this exam with allies at your back. Instead, you clung to arrogance. And now, even a lion will fall when surrounded by wolves.”

  Chen Kai rolled his shoulders, eyes narrowing.

  “I’ve never seen wolves gang up unless they were too weak to face their prey alone. And I don’t need a pack,” he said, stepping forward, “because I was born to hunt, alone.”

  Before Fang Zhu could retort, Chen Kai vanished.

  Like lightning cutting through fog, he appeared before the first disciple, CRACK!, his palm landed clean against the boy’s chest, sending him flying into a tree with a scream.

  BOOM! The tree cracked.

  “Form up!” Fang Zhu barked, but Chen Kai was already moving again.

  The clearing became chaos.

  He moved like a shadow born from war, precise, fluid, strategic violence in motion. He dodged two incoming strikes, pivoted low, and kicked out a knee, causing a disciple to collapse screaming. Without pause, he snatched a short blade from the boy’s belt and used it to parry a sword strike from behind.

  Clang!

  Then, flash!, he hurled it into another student’s shoulder before twisting and landing a backfist that shattered another’s nose.

  “He’s reading our moves!” one disciple shouted.

  “He’s too fast!”

  “He’s…he’s predicting everything!”

  Their morale plummeted.

  Even Fang Hong, observing from the back, felt a chill despite the summer morning.

  This wasn’t just talent.

  This was domination born of discipline towards achieving victory against all odds.

  Chen Kai’s style was overwhelming, yes, but not because of brute force.

  Every strike, every movement was calculated efficiently.

  He used the environment, baited reactions, exploited gaps, and never overextended.

  To those watching, it felt less like a fight and more like a game of chess where the pieces bled.

  But numbers were still numbers.

  Three disciples struck at once. One slashed, one dove for Chen Kai’s legs, another launched a wind blade from afar.

  Chen Kai blocked the first, dodged the second, but was too slow to evade the third.

  SHINK!

  A dagger sank into the side of his thigh.

  He grunted, staggered, and blood spilled onto the dirt.

  Chen Kai’s voice was cold. “Unity is convenient.”

  “But one day, when the mountain collapses and you’re alone in the rubble… you’ll understand why I walk my path.”

  “NOW!” Fang Zhu roared.

  The Fang students surged like a tide.

  Chen Kai fought like a cornered beast.

  He parried a hammer strike with his injured leg braced against a boulder, crushed another boy’s ribs with an elbow, and spun using the pain as fuel.

  A second, then a third, then a fifth disciple fell, but his speed slowed. His breath grew ragged.

  Still, he never backed down.

  Fang Hong watched in awe.

  Fang Hong stepped forward, disturbed.

  “He’s not human…”

  “He’s alone, he should have broken already!”

  Fang Zhu stepped up, aura flaring with raw physical qi.

  “Then I’ll break him myself.”

  The few remaining Fang students parted.

  Chen Kai rose slowly, blood dripping from his leg, hair tousled.

  Fang Zhu cracked his neck.

  Even now, with blood running down his leg and muscles trembling from exhaustion.

  Chen Kai never looked afraid.

  Fang Zhu stepped forward, finally joining the fray.

  “You’re finished, Chen Kai,” he said coldly. “This is the fate of those who walk alone.”

  Chen Kai spit blood to the side. His smile was lopsided, but fierce. “I took down thirteen of your dogs before I fell. Do you really believe strength comes from numbers alone?”

  “Strength,” Fang Zhu said, channeling physical qi around his fists, “comes from unity. From loyalty. A clan. A cause.”

  Chen Kai met him with a gaze like ice. “No!”

  “Real strength… is being able to stand when no one else will.”

  Then they clashed.

  Qi thundered between them. Fang Zhu launched a flurry of fist strikes, each one laced with qi-enhanced might.

  Chen Kai dodged, blocked, retaliated with fluid bursts, but he was slowing. His leg throbbed. His vision blurred.

  Fist met fist, fire met steel.

  The ground cracked beneath them.

  Even wounded, Chen Kai met Fang Zhu blow for blow, but his wound slowed him, each step growing heavier.

  Fang Zhu mustered every bit of his 7th-stage body tempering cultivation base in each strike.

  Fang Zhu finally broke his guard, slamming a physical qi-laced punch into Chen Kai’s ribs.

  CRACK!

  Chen Kai hit the ground, gasping. His vision is fading.

  Fang Zhu stood over him, panting, bruised, but victorious.

  He crouched and reached for Chen Kai’s pouch of demon cores. “You could’ve kept these with a little humility,” he said.

  “But instead, you desired a prideful defeat over a humble victory.” Fang Zhu said spitting blood on the floor next to him.

  Chen Kai grinned bitterly. “Maybe… having allies does have its uses.”

  Fang Zhu snorted. “A lesson learned too late.”

  With one final blow to the neck, Thud!, Chen Kai went still..

  Behind him, Fang Hong said nothing.

  The other Fang students, bruised, bloodied, wide-eyed, couldn’t meet each other’s gazes.

  Because in their hearts, they knew…

  They hadn’t won.

  They’d survived.

  ????????

  A silver mist veiled the Southern Ridge as the investigation team neared a forgotten ravine. Roots coiled over jagged stone, and the wind howled like an omen through narrow gaps in the cliffs.

  The path narrowed toward a vine-covered cave entrance. At the lead, Lady Chan-Chan’s whip curled loosely at her waist, her gaze sharp beneath a teasing smile. But her steps were careful.

  Lady Chan-Chan stood just outside a vine-draped cave, her eyes narrowed. Behind her, Steward Gu’s talisman pulsed with eerie violet light, casting ghostly reflections across the rock walls.

  “The reading is getting stronger,” he said grimly. “The beast was here recently. Possibly still is.”

  Iron Root’s instructors moved cautiously behind them, weapons half-drawn, expressions tense. They were veterans of the forest, used to handling rampaging spirit beasts… yet none could suppress the chill running down their spines.

  Lady Chan-Chan stepped inside the cave. The air was damp, and the stone ground felt faintly warm beneath her boots, like something ancient had breathed upon it.

  Then, click.

  An instructor accidentally stepped on a faintly glowing rune etched into the cave floor. In a flash of light, his body vanished into the ether with a humph! and a flash of golden radiance.

  The cave dimmed once more.

  “What in the…” Another instructor stepped back, eyes wide. “A spatial array?”

  Steward Gu’s expression turned solemn. “This is no ordinary den. This… might be the key.”

  Lady Chan-Chan’s eyes glinted, her mind racing. So the rumors were true. There is a treasure hidden in this forest… and this beast is guarding it.

  The instructors began to panic!

  “What happened to instructor Lu? He vanished after a strange glow!”

  Before she could inspect further, her talisman flared violently, nearly burning her hand. The readings had shifted.

  “It’s near,” she whispered.

  They exited the cave, heading toward the stream nestled deep in the gorge. Fog curled around their feet as they entered the clearing.

  That’s when they saw him.

  Kong Tian.

  His black and silver robes torn, blood soaking through the fabric. His body lay motionless at the water’s edge. Beside him, its black and silver striped fur shimmering faintly like a moonlit storm. It was a small tiger-like creature, resting on its haunches.

  Its eyes were open.

  Glowing. Watching.

  The sacred beast.

  It didn’t snarl. Didn’t rise. It simply stared at them, not like prey… but like a warning.

  One instructor stepped forward instinctively. “That’s….! That’s one of the Kong brothers!”

  Another tried to rush ahead, but the moment his foot shifted, the beast’s ears twitched. The spiritual pressure it emitted surged, invisible, but suffocating.

  The instructor fell to one knee, coughing up blood.

  “STOP!” Lady Chan-Chan ordered. Her heart pounded in her chest.

  “That’s no ordinary spirit beast. This aura… it’s at least Spirit Lord Realm… or higher.” She didn’t dare say the word “Sacred” aloud, not with the others listening.

  Steward Gu’s eyes narrowed. “It hasn’t attacked yet.”

  Lady Chan-Chan’s whip uncoiled in her hand, its tip glowing with a soft blue light.

  “Let’s try to be sneaky,” she whispered, eyes twinkling. “If we’re quiet enough, maybe the little fuzzy nightmare won’t notice us stealing his pillow.”

  She lifted the whip. A gust of spiritual energy coursed along its length as she flicked it forward.

  “Just a little tug,” she muttered, twirling her whip like a ribbon dancer before snapping it toward Kong Tian. “Don’t bite….”

  But the moment passed within arm’s reach of Kong Tian.

  BOOM!

  The sacred beast moved. Like a tiger protecting its cub.

  It didn’t roar. It didn’t pounce. Instead, it shimmered. A veil of pure void spiritual force exploded outward like a ring, flattening grass and branches for ten meters in every direction.

  The whip stopped midair, frozen in place by an unseen wall.

  A heartbeat later, a low growl rolled through the clearing.

  Not furious. Not panicking.

  All the instructors fell back instinctively, coughing and bleeding from their mouths.

  Lady Chan-Chan’s face turned solemn. “It seems like it's guarding him. Then why is Kong Tian in such a sorry state?”

  Steward Gu stepped forward, shielding her. “We need to evacuate the forest. Now.”

  Didn’t the beast attack Kong Tian? But it feels like the beast is protecting him. Lady Chan-Chan whispered, voice trembling. She looked at Kong Tian’s bloodied body, and yet somehow untouched.

  It made no sense.

  It turned its head toward the humans, just enough to reveal the full, gleaming silver of its irises. The weight of its gaze hit them like a mountain.

  And then it took one step forward.

  “We need to get Kong Tian away from the beast or else we won’t be able to fight at full strength to capture the beast.”

  The beast, as if it understood Steward Gu’s words, became angry and released its full bloodline and aura.

  Its true strength was revealed. Spirit Enlightenment realm!

  Lady Chan-Chan’s eyes widened.

  “Retreat!” she shouted. “Retreat now!”

  The wounded instructors increased their pace as they escaped.

  Cold sweats covered their backs, as they felt an increase in aura from that terrifying beast.

  If they were still close like before, they would have died on the spot.

  The instructors scrambled, some carrying the wounded, others shot the emergency talisman into the sky, signaling an evacuation order.

  As they vanished into the forest, one truth hung in the air like a curse:

  The sacred beast was awake and we angered it.

  Lady Chan-Chan smirked. Since we’re in the lower heaven, we aren’t capable of releasing our full cultivation.

  Steward Gu stepped forward.

  But neither can that beast. After the instructors were a safe distance away.

  Three auras spiked, releasing power at the peak.

  The power pushing the limits of the 7th heaven.

  End of Chapter 16