“Boom!”
The ground, covered in dry leaves and rocks, suddenly trembled. A roar echoed from afar. Following that ferocious roar, a massive, earth-yellow bear, several meters tall, swung its two enormous, clawed paws like iron hammers, lunging madly at the small, delicate figure before it.
Facing the giant bear's claws, the petite figure retreated. Her short sword, imbued with spiritual energy, moved like a spirit serpent, darting back and forth across the white patterned fur on the bear's chest, leaving behind deep crimson gashes.
“Grraaaah!”
The pain in its chest made the giant bear even more ferocious. Its claws, brimming with dark golden spiritual energy, struck out, leaving deep gouges in the ground. If the girl hadn't dodged, she would undoubtedly have been severely wounded by that single blow.
Fortunately, the girl was quite agile. She dodged continuously, seizing opportunities during the giant bear's openings to leave more marks on its body.
The two figures, one large and one small, continuously clashed. About ten minutes later, the giant bear could no longer withstand such a massive loss of blood. Its colossal, mountain-like body crashed to the ground.
The beautiful girl watched the giant bear collapse and thrash in its death throes. She let out a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Wiping sweat from her forehead, she panted as she turned her head. Not far away, beneath the canopy of a large tree, a tall young man was observing her with a faint smile.
“Not bad.”
Mu Chen walked over. He glanced at the enormous giant bear's corpse, then, pointing to a white patterned spot now covered in bloodstains, he said, “Your attacks still lack decisiveness. This is its most vital spot. Just one opening here would have been enough to kill it. You wasted too much effort just now. If this Mountain Rock Bear had been a little stronger, I'm afraid you would have been the one exhausted first.”
Tang Tian'er looked not far away. On the ground, another Mountain Rock Bear lay dead. On the white pattern on its chest, there was only a single, gaping blood-hole. The position was incredibly precise, right at the Mountain Rock Bear's heart. It was clearly a one-hit kill.
That was Mu Chen's achievement. Tang Tian'er had also witnessed his sharp, ruthless, precise, and utterly decisive strike... The way he hunted spirit beasts, terrifying and awe-inspiring, yet so composed, was far superior to her own struggling and arduous performance.
“You're truly a monster! How can I possibly compare to you!” Tang Tian'er pouted in annoyance. She didn't often hunt spirit beasts, but she could tell that Mu Chen's skill was no weaker than that of the adventurers who constantly risked life and limb. How could she possibly compare herself to him then?
Despite her outward annoyance, inwardly she was full of admiration. All the way here, with Mu Chen's guidance, she had overcome her initial fear when facing fierce spirit beasts of equal or slightly higher strength. Now, she could single-handedly kill spirit beasts around the Middle Stage of the Spiritual Movement Realm. Yet, in Mu Chen's eyes, his face always adorned with a faint, gentle smile, calm and unhurried, her perilous and terrifying battle seemed ordinary and insignificant.
Tang Tian'er's eyes flickered. She watched the young man sitting beside the Mountain Rock Bear's corpse, collecting its spirit essence, with flecks of blood splattered on him. The young man's face was innocent, yet his demeanor far surpassed that of a typical youth, which made her blush slightly and smile.
“Today's harvest isn't small. We've only just started, and we already have eight low-grade spirit essences.” Mu Chen put away the Mountain Rock Bear's spirit essence. He stood up, smiling faintly as he spoke to Tang Tian'er.
Hearing of such extraordinary results, Tang Qian'er also smiled openly. Today's gains were very satisfying.
"Let's go, continue. These results are just minor matters. We should still make good use of such opportunities for tempering."
Mu Chen smiled, and just as he was about to venture deeper, his brow suddenly furrowed as he looked towards his right.
"What's wrong?" Tang Qian'er couldn't help but ask, seeing this.
"There's some activity over there, let's go take a look." Mu Chen pondered, then waved for Tang Qian'er to quicken her pace towards that direction. Seeing this, she quickly followed.
...
In the dense forest, more than ten disciples of the Northern Spiritual Academy were gathered in one spot, but at this moment, their faces were pale and strained as they stared forward. On the other side, over ten individuals, appearing nonchalant, leaned against tree trunks, their gazes seemingly taunting these disciples.
The group's actions appeared lazy, yet they instilled a sense of caution. Their sharp, bright eyes were formidable, as if reeking of blood.
They were clearly an exploration team.
"What do you want?"
In front of the group of Northern Spiritual Academy disciples, there were several familiar faces. Mo Ling, Tan Qingshan, and even Jiang Li and Teng Yong were here, their faces, like those of the other Northern Spiritual Academy disciples, showing a mix of fury and apprehension.
They were, after all, just teenagers. Facing ferocious spiritual beasts was already frightening enough, what's more, they were facing an exploration team whose blades frequently tasted human blood. Their nonchalant yet vicious and cruel aura was more than enough to send shivers down their spines.
"So you're the little brats who haven't even grown all your hair yet..." A man in leather armor said with a smirk, feigning reluctance: "Didn't I already tell you? Hand over the spiritual beast essences you have."
"You're trying to rob us?" A furious youth yelled.
"Clever!" The young man burst out laughing, and his companions roared with laughter too; clearly, they found this quite amusing.
"We are disciples of the Northern Spiritual Academy, and two Divine Soul Stage Dao Masters are currently here!" One disciple tried to scare them off by mentioning Master Mo and Master Jing, hoping to make them retreat in fear.
"I know, you've come here to cultivate, haven't you? So did your Dao Masters tell you that getting robbed is also a form of cultivation?" The young man smirked, his lip curling, and said: "As long as we don't kill you, those two Dao Masters won't bother to interfere. So... hand it all over, don't make me use force... I'm quite brutal by nature!"
The young man bared his teeth in a grin, revealing sharp, beast-like fangs that sent a chill down their spines.
"You..." Mo Ling couldn't help but erupt in anger, clenching his fists.
"Want to make a move? Come on, come on... You're also at the late Spiritual Movement Stage like me, so why don't we see who's stronger?" The young man looked at Mo Ling and laughed even louder, his laughter carrying a foul, bloody stench.
Mo Ling saw the young man as a leopard eyeing its prey, and a chill ran down his spine. Although they were both at the late Spiritual Movement Stage, the other's aura was simply not something he could contend with. What's more, the man had companions behind him who seemed no weaker at all.
Mo Ling was indignant, but a moment later, his clenched fist slowly relaxed, and he grimaced. He looked helplessly at Tan Qingshan, Jiang Li, and the others... and shook his head.
Tan Qingshan and the others could only sigh. They clearly understood that they were fundamentally not on the same level as this exploration team. For now, they could only endure, consider it bad luck, and avoid a greater disaster.
"Being sensible like that is what good kids do, isn't it?" Seeing the actions of those brats, the young man smiled with satisfaction, his expression full of mockery. Northern Spiritual Academy disciples? How truly laughable.
“What are you doing?”
Just then, a sudden question echoed from behind them. The group turned their heads to look, seeing Mu Chen and Tang Qian’er standing not far away, looking back at them.
“Mu Chen?”
When Mo Ling saw Mu Chen, his first reaction was joy, but then he quickly reconsidered, urgently signaling the other person to run away from the area.
“What’s wrong?”
However, Mu Chen seemed not to notice their signals. Instead, he and Tang Qian’er approached with a foolish grin.
“Heh, another fat lamb has arrived.”
The young man’s grin widened as he looked at Mu Chen. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of Tang Qian’er beside him, lighting up. He whistled, teasing: “And a little beauty too!”
Tang Qian’er glared furiously at the young man, but her angry expression only added to her charm, making the fellow gape in a daze.
Mo Ling watched Mu Chen casually approach, shook his head with a silent sigh, and then quickly summarized the situation.
“Robbers? You guys are really unlucky.” Mu Chen couldn’t help but chuckle after hearing this, then said.
“Aren’t you in the same boat now?” Jiang Li glared, wondering how he could still be laughing at a time like this.
“Hey, kid, since you’re here, hand over your spirit beast essence. And also, tell the little beauty to come over here. After all, one can’t prioritize money over a beautiful woman, right?” The young man beckoned, sneering.
“You want mine too?” Mu Chen raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise.
“Who told you to foolishly run over here? You little brats really have some nerve, your talent truly makes me envious. But if you actually want to fight, wait a few more years, kid.” The young man explained with a look of feigned helplessness.
“I have one spirit beast essence, you can have it.” Mu Chen scratched his head, took out a spirit beast essence, and walked towards the other side.
“Are you deaf, kid? I told you to tell the little beauty to come over here, you annoying brat.” The fellow frowned and grumbled.
While he was still grumbling, Mu Chen had already reached him, extending his hand with the essence.
The young man reached out to snatch the spirit beast essence, his other hand impatiently preparing to pat Mu Chen’s head. However, before his hand could even touch the essence, Mu Chen’s dark eyes suddenly turned cold.
He flipped his palm, and a cunning, ruthless surge of darkness pierced through space, arcing into the robber’s palm, splattering fresh blood.
The sudden turn of events happened in a flash; no one had time to react. Even the robber’s many accomplices behind him stared wide-eyed in astonishment at the splattering blood.
Under countless astonished gazes, the handsome young man raised his head and smiled.
“Oh dear, my apologies, but I suddenly don’t want to give it to you anymore.”