rule 12

Chapter 27: Pan Song and a Young Master

Not long after Lin left with Xing Yaling and Shen Di, I found myself bored very quickly. Unlike back on Earth, I had no phone to take out and kill time. Instead, I was alone in the line with no one to talk to.

Well, technically that wasn't true. I could have stricken up a conversation with the guy in front of me. But he wore cultivator robes that I thought might be a bit fancier than normal. There were metallic-looking accents woven through it, and he also had a silvery hairpiece. I wasn't quite sure if that meant rich and influential, but given Lin's warning, I decided to err on the side of caution and not bother the guy. 

I wasn't so extroverted to start conversations with random strangers in line anyway.

That left me with only one thing to do to kill time. People watching. Though I did it carefully, making sure not to blatantly stare and attract unwanted attention. I still hoped that Lin was being overly cautious about her warning. But, even with what little I knew about this world and its people, I couldn't help but worry that she wasn't.

At first, there really wasn't much to see. Not really. Sure, it was a bit surreal seeing so many people walking around openly with mostly melee weapons. If it wasn't for all the robes and the Asian-themed room, the place could have passed for an illustration of a fantasy adventure hall I'd seen once. But that didn't mean that anyone was doing anything all that interesting. Mostly everyone I watched was just talking to others.

Eventually, though, I found my eyes drawn to one person in particular. 

The young man stood out in a number of ways. For one, he was quite big. About as tall as Big Chui, so more than a whole head taller than me. He wasn't as muscular as Big Chui though. Not scrawny either but close. 

His clothes, however, were what set him apart from everyone else the most. Just a plain beige tunic and pants combo. They were clean but frayed in a lot of places and looked a lot lower quality than most other people in the room. Even the rougher-looking people in the room's clothes seemed more affluent despite some being quite dirty.

And if all that wasn't enough to make him stand out, he seemed to be moving between the various groups of people in the room. Something few did, sticking to the groups they were already in. Some of the people he spoke to dismissed him right away and wouldn't talk to him. Others were interested in what he had to say for a moment. But soon after that, they were dismissive again and sent him away. And some were outright hostile and told him off with raised voices.

I picked out a few words from those exchanges even through the noise of the hall. 'Liar' and 'Fraud' stood out the most to me.

Despite all that, however, the young man kept trying. He also didn't seem to let all the dismissals get to him. He frowned at the hostile people but kept a polite smile on his face for everyone else.

It made me very curious as to what that was all about. Was he some kind of known conman or something? Or was it just the clothes and him probably being far less well-off than most of the people here?

Before I could wonder any more about that, the young man seemed to finally run out of groups of people to approach. So instead, he turned and started walking towards the line I was in. Trying to play it cool, and also not attract the attention of the guy—I still didn't know what was up with him—I did my best to pretend like I was looking at something else. Then before he joined me at the back of the line, I turned back to face the person ahead of me like something caught my attention.

When he didn't immediately try and talk to me, I thought I managed to avoid having any awkward conversations. Unfortunately, a moment later I heard him mutter something about, 'not giving up,' and 'just keep trying.' Then he spoke up behind me.

"Um, excuse me?"

I did my best not to sigh at that. Instead, I turned slowly and hoped he was actually talking to someone else. He wasn't, of course. Great. Well, at least now I get to know what his deal was. Perhaps that would help pass the time.

"Yes?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm Pan Song," the taller man said, giving me a short bow.

"I'm Li Lan," I replied in kind, bowing as well. I'd finally stopped stuttering out my English name after getting introduced to various people back at the Sun Compound. "Is there something you need?"

"Um, yes… Well no. More like… I would like to make you an offer," Pan Song said a bit awkwardly.

"An offer?"

"Yes," Pan Song said with a firm nod. Then, he seemed to brace himself for a moment. "You see, I am an Array Master."

There was a moment's pause. Pan Song seemed to be expecting something, but I wasn't sure what it was. So, after what felt like another long moment, I nodded.

"Okay."

"I know that you may not—" Pan Song said quickly after my response before he cut himself off. Then he looked at me wide-eyed. "You believe me?"

"Um…" I said, feeling just even more confused than before. "Should I not?"

"No, you should," Pan Song said quickly. Then he seemed to shake his head and recenter himself. In a firmer voice, he said, "I am an Array Master."

"Okay…" I said again, hoping this strange guy would get to the point. At the same time, I noticed the line move a bit so we both stepped forward. "You are an array master. I… Um, well. I have an idea of what that means, but I'm not super familiar with the topic. So what did you want to offer me?"

Pan Song held a firm expression on his face for a moment longer before he smiled. "Alright, if you want I can explain my profession more later. But first, thank you for believing me. I've had… issues getting others to believe the same. Perhaps it's because you don't know much about Array Masters, but thanks for not dismissing me."

"No problem," I said, looking him over again. At his worn clothing that stood out so much. Was that why people were so dismissive of him? Maybe Array Masters were supposed to look a certain way and he didn't fit the mold. "So what's your offer?"

"Well, I'm looking for people to join me for a small expedition," Pan Song said. "The ancient site I want to visit is well known and documented so you can verify it for yourself. It's the Serpent's Nest Ruins. There are only Early Rank 1 beasts around there, and I need to gather enough people to keep the area safe. After that, I will break the restrictions there. My offer is that you and whoever else you or I might be able to recruit can have the treasures hidden within. All I wish is to take the remnants of the formations once I've dealt with them."

Before I could reply, I heard a snort from behind me. 

I turned to see what that was about, only to see the guy in front of me side-eyeing us. When I caught his eye and raised an eyebrow, he just scoffed and turned away. Rude. But I ignored it. No need to pick a fight when I had no idea what his background was. I also couldn't really use my Earth Sense so I didn't know his personal strength either besides a vague feeling that he had Qi.

"Alright, that sounds interesting," I said, pretending like nothing had just happened. "But, like I said, I don't really know much about Array Masters. I also don't know much about these ruins you are talking about. I can, however, ask my friends about it and see if they are interested. They're already part of the Starguard and likely know more."

"Really?" Pan Song asked, looking far more chipper than I thought he would. It wasn't like I committed to joining him or anything. "Thank you. That is great news. How many of your friends are there? And do you think they would know anyone else interested? Depending on their level of strength, the three of us could be enough to make the attempt. Though more might make it safer."

"There's two of them," I said. "But we might be able to gather a couple of more people if we need it. But, like I said, I'll need to speak with them first since they know more about these things."

"Of course, of course," Pan Song said, taking a quick breath to center himself. "Sorry for getting worked up. But I really appreciate being given a chance and not being dismissed. If they need proof of my abilities, I would be happy to demonstrate what I can do. I don't have the resources or the money to waste setting up something powerful, but I can make something complex enough to show off my mastery if given the chance."

"Okay," I said, nodding. I felt a bit bad for the guy, given how excited he was for someone not to dismiss him. "I guess you've been having a tough time with that kind of thing as of late?"

Pan Song grimaced at that. "Yes." He then looked down at himself. "People see me and immediately think I'm some bumpkin either lying or delusional. No cultivators have given me the chance before you." His shoulders slumped for a moment, but then he clenched a fist and straightened himself. "But I haven't been letting that get me down. I've been selling some minor formations elsewhere in the city. To non-cultivators who gave me the chance, hoping that I can get more people to listen eventually and show off my skills."

"That's admirable," I said. "To not give up like that. But, ugh, have you considered maybe changing up your wardrobe? Maybe if you looked. Um more like the other cultivators here you'd have an easier time?"

Pan Song sighed and shook his head. "The materials needed for spirit formations are expensive. Very expensive. I have very little funds right now for the kind of clothing that would make me fit the image many would expect from my profession."

He gestured towards my clothes as he said that, making me look down at my robes curiously. They weren't… They weren't that expensive, were they? If they were, maybe I should be more careful with them. I hadn't actually given it much thought.

"It doesn't help that I hadn't realized this would be an issue earlier," Pan Song said, running a hand through his hair. "This is my first time in the city you see, and I didn't expect people to be so judgemental. Many people have heard about me now. They think I'm a fraud and just changing my clothes won't change that either. I need to do something to prove them all wrong. It's one of the reasons I want to do this expedition."

"How so?" I asked, seeing the line move again and moving along with it. 

"The Serpent Nest Ruins is just one of many known ancient sites around Everlake," Pan Song explained. "Its location isn't secret because the restrictive formations protecting it are too powerful, like most ruins. Only a true Array Master can break them without overwhelming strength. And the handful of true Array Masters in the city have no need to bother with such things.

"Because of how much time it would take to break into these ancient sites, any true Array Master would be better off selling their services instead of hunting these minor sites. Only a major ancient site would be enough to tempt them, and those are not so easily found. Anything else would not be too much effort for not enough rewards."

"Not that much reward?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at that.

"For an established Array Master," Pan Song rushed to assure me. "For most other cultivators, at least those below the peak of Qi-Gathering, the treasures should be more than enough. Especially since you and your friends won't need to do anything but protect me while I work. As for me, cracking one of the ruins with witnesses and bringing back the treasures from the ruins should finally escape the poor reputation I've developed."

"I see," I said, nodding. If he wasn't lying, then that did make sense. I still wasn't completely convinced, but Jianfeng and Lin should be able to determine if he was lying or not. So I would give him a chance for now. "Then I guess it's both our lucky break then. I'm new to the city and wouldn't mind earning some treasures to build up some funds. So long as you can convince my friends, then I'm in."

"Great," Pan Song said, beaming. "Then it should be no problem. As long as they give me the chance to prove myself, I should be able to convince them."

With that agreed on, Pan Song and I continued to chat about things while we waited in line. He was planning on taking the Starguard recruitment exam as well and wasn't just in line looking for people to help him. 

I ended up asking him more about what being an Array Master entailed. He was eager to talk about the subject, and just from listening to him I could tell it was a subject he was deeply passionate about. And I could understand why as he explained things.

Array Masters or Formation Masters, were cultivators who specialized in the usage of spirit formations. Spirit formations were essentially ritual magic from what I could understand, matching what I knew of the idea from stories. Using prepared tools—usually flags—inscribed with magical symbols, he could create all sorts of supernatural effects. From creating barriers to illusions to specific restrictions like fire cannot appear here to all sorts of other things.

It was an incredibly versatile and complex art that few could master, requiring lots of studying and problem-solving. Which kinda explained why few people thought Pan Song was telling the truth. He looked more like a farmer than a scholar. 

Still, the more Pan Song talked about it, the more I believed him about what he said earlier. I also couldn't help but want to explore learning formations myself. They sounded incredibly useful and versatile, able to do a lot of amazing things. Perhaps if I could get a Skill for it…

As soon as that thought came to mind, I pushed it away. I doubted I would find an evil Array Master that was weak enough for me to defeat any time soon. That was the only way I would ever let myself get such a Skill, so there was no point in thinking about it.

Besides, just because I had the System didn't mean I had to solely rely on it. I would use it for all its worth, but perhaps formation could be a supplement to what I could already do.

With that in mind, I asked Pan Song about how one starts learning about formations as the two of us reached the front of the line. The idea that I wanted to learn seemed to excite the other man even more, and he happily started to go in-depth about just what I would need to learn such an art. Unfortunately, this was cut short by the person ahead of me finishing with the clerk.

After a promise that we would talk more later, I moved to talk to the pretty woman sitting behind the counter. I told her what I wanted, and she gave me a brief explanation of just what the trial would entail first.

Essentially, it was one big monster hunt in a prepared area by the Starguard Hall. Lin and Jianfeng had already explained everything to me, so nothing said to me was new. Instead, I just nodded along to the explanation, barely paying attention. The only thing that made me pause was when the young woman emphasized the penalty for trying to kill another trial taker during the exam.

The penalty was death. Anyone caught breaking the rules and trying to kill someone—or successfully killing someone else—unless it was in self-defense, would die. It didn't matter who you were or what connections you had.

I wasn't sure how much I believed that last part. But I took the warning seriously regardless. Even if I had no plans of trying to kill anyone during the exam. It wasn't like one of the Black Wind remnants would be there, and there was no one else in the world I had any plans on killing at the moment.

After that, I paid the fee to sign up. It was just one spirit stone, which I had readily available from the spirit stones Sun Xia gave me when we first met. Thankfully, I'd been told about how much they were worth before I ate them all in training. Still, knowing how valuable these were, I couldn't help but wince slightly as I handed one over.

I'd be able to earn more once I joined the Starguard, but it still felt a bit excessive for a fee.

After that, I was done and given a token to show that I was registered for the coming trial. It would be in a week's time, and I was to come to the hall to be taken to the test site.

I thanked the woman before walking off. I waited a bit nearby for Pan Song to finish his registration while I took the time to look around the hall. I was hoping to see Jianfeng or Lin back, but I couldn't see either of them just yet. It seemed that they were still busy.

So I just went back to people-watching, hoping to see something that could keep my interest for a bit. Unfortunately, there really wasn't anything too interesting to see. Everyone here might be a cultivator, but unless they burst out into a fight—which was not allowed in here—they were hardly all that different from normal people.

The only thing that really caught my eye was a group of young men walking into the hall. They all wore the same white and gold robes, which drew my attention at first. Then I couldn't help but notice the pure white fox riding on the shoulder of the youngest looking of the group.

But as unique as that was in the hall, it wasn't really something that could hold my attention. So I started looking elsewhere for a while until Pan Song finally finished. He took a bit longer than me for some reason.

"So, how hard do you think the trial will be?" I asked when he came over.

Pan Song frowned as he considered things. "Well—" he started to say, only to be interrupted.

"You! Bumpkin!" someone said loudly, making me turn around in surprise. They'd been behind me and quite close.

It was those guys I noticed before, wearing white and gold robes. All five of them had come over, three of them in front, with the younger-looking one with the fox and the final guy in the back.

The three in front were openly scowling at Pan Song, I realized. The two in the back seemed a lot less invested in whatever this was, the younger one looking bored while the other man looked neutral. Around us, many people were looking over, probably curious as to what the shouting was about. 

It made me nervous, even if the attention wasn't really focused on me. 

"My name is Pan Song," Pan Song said, frowning at the attention directed at him. "What business do you have with me?"

"What business?" the guy in the middle of the three closest men shook his head. He had a scar right under his left eye and had been the one to shout. "You know exactly what business we have with you! Your constant disrespect of our Qian Clan cannot be ignored."

"What disrespect could I have possibly given the Qian Clan?" Pan Song asked, sounding completely confused. "The only time I've met with members of the Qian Clan was to find a sponsor for my work as an Array Master. When I was rejected, I left and didn't bother your clan any longer. How could I possibly have been disrespectful?"

Scarface scoffed at that and shook his head. "That right there is your disrespect. Peddling lies about being an Array Master. The Young Master already declared you a liar and a fraud when he kicked you out." He gestured behind himself to the young man with the fox. "Now we hear that you have been going around the Starguard Hall, still making such absurd claims. It can only be thought of as a slap to the face of our Young Master and clan."

"I mean no disrespect to the Young Master," Pan Song said, sounding frustrated. "But I was never given the chance to demonstrate my skills. If you would just give me a chance, then you would be able to see the truth. But if not, I will not simply put aside my status as an Array Master. If others choose to give me a chance, it should have nothing to do with your Qian Clan."

Pang Song said that last part firmly and with conviction. It would have been admirable if it wasn't for the fact that it probably wasn't going to change anything. These people had made up their minds, and they were stronger and more well connected too.

I'd heard about the Qian Clan over the last week. They were one of the three top clans in the city. Not people to be messed with lightly.

The only thing stopping this from getting worse was this was the Starguard Hall, and no fighting was allowed in here by anyone. Otherwise, these assholes might have already escalated things given their connections and belligerence.

"Of course, a bumpkin like you would think like that," Scarface said with a shake of his head. "Perhaps you are too dimwitted to understand that you are calling the Young Master a liar by your absurd claims. But you should know that you won't find anyone willing to believe your absurd claims here. Because anyone here should understand that calling a Young Master of the Qian Clan a liar is an incredibly foolish thing to do."

As the man said those last words, he turned his glare from Pan Song over to me. What he meant was obvious, and I grimaced at the attention. 

I hadn't wanted to get involved in this, even if I was pretty sure Pan Song was telling the truth, and these guys were just assholes. Unfortunately, it seems they weren't content to leave me out of things.

Just great.

Chapter 28: Qian Zhi

"And you," Scarface said, pointing at me. 

It made me want to look up at the heavens and ask just what I did to deserve getting caught up in this whole situation. Especially since neither Lin nor Jianfeng were here to help me navigate it. This was supposed to be a quick sign-up for the trial and that's it. Not, whatever this was turning into.

"Don't think we haven't noticed your disrespect either," Scarface said with a glare. "Others in the hall said that you were indulging this bumpkin. Listening to his ridiculous claims. You think you can get away with something like that?"

I held up my hands placatingly. "Hey, I just met this man," I said, taking a small step away from Pan Song. He seemed like a good guy, and I did believe his story. But I didn't want to make enemies with some young master of one of the three great clans in the city. Even if they were assholes. I would hopefully be able to make it up to the guy discreetly later. "And I didn't know anything about your Young Master or any claims he made. I was just talking to Pan Song because I was curious about Arrays and don't know much about them myself."

"As if your ignorance is an excuse," Scarface said, making a cutting motion with the hand he'd been pointing at me. "You should be made an example of along with the lying bumpkin."

Was this asshole really threatening me just because I talked to Pan Song? Were the people here really that crazy? Lin and Jianfeng had warned me about not making enemies, but I hadn't thought it would be this bad. Not with how normal everyone in the Sun Compound seemed.

"Are you serious?" I asked, unable to keep how incredulous I felt out of my voice. But then I realized I might still have a way to defuse this ridiculous situation. The Young Master behind this guy still looked bored and not all too invested in this. Maybe I could use that. "Like, I just talked to the guy. I'm sure a Young Master of the Qian Clan has much more important matters to deal with than some ignorant guy like me talking to someone he called a liar. Shouldn't you be ashamed of wasting your Young Master's time with something like this?"

"As if that is for some nobody like you to decide," Scarface said with a scoff, looking me up and down. 

"Of course not. But is it for you to decide then?" I challenged, looking towards the Young Master. "Are you saying that you speak for your Young Master, then? And he cares about something so small and petty?"

Scarface scoffed at that but got a nervous look on his face. Instead of replying, he turned to look at the bored-looking Young Master. The younger man just raised an eyebrow at that, then turned to look at the fox around his shoulder. Which, to my surprise, seemed to be glaring at me.

What the fuck?

"Hmm…" the Young Master said as if in thought. "This does sound a bit petty. But Little White here is a pretty good judge of character, and his opinion right now seems pretty clear. Perhaps not everyone willing to indulge the bumpkin is disrespecting me. But in this particular case." The Young Master turned to give me an amused and cruel smile. "Perhaps I am being disrespected. What do you think, Yin Tai?"

That last question was directed to the other man standing next to the Young Master. He looked at the fox for a moment and then turned to look at me with a small frown. "If the Young Master thinks that, then it must be so. We should make an example out of both of them then."

I scowled at that. So much for hoping that it was just this guy's goons that were the unreasonable ones. And all because of a fox? What the hell? I was starting to think those damned things were bad luck. First I got bit by one. Then another saved the Black Wind. And now a third had ruined my chance of not getting mixed up in this situation.

"This is going too far," Pan Song said as I tried to think of just what could defuse this situation. "You called me a liar, and now even seek to punish those kind enough to give me a chance. Since you are so sure that I'm a fake, why don't you dare test me now in front of so many people? If you are correct, then you have nothing to fear."

"As if the Young Master has so much time to waste with talentless frauds like you," Yin Tai said dismissively as he waved a hand. "Why should he—"

"If that's the case, I wonder why Young Master Qian Zhi bothers with you, Little Bastard Tai," A voice said, cutting him off. A very familiar voice.

I spun in the direction of the speaker and slumped in relief when I saw Lin standing there along with Jianfeng. I'd gotten so caught up in this whole stupid situation that I hadn't noticed them arrive.

Yin Tai turned to look at Lin as well, a furious look on his face. When he actually caught sight of Lin, however, he seemed to scoff, and his expression turned dismissive. The Young Master—Qian Zhi apparently—turned to look as well, his neutral expression replaced with a small frown.

"Ah, Ming Lin and Shui Jianfeng," Yin Tai said, shaking his head with a dismissive scoff. "Come to make baseless claims again? Or have you two truly stooped so low as to fall for this charlatan's lies as well? I would have thought that even you two would have more common sense than that."

I couldn't help but glance between the two sides curiously. This was rather unexpected. It seemed that this asshole and Lin and Jianfeng already knew each other. And there was clearly bad blood between the two. Though I suppose that shouldn't be too big of a surprise, given how belligerent these guys seemed.

"I know nothing about this man," Lin said, nodding at Pan Song. "Just heard a familiar bastard dog barking and thought I'd see why you're causing a scene. Pretty pathetic that you feel the need to harass a man with so many people. Or that you feel so petty as to feel the need to randomly harass other people barely involved in whatever disagreement you might have."

"Careful, Ming Lin," Yin Tai said, losing the dismissive aura he was trying to project. Instead, he glared. "You would be wise not to provoke the Qian Clan so brazenly. Only a rabid dog would try to bite their betters."

"I'm hardly provoking the Qian Clan," Lin said, grinning. "You are just one of their servants, after all. You should hardly be making such statements as if you had much greater authority. It's quite presumptuous of you." 

"And what if he's speaking for me?" Qian Zhi asked, his tone still bored but with a hint of warning in it. 

Lin was not cowed. "Then I wonder if things have changed so much in the Qian Clan that you're willing to go against Young Miss Qian Chi. After all, she has declared that my Young Miss Sun Xia is a good friend of the Qian Clan. Starting a conflict over words with one of her retainers would be… unwise, don't you think?"

There was a long pause after that with only mutterings from further away in the large room keeping it from being totally silent. The two sides stared each other down. Jianfeng and Lin on one side and Yin Tai, Qian Zhi, and the three other Qian Clan members on the other.

"You would do well not to rely on such protections forever," Qian Zhi said after a long moment, still sounding bored and aloof. "Qian Chi is the current heir. But her ascension to head of the clan is a long time away. Many things can change before then."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lin said, a smile on her face. "Now, I'm sure such important members of the Qian Clan have better things to do than harass some—what did Tai call him?—A random country bumpkin? Why don't we all just go about our day? Doesn't an important person like Young Master Qian Zhi have more important things to do?"

Qian Zhi narrowed his eyes at that before turning a dull glare at Pan Song. "I do. I was just here to sign up for the upcoming Starguard Trial. But then my men heard from others in the hall that this fool was still going around trying to con others with his lies. As a member of the esteemed and noble Qian Clan, I took it as a duty to put a stop to such nonsense."

"If he is a liar, then I'm sure it will come to light in time," Lin said, sounding dismissive. "No need for Young Master Qian Zhi to go out of his way. Going after some unknown like this is hardly worth the time of someone so… esteemed."

Lin stressed that last word in a way that made it quite clear that esteemed wasn't the word she'd actually use to describe him. 

Qian Zhi narrowed his eyes at that. Then he turned his gaze back over to Pan Song and me as well. Damn, I was hoping he'd forget about me at least. But judging from the smirk on his face as he looked between me and Lin, that was not the case. And he knew that we were friends or connected as well.

Just great.

"I suppose I do have better things to do," Qian Zhi said with an amused note in his voice. "The Starguard trial is only a week away. I should prepare. And should I still feel the need to put uppity fools in their place, I can make my displeasure known then."

Pan Song gulped at that, looking nervous. I frowned as well. Well, fuck.

Lin seemed to notice Qian Zhi looking between me and her too, given the frown forming on her face as she looked at me. Guess she'd hope that he wouldn't notice as well. That was probably why she hadn't looked at or acknowledged me this whole time.

Lin shook her head and sighed. "If the Young Master feels the need to compete with his peers in such a manner, who am I to say anything about it? After all, I suppose you have to compete with somebody as you just so happened to delay your joining the Starguard to avoid Young Master Guan Li and Young Master Shen Zhu."

That seemed to hit a nerve as Qian Zhi's smile disappeared, and he glared hard. "I have no need to compete with those two love-struck fools," he said, almost snarling. Then he took a quick breath to calm himself and shook his head. "And now I've tired of this distasteful conversation. I have better things to do." Before he left, however, he grinned a vicious grin again, looking at both Pan Song and I. "But I suppose we will see each other again during the Starguard trial."

With that said, he walked off, the other members of the Qian Clan rushing to follow. All except for Tai, who took a moment to shake his head. "Always so impulsive, Ming Lin. I hope lashing out at me was worth earning the Young Master's ire. Especially for your friend there. If the Young Master was going to show some mercy to him before, he most certainly will not now."

"I don't want to hear anything about impulsiveness from you, you bastard," Lin said, her voice cold as ice. The venom there took me back just a little. It seemed that the issues between her and Yin Tai were much worse than I thought. "And we both know that Young Master Qian Zhi is hardly the sort to give mercy to even the smallest of slights."

Yin Tai just shook his head before turning away. "You need to get over whatever you think happened, Lin," he said and started walking away. "Try to learn from Shui Jianfeng. He seems to have gotten over it."

"I really haven't," Jianfeng said, finally speaking up. He sounded his normal upbeat self for the most part. But there was a little bit of strain to it. "You should do well to remember that Tai. Because I will repay you for what you did one day. No matter how long it takes."

"Well, good luck with that," Tai said, not bothering to look back as he walked off to go join the rest of his people.

When they were finally gone, I walked up beside Lin and sighed. "Well, that was a thing."

Pan Song came over to join us as well, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. "I don't understand why any of that had to happen. They already rejected me, and now this just feels petty."

"It is petty," Lin said, shaking her head. "And it's the sort of thing you should expect from people like that." She then turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "So, just what was that all about? And who is this?" She gestured at Pan Song.

Quickly, I explained everything that had led up to this and introduced Pan Song.

When I was done, Lin turned to give Pan Song a narrowed-eyed stare. "Are you actually an Array Master?"

"I am no liar," Pan Song said seriously, meeting Lin's gaze. "I am an Array Master. And I can prove it if given a chance."

"Alright, then prove it," Lin said, crossing her arms.

Pan Song seemed surprised for a moment before he nodded. "Okay, I will. But we will need somewhere with more space, and not within somewhere as important as the Starguard Hall. I doubt they will be all that pleased if I just start trying to set up formations here. I also need to get my materials if I am to demonstrate full mastery and not just adeptness."

Lin shrugged at that and gestured at the entryway to the Hall. "Then let's go and make sure that you at least can set up proper formations. We can look into your mastery after. If your offer is genuine and you aren't lying then, we are interested. Especially if it will make that bastard Tai and his damned master look like fools."

Pan Song seemed to shrink a bit at that. "I'm not certain that's something I want to do. I have only been in the city for a small while, but the Qian Clan does not seem like something I would want to trifle with."

Lin shrugged. "It's already too late. Even before this scene, if others heard about the Young Master's claims about your skills, only to be proven so wrong later, then conflict would have been inevitable. It would be a slap to his face and his credibility to lose out on recruiting such a young Array Master. His only option is to prove you wrong or not allow you to prove yourself."

Pan Song slumped at Lin's words.

"Things aren't all bad," Lin said, trying to comfort the large young man. "If you really are an Array Master, then our Young Miss would be more than happy to allow you to work under her. She has a good relationship with most of the Qian Clan, and that should stop the conflict from escalating into a larger issue with their whole clan."

Pan Song still looked a bit nervous and turned to me as if wanting to know if she was telling the truth.

I just shrugged and nodded. Lin had no reason to lie, after all. And what she said fit with what I've learned about Sun Xia over the last week.

"I suppose that would make things easier," he said after a moment. "Then let us go."

With that said, we all left the Starguard Hall. It didn't take us long to find a suitable place for the demonstration. Apparently, in the Cultivator District, there were many wide-open grassy areas that people could make use of. Officially, they were just places for rest and relaxation. In reality, according to Lin and Jianfeng, they were used by cultivators to settle disputes more often than not. 

Apparently, before these places were created, the beautiful and clean cobblestone of the streets would often get destroyed in conflicts. But the introduction of these green places—unofficially called arenas—had helped keep damages down. 

It was one of these places that we went for Pan Song to prove his worth. Something I really hoped he managed to do. It would have been rather disappointing if he'd been just a conman or something. Especially since I now had to watch out for that Qian Zhi jerk and whatever goons might join him in the coming trial.

"So you are at least quite adept," Lin said, taking in the formation that Pan Song had set up. 

He'd done it quickly, pulling formation flags out of the large leather bag he carried. He'd then shot them all around the clearing, just like I'd seen Sun Xia do before. Finally, after running through some quick hand seals, a semi-transparent dome appeared in the grassy clearing.

"A simple barrier," Pan Song said, shaking his head. "Nothing special, but the speed of my execution should be proof enough that I know a thing or two. Feel free to test it."

Not needing to be asked twice, Lin lunged toward it with a sudden rush of speed. Her fist met the dome, and a crack rang out. Spider web cracks appeared in the barrier which seemed to expand more and more. A moment later, the whole barrier shattered.

Well, shit. That didn't seem all that—

"Impressive," Lin said, making me blink in surprise. "Setting up a formation strong enough to block one of my punches so fast is pretty good. Especially with such cheap-looking equipment."

Cheap looking? I stared at one of the nearby flags that had created the barrier, taking a better look at them. And I immediately noticed what Lin must have as well. These honestly just looked like random cloth and some sticks. The edges of the flag were sharp and clean, and the writing looked beautiful, but the material itself looked incredibly common.

"It's not a big deal," Pan Song said, shaking his head. "If you don't mind waiting, I can set up something more impressive."

Lin shook her head. "No, it's fine. Admittedly, neither Jianfeng nor I know enough about Arrays to figure out if you are a master. But you are clearly no novice. So how about this, tell me where I can send you a message. I will speak with our Young Miss Sun Xia, a disciple of Master Alchemist Fan Hong."

Pan Song's eyes widened at the mention of Fan Hong. He must have recognized the name or maybe the title Master Alchemist.

"She should be able to fully evaluate you," Lin continued, not acknowledging the bug-eyed look she was being given, "and you need time to gather supplies anyway. If you can prove yourself to her, then she will want to sponsor you. And if you still wish to open that ruin, we would be willing to accompany you if the offer you gave Lan still holds."

Pan Song continued to look at Lin with a shocked expression for a moment before he managed to shake himself out of his stupor. Then he grinned widely. "Of course, that would be amazing! You can send a message to…"

The two of them quickly exchanged information on how we could get in contact with Pan Song later. After that, Pang Song thanked all of us profusely—me especially for listening to him first—before he left to ensure that he had all the supplies needed. Lin told him that it would likely be at least a day or so before Sun Xia would be able to make the time, but he wanted to make sure he had everything set for a demonstration.

He hadn't expected to get a chance to show off to such a prominent figure.

It was only once he was gone did I realized I probably should have talked to him about us teaming up for the Starguard trial. Because Qian Zhi was going to be targeting both of us. I would have to speak to him about that the next time I saw him.

"So, what's up with you two and that Yin Tai guy?" I asked when the three of us were alone. I couldn't help but be a bit curious about it given what I saw of their interaction.

"How about we go get lunch first," Lin said, a frown on her face. "I need something to cheer me up before I talk about that bastard."

"Alright," I said as we left the grassy clearing. 

We ended up at a prominent restaurant called the Plum Blossom Delight. We got a private booth that had some sort of privacy formation built into it, keeping our conversation from being overheard. After getting tea and ordering our food, Jianfeng decided to be the one to talk about their history with Yin Tai and how that led to their conflict with Qian Zhi.

It wasn't a long story, and he finished by the time the food came. Still, it became very clear just why both Lin and Jianfeng hated the guy so much. I would feel the same way too if someone who was like a brother to me tried to kill me over treasure. 

We ate in solemn silence for a bit afterward, but thankfully, that didn't last too long as we began to discuss other topics. Like Lin's encounter with the Ice Fairy and what she wanted. Lin couldn't go into details just yet—not before speaking to Sun Xia—but needless to say, Jianfeng was incredibly jealous. 

He would have probably bugged Lin more about it if she hadn't threatened to tell Feifei and Sun Yun about his interest.

After that, and with the meal done, we nursed some tea while going back to discuss less savory things. Like how I would deal with Qian Zhi during the trials. Part of me considered just waiting him out and taking the next Starguard Trial. But the idea of running away from that pompous bastard pissed me off. Especially since he would likely target me elsewhere if I didn't take the trial, and it might be best to confront him in a situation where he couldn't kill me.

It also wasn't like I didn't have a chance. Yes, the guy was quite talented. He was already at Mid Qi-Gathering and was younger than the rest of us at only 16 years old. He also had the benefit of the resources of the richest of the three great clans, and he would probably be taking more of his goons with him into the trial. 

But I had my own advantages.

Advantages that we would need to leave the city for me to make use of. I needed to go hunting for both cores and special abilities to harvest. Lin and Jianfeng had given me what cores they had saved up to let me cultivate over the last week. But they didn't have many as they usually just sold the cores instead of stockpiling them.

So because of that, we decided that unless Sun Xia had time for Pan Song tomorrow—something Lin found unlikely—the three of us would go hunting the next day. To plan for that, we went through the bestiaries Jianfeng got from the Starguard Repository. It didn't take us long to find several very interesting spirit beasts that would be good to hunt. Ones with powers that might give me the boost I needed to deal with being targeted by Qian Zhi, as well as being close enough to the city to reach.

When we finished with that, we left the restaurant and went to buy some supplies for our trip before finally making our way back to the compound. I could explore the city more another day. For the moment, we needed to report to Sun Xia.

Tomorrow, we would go hunt, and perhaps I would be able to get a Skill to make Qian Zhi regret making an enemy of me.

Chapter 29: Low-Hanging Fruit

The next day, Lin, Jianfeng, and I left Everlake City bright and early. We headed south on foot, following the roads. We could have rented horses, but Jianfeng and Lin both considered it a waste. The horses would have made the journey easier, but they couldn't be brought into the Great Southern Forest. Which meant that they would have just been left outside, where they could end up stolen or eaten by spirit beasts.

It was simpler to not bother in their eyes and go on foot instead.

Just a bit over a week ago, I would have considered this insane. The edge of the Great Southern Forest was more than 100 miles away from Everlake City. At best, it would have taken me several days to travel that distance, only stopping to sleep for the night.

But, with my new speed and endurance, it was much more manageable. So much so, that I found myself enjoying the experience. There was just something exhilarating about being able to jog at car speeds—even if we kept to the lower end of that to not overly tax ourselves. The way the wind tugged at my hair and clothes, as well as just how quickly anything close by seemed to rush behind me as I went. It was all an extremely potent reminder of just how far I'd come in such a short amount of time.

Of course, as exciting as it was for me to get to indulge in my superhuman abilities, my enthusiasm could only last so long. Sometime after we left the city far behind, and I got used to seeing the wide open and lush fields around the southern road, my excitement started to dim and boredom began to set in. 

Thankfully, I wasn't alone and was able to talk with Jianfeng and Lin as we traveled along the road. But it still made me think that I would like to figure out a faster traveling method for the future. In case I needed to travel alone. Especially since this world was as absurdly large as one would expect of a Xianxia world.

Perhaps a flight Skill of some kind. I had considered the idea before, and flying spirit beasts were definitely on my target list today. I wasn't quite sure if that would actually work or not, but there was very little reason for me not to try.

Though, despite how cool that would be, it wasn't birds or other flying beasts that I was the most focused on trying to find today. No, instead, I had other targets in mind. My first targets were going to be cats and any large and physically powerful beasts, preferably without any other abilities. They'd be easier to find quickly, and the hope was to get more passive buffs like Primal Vitality that would boost me considerably. 

Afterward, we'd go for some more unique and interesting Skills, but passive buffs like that seemed the easiest and fastest way for a quick power-up. Something even more necessary now because of that jerk Qian Zhi and his threats.

Aside from Skills, my other goal for the day was going to be getting spirit beast cores. I needed at least 25 to reach Mid Stage Rank 1 if my calculations were correct and there were no complications. I'd already processed five since reaching Rank 1, and now was my chance to get the rest—something only doable in a single day because all cores we would be gathering today would be mine. Jianfeng and Lin still felt the need to repay me for my help getting them out of the mines, and wouldn't be taking a cut of the cores since I needed more in the short term.

Although, even if we got all the cores I needed today, I wasn't going to be able to reach Mid Rank 1 in time for the trial. I could rush things and eat multiple at once, but the increased cooldown would end up making things take longer. That didn't mean that getting all the cores today would be pointless, however. 

I still needed a lot of them to get as strong as I could for the trial. And it would be good to get all the cores I needed to reach Mid Rank 1 sooner rather than later. Just in case anything came up and made another hunting trip more difficult in the future. 

Eventually, an hour or two before noon, the Great Southern Forest finally came into view. At first, I was unimpressed. It was supposed to be far more dangerous than the Amberwood. So much so, that the depths of the forest were mostly unexplored, and it was said that even Rank 3 spirit beasts roamed within. Perhaps even Rank 4 spirit beasts, but many consider that to just be rumors. Yet, despite all that, it didn't look all that much different from the Amberwood.

It was only as we got closer and closer to the forest did I realized just how mistaken I was. I first noticed when we didn't actually reach the forest as quickly as I thought we would. Then, as we continued to run, the trees became bigger and bigger to my eyes. By the time we actually reached the edge of the forest, I realized that perhaps the name Great Southern Forest didn't really do the place justice.

Perhaps the Forest of Massive Fucking Trees would have been a better name.

Because the trees here were indeed massive. I'd seen images of people standing next to old-growth redwoods back on Earth before. And while I think the trees at the edge of the forest weren't quite that large, they were getting there. They were also probably a lot younger and smaller than the trees further into the forest.

"Holy shit," I said, standing at the base of one of the massive trees and looking up into its branches. "How did you guys not mention how fucking big the trees here are? Like you mentioned the spirit beasts, and the dangers and rewards. But how was this not something you felt like you should mention?"

"I'm quite sure that I said the trees here were large," Lin said from beside me. 

I turned and gave her a deadpan look. "This," I said, gesturing at the massive tree with both hands, "is not large. This is ridiculously massive!"

"Is it?" Lin asked, tilting her head.

I gave her an incredulous look for a long moment, wondering what the hell she would consider massive. Then I saw Jianfeng out of the corner of my eye, trying hard not to laugh. Oh, these fuckers.

"Oh, haha," I said, shaking my head, "real funny."

Lin smirked and chuckled softly. Behind her, Jianfeng burst out into laughter.

I just sighed and shook my head before turning back to the trees. They really were just fucking massive. Was that because of the greater ambient Qi? I could already feel the difference here at the edges of the forest; Both from my Earth Sense as well as my still often finicky sense for Qi in general.

"Come on, let's stop burning daylight," I said when Jianfeng finished laughing.

The three of us headed into the forest. The trees were large, but they were quite far apart from each other, making the forest seem quite open. The underbrush was quite sparse out here as well. The branches also started quite high up, and the canopy above was not too dense, letting a lot of sunlight reach us. It left the place feeling rather peaceful. Safe even. 

Which I knew was not the case at all. Even though the troubles with the spirit beasts in the western part of the Great Southern Forest weren't going to affect us here, it was far from being safe. It was why all the joking around disappeared as we made our way into the forest. Why we all stayed close and kept each other in view. Why Lin had repeated the rules I was to follow while we were hunting on the way here, despite the fact that she'd already gone over them with me yesterday.

This place was dangerous as all hell, even when the spirit beasts were calm.

If I'd ended up here when I first arrived in this world, instead of in the Amberwood, I would have died. Plain and simple. Only cultivators dared come into this forest, and even then usually only in teams unless they were very strong. And, of course, even then, they would usually only hunt at the 'outer' parts of the forest. Which might not sound like much, but was apparently anywhere from the edge of the forest to hundreds of miles deep into it. 

It didn't take long for us to encounter our first spirit beast. Just as we were making our way around a giant root sticking out of the ground, it happened. Jianfeng was the first to notice, unsheathing his sword and calling it out.

"To the right," he said, pointing with his sword. "Early Rank 1."

I quickly unsheathed my sword as I looked for what he'd seen. There. It had been hiding in a particularly dense bit of underbrush. But perhaps realizing it had already been seen, it moved out from its cover, revealing itself to be a bear. It looked like a black bear but was far larger than any I'd seen before. Closer to the size of grizzly bears I'd seen in pictures. 

Though perhaps not quite as big as a grizzly. And, as it prowled towards us growling, coming out of the shadows, I realized that it seemed a bit ragged. Not quite thin, but not as filled out as I would have expected either.

"Do you want to try taking it out on your own?" Jianfeng asked as the bear growled while he split his attention between watching it and looking around for other threats.

I hesitated for a moment, looking at the bear. It wasn't close enough that I could feel it with my Earth Sense, and I still hadn't gotten the knack of gauging the strength of my opponents from what Qi emanated from their bodies. But Jianfeng had said it was an Early Rank 1.

I'd taken those out before when I was much weaker. It had been scary and panic-filled, but I'd done it. Now I was much stronger and should be able to handle it far better. Given its size, it probably still had me beat in strength. But I could likely outspeed it just with Burst Step, and it was unlikely to do anything clever either.

This really was the perfect opportunity for me to demonstrate to myself just how far I'd come. And this was exactly the kind of spirit beast I'd been hoping to find. Something that might give me a strength-based passive.

Despite all that, however, there was still something holding me back. A part of me that spent the last 18 years living on Earth. Where the idea that I could kill a bear by myself without a gun or mace was fucking absurd. 

That part of me screamed this was insane, and I should run away.

"Sure, just watch my back," I said, taking a deep breath and telling the screaming part of myself to shut up. I wasn't a normal human on Earth anymore. I was a cultivator—kinda, as I technically didn't cultivate like a normal cultivator. At the very least, I was someone with superhuman abilities. I could do this.

I started towards the bear, which had stopped its approach. Its eyes locked onto mine as I stepped away from my friends, and its growling only got louder. It was like a car engine at this point, but I wasn't going to back down.

I continued my approach but held back on boosting myself with Qi Devourer. I'd been keeping my reserve pool topped off with my own Qi since this morning, meaning both it and my own reserves were full. But we had a long day ahead of us, and I didn't want to use the ability so soon. Not for just one spirit beast, and not if it meant using up more spirit stones.

So, instead, I prepared myself to use another ability while I waited for the bear to act. I had a pretty good idea of what it would do, given its posture and what I've read about bears like this in the bestiaries from the Starguard Hall. And had a really solid plan for just how to take it out.

All I needed was for it to—there!

The bear finally decided I'd gotten too close. It reared up on its hind legs and growled again. It made slashing gestures with its paws as if trying to scare me away. That was a mistake.

I activated Metallic Razor Slash. Then I kicked off the ground and activated Burst Step. As I practically flew to the side of the bear, I slashed out with my silver light-coated sword and cut deeply into the bear's right hindleg. So deep that my enhanced slash scraped its bones before I pulled my sword away.

The bear roared in pain and tried to spin and retaliate. But with its leg crippled and my momentum, I easily avoided its claws. The bear lashed out futilely at me as I backed away and circled around quickly.

It did its best to keep me in sight. But it was just too slow with its crippled leg. And I was too fast.

I circled around it and used Burst Step once more. My sword cut into its other leg, just as deep and debilitating. The bear roared and stumbled as it tried to face me. Tried to lash out at the thing killing it. But its legs wouldn't cooperate and gave out.

I took a step back as the thing thrashed, pretty much helpless as it tried to charge me just using its front paws. It made me feel a bit ill for a moment. But I powered through the feeling. If I felt bad, then I should give it a quick death. Or at least as quick of one as I could without risking myself.

Conserving Qi and not using Burst Step this time, I circled around the bear again and rushed behind it. It tried to follow but was just too slow, and I leaped onto its back and used Metallic Razor Slash one more time. I cut straight through the back of the bear's neck and leaped off the thing. 

Its body spasmed for a moment before the bear slumped to the ground. I rushed to its head, still wary of it lashing out despite having just crippled it. Better to be safe than sorry, and who knew what a spirit beast might be able to handle. Thankfully, the bear didn't have any surprises like that and remained still. So I cut down with my sword again and beheaded the beast fully.

And just like that, it was done. No boost needed, and no need for anyone else to intervene. I'd done it all by myself. Rather easily as well, with barely any danger to me. A far cry from my last encounter with Rank 1 spirit beasts.

A familiar blue glow appeared around the bear's carcass, and I focused on it to—ouch!

Something hit me on the head. I rubbed at the spot and saw Lin tossing another rock up and down in her hand. I glared.

"What did I say about letting your guard down after a fight?" she said, not at all bothered by my glare.

I just sighed at that and shook my head. "Okay, you're not wrong. But did you have to throw a rock?"

"Oh, don't be a baby," Lin said before she threw the rock away. This time, she'd done it a lot harder, and it smashed apart against one of the trees. "I gently lobbed it at you. And a little pain will help you remember in the future."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, shaking my head. She wasn't wrong, but it was still annoying. 

I put a show of looking around the clearing for a moment, seeing nothing around us, before I focused back on the bear. I ignored Lin's comment of 'better' and instead focused on the Skill available. Though not so much that I wouldn't see another rock coming or any other kind of danger around us.

It didn't take me long to pick my Skill. There was the Skill I was expecting and wanted, and then two other ones that were rather lackluster. The lackluster options were a Claw Attack Skill and the option to add 2% progress towards raising Primal Vitality to C-Rank. Neither could compare to the final Skill, so I chose it without delay.

Ursine Strength (Passive) (Rank D): Strength is increased by 100%.

The bear disappeared into light a moment later, and a rush of power surged through me. All my muscles seemed to tense up for just a second. Then it was over, but I could still feel the change. The strength coursing through me.

I couldn't help but grin at the feeling. Such a major boost for barely any effort at all. It made me feel just a bit giddy. Even if I was pretty sure that the boost I got from Qi Devouring would be pretty much useless now. And if not now, then it would be once I got the Dex version of this kind of Skill. 

Still, it was worth it. I'd rather be this powerful all the time than only from a boost. Also, eventually, I'd increased my reserve pool large enough that I could actually get something out of it again. Then it would be pretty amazing. And there was always the trick where I just scarfed down a bunch of spirit stones at once. 

It would be absurdly costly, and not something I wanted to do, but still a powerful trump card if I ever needed it.

"Out of curiosity," Jianfeng said from beside me as I basked in the feeling of strength. He nodded towards where the bear had been. "What are the chances you could have done that after extracting its core?"

I froze as I registered his question and frowned. Huh. Hadn't thought about that. Did I waste the core just now? It wasn't a big deal, but it was a good question.

"No idea," I said before shaking my head. "Remind me next time in case I forget."

"Sure."

With the bear taken care of, and nothing else appearing, we quickly left the site of the fight behind. That was one of the rules Lin had drilled into me yesterday and on the way here. Do not stick around after a battle. It didn't matter as much so close to the edge of the forest, but it would matter a whole lot more later. Because of how many spirit beasts there were in the forest, it was very easy to draw the attention of more spirit beasts with the sounds of fighting and the scent of blood.

Something we very much didn't want to do. Things like that could escalate out here, and we could either end up overwhelmed with numbers depending on what we attracted, or we could end up dealing with spirit beasts too powerful for us to deal with.

Not long after we left the bear behind, we ran into more spirit beasts as we made our way deeper into the forest. Nothing that stood out or anything we'd noted down from the bestiaries, though. Just more powerful versions of normal animals.

They were also even easier to take out than the bear. Not because they were weaker, as some of them were actually quite a bit stronger. But with my strength doubled and not fighting alone, these fights did not last long at all.

They ended even faster after we figured out I had to choose between harvesting Skills and getting spirit beast cores. I realized this after an extracted core disappeared from my hand when I tried adding progress toward ranking up Spirit Beast Cultivation. Eating cores also didn't help with this, as that simply made the System no longer deem the beast that a core had come from an acceptable target.

Because of this, I ended up choosing to not harvest most of the more common spirit beasts, and the others didn't have to hold back anymore to let me finish them off. The most common spirit beasts just didn't have any more useful Skills, and 2% towards ranking up Primal Vitality or Spirit Beast Cultivation was just too slow compared to the gains I could get from cultivating.

It was only when we ran into a pair of lynxes that I made the extra effort to get the finishing blow again and harvest a Skill. Like that first damned cat that had welcomed me into this world, it had the Skill Cat-Like Reflexes.

Cat-like Reflexes (Passive) (Rank D): Dexterity is increased by 100%.

And then just like that, my Dex stat doubled as well. The sudden boost to my reflexes and perception took a moment to get used to. But it was well worth it, and I couldn't help but start to feel very confident about myself.

I knew I shouldn't, of course. Doubling my stats was still not enough for me to stand up against the higher stages of Qi-Gathering, let alone anything above that. But it was still very nice to grow so quickly in moments. Addicting in a way. It was just too bad I wasn't likely to get any more quick power-ups like this any time soon.

Despite having checked a lot of other spirit beasts before getting to these lynxs, there didn't seem to be any other Str, Dex, or Vitality passive boost available. No Boar Strength or Rodent Agility or anything like that. Disappointing to say the least, but I supposed that would have been too overpowered.

Still, at least these Skills would continue to benefit me well into the future. That was something I could be very happy about.

I would have taken the time to enjoy that thought longer if Lin didn't urged me to hurry up as we were on a schedule. Our little hunting trip was supposed to end well before sunset as the forest was more dangerous at night. We also had a specific part of the forest in mind that should have even more Skills for me to collect.

So right after that, we left the other Lynx corpse behind after extracting its core and continued on our way. More spirit beasts soon barred our path, and we took them out even easier than before. I found myself enjoying the hunting, and I couldn't help but notice how I was comparing to Lin and Jianfeng.

I was pretty close to their level in terms of pure stats as far as I could tell. I didn't know for sure, since I still didn't have any kind of Observation Skill. But I was pretty certain I was physically stronger than Jianfeng now, and close to Lin in terms of reaction time. Future sparring would show if that was actually the case, as they had techniques that could pull them ahead. But regardless, it was another nice indicator of my progress.

It was around noon when we finally neared that part of the forest we were aiming for. The massive trees around us started to thin, and instead, the land around us became rocky and barren. The change was very abrupt, and apparently, the wasteland ahead was one of many different mini-ecosystems encompassed by the forest.

Almost as soon as we left the trees behind, I finally found one of the spirit beasts I'd come out here to hunt. A specific beast and not just a certain type I wanted to aim for like a feline or something that seemed strength-based. It was a kind of armadillo but unlike any on Earth because of its sheer size. It was called a Great Rocky Pangolin. Twice as large as the bear I'd first fought, with a hard thick shell, it would have been a tough nut to crack. 

Even with my enhanced strength, my Razor Metallic Slash couldn't cut through its protective shell in a single go. I needed multiple attacks in the same spot to break through, and even if it didn't fight back, it would take me quite some time to kill it by myself. Pretty impressive defensive ability for an Early Rank 1 spirit beast. 

Thankfully, while it seemed really good against slashing damage, blunt damage seemed a bit more effective. And with Lin's warclub and her enhanced strength that was still a bit higher than mine, she was able to smash apart its protective shell far more easily. Enough so that the thing ran.

But the pangolin was not fast, and we quickly crippled its legs before I finally finished it off with a beheading. 

The pangolin's head hit the ground with a meaty thump, and the battle was over. I quickly checked our surroundings in case anything else appeared, but we seemed to be alone for the moment. So I finally focused on the pangolin's head, while still keeping an eye out for dangers. 

Defeated Enemy: Great Rocky Pangolin

Available Skills to Harvest:

Earth Sense Upgrade (Passive) (Rank D): Increase progress to rank up Earth Sense by 2%Digging Proficiency (Passive) (Rank D): Improves digging speed by 100%Armored Shell (Active) (Rank D): Create a defensive shell of Qi around yourself. The more you move, the weaker the defensive power is. Duration of Skill can be extended with additional Qi.Cost: 15 Qi Base Duration: 1 minuteI quickly read through the available Skills and grinned when I saw the last one. While the other two were disappointing, my guess as to what kind of Skill I could get from this creature was right. A hopefully powerful defensive Skill. Something I was kinda lacking at the moment. Sure, Earth Constructs could do something similar. But I was hoping this one would be a lot faster and a lot stronger without having to expend so much Qi.

Not needing to think about it anymore, I made my selection and gained Armored Shell. The pangolin disappeared into light. And after the wave of information from my new Skill ran through my mind, I activated my new Skill just to test it out.

Qi rushed out of my body, and a semi-transparent small armored dome with patterns similar to the pangolin's scales appeared around me. I could feel a restrictive force from it, but I knew I could move if I wanted to.

"Hey, Lin—" I started to call, only to be interrupted by her war club slamming into my new shield.

I gave her a deadpan look despite the shell not wavering. She'd gone easy, but she'd still done it before I'd even finish asking.

"What?" She asked innocently. "It's not like I went full power. Now, come on. We can test it more elsewhere away from all this blood."

Knowing she was right, I started to move. The restrictive force was there like a reminder that I should stay still, but I was pretty sure I could get used to moving like this. Even if that would make the defensive power a lot weaker, something visually indicated by the shield becoming more transparent.

However, before we could actually leave, a familiar girl's voice spoke out and made us all freeze.

"So, that's what you were doing. I'd been wondering what that little light show with the corpses was all about."