In the midst of a dense forest brimming with wildlife, the animals and is were uncharacteristically mute. But it was by no means silent.

  A deafening sound shook the very forest as a massive bull with sabre-like horns cut through it, dragging a rge carriage behind it with reins of metal rope.

  No heed aid to greenery. The bull would simply ram headfirst into any trees and pnts in its path, crushing them into paste and leaving a trail of destru in its wake. A makeshift path formed behind it, one of dirt, crushed grass, trampled vegetation and craters left from the sheer might of its hooves.

  tless flocks of birds took off from the trees and into the skies, followed by a few opportunistic hawks that brandished their sharp talons.

  Behind the bull, the carriage rattled around and bounced on its wheels, smming into the ground every so often.

  A se of age caused by human disregard, yet-

  Ihe carriage, Baiyun id face-first on a soft red cushion and "slept" soundly. Beside him was the shield Ying Shi had thrown, pristine save for the hole that smashed through its tre.

  While the animals outside fled, little of the chaos could be felt within. Only if one listened closely would they hear the occasional thumps of the wheels smming into the ground, or the crackle of trees being reduced into sappy splinters.

  A dampening formation had been pced. If not for the windows, it would be difficult to tell they were travelling at such breakneck speeds.

  Were a trained doctor to examine Baiyun's pulse, he would have been deemed to be truly asleep. But his soul was still wide awake, listening as the disciples discussed.

  Sanguang was staring outside one of the windows, cheering gleefully at the sight of such destruohei huddled beside a window with drawn curtains and desperately stared at the carriage floor, looking as if he were about to puke.

  The rest of the disciples, mostly guards, chattering to themselves excitedly.

  But those details were unimportant. What Baiyun paid attention to was the drivers' seats at the front of the carriage, where Yingtao and Ying Shi's whispered to each other.

  "The elder has yet to arrive?" Ying Shi said in a low voice.

  "It seems he had urgent business. He left a transmission and told us to go on ahead." Yingtao sighed.

  Ying Shi paused for a moment.

  "No matter. We will still proceed." he said. "Yingtao, you should be able to handle ae on your own, I believe?"

  "The warriors... one or two shouldn't be an issue. Most of them should be huddled he queen, and we do have a Qi pass to detect their presence from a distance. We shouldn't enter any rge crowds."

  Yingtao seemed uain for a moment, but her voice firmed as she spoke.

  Baiyun's face furrowed slightly. The elder was missing? That was not good.

  Hearing of the Qi pass did make him rex a little, however. It was an artefact that read the subtle flow of qi in the air, allowing experienced users to detect threats far further than their qi sense would allow. Even in a mortal world, qi passes should be able to detect threats from at least a kilometre away.

  Baiyun's "pebble" could also teically be sidered a primitive Qi pass were oo squint hard enough.

  Still, not having a Soul elder present made this trip a lot more w. Had Ying Shi passed the guards and young masters powerful artefacts as a tingency, or was it just generosity?

  ...

  The carriage tinued onwards.

  An hour had passed and Yingtao was now half asleep, slumped on the seat. But she suddenly sat upright, her eyes shooting open as she pressed her face to the gss window at the front of the carriage.

  "Halt!"

  Immediately, the bull stopped its charge, the carriage smming into its rear with a loud metallig. From the sheer momentum, it tio slide forward with the carriage, leaving upturned mud and a line of skid marks behind it.

  "Baiyun. We have arrived." Ying Shi called from his seat.

  Baiyun opened his eyes and got up to his feet without so much a yawn.

  "Heh. Quick to rouse, I see," Yingtao ughed silently.

  The bull looked around and g the grass beh its feet briefly, lookied for a moment. But its nostrils fred and it turs head with a scoff.

  Ying Shi opehe doors of the carriage and one by ohe disciples streamed out, chatteriedly.

  Baiyun stopped to take in the sight before him.

  A t expanse of strarees tipped with cw-like braretched as far as his eyes could see. There was little spag between each of the trunks, wide enough for people to walk through, but narrow enough to be custrophobic.

  From the sheer density of the trees, even the meagre greenery atop each tree was enough to create a dense opy that draped the h it in shadows. Standing outside the twisted forest, the bright light of the sun was almost gring, refleg brightly off the carriage's windows.

  Yet, in the almost unnatural forest before them, it was as dark as dusk, as if the forest's edge was a border between day and night. To call it an alien sight amidst otherwise normal forests and grassy hills was an uatement.

  Baiyun had already seen a sketch, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.

  "A-Are we really going in there? It looks like some kind of ghost forest..." Mohei gnced around nervously, shuddering.

  "Heh. Are you scared? Getting cold feet?" Sanguang ughed.

  "What? You're the oing scared! I just said that because I was worried the other disciples couldn't take it!" Mohei said defensively.

  Baiyun sighed and shook his head. Who would that even vince?

  "Eh? Not you too!"

  Mohei jumped in dismay at Baiyun's rea.

  Oops.

  Baiyun decided to resolve the matter by smag the shield onto Sanguang's head lightly, which was enough to make the young disciples ugh, though Ying Shi shook his head.

  "You!" Sanguang shouted.

  But he was shushed by a muscur hand before he could tinue.

  "Enough fooling around." Ying Shi said. "Baiyun, Jingfeng, the two of you have an important task. Have you prepared yourselves?"

  "Yes, master Ying Shi!" Jingfeng grinned.

  "My brother is ohing, but you'd trust him with it?" Fei An gazed at Baiyun doubtfully.

  Prepared... Baiyun sank into his thoughts briefly. That was a really good question.

  A vow he made to himself previously came to mind. After ret is, did he not swear to be more careful iure, to not endanger himself?

  Baiyun had more time to think about the situatioween the previous is. Him brazenly wandering into the alchemist workshop was definitely shhted. But the hunting party was different in nature.

  Previously, the assurance of a Soul elder was there at least. But he had overheard the elder's absen the carriage.

  But evee that... How often did opportunities like this e by? Were there truly opportunities devoid of risk, to a servant like him? Perhaps he would die of old age before a truly safe one came by.

  The weekly bat trials were safe, but only the top 3 received prizes. Even if he tio win through flukes, eventually, the other disciples would grow strong enough that a high rank would bee unattainable.

  And even if he always received a prize by some miracle, it was still far too slow.

  Baiyun already had the restri of not haviernal meridians. Right now, as a youth, it was an important time to establish the roots of his cultivation.

  Youth and cultivation worked in a straandem.

  If he were to reach his fifties before reag Elixir densation and increase his lifespan, he would already have exhausted half his youth. His lifespan would still be increased, but he would nain his youth and would remain middle-aged.

  In trast, if he were to increase his lifespan before reag 10, he would extend the "youth" of his "talent" vastly, even as his body grew physically older. It was even possible for this youthful talent to be maintained for thousands of years if he were able to keep increasing his lifespan accly!

  Both cases resulted in the same lifespan, but it was btantly obvious which had better prospects.

  Opportunities now far outweighed future opportunities! If he had to shoulder the taleri of age along with everything, his future prospects of cultivation would be reduced to nothing...

  Would he not be o die of old age then?

  Could it be that not seeking out opportunities was also a risk of sorts? Baiyu like this was a very strange way to think about it. Or was he merely looking to justify the risk with shaky logic?

  He realised something at that moment.

  Like a farmer sitting by a stump, awaiting careless hares, he had been far too pt. Baiyun's admission into the martial elder's training along with Ying Shi's i in him were all opportuhat had fallen into his p by ce.

  Such luck was not something to be relied upon. He ched a fist and vowed that iure, he would grasp opportunities with his very own hands.

  Only a few seds had passed since Baiyun's introspe, but to him, it felt like he had been standing there for minutes. Still, Ying Shi seemed to have sensed his hesitation.

  "I trust my judgement, Fei An. He will succeed."

  Hah. Where was that baseless fidening from? It wasn't as if they had known each other for years. Baiyun shook his head mentally.

  "Ying Shi, are there any protective artefacts I borrow? I 't help but worry for my life, entering such territory as a mortal." Baiyun said.

  If Ying Shi was generous enough to lend him an artefact bow, he figured he'd try his luck.

  "A valid ."

  Ying Shi retrieved a ring from his bag and passed it to Baiyun.

  "This is a Thousand Wills Guardian Ring, an artefact that summons a protective barrier in times of danger. It currently has enough charges to protect you from at least a hutacks of those beh Qi Gathering. But if a red light fshes, it means the ring has only twenty charges left."

  "Many thanks, young master Ying!" Baiyun bowed.

  That was surprisingly easy. Ying Shi was quite the generous young master. The surrounding disciples ughed for some reason.

  He examihe ring in hand. It had a miniature shield as a decorative piece, its circur be and bulky, uhe thin lithe stature of ms. Evident from the tless engravings on its body, it was to make room for as many formations as possible.

  It was te for someone his age, so Baiyun had to slot it onto his thumb. A white glow shone from the face of the tiny shield as he did so, and he felt a veil of qi engulf him.

  He could sehe shroud was merely qi sense and without protective capabilities, odd for a protective artefact.

  But having used simir artefacts in his past life, he ks purpose. To serve energy, the ring would only guard him after sensing an attack. After all, were it to maintain its barrier at all times, it would run out of charges in mere moments.

  The weakness of su approach was evident. If an attack was too fast for the shield to react to, he would be skewered!

  But more ingly, how would it i with his divine sense?

  Baiyun unleashed a thread of divine sense from his mouth. Having improved his cultivation, his thread was now able to reach 12 metres, a massive jump from the prior 3 ba the underground caverns.

  With Diviouch to actively sense any minute ges to the formations of the ring, he gingerly reached into it with divihread.

  He sensed something within the riing and quickly retracted it before the barrier activated. Good, he could activate it at will!

  "Let's go!" Jingfeng said.

  Jingfeng pulled out a bottle of sorts and sprayed him and Baiyun down with st-c spray. Then, he summoned faint traces of wih their feet to dampen the sound of their footsteps.

  Baiyun nodded as Jingfeng grabbed his hand and dragged him into the dark forest. They were immediately plunged into night.

  He turned backwards briefly to stare at the rest of the group still standing in daylight, but Jiugged harder on his hand.

  "Baiyun, it's dangerous to get distracted! Focus on our task at hand!"

  Teically speaking, it wasn't as if he had diverted his attention. Baiyun had summoned his divihread to search for threats.

  While there was enough light to see, it was close to the bare minimum. Coupled with the custrophobic mess of trees blog their sight, it was difficult to even see a few metres ahead. pared to his thread, sight did little for him.

  But Jingfeng had no way of knowing that. Baiyun could only nod helplessly.

  The forest grew denser. Baiyun and Jingfeng had to move in awkward zigzag patterns and skirt around the tree trunks to go deeper. The only fort was the plete absence of fall leaves and twigs, soft mulch c the barreh instead.

  It was the perfeviro for fungal growth, yet not even mould grew here. Baiyun wondered if the mulch oisonous somehow.

  But as his divine sense swept the surroundings, he noticed a growth irunks high above. It was a cluster of odd mushrooms practically bursting with qi!.

  Baiyun tapped Jingfeng on the shoulder, then pointed above.

  "Eh?"

  Jingfeng was fused but he looked up and squinted.

  A few seds passed before he finally spotted the fungi, his eyes widening. He gave Baiyun a thumbs up, before floating into the air and towards the cluster with a knife in hand.

  Chop!

  Jingfeng desded with the mushrooms in hand, holding them carefully as if they were a precious treasure. He stumbled as he hit the ground, not as adept at flight as his sister.

  Baiyun wondered why he couldn't have just stashed the mushroom into his bag midair. That would have made nding easier.

  As they delved deeper into the forest, he tio alert Jio various fungi growing from the trees. They were not on, but Baiyun would find a cluster every few minutes. Jingfeng seemed to be curious how Baiyun could find the fungi with such ease, but kept silent, not wanting to alert the tipedes.

  But all good things had to e to an eually.

  Before them, in a rather spicuous clearing, a musty-smelling cave jutted out of the ground, rge enough for a person to easily fit through. It was one of the ma entrahe tipedes had.

  Jingfeng motioo Baiyun and he here was no need for words. Ying Shi had already detailed the pn.

  Baiyun watched as the boy grabbed a rock, tossing it at one of the many trees; it bounced off several trunks and nded on the ground with a cck.

  Jingfeng pulled out a vial of bck liquid from his bag with his other hand, and Baiyun drew his artefact bow, notg in a silver arrow. He adjusted himself, searg for the perfegle unobstructed by trees.

  The faint sound of scuttling echoed from the cave. It was not loud, but the oppressive silence of the forest made even the slightest sound apparent. The head of a massive tipede with bull-like horns reared out of the entrance, brandishing its mandibles rge enough to rip a person in half.

  Jingfeng poured the poisohe notched arrow, and in perfect sync, Baiyu loose.

  With a faint whoosh, it struck the creature between a gap in its armoured neck.

  The tipede jolted from the impact before freezing. Then it suddenly spasmed violently, uo make a sound.

  Now! Baiyun mouthed quietly.

  Jingfeng raised his hands and the winds surrounded him, f into two massive invisible hands! The trees were dense, but the limbs were immaterial, simply slipping around the trunks. They grasped the Gatekeeper tipede and pulled with all their might, forcefully dragging its massive 5-metre long body out!

  Were it not for the paralysing poison, it would have lodged its legs into the walls of the cave, making it extremely difficult to pull out.

  Jingfeng's eyes glinted with a cold light as he drew his sword, beheading the creature. Just as quickly as the deed was done, he turo Baiyun and smiled.

  But the job was not over.

  Jiook several spherical bombs out of his bag, each with a rope fuse. Then he passed Baiyun an intricate ntern with a fake dragon's head attached to its base, another one of Ying Shi's artefacts prepared for this mission.

  Baiyun flicked a switd the eyes of the dragon began to glow red, fmes spewing out of its mouth. Jingfeng quickly lit the fuses of eab before rolling them into the cave.

  Owo, three, four, five...

  The bombs cttered down the depths, the faint light from their fuses providing glimpses into the root caverh. Jingfeng tio roll bombs downwards, until 20 had been thrown.

  "Haha, time to run for it!" Jingfeng ughed.

  "Weren't we supposed to keep quiet?" Baiyun whispered.

  "Eh, our cover was busted after all that! It doesn't matter anymore!"

  Jingfeng cpped his hands, and a veil of wind surrouhem both. Baiyun could feel his body grow light, every step sending him bounding without effort!

  As bangs shook the very grouh them, smoke erupting from the , the two of them took off. Jingfeng ughed and ughed; Baiyun could see echoes of Fei An in him at this moment.

  "Here!"

  Jiossed Baiyun 10 bottles of tipede pheromone. From the speed they were running and his ck of hands, Baiyun was only able to catch 4 of them, the rest tumbling to the ground and breaking.

  "Haha!"

  The two of them made a pheromorial as they fled, the intense musk almost choking.

  Baiyun could see how experiehe party was at hunting the tipedes now.

  It was no wohey were so fident. Even the smoke bombs were engio bhe in danger pheromones, aimed at sending every worker tipede into a frenzy. Otherwise, they would not charge out of the in a craze merely over a small otion!

  For a kid, Ying Shi was quite a good pnner.

  The two of them ducked and weaved through the chaotic cluster of trees as the once silent forest roused. Behind them, a rumbling began to build up. Thousands of furious giaipedes spilled out of the entraheir feet cttering as they stampeded through the forest!

  Jingfeng ughed, clearly enjoying the run, but Baiyun shook his head. If either of them smmed into one of the trees by mistake or slipped, they would be devoured alive by the furious swarm!

  Faint rays of sunlight began to permeate the opies as they grew closer to closer to the edges of the veil between night and day. At st, the two of them rushed out of the forest and bato the sunlight, squinting from the blinding light.

  The carriage waited outside with open doors, Ying Shi standing beside it.

  Far in the distance, Baiyun could see half the guards donning strange i-like armour and holding long poles, brag themselves for the arrival of the swarm.

  "Get in!" Mohei yelled from inside.

  As Jingfeng and Baiyun ran close, Ying Shi grabbed the two of them and luraight into the carriage, crashing into a pile of pillows prepared inside.

  The doors of the carriage smmed shut and the bull immediately took off.

  A furious tsunami of tipedes burst out of the forest, swallowing the ndscape! The guards who were left behind readied their strange ons, prepared to carry out their part of the pn.

  LunaTheGhost