Inside the military camp, a group of five people, three men and two women, walked along with smiles. Aside from the leading man, who looked more mature, the others appeared somewhat youthful and curiously observed the surroundings of the camp. It was their first time coming to such a place. Once the novelty passed, however, they quickly lost interest.

"Senior Brother Duan, have you ever seen yaos and demons? Are they really that powerful?" the delicate-looking woman on the left asked curiously.

"I have. Yaos and demons themselves are not that strong, but the evil aura they emit poses a huge threat to us. Before reaching Foundation Establishment realm, even if we manage to kill one, we will still be eroded by their evil demonic essence."

Duan Shengda smiled and continued, "This time I only brought you here to broaden your horizons. If a space-time node really appears here, you must leave immediately."

"Then what about you, Senior Brother? Will you leave with us?" the girl on the left asked, blinking her eyes.

"I am a Foundation Establishment realm expert. If a space-time node truly appears, I will stay and slay yaos and demons. Wu Yi, when that time comes, you will take the other junior brothers and sisters back first," Duan Shengda said as he looked at the young man named Wu Yi.

If Lin Zheyu were present, he would realize that this young man was the same person who had shown ill intent toward him earlier in the tent.

"All right, Senior Brother. It has been a long time since I came out for some activity. I will go kill a few demon puppets to warm up," Wu Yi said with a grin.

"Senior Brother Wu, I want to go too."

"Me too."

"And me!"

Hearing this, the others all showed excitement and asked Wu Yi to take them along.

"That will not do. You have only recently joined the sect, and the spiritual qi in your bodies is not pure enough. The concentration of Baleful Yin force in this region is much higher than elsewhere. If you go, you will easily be contaminated by the Baleful Yin force," Wu Yi said with a smile as he patted the youngest junior sister on the head.

"How is it not pure enough? I am already in the fourth stage of the Qi Refining realm[1]!"

The girl whose head was being patted slapped Wu Yi's arm away and shouted indignantly.

"Exactly. I am already at the fifth stage of the Qi Refining realm. I am much stronger than those so-called martial artists," another young man chimed in.

"That is different. Those martial artists we just saw may be weaker, but they have no cultivation talent and have not opened the Bridge of Heaven and Earth to connect with the world. Their bodies, therefore, serve as the best barrier against Baleful Yin force and demonic essence, so they do not need to worry about being eroded by it. But your talent is too strong. The faster you absorb spiritual qi from heaven and earth, the more easily you will be eroded by Baleful Yin force," Duan Shengda explained with a smile.

Facing these younger junior brothers and sisters, he was very patient and gentle, like an older brother next door.

"All right, that is enough. If you keep this up, next time, I will tell Senior Brother Duan not to bring you out. None of you even listens to your senior brother," Wu Yi said as he put on a stern expression.

"Fine, I will not go. Since we cannot go there, let us go back to Wuling City and have some fun. Staying in the blessed land is so boring. It is nothing but cultivation all day. It is unbearably dull," the youngest girl complained softly.

Soon, their group left the military camp and headed toward Wuling City. Duan Shengda still had matters to attend to and did not accompany them. After leaving the camp, he went in another direction. Wu Yi did the same. With a light tap of his toes, he rose into the air and leapt toward the forest.

"That person just now must be the one Priest Fan mentioned, the one with the special fate. Lin Zheyu, fifty-one years old, ranked twenty-fourth on the Hidden Dragon List, with Marrow Refining realm strength. Heh, he hides himself quite deeply," Wu Yi said as the corner of his mouth curled into a strange smile.

At first, he thought the man was only a somewhat capable martial artist. It would have been enough to lure him into the deep mountains and let others deal with him. Wu Yi's identity was not suitable for direct action, since the slightest mistake might expose him. Yet he had not expected things to become this interesting.

A Marrow Refining realm martial artist with strength comparable to a Grandmaster? Heh. That boy clearly carries quite a secret. I cannot let others handle it. I will capture him myself and find out what secrets he carries first.

Being recognized by the Hidden Dragon List meant the person was under sixty years old, had not condensed true strength, and had not cultivated spiritual qi. From what Wu Yi understood, immortal cultivators could not pass the Hidden Dragon Token test and therefore could not appear on the Hidden Dragon List.

"Without cultivating true strength or spiritual qi, yet possessing strength comparable to a Grandmaster realm martial artist... Could it be that this boy obtained the inheritance of the Shamanic Clan?" Wu Yi speculated.

In ancient times, the Immortal Dao flourished greatly. Besides the Immortal Dao, there were also powerful forces such as the Shamanic Clan, the yao and demon clans, and the Buddhist sect. The Shamanic Clan was a branch of humanity. Like immortal cultivators, they were humans who transformed themselves after cultivating special techniques.

However, the Shamanic path was extremely difficult to cultivate. After a period of brilliance, it gradually declined and disappeared into the long river of time because the difficulty was simply too great. Later, the world underwent great upheaval. The Immortal Dao declined, the yao and demon clans and the Buddhist sect suffered heavy blows, yet the few remaining Shamanic cultivators rose powerfully instead. Compared with other cultivation systems, the Shamanic path was the least affected by the great upheaval of heaven and earth.

However, in the battles that followed, once the demons discovered the unique nature of Shmanic cultivators, they launched frenzied assassinations against them. It was the kind of struggle where they would kill eight hundred enemies at the cost of losing three thousand themselves. As a result, powerful Shamanic cultivators fell one after another, their inheritance was cut off, and only fragmented remnants of their traditions remained.

"Aside from the Shamanic cultivation inheritance obtained by Great Wei, there are still many Shamanic inheritances in the world that have yet to be discovered. That boy might truly be a Shamanic cultivator."

Thinking of this, Wu Yi grew extremely excited. If he could obtain a Shamanic inheritance and successfully transform into a Shamanic cultivator, he would no longer have to entangle himself with those evil sects and scheme alongside tigers.

However, this cannot be rushed. It requires careful planning. I cannot risk exposing my identity for something trivial, Wu Yi thought.

Tonight, he entered the forest not for Lin Zheyu. He was here to make contact with Priest Fan and survey the area in preparation for their next plan.

***

The young man's inexplicable hostility left Lin Zheyu uneasy. After returning to the forest, he checked the items he carried. After some thought, he took out three spirit stones and pressed them against his abdomen, then secured them in place with strips of cloth torn from his clothes. This was to prepare for any unpredictable danger. As long as his body maintained contact with them, when he used Origin Force, the mysterious energy it produced could draw energy from the spirit stones through physical contact.

That should solve it. If danger appears, I will immediately raise the Primordial Wuji True Technique to the Perfection of the third stage. At the Perfection of the third stage, the Primordial Wuji True Technique can reach the peak of the Force Transformation realm. That will at least give me the strength to protect myself, Lin Zheyu thought.

At that time, combined with the Blood Burning Saber Technique and burning 90% of his life essence, Lin Zheyu would even dare to contend with a Martial Innate realm martial artist. After finishing his preparations, he took up the Purple Thunder Demon-Slaying Saber and began patrolling. Meanwhile, Guo Yu and the others had already entered the forest ahead of him to search for the traces of demon god seeds.

"The number one of the younger generation of the Wuji Sect. Hah, he's nothing more than a coward," Guo Yu sneered in the forest.

Earlier, he had invited Lin Zheyu to form a team to search for the demon god seeds, yet Lin Zheyu had politely declined again.

"He probably learned about the secrets of demons and immortal cultivators and got scared out of his wits," Zheng Shan said with a smile, unconcerned.

"If he frightens so easily, his temperament is nothing special. I heard all sorts of stories about him before and thought he was a rising star. Turns out he is nothing but an empty reputation," Guo Yu said with a contemptuous smile.

He took out the God Devouring Insect and held it in his palm. "Move faster. Every demon god seed is a treasure. My resources to advance to the Force Transformation realm, or even to the Grandmaster realm, depend on them."

The rewards for finding demon god seeds were extremely generous, and Guo Yu was filled with ambition.

"All right! I excel in lightness techniques. Once I trap the demon god seed, you strike with full force and blow it apart. Do not miss the opportunity," Zheng Shan reminded him.

"Relax. We have cooperated so many times already. Do you still not trust my abilities?" Guo Yu said with a grin.

"I trust you; otherwise, I would not work with you. I was only reminding you," Zheng Shan replied. He glanced sideways at Guo Yu and saw the smug look on his face. Several cold sneers rose silently in his heart.

Idiot. Does he really think demon god seeds are ordinary objects? If you come into contact with them too often, they will corrupt a martial artist's mind. Lin Zheyu might know something, which is why he refused to act together with us.

He did not believe that a genius like Lin Zheyu, who had condensed the Dominance true intent and reached twenty-fourth on the Hidden Dragon List, would be a coward. It was far more likely that Lin Zheyu understood the danger of demon god power and chose to stay away from it.

Rustle, rustle.

A cold wind blew through the forest, and the temperature had dropped noticeably tonight. Lin Zheyu held the God Devouring Insect in his left hand and the Purple Thunder Demon-Slaying Saber in his right as he patrolled near the defensive line.

Clack, clack.

Suddenly, the God Devouring Insect in his palm emitted a unique cry, like two crisp stones striking together and producing a hollow clacking sound.

"Did it detect a demon god seed? I sensed nothing at all," Lin Zheyu said in surprise.

He quickly opened his left hand. The colorful God Devouring Insect shot out at once, and its speed was indeed astonishing. Even among Marrow Refining realm martial artists, such speed would rank at least above average.

1. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a new type of realm or another name for Blood Qi realm, but the author wrote this. ☜