First update is here—let me check the second update for typos.
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After walking through the Black Wind Mountain Range for several days, Yang Kai was surprised to find that they hadn't encountered a single dangerous demon beast along the way.
He'd been worried sick, because powerful demon beasts abounded within the Black Wind Mountain Range. With his current strength, running into one would only make him a burden to Xia Ningshang.
But Xia Ningshang had clearly come prepared. Using some unknown method, she guided Yang Kai around the apex predators lurking in the forest.
Their route was unpredictable—sometimes heading east, sometimes west, often making enormous detours. Yet despite all this meandering, they remained perfectly safe. On the rare occasions they bumped into a Level Two or Three demon beast, it couldn't last more than a few moves against Xia Ningshang before being driven off.
After observing carefully for a long time, Yang Kai finally figured it out. Xia Ningshang was using a jade-green bracelet on her wrist to detect the locations of powerful demon beasts.
Whenever a demon beast that even she found troublesome blocked their path, the bracelet would emit a burst of jade-green light.
She had never worn this bracelet before. The only piece of jewelry she'd ever had was the sapphire adorning her forehead. So this bracelet must have been specially prepared for this trip.
This was definitely an Artifact! Yang Kai had enough sense to recognize that. And this Artifact had probably been given to her by Manager Meng.
What exactly was Old Meng's background? Yang Kai grew more and more puzzled. Just a manager at the Contribution Hall, yet he'd taken on a prodigy like Xia Ningshang as a disciple and even bestowed an Artifact upon her. This bracelet was something ordinary people couldn't possibly produce. Though he didn't know its exact grade, Yang Kai estimated it was at least Earth grade. Such a high-grade Artifact was rare even in the Lingxiao Pavilion.
Compared to the easy progress Yang Kai and Xia Ningshang were making, the Blood Battle Gang party trailing behind them was having a miserable time.
Over the past few days, they'd fought over a dozen battles, large and small. If not for the Blood Battle Gang members' considerable strength, they would have long since become food for demon beasts.
Though Wen Feichen was a powerhouse at the fifth level of the Zhenyuan Realm, even he was in rough shape. Just moments ago, the group had run headlong into a peak Fifth-stage demon beast—peak Fifth-stage, equivalent to the peak of the Zhenyuan Realm in human terms, several levels above his own strength.
A grueling battle ensued. Though they managed to drive the demon beast away through sheer numbers, the Blood Battle Gang actually lost a Separation-Union Realm expert in the process!
Wen Feichen was furious.
Only eight members of the Blood Battle Gang had come on this expedition. Wen Feichen was the sole Zhenyuan Realm cultivator. Below him were four in the Separation-Union Realm, and the rest were all at the Qi Movement Realm. Among them, Long Hui was the weakest—only the first level of the Qi Movement Realm.
They had assumed that as long as they kept their distance and followed behind Yang Kai and Xia Ningshang, they wouldn't face any real danger. But heaven only knew what methods those two used to avoid the demon beasts. Instead, it was the pursuers who kept running into one battle after another.
And now they'd lost a Separation-Union Realm expert! How could Wen Feichen not be enraged?
But at this point, they were committed. Having already lost one person, could they really just turn back and give up?
After a brief rest, Wen Feichen snapped at Nulang without any courtesy: "Move ahead! Time to go!"
Nulang stared at the severed limbs on the ground, his mind in a daze. The Blood Battle Gang had just lost a member—how could the Wind and Rain Tower's small fry remain unscathed?
Two Wind and Rain Tower disciples had been swallowed whole by the Fifth-stage demon beast, leaving only half an arm lying on the ground.
He finally understood why he'd sensed something wrong that night. The Blood Battle Gang members weren't helping him find Yang Kai out of the goodness of their hearts—they clearly intended to use the Wind and Rain Tower people as scouts to test for danger!
But even though he understood, he didn't dare voice a complaint, let alone rebel. Going ahead as a scout, he might get lucky and survive. But if he resisted now, death was the only outcome!