A while ago..

Elder Lin Dong stared blankly in the direction Ming Ren left to. As a hunter, he had seen many unexpected events and had many near-death encounters. However, nothing could explain what just happened.

A young man pops out of nowhere, display master-level cooking, swordsmanship, and knowledge, then proceeds to destroy every little bit of common sense he learned about the Way.

Changing Martial Arts as if they were children's toy, improving Cultivation Laws as easily as breathing.

'The Bright Clan produced such monster talent! It seems the other clans of BlueCloud City.. no, even the Brave Clan and Royal Family, made their greatest mistake. Patriarch, our Forest Clan might have had its greatest fortune!' The Elder clenched his fists and his gaze landed at Lin Qiang.

Not especially talented, not outstanding in any field, her only redeeming point formerly would be the capacity to activate that low-grade treasure of the Clan, 'It seems our vision was too lacking. Benefactor, worry not, I shall see that Qiang'er is treated like a treasure.'

Elder Lin Dong woke up his Clan members. Hunters usually spent large amounts of time in the wild and sometimes stalking their prey for a long time, therefore they tried to rest at any opportunity. With Little Red, this group could sleep assured that they would not be taken by surprise easily.

This was also the main reason none of them woke up in the night. As long as Little Red didn't warn them, any sleep was extremely valuable while on the field.

The group asked about Ming Ren and when the Elder said he was gone they all had looks of disappointment, especially Little Fu. He'd have chained Ming Ren to him before if he knew he'd escape like this.

Once everyone was up and ready, Elder Lin Dong gave the command, "We're heading back to the Clan!"

Everyone was confused. Usually, they'd hunt for a few weeks, try to kill a weak Spirit Sea Realm 1st-layer Spirit Beast, and only then go home. Although none of them had a Space Ring, they still possessed a size-reducing formation plate, capable of working on non-living things, and therefore increasing the amount of stuff that could be carried.

A must for hunters, and the type of thing they wouldn't easily show to outsiders, even though it was not considered a treasure but still quite costly. This time they only spent a few days, and the Elder already wanted to head back.

"What..? Elder, perhaps.. did the food yesterday give you diarrheia..?" Little Fu asked with an extremely serious face.

Elder Lin Dong, Lin Shu, Lin Qiang, Lin Yin: "????????????????"

"Little Fu, you.. *ahem* Enough nonsense, we're heading back straight to the Clan. Don't dawdle!"

The Elder thought about imparting them with the techniques Ming Ren granted, but it would take too long. Having looked through them, although the origin and similarities of the techniques from before stayed, the rest changed completely. To Ming Ren, those techniques embodied his principle of simplicity to the extreme.

To others, they were still heaven-grade techniques that would require months, maybe years, of training and comprehension. Elder Lin Don had already reached great accomplishment with the former techniques and therefore acquired the small success stage easily with those new techniques, but found out they became more profound with each step.

Besides, those techniques currently became the most important possession of the Clan, their foundation for years to come. The responsibility of whom to handle them to fell to the Forest Patriarch, not him.

Little Red came out and Lin Qiang traced an almost problem-free path for them. In truth, summoning Little Red took a lot of Spirit Energy out of her. Without a complete Spirit Sea, Spirit Energy needed to be well managed and spent.

However, halfway through the exit of The Wandering Wood, Little Red's Spirit Jade Beast Token trembled and Lin Qiang's body seemed to have been jolted by a sudden strike of lightning, stopping her steps.

Everyone else also stopped, instantly rising their guards and looking at her.

Lin Qiang's beautiful face was completely white and panic-stricken. Every time Little Red warned her a small electric shock would spread from the token. A much stronger jolt hit her this time, signaling the danger was unlike anything before!

She summoned Little Red to find out where the danger would come from, but soon rumbling noises could be heard coming from the edges of the forest.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Cultivator's screams followed, time after time.

A powerful aura came forth, surrounding them. An aura filled with hatred and killing intent, belonging to a powerful Spirit Beast. Without any delay, the entire group had already brought out their weapons and waited for Little Red to point the way.

But the small red-white rabbit merely shook its head and pointed back to where they came from.

This meant that leaving the forest was no longer an option and all their paths to that side, as far as Little Red could check, were blocked.

"Run back!" Elder Lin Dong screamed, and they all followed. Cultivator's of the Body Tempering Realm ran much faster than normal humans but would still be no match for most Spirit Beasts, especially flying ones.

Hurried steps could be heard approaching, but Elder Lin Dong knew they weren't beasts but other hunters. As they came running into their sight, the group didn't slow down at all.

"Lin Dong!" The middle-aged man in the lead, full of new scars and dripping blood, was a bit happy to see his peer, but also sad for him. He had a few dozen hunters following behind, all wounded. Their cultivation was at least of the 7th layer of the Body Tempering Realm, and the one in the lead was even Spirit Sea 2nd layer. He carried a red peak unranked spear.

"Red Leg, what's going? Why is there such a powerful aura and killing intent coming from the edge?" Elder Lin Dong asked. This man was an extremely experienced hunter and led an independent group. In other words, a loose cultivator.

"Some bastards from the Silver Clan hunted a Queen's newborn!" Red Leg cursed those bastards with fury.

Elder Lin Dong instantly grew even more worried. A Queen!

Extremely powerful Spirit Beasts that ruled an area were called Queen or Kings by the hunters. Even among their peers, they possessed exceptional power and leadership. If one took out one of their proles, you would do well to take out the King/Queen, or revenge would surely follow. This was one of the hunter's ironclad rules.

The Elder wanted to ask about the Queen, but suddenly a cultivator in Red Leg's group screamed in pain. In the next moment, over a dozen Spirit Beasts rushed from the woods, pouncing at them.

Lizard-types, feline-types, snake-types. Those varied a lot in realm and even a few species the Elder had never seen, although none exceeded the peak of the Ninth Layer of the Body tempering realm. A battle instantly ensued, and Red Leg's group could either abandon their own and keep running or turn back and fight.

Elder Lin Dong's group had the same dilemma, but run where? Deeper into the woods, straight into more powerful Spirit Beasts? Try to break through from the front? They could try to go for one of the sides, but according to Little Red, they were surrounded.

A frenzied Queen was no joke. It would even barge into other Spirit Beasts' territory in her quest for revenge. As if agreed beforehand, both Red Leg and Lin Dong stood their ground and signaled for their group to assume battle formations.

"Lin Dong, we cut to kill as much as we can and then make a run for the edge! Hopefully, the queen will go after some other group!" Both of them knew if they kept running all it would do was to reduce their numbers. Without numbers, they'd be only prey.

Red Leg flew to the front, aiming at a peak of the ninth layer snake-type beast called [Monster Grass Snake]. It didn't spit venom so the fastest course was to just take it out quickly. Spirit Energy surrounded his body and spread to the tip of his spear, bursting into flames. The attack hit the snake straight in the head, but it didn't kill right away.

The other cultivators that weren't engaged in similar battles took this chance to attack and finish the snake.

'I always envied Black Leg's Flame Spear, however..' Elder Lin Dong also joined the fray. He stepped forward, the might of the peak of ninth layer fully present. Although now he was only going to break through after fully properly tempering his body, he already had the confidence to do so. His Cultivation Law, martial arts, and Dao Heart already reached new heights.

He was no longer that talentless cultivator doomed to stay at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm forever!

Aiming at a nearby Spirit Beast similarly at the peak of the ninth layer, his step carried strength and seemed unmovable for a second.

[Forest Clan Movement Art - Unmovable Forest, Small Success Stage]

In the blink of an eye, his hand took knife-stance and chopped horizontally from right to left in a sharp and destructive movement.

[Forest Clan Hand Technique - Leaf, Small Success Stage]

The seemingly effortless strike instantly tore apart the neck of the feline-type spirit beast, Beastly Forest Tiger. A peak of the ninth layer Spirit Beast, dead in one hit.

Red Leg was flabbergasted. When did Lin Dong become so powerful?