Just as Xu Ming was wondering the reason for his strange feeling, the boy flying on the Snow White Profound Swan stopped looking at him and advanced ahead.

After some time, Xu Ming was left so far behind that the boy disappeared from view. ​​

"Was I overthinking things?" Xu Ming wondered as a frown appeared on his face.

He opened the map once more and decided to change his path just to be safe. He didn't want to ignore the dangerous feeling he was having.

Xu Ming decided that he would take a roundabout way to get to his destination. Although it would take him twice as much time, he didn't worry about it. He had all the time he needed in the world.

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As Xu Ming changed his direction, the boy and the Profound Crane were already too far away from him.

He didn't stop either. The boy continued advancing ahead on his Profound Crane and only stopped when he was too far from the sect's range.

"This should be far enough from the Sect. Here, I'll kill and bury that boy. That boy dared to insult my master? I'll give him a painful death," He muttered with a grin on his face as he got down on the ground.

He was sure that Xu Ming would take half a day to get here, thus he decided to give rest to his Profound Crane while he kept an eye on the sky.

He was being quite careful since it was a serious matter. That's why he didn't kill Xu Ming when he caught up to him.

He was Xiang Feng. He was the personal disciple of Elder Jin, but he didn't go out much, thus not many people had seen him. He spent most of his day inside his courtyard, cultivating under the guidance of his master.

He was only 16 at the time, but he had already broken through to the 2nd Stage of Spirit Establishment Realm. He continued working hard since he and his master both wanted him to become an Inner Sect Disciple.

He didn't want to be caught by the sect and punished, thus he took all the precautions he could.

Xiang Feng waited for half a day, but Xu Ming didn't come. It was already dark by now.

"What the heck? Why isn't he here yet? Did he start resting Midway?" Xiang Feng let out with a confused look on his face.

He still didn't lose patience though and waited longer.

Just like that, another day had passed, but he still didn't see even a glimpse of Xu Ming.

"Something is wrong!" He finally couldn't wait as he felt like there was a problem with Xu Ming.

He climbed back on the Profound Eagle and started flying back, but he didn't see Xu Ming anywhere.

Apparently, Even the Profound Crane wasn't able to get the scent of the beast Xu Ming was carrying. Xu Ming was outside the limit of the Profound Crane's range.

He stopped in the place where he last saw Xu Ming.

"Looks like that kid is a little too clever. He must have changed his direction," Xiang Feng muttered as he brought out a map and started looking at it.

"He either went to the right or the left. I can only take a guess. Hopefully, I am right and we are able to catch his beast's event," He muttered as he chose the left direction.

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Xu Ming had reached a small town in his path and he decided to get down and give some rest to his beast. He had also placed his disciple robe and badge inside his storage ring so that the others don't recognize the sect he's from.

He sent the Wild Eagle Beast inside his storage ring and entered the town.

After asking around, he found out that the town indeed had a place like a hotel. He decided to spend the night there and leave tomorrow.

He followed the directions he was told by the town's people and found the small hotel. Although it was small, it was still not bad.

Xu Ming entered the hotel and met up with the old woman that was in charge of the hotel.

"Do you have a room available?" He asked the elderly women.

"Ah, Yes we do," The woman answered.

"Only 1 bronze coin for one night," She further added.

"Ah, Can I get change for a gold coin?" Long Chen asked just to be sure.

"A gold coin? Sorry young man, but this hotel is too small. I can't give you the change for a gold coin when you spend 1 bronze coin," She replied.

"Ah, Sorry. But I don't have a bronze coin. Can't we do anything? Is there any place I can get change?" Long Chen further asked.

"There's not a single person in this town that has so much money. If you go around asking, I'm sure someone will just steal your money," the elderly woman explained.

"Ah, I'm sorry for wasting your time then. I guess I can't stay here," Long Chen sighed as he turned back to leave.

He only got 3 gold coins for his entire expenses. He couldn't just give a gold coin for a night.

"Hey, Don't go outside, the town is not safe for you. You can just stay here for the night. In the future if you have money, you can come here and pay me," She told him as she brought out a key from behind the counter and gave it to Xu Ming.

"Thank you so much. I'll definitely pay you back soon," Xu Ming thanked her as he took the keys.

"You can take room no.2 on the first floor," She told him.

Xu Ming thanked her once more before he left for his room.

______________________________

Xiang Feng had traveled as fast as he could and coincidentally, he was just above the town in which Xu Ming was staying.

"Cheh, I traveled so far and we still can't get his scent. It must mean that I chose the wrong direction. I should've chosen the right direction," Xiang Feng let out in an annoyed tone.

"Whatever, he can't run anywhere. I know his destination after all. No matter how long he takes, he'll definitely get to his destination one day or another. That's where I'll be waiting for him," He said as a ruthless look shrouded his face.

He left the place.

What he didn't know was that Xu Ming was right below him. The only reason the Profound Crane wasn't getting the scent was because the Wild Eagle Beast was inside the Beast Bag at the moment.

________________________________

It was morning time when Xu Ming woke up from his slumber and left his room.

Despite sleeping in a different bed this time, his dream still remained the same. All he saw was that unknown yet familiar boy and the small Ice Phoenix playing with the boy.

Xu Ming left his room and saw the elderly women once again.

"Are you going?" She asked.

"Yeah. I should thank you for everything that you did for me. Thank you so much," Xu Ming thanked her.

He had no idea that he indeed escaped a clash because he wasn't outside last night and wasn't caught by Xiang Feng.

He bid his farewells and left the hotel.

He again brought out his Wild Eagle Beast from the beast bag and resumed his journey.

He kept cultivating throughout the journey when he was flying as well as when he was on the ground and giving some rest to the Wild Eagle Beast.

After a few days of travel, he was finally near his destination, but things didn't go great. He saw the boy that he saw at the beginning of his journey once more.

Xiang Feng was waiting between him and his destination.