~~~

Huang Shing and Liu Jin run at top speed. Now that they no longer have to worry about accidentally damaging the crates, nothing stops them from using movement techniques. Multiple miles go by in seconds.

“I can’t believe Brother Jin foresaw this!”

Liu Jin snorts.

“Foresaw is a pretty strong word. Considered is a better alternative. Feared may be closer to the truth. In the end, it doesn’t matter. The herbs were still stolen.”

Even though it had been a possibility, his impatience had gotten the better of him. He had left Huang Shing alone with the crates, a foolish decision to be sure. He should have waited until they had safely delivered the herbs, then found some way to excuse himself for a few minutes. With the benefit of hindsight, it is plain to see that would have been the better choice.

Of course, in its own way, that thought is fairly arrogant. It means Liu Jin is thinking, “If I had been there, the herbs would have never been stolen.”

That is not right.

Regardless of the method the thieves used, there is no guarantee Liu Jin would have been able to stop them. He might have, or he might not have. Taking it for granted that he could have is nothing but vanity.

“I still think it’s amazing! To think we have a chance to recover the herbs because Brother Jin made sure to put a Lovers Crimson Blossom inside one of the crates!”

Lovers Crimson Blossom.

Rather than calling it a special type of plant, it would be more accurate to say it is an unusual phenomenon that happens to a fairly mundane tree.

Crimson Blossom Trees are known for their beauty and little else. Their color is a vivid crimson from their roots all the way to their leaves and flowers. Good for making ornaments and dye, but little else. However, there are times when a flower of a darker shade of red will grow from such trees. This flower has no exceptional medical properties, but it does have a curious quirk.

The petals of this flower will always point towards each other.

Upon receiving the herbs, Liu Jin had placed a few of these petals inside the crates and kept one for himself. When the thieves had taken the herbs, they had also taken the petals. All Liu Jin and Huang Shing have to do now is follow the direction the petal in Liu Jin’s hand is pointing at.

“It is nothing much. By the way, I am sure you have already noticed this, but the direction we’re going right now is…”

“The Summer Forest,” Huang Shing finishes for him, frowning.

It means their suspicions are right. The ones who stole the herbs are doubtlessly disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan.

In a way, this was inevitable. Even though the group of resentful disciples kept trying to challenge Huang Shing and Bei Hong, their efforts were for naught. Those two may be brash and headstrong, but no one can deny their strength. Some people had tried to challenge Lu Mei and Liu Jin instead, thinking them easier targets. Those efforts had been met with failure as well.

If the older Inner Disciples had gotten involved, things would have been quite different, but they all seem concerned with their own training.

“They were unable to defeat you in the sparring ring, so now they seek to attack your reputation. That is what this is.”

“Our reputation,” Huang Shing corrects him. “Don’t worry, Brother Jin! On this matter, we will be as one fist!”

Liu Jin chuckles. “I guess a fist would be the right tool for this job. Very well, do you have anything in mind?”

“At this speed, we’ll be in the Ash Road in seconds. I’ll use the transfer circle to go get Brother Hong and Sister Mei.”

Unlike outsiders who must run the length of the Ash Road to reach the Eternal Flame Clan’s compound, disciples can simply activate the transfer circles near the entrance to skip the whole thing. Because of that, Huang Shing’s idea has merit. It would be extremely easy for him to get Bei Hong and Lu Mei.

There is just one problem.

“I suppose while you do that, I’ll keep following after the herbs.” He cannot afford not to. The thieves could destroy the herbs at any moment. The slightest delay could be crucial. “How do you expect to find me? Keep in mind I will have to disguise my Qi to avoid detection.”

“I am confident I can pick up Brother Jin’s Qi easily enough, but… I was wondering if maybe I didn’t have to. That petal… is it possible for Brother Jin to cut it in half? Can that be done?”

Liu Jin slows down as he spares Huang Shing a glance out of the corner of his eyes. He considers his words for a moment, his gaze flicking back to the red petal in his hand.

The Summer Forest is now within sight. Liu Jin holds up the petal. Unfortunately, it does not point towards the Ash Road, but rather insistently aims itself at the dense foliage and the many dangers that lurk there.

With a swipe of his hand, the petal is cut in half.

“Very well,” Liu Jin says, handing one half to Huang Shing. “We’ll follow Brother Shing’s plan. Be warned, it will lose power in about two hours now that it’s cut in half. I trust you’ll be able to find me by then.”

“Brother Jin won’t regret this! I definitely, definitely won’t let you down!” Huang Shing says, pushing more Qi into his legs, his body exploding forward at speeds far beyond sound. It does not take him even a second to reach the feet of the Ash Round and step right over the transfer circle.

Liu Jin dives into the Summer Forest.

~~~

Art of the Roaming Thief - Second Step.

The technique his Master taught him has a total of seven steps, each one more complicated than the last. Back when his Master was alive, Liu Jin had only been able to master the first of these.

By sensing the flow of Qi in the opponent's body, one became able to move into their blind spot. That is the first step of Art of the Roaming Thief. If used properly, it can be a frightening technique, but it is not without its limits. The First Step requires the enemy to attack first. It can dodge and counter-attack, but it can never make the first move.

However, during the fall of Eastern Port City, Liu Jin had been able to attack using Art of the Roaming Thief.

It is not something he had noticed at the moment. In fact, it took him months to properly think back on the events of that night and realize there had been at least one occasion in which he had used Art of the Roaming not to defend himself but to chase after someone.

Back then, without realizing it, Liu Jin had used the Second Step of Art of the Roaming Thief.

If the first step reads the flow of the opponent's Qi, then the second step focuses on reading the flow of ambient Qi and matching your own Qi to it. In that way, it became possible to temporarily diminish one's presence and launch a surprise attack. While it has the advantage of not requiring enemy action to be used, Liu Jin does not consider the Second Step to be better or worse than the First Step. Both versions have their own strengths and weaknesses.

In fact, the stealth factor of the Second Step may actually be inferior to that of the First Step, making it a lesser choice for open combat.

Outside combat, however, the Second Step is the clear victor. This thought is further reinforced in Liu Jin's mind as he uses the technique to avoid the notice of a twenty-foot tall Two-Headed Lion. Unlike the one he encountered in the Ash Road, this one is in the Spirit Realm. Thus, it is not an opponent Liu Jin wishes to fight.

The Summer Forest is home to many Spirit Beasts like it. That is why Liu Jin has been using Art of the Roaming Thief to make his way through the forest. Whenever he feels the Qi of a Spirit Beast, he uses the technique to quickly get past it. He and Huang Shing may have killed countless Spirit Beasts in the Nascent Realm during the Selection Exam, but it would be foolish to the extreme to think that is all the Summer Forest has to offer.

Fighting a Spirit Beast in the Spirit Realm would be troublesome.

Fighting one in the True Realm would be a nightmare.

Beyond that, starting a fight in the Summer Forest would simply be no good. A fight would attract the attention of other Spirit Beasts and may even alert the thieves of his presence. Avoidance is the better option right now.

How exactly will Huang Shing and the others manage to make their way through the forest is not something Liu Jin is sure of, but now is not the time to ponder that. He needs to focus on catching the thieves.

The thieves that had brazenly dared to venture into the Summer Forest.

It is genuinely puzzling to Liu Jin. There is little doubt in his mind that the thieves are the disciples who have been trying and failing to beat them. They don’t have enough strength to defeat someone like Bei Hong, yet they are willing to brave all the Spirit Beasts here? If they were that strong, they wouldn’t need to do something like this to begin with. It makes little sense.

Liu Jin jerks his head up as he feels three... six presences up ahead.

Since he is keeping his Qi low, it is very unlikely they have sensed him, yet it is curious they are making little effort to hide their own Qi. In fact…

Liu Jin frowns, momentarily stopping on top of a branch, his body hidden by the dense foliage.

There is something odd about this part of the Summer Forest.

It is… as if something just washed over his body. It is not like the barrier surrounding the Ash Road that completely stops Spirit Beasts from coming in. This feels a bit more… subtle. It is only because Liu Jin is trying to match his Qi to the environment every time he uses Art of the Roaming Thief that he notices the change.

And yet, this is not the time to study it. Liu Jin shakes his head and keeps making his way through the forest, silently leaping from tree to tree.

“—o dangerous!”

“So you have said! Repeatedly! What point is there in doing so? We already have the herbs! Just shut up and help us bury them!”

“But what if they find them?”

That voice is familiar. The thought drifts through Liu Jin’s mind as he stealthy approaches the thieves.

“There is no way they will dare enter the Summer Forest. Even if they do, how could they know about the safe zones already?”

“Even if they don’t, there are others who do! What if we run into a Core Disciple?”

It is Pan Qiu, Liu Jin realizes, the disciple who tried to challenge him the other day. He peeks through the foliage to see the six disciples arguing with each other, the stolen crates right between them. Curiously, he does not see Bei Duyi with them.

“Enough!” says another disciple. “There is no point in arguing this! Pan Qiu, we all agreed to this. It’s done. Let us finish this and get out.”

“Yes, Brother Pan should really calm down.”

“Personally, I am surprised a coward who couldn’t find the guts to challenge someone in the Nascent Realm now finds the strength to mouth off so much. Hilarious.”

“You don’t understand!” Pan Qiu shouts, his foot stomping on the ground. “You were not there. None of you were!” His hands are balled up into trembling fists. “This… this was a mistake. We should burn the herbs right now.”

“Do you even listen to yourself?”

However, Pan Qiu is not listening. His hands are alight with flame as he looks at the crates. He’s really going to do it.

Art of the Roaming Thief - Second Step.

In less than a thousandth of a second, Liu Jin dashes down from the trees and reaches the crates before Pan Qiu’s fire does. Instead of being burned by Pan Qiu, the crates go into Liu Jin’s spatial pouch. His feet skid across the dirt as he comes to a stop before the stunned disciples.

For a moment, no one moves. The disciples are shocked, and Liu Jin… Liu Jin fears doing anything may prompt them to take action. Liu Jin is one person against six, and all six are in the Spirit Realm. Two are in the Second Level of it, one is in the Third, and three are in the Fourth.

The situation is decidedly not in his favor.

“How did you find this place?” One of the disciples cries out, immediately pointing a sword at him. His words break the spell that had been hanging over everyone. They all quickly assume combat stances around Liu Jin. Pan Qiu is the only exception. He takes a few steps back instead. “Don’t tell me it was Khong Hu who showed you!”

“I wonder why a thief thinks he has a right to demand any answers from me,” Liu Jin counters, also assuming a combat stance. “Yet, for the sake of sparing Brother Khong future trouble, I’ll say he has nothing to do with my being here. You’re just lousy thieves.”

“You’d do well to mind your words, junior. You’re surrounded. Coming here alone was undoubtedly the worst mistake you could have made.”

“I can safely say this is far from my worst mistake,” Liu Jin notes, seemingly unconcerned. On the inside, his mind is furiously at work, trying to find a way out of here.

Luckily, as soon as he starts, he realizes all he has to do is wait.

“Also, senior brother may wish to look up.”

He doesn’t. None of them do. None of them but Pan Qiu, whose eyes quickly widen before opening his mouth to shout out a warning.

He’s far too late.

“Third Dragon Slaying Palm!”

Huang Shing crashes down from the heavens, his palms glowing with green Qi. Even before he makes contact with the ground, it breaks from the force of his blow. Multiple trees are brought down, and the earth rumbles.

“I told you I’d find Brother Jin!” Huang Shing calls out to him, grinning from ear to ear. Liu Jin finds a smile tugging at his lips.

“You idiot!” The disciple from earlier shouts. “We cannot fight here! If we do, it could-”

He doesn’t get to say more. Bei Hong’s fist, now coated in gold, slams into the side of his face.

What follows is a blur of violence as a fight of four against six begins. These are not mere teens fighting. Almost all of them are in the Spirit Realm, and the power unleashed reflects that. The earth is torn asunder. Craters dozen yards wide are formed with every impact. Trees that are a hundred yards tall are brought low in the blink of an eye.

Liu Jin’s spear clashes against a blade. A fraction of a second later, he’s dodging large gouts of flame. Then he’s attacking someone before they can strike at Huang Shing’s back. A shout of pain coming from behind him informs him he has been similarly saved as well.

Bei Hong fights with powerful blows. He uses no ranged attacks of any kind. He breaks people with nothing but his fists. Beside him, Lu Mei grins, moving with impossible grace. She does not bother with Charm Techniques. There is blood on her face that isn’t hers, and her golden eyes brim with joy.

The fight does not even last six seconds.

In six seconds, a hundred square yards are completely destroyed by ten people.

In six seconds, every single one of them stops fighting.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

The shout rips through the forest. It grabs hold of the haze of battle and rips it apart. A heavy, oppressive force bears down on every single person present there.

Earth Realm, First Level.

He steps into the ruined field. His hair, like flame; his eyes, like gold. He stands tall and strong, adorned by red and black robes. His Qi, his presence, it demands their attention. It burns like fire and shines like the sun.

Oddly enough, it is Huang Shing who puts a name to him.

“Feng Zhi,” he whispers, angrily staring at the newcomer.

~~~