Once he was done venting, Tong-Hyon gave a task to another disciple: "Kwang-Jo, you're the fastest so you go back to camp and report the situation to the Prince"

The poor Kwang-Jo felt wronged as he left "What fastest, we're all at the spiritual accumulation first stage and none of us learnt any speed-related techniques..." As he rushed through the canopy with spiritual energy filling his legs, he kept cursing his leader and all his ancestors.

The leader was ordering the rest of the team around. They were going to make camp fifty or so meters away from the entrance to that nest. Until they received new orders. Of course Tong-Hyon had not the slightest intent of going inside that place.

As he began to prepare the guarding turns, with four groups of ten and one group of nine, one of his fellow disciple asked him: "I can't understand why there are still spiritual beasts left in this place. It's a closed-off area after all" and Tong-Hyon looked at the guy with appreciation. Now that was a question worth answering.

"It's simple. We put them here" to which he was asked to clarify by the disciple: "Our country was the owner of this place before this war. How do you think spiritual treasures are born? A random tree does not absorb the surrounding spiritual energy. Or at such a slow sleep that it doesn't matter. The answer lies in the spirit beasts. They absorb the energy and when they die, their corpse filled with energy serve as nourishments to the flora, creating treasures"

The disciple nodded as if enlightement struck him but then continued to ask: "But why those beasts? I mean, Rock ants to the west and settlement-sphex here? Those are strong ones" This question was also easy to answer to Tong-Hyon: "The ants shit minerals and sometimes the minerals they shit end up with spiritual energy. As for those wasps, it's due to their mucus. That thing is filled with their spiritual energy and they spew it just about everywhere in their nests. That thing is perfect to nurture plants" to which the other disciple answered: "Those aren't the only options though, so why these?"

This time Tong-Hyon had to think a little before he answered: "Probably because they are strong. The resources they create are what the Country is after, not a present to us. It's likely a way for them to tell us that benefits belongs to those who can seize them? That's what I believe at least. Anyways, let's get back to work"

In fact, it had nothing with that. Insect-types were just a good choice because they could adapt and reproduce faster than most others. And of those, the Country might just so happened to have a bunch of certain species on hand. A trial to their youths? Not really. Because in the end, those resources were for those at lower cultivation stages. Whether they were picked by the ones fighting the war or shared later on, it didn't make much difference.

Jin woke up at night. He activated his heat-vision and was glad not to see anyone around. He jumped down and kept making his way towards the enemy castle. He would earn quite a lot of time thanks to the nest. Those things were highly territorial and never went out of their nests unless provoked. Yet whenever something tried to enter, they would do their best to rip it to shreds.

It didn't mean he would slow down though. He ran for hours again before going back to take a nap. Night ambush were no longer his goal. He needed to find a group from the Country of Sarhjin and join them as a teammate. That was how he planed to infiltrate their side.

And so, it was in the afternoon that he managed to spot a group that might be what he searched for. Two women and one man in similar robes, white with green leaves. From that and thanks to his knowledge, he knew they belonged to a middle-size sect called the Dancing Leaf Pavillion.

Jin took off his snake mask and put it in his pouch before taking the second one and putting it on. This one depicted an owl. He decided to switch mask simply because a snake might not give a friendly first impression. Even if it was a kid's mask and quite cute in its own way, fact remained that it was a snake. And snake weren't associated with trust.

As Jin walked out of the bushes and faced the trio, he put both hands in the hair, clearly showing off the wristband he had on his right arm. The trio remained on guard though. After some chatting though, they seemed to have opened up and let down their guards.

They ended up walking together for an hour or so before the smaller girl tried to stab him with a dagger without so much as a word. They had been chatting harmoniously one second and the next, he was nearly stabbed. That being said, the ambush successfully grazed his arm and cut him a little. It was far from a real wound but the situation was dire.

However, while he unsheathed a sword, and followed the trio with his gaze as they surrounded him, he couldn't help but ask: "Why are you attacking me? I'm on your side!" He was truly a great actor. His tone made it feel as if he was truly a victim wronged by the world.

Too bad the trio couldn't care less as the bigger girl answered him: "Everyone can put on a wristband. You can't truly prove that you are"

Jin had expected such an outcome but he still cursed his bad luck for ending up like this. It was obvious that just wearing the wristband wasn't enough to prove anything but still... What if he truly was from their side? Wouldn't they have any remorse?!