“One's admiration and respect for another's strength is not an admission of weakness. It is not a concession to the other because it is also a form of strength to be inside the storm yet remain in control of the helm.”

“We have nothing to offer you. Why bother to help us?”

“Come on, Aunt Shui. Even Lin Feng rejected to help us. We're on our own. We might just dig our holes even deeper if we take this Qai with us.”

Qai did not mind the bickering of the two younger disciples. As they seemed right now, the eldest disciple whom they called Aunt Shui had the say in their decision.

“I do have methods to fight Spirit Beasts, how about you tell me first what kind of Spirit Beast was it. As for the rewards, I don't want any. Its beast core was enough for me, how about it?”

“Are you certain you can take on a level 2 Spirit Beast?”

Qai simply nodded in response.

On the other hand, the 3 looked into each other.

They discussed among themselves very softly before they accepted Qai's offer—albeit hesitantly—only upon the condition that they won't be responsible for any mishap on the part of Qai.

Obviously, they were still unconvinced that Qai possessed the ability to fight against the Spirit Beast.

Qai of course was confident to fight any level 2 Spirit Beast so there was no problem about the 3 disciples' condition.

Along the way, the 3 properly introduced themselves.

The eldest disciple's name was Mo Shui. She came to the sect much earlier than the two but had been stuck with her cultivation for a long time now.

Meanwhile, the younger disciples—named Mo Chen and Mo Yufei—were the bright hope of their family to rise in the clan.

They were the children of Mo Shui's eldest brother who was the current Mo branch family head. And Mo Shui, their aunt, was apparently pouring all her resources into them to help them get stronger fast.

“It's a Wind elemental Eland.”

The common characteristic of Wind elemental Spirit Beast was that they had superior speed.

Qai had fought few of them during his exploits in the inner ring of Kamaria Island, but most of the fights were aided by the equally agile Dark giant Ants.

“We didn't know how it got into the sect territory but it has been feeding off from our fields. We just recently managed to raise an entire field of medium grade Vitality grains. So we were expectant of the harvest this time. Once we convert all of them to Contribution Points, they would be enough to help these two to become inner disciples soon.”

Vitality grains were important ingredients of both fasting pills and most kinds of healing pills, so they were in great demand not only within the sect but even among cultivators outside.

“We actually spent almost all of our resources just to buy the seeds and several Array formations for our fields. So if the Eland continues to eat up our grains, we don't know how we would be able to survive in the future. And the worse part of it all is that this Eland seems to have an unlimited appetite. By now, almost a third of our fields has been ravaged.”

Qai and the group finally arrived in the area—it was in the southeast of the middle region of the East mountain.

Apparently, the 3 Mo disciples chose to live close to each other. So when the fields under their care were joined together, the area looked really wide.

“Alright, I won't be needing any assistance. Just tell me where did you last see the Eland, and I'll start my search from there.”

Mo Shui nodded and began to give instructions.

“Nephew Chen, lead brother Qai to your field. Niece Yufei, you stay with me to patrol through the rest of the area.”

Soon enough, Qai and Mo Chen arrived in a razed plot of field.

With just one look Qai could already affirm that the Eland did indeed have big appetite.

He swept his Spiritual Sense around and nodded towards Mo Chen before he rushed towards a direction. Thankfully, the spiritual Qi energy fluctuation that Qai sensed was within range.

Mo Chen, on the other hand, didn't quite understand Qai's actions. After all, there was just a level gap between them so how could he understand that Qai could already use Spirtual Sense.

Qai did not want to waste time lest the Mo disciples learned some of his secrets so he had to kill the Spirit Beast as fast as possible. So when he finally found the Eland he immediately summoned 3 Ant Soldiers and surrounded the Eland's escape route.

He knew the Spirit Beast would be fast with its Wind Element, so he didn't plan to give it a chance.

Seemingly convinced that there was no other way but to fight, the Eland relentlessly unleashed one wind blade after another.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

But Qai's ‘Shadow Step's’ speed was on full display as he side stepped through the assault. And as he approached, Qai used his ever reliable Master rank Knight moves to lock down and to eventually finish off his target.

‘Nightfall!’

Baam. Baam.

The Eland was stunned.

Guandao Intent surged in every attack Qai made. There was no spiritual Qi energy contained. Everything was pure physical strength.

‘Dance of Death.’

Wabaaaaam.

Instant kill!

Qai summoned back his giant Ants before any of the Mo disciples caught up.

When Mo Chen arrived, Qai was already dismembering the dead body of the Spirit Beast.

‘Wha.. How!?’

Qai did not mind Mo Chen's arrival.

Apart from the beast core, Qai planned to take the Eland's twirling pair of horns.

However, when he came to the part where he had to open up its torso from the belly, Qai felt something that moved.

He was surprised but he was certain what it was.

It was also then that the other Mo disciples arrived. They must have sensed the fluctuations of the fight from afar.

‘No wonder this Spirit Beast had big appetite. It's going to be a mother soon.’

Qai gently opened Eland's belly and took the baby beast out.

He was not so much interested in the newborn calf. His initial thoughts were to exchange it for Contribution Points and let it grow in the sect's breeding grounds. But on second thought, it was part of his spoils and he seemed inclined at the moment to learn a few things about Spirit Beast rearing.

‘I already have a contracted Spirit Beast, but who says I can't raise another one.’

When the 3 disciples saw the newborn calf in Qai's hands, they were awed by it.

Immediately, their eyes turned into one of greed. But thinking that Qai was someone who had the method to kill a level 2 Spirit Beast, they immediately retracted their gaze.

They didn't have to offer Qai a reward after all—so anything inside the Spirit Beast was Qai's to begin with, as per agreement.

It was not a secret that a newborn Spirit Beast was much easier to tame than to subdue an adult one. The only downside to it was that the tamer would have to spend a lot of resources to raise the Spirit Beast's level.

After Qai took the beast core, the pair of horns and the newborn calf, he presented the rest of the body to the Mo disciples which the latter happily accepted.

Thereafter, he recalled his initial purpose why he went to the Contributions Hall so he took the liberty to ask the 3 disciples about the matter. So the 3 invited Qai to a cup of tea and accommodated his query.

Mo Chen, who had been struck hard by Qai's mind-blowing ability carefully answered every question Qai had. There was a tone of respect in his voice and it did not go unnoticed on the part of Qai and of the two girls.

Qai's strength had obviously impressed deeply in his heart.

Even if Mo Chen did not particularly witness the fight, in his mind, any Qi Condensation stage cultivator who could finish off a level 2 Spirit Beast in just a matter of few breaths was worthy of his respect.