Based on Qian Feng's walking speed, the journey back up should take about an hour. The Iron Fox did neglect to detail when he would be allowed to come back, but Qian Feng was quite confident that with the incredible improvements that he made, his master should be more than satisfied.

It only took five minutes of walking before Qian Feng met his first beast, which was not surprising given that the forest was infested with them.

This particularly animal Qian Feng could recognize as the Ravenous Nifen as it stood in front of him, hissing towards its prey and preparing to strike.

Standing over ten feet tall as most Nifen did, the Ravenous Nifen was especially bulky, preferring to overpower its prey before devouring them whole. Nifens as a species were large and strong, with a body type somewhat similar to bears, except slightly taller and skinnier, as well as more muscled in general. They were also famed for their large fangs and ferocity.

Not wanting to return to the top of the mountain drenched in blood, Qian Feng used the cleanest method he knew.

The Ravenous Nifen collapsed in front of Qian Feng as the boy stared directly into the Nifeng's eyes, absolutely nothing changing to the outside observer. To the beast, however, the world turned black as its mind was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer abundance of killing intent that Qian Feng had. Its mouth frothed and its body spasmed on the ground, almost as if it had gone rabid or had some sort of terrifying disease. Unlike what he did against the Grade 4 boar, in the Ancient Cosmos Pearl that Qian Feng held in the spatial ring that he wore on his finger, Qian Feng didn't even need to move against this beast, who was less than 1% as strong as even the weakest enemy Qian Feng encountered in his second visit to the battlefield.

Now that that - Qian Feng would say disappointing, but he didn't have any expectations to begin with - fight was over, he walked calmly on.

Nothing happened for around ten minutes after that, which Qian Feng attributed to the faint leakage of his aura, since after using his killing intent, there was still a bit of it left, scaring away any mediocre-strength beasts.

Soon after that, however, Qian Feng found quite the interesting scene.

3 cultivators in pure white clothing, all emitting an aura of the 3rd level of the Martial Warrior stage, surrounded a grievously injured couple, with auras at the 5th level of the same stage, barely standing. Even in such an obviously foreboding situation, the couple seemed to harbor hope that this was all a misunderstanding.

"Shi Ziteng, Shi Wu, and Shi Qi, what are you all doing? Please, we're all out of healing pills after fighting off those beasts, lend us yours... We'll repay you when we get back to the clan... Why are y-you just standing there?"

The man spoke in a still-hopeful manner, acting completely unable to believe the fact that these people, who he had grown up with and was obviously intimately familiar with, could betray him and his wife.

One of the men spoke up.

"Haha, has anyone ever told you how much of a fool you are? Oh man, how much am I going to enjoy crushing your naive, talented face into the dirt as your 'oh-so devoted' wife watches on. These last ten years, you've been so nice, never considering how much of a perfect goddamn jerk you are! The sect treats you like the Golden Boy, and you sure as hell play the part too! Well, look who's above who now!"

A look of utter confusion and disbelief appeared on the wounded man and woman's face, growing even more shocked with every passing word. Chuckling at their expressions, another assailant continued.

"You know how long we've planned this? With how talented you are and the resources the sect gives you, a duel would never work, so we had to think up something elaborate as hell to end up crushing your ass! That's why we asked to join your group, knowing that of course, with your nice personality, you wouldn't say no. And then we used the beasts we had spent the last year taming to assault you, tiring you down before discreetly spreading some Aphrodisiac Powder on you and your lovely wife! Of course, plenty of spirit beasts came running, and you know what happened after that, ha."

The notion that their dear friends had betrayed them sunk in, the changes visible even to an outsider like Qian Feng, who was, however, too enraged to notice consciously.

It was this kind of thing that angered him the most - scheming and plotting and hurting and tricking to get one's way! It was this kind of thing that Qian Feng had gained the greatest revulsion towards in his past life! It was this kind of thing that drove him to become stronger!"

And like this, Qian Feng's initially hazy resolution cleared up.

He wanted to prevent this from happening to anyone, or at least to him, ever again. He wanted to prove to himself that this, this despicable way, was not right, and not the most effective course of actions.

His resolve strengthened rapidly, the will of stone transforming into a will of steel, and the Qi residing in Qian Feng's spirit realms responding likewise. It began to form a vortex of Qi and fur, now coursing through the boy's body as he leapt down, swearing to kill the trio as soon as possible for this obvious, evil betrayal.

Sharp Force Qi coalesced around Qian Feng's index finger, slicing the very air apart as it hovered there. Slowly, Qian Feng brought his arm up, the Qi growing and enveloping his arm, before detaching itself from the limb and, splitting into twelve, rapidly hurtling towards each limb of each of the three attackers.

All of this happening just barely too fast for anyone else involved to comprehend and react to, the slightest glint of surprise flashed in everyone's eyes before the three men fell to the ground, limbless and in shock, before the pain hit.

Agonizing screams rang out, so loud they would undoubtedly attract countless beasts, but thankfully, even in his enraged state, Qian Feng had thought ahead and easily set up a field of Qi to muffle all the sounds coming out from the interior region of the field.

Not patient enough in his haze to wait for the pain to be allowed to fester, Qian Feng just silenced all of the traitors by slitting their throats, before turning to the victims, knocking them out with a well-aimed chop while taking note of the tears in the couple's eyes(he wanted to avoid any necessary social interaction), before sending his Life Qi into their bodies, the wounds recovering at an extremely hastened pace now thanks to it - there was a reason those with Life Qi were so rare, and so valuable.

Not wanting to be there when the couple woke up, Qian Feng headed off once again, still slightly lost in the strong emotions from that scene now burned in his memory.

A few more uneventful fights followed, Qian Feng not finding any particularly powerful opponents that he could vent with. And so, he arrived back at the mountain, finding no one guarding it as he climbed up the trail with significantly less difficulty than before.

Finally, Qian Feng reached the top, finding the Iron Fox waiting there on a chair with another, identical one, in front of him.

"Come. Sit. There's much to discuss."

"First, I wish to address your progress. In the time you've been here, your body and skills have been sharpened beyond the point most people spend their entire lives just trying to comprehend. Needless to say, you're extraordinary.

However, that is not to say that you've nothing to learn; in fact, your journey has just begun. It's just to state that what you need to learn, and how you need to grow, are far beyond my abilities, both as a teacher and a renowned elder of your clan.

My solution is simple: let you adventure in the outside world and learn, grow, and gain experience. How?

In three months, an exam shall be held by all the major organizations of the continent to recruit new Nomads. This exam, and more specifically, what happens if you pass, is crucial to your progress.

Nomads are famed across the world. They are both feared and respected. Honestly, in their line of work, it makes sense.

You see, they are essentially powerful, more capable mercenaries. And that means that should you become one, you shall face plenty of challenges and thus opportunities for growth.

This exam is so crucial, actually, that I've already signed you up for the examination, and time is of the essence. We'll talk about the rest on the way, but we're leaving right now."

With that, the Iron Fox joined a speechless Qian Feng inside a carriage that seemed to have been hidden untill told to do its job, as it appeared out of nowhere.

And so, an inconspicuous carriage left the quarters of an extremely secret clan, its inhabitants chatting happily.