Wu Jian ate breakfast on a terrace overlooking the Xing Family gardens. The lush array of flowers and flowing rivers spread across several lǐ of land. A single bonzai tree sat on an island surrounded by a mote of tranquil water in the garden’s center.

He was not alone. Xing Zhenya sat on the opposite side of the table and spoke while she ate.

“I’m planning to take a group out to explore the Magical Beast Forest today. Are you interested in coming with me?”

“I would be honored,” Wu Jian said before taking a bite of his congee. A burst of flavor from medicinal seasonings struck his tongue. It was easier to consume now than it had been yesterday, but he still wasn’t used to it.

At the present, Wu Jian still couldn’t progress in his training. He had already hit a peak for his physical fitness and was no longer able to increase his strength, and he had yet to turn sixteen, so his dantian wouldn’t activate. With nothing to do and a debt to repay, going with this woman to gather ingredients and magical beasts was his best choice.

“Great! We’re going to leave in one hour, so get ready and meet us by the entrance after breakfast,” Xing Zhenya said.

“Okay.”

Wu Jian and Xing Zhenya finished their congee, went their separate ways to get ready, and met back up at the entrance.

A crowd had already gathered. Wu Jian recognized Gao Zhou, but quite a few of the young men surrounding him were people he didn’t know. The large bodyguard waved him over with a slight smile.

“The young lady said you’d decided to join us. It’ll be good to have you around.”

“I appreciate Big Sister Zhenya’s invitation. I hope I don’t cause you too much trouble.”

“Nonesense! How can someone with your strength cause us trouble.” Gao Zhou laughed, though his laughter died a second later. “Though I did hear about how you beat up Mao Zemin. All of us have wanted to do that for a long time, but we dare not.”

“Because the Raging Boars is a subsidiary of Wind-Lightning Pavilion?” asked Wu Jian.

Gao Zhou sighed. “Yes. With the name of one of the Four Great Pavilions backing them, the Raging Boars have more power than we can afford to contend with.”

“How did a sect like the Raging Boars manage to even become a branch of such a great sect?” asked Wu Jian.

“You’re guess is as good as mine. The most likely case is Mao Yuhan offered the Wind-Lightning Pavilion sect leader or one of the elders something they wanted in exchange for it. People will do anything for power. That includes aligning themselves with scum like the Raging Boars.”

Wu Jian couldn’t deny the truth in Gao Zhou’s words. He didn’t say anything, however, because Xing Zhenya arrived. No longer dressed in a gown, she instead wore black pants with slits on the sides, an equally black sleeveless shirt, and fingerless gloves that went up to the middle of her biceps. A short sword was strapped across her lower back.

She wasn’t alone. Her father and mother were both present. Wu Jian had yet to formally meet her mother, but she looked like an older Xing Zhenya with graying hair and wrinkles along her eyes and mouth. Given that she couldn’t have been older than fifty, Wu Jian could only assume she wasn’t a cultivator.

“Is everyone ready?” she asked. A chorus of “Yeah!” greeted her. She smiled. “Then let’s move out.”

The group left the Xing Chamber of Commerce’s headquarters and began traveling toward the city exit. Wu Jian looked around, noticed something, and asked Xing Zhenya about it.

“Are we not going to use a cart to carry everything?”

Xing Zhenya smiled. “Not for this. I have a storage ring that we’re going to use. The space inside isn’t big enough to store too much, which is why I don’t use it during my trips to the Shang Kingdom, but it’s perfect for single day excursions.”

“Oh. That makes sense,” Wu Jian nodded.

Storage rings contained something called a pocket dimension, which was a small space that could contain a lot of items. Not all storage rings were the same, however. Some of the pocket dimensions they created only had a small amount of space, while others had so much space you could fit a mountain inside. The amount of space inside a storage ring depended on numerous factors, though Wu Jian was not certain what those factors were.

With the sun at their backs, the group soon reached the entrance and set off toward the Magical Beast Forest.

***

Mao Zemin watched from a distance as Xing Zhenya and that brat left Chenhou. If looks could kill, that stupid brat would have died a thousand times already. He wanted nothing more than fillay that brat alive and wear his skin as a souvenir.

“That’s the one who beat you?” asked a large man with a big gut and no hair. “He doesn’t look like much. He’s not even at the Hunger Realm. How could a brat like that defeat you?”

“Shut up! He caught me off guard is all! He won’t get off so easy next time, though. I’m going to murder him, and I’ll make that bitch, Xing Zhenya, watch. Anyway, let’s follow them. We can’t afford to let them get too far away.”

A few of his men snickered, which caused him to flush with shame. He clenched his fist as he remembered his humiliating defeat at that brat’s hands. Mao Zemin felt like his pride and reputation had suffered an incurable hit.

“Right, boss.”

Mao Zemin and his group left Chenhou’s main gate not long after Xing Zhenya’s group. They would need to be careful if they wanted to remain undetected, so they trailed the group from a distance.

As they followed him, Mao Zemin allowed his dark thoughts to take hold. Xing Zhenya and that stupid brat had humiliated him, so he would take great pleasure in returning the favor a thousand fold.

***

The Magical Beast Forest was several thousand lǐ across and wide--a far more expansive place than the Twin Fang Mountains and its surrounding forests.

Wu Jian trekked through this forest alongside his current companions. Aside from Xing Zhenya and Gao Zhou, there were four others: Xun Yjiun, Lian Tai, Xiao Ah, and Fu Chang. All of them were fourth subrealm Hunger Realm cultivators in their mid-twenties.

They had already been traveling for about two hours and had come across several magical beasts. This forest had many, from black mountain wolves to venemous forest pythons. Most of them were only at the first and second subrealm of the Hunger Realm, but that was because they were on the outskirts. According to Xing Zhenya, the deeper one traveled into the Magical Beast Forest, the more powerful the magical beasts became.

“There’s even a rumor that a powerful magical beast who has reached the peak Human Limit Realm lives there,” Xing Zhenya said. She had been explaining the Magical Beast Forest to him ever since they began their break.

“If that’s true, then doesn’t that mean there’s a magical beast who’s half a step into the Deva Realm?” asked Wu Jian.

“So the rumors say. Of course, no one has seen it, so it’s just a rumor,” Xing Zhenya said with a shrug.

The group was sitting on a pair of logs and sharing a quick meal of rations. They were planning to eat here, spend a few more hours hunting magical beasts, then head back to Chenhou.

“I see you’re all enjoying yourselves. How lovely. Why don’t you let me in on the fun too?” said an arrogant voice.

Everyone looked up as someone stepped into the clearing. It was Mao Zemin, and he wasn’t alone. There were four other cultivators. Wu Jian couldn’t figure out how powerful they were, but from the way Gao Zhou stiffened up, they must have been at least as strong as him if not stronger.

Xing Zhenya leapt to her feet. “Mao Zemin! What are you doing here? Did you follow us?”

“Follow you? Of course not. I would never deign to disgrace myself by following someone like some hapless stalker. I merely decided to take a walk through the Magical Beast Forest and happened upon your lovely group.” Mao Zemin had been smiling up to this point, but now it left, replaced by a look of cold contempt. “However, now that I have found you, I’ve decided not to let any of you leave here--oh, except for you, Zhenya. I plan to make you into an honest woman this time. I recommend you don’t try to resist.”

“You are going too far, Mao Zemin!” Gao Zhou roared as he grabbed his battleaxe. “Do not think you can do whatever you want just because the Raging Boars is allied with Wind-Lightning Pavilion! There are limits to how audacious a man can act!”

“Hmph. A loser like you has no right to lecture me. Audaciousness is expected of a man.” Mao Zemin snorted in disgust before dismissing Gao Zhou.

He snapped his fingers and the men with him quickly surrounded their group. All the members of Xing Zhenya’s party entered a circle formation. Wu Jian was right next to Xing Zhenya. He eyed the people surrounding them with a frown.

“Big Sister Zhenya, can you tell me how strong these people are?” he whispered.

Xing Zhenya whispered back. “I know all of them. They’re each at the ninth subrealm of the Hunger Realm. We’re at a severe disadvantage here.”

“Gao Zhou, how many people can you take on at once?” asked Wu Jian.

“Two at most,” Gao Zhou said.

Mao Zemin had brought five cultivators, making his group six in total, and their group also had six cultivators. Gao Zhou was a half-step into the Anima Realm, making him the strongest person present. Everyone else in their group, including Xing Zhenya, were only at the fifth subrealm of the Hunger Realm.

“If Gao Zhou can take on at least two of them, I can take on one, and you four can each take on one more,” Wu Jian said.

“We don’t have time to make a better plan. Let’s go with that,” Xing Zhenya muttered.

“Hey! What are you two whispering about? Secrets don’t make friends, you know. I recommend you two tell me what you were talking about. Actually, you know what? I take that back. Don’t tell me. I’ll have more fun torturing it out of you,” Mao Zemin said with a malicious grin.

Mao Zemin obviously wasn’t going to give them anymore time to talk, so Wu Jian didn’t bother talking and instead dashed forward faster than most Body Forging Realm cultivators were capable of.

“You damn punk! Do you think you can challenge me just because you’re a little strong?!”

Mao Zemin roared as he swung a fist. His hands were covered in gloves with metal spikes on the knuckles. They were just regular weapons with no spirituality, but it would still hurt if they hit.

Wu Jian ducked underneath the man’s fist, then pushed off the ground with his legs and launched an uppercute. Mao Zemin wasn’t caught offguard this time. He moved backward to put some distance between them before throwing another punch that Wu Jian dodged.

Years ago, Wu Jian had fought another cultivator at the Hunger Realm in a one-on-one match. This had been during the Three Clans Tournament. Yue had been hired by former elder Wei and Ming Han to cripple him, but he had managed to achieve victory by using tactics instead of strength.

He didn’t need to even bother with tactics this time.

Mao Zemin was at the Hunger Realm, which meant he could use chi to enhance his physical prowess and release techniques, but it was clear that his training was half-assed. Wu Jian dodged all of his strikes.

“You! Fucking! Brat! I’m gonna kill you! Wind Claw!”

Mao Zemin leapt backward to put several chih of distance between them, shaped his left hand into a claw, and thrust it forward. Wind shot from the hand and formed the shape of a claw.

Wu Jian dashed left. The wind claw shot past him and and gouged out a tree.

“RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Mao Zemin roared as he launched several attacks at Wu Jian. He dodged them all. It was easy. This man telegraphed all of his attacks like an inexperienced rookie. It was clear that he had not been formally trained in combat. He wasn’t even a brawler. He was just bad.

It wasn’t long before Mao Zemin exhausted his chi.

“Haaah… haaaaaah… fuck! Why can’t I hit you?!”

“The reason you can’t beat me is because you suck, plain and simple!” Wu Jian shouted as he raced forward and slammed his fist into Mao Zemin’s chest.

The man’s eyes bulged as a loud cracking sound echoed around the clear. Mao Zemin was launched clear through the air, broke straight through a tree, and tumbled across the ground.

Wu Jian quickly raced forward. He was intent on killing this man now so that he wouldn’t become a problem later. So long as they killed all of the people here, it would never reach Mao Yuhan.

“Boss!!”

Mao Zemin’s flunkies disengaged from combat with Xing Zhenya and the others to rush to their bosses side. One of them forced Wu Jian back by swinging their sword at him. He tried to manuver around them, but a second one came in with a pair of knives. Wu Jian clicked his tongue and backed off as the last man helped Mao Zemin stand to his feet.

“You little shit! Don’t think this matter will end here! I’m going to come back, and when I do, I’ll make you regret being born!”

Mao Zemin and his group fled into the Magical Beast Forest. Wu Jian was going to race after them, but he was stopped by Xing Zhenya.

“What are you doing, Big Sister Zhenya? They’re going to get away,” he said.

Xing Zhenya smiled and shook her head. “I know what you’re thinking, but even if we chased after them and caught up, we wouldn’t be able to kill them. Did you not notice that the rest of us are injured?”

He hadn’t noticed it, actually, but he could now see that Xing Zhenya, Xun Yjiun, Lian Tai, Xiao Ah, and Fu Chang had all suffered various degrees of injury. Xin Yujin’s bone was even bent in a direction it wasn’t meant to go. Even Gao Zhou had not come out of his battle completely unscathed.

I see. We can’t fight them like this. Even if we chased after them, it’s clear that they’re stronger than we are. We were lucky just to force them to retreat.

He looked up at the sky. It was so clear, so blue, so contrasting to his current mood.

It’s only a matter of time before Mao Yuhan takes action, and I’m still not strong enough to fight someone in the Anima Realm. Dammit.