Clear and cold moonlight slowly spilled from the heavens, covering the entire forest in a faint and mysterious net of silver.

“Hiss......”

On one of the mountain tops, a young man tightly gripped onto a branch so hard that veins surfaced all over his arm, his forehead was covered in cold sweat while he was biting tightly down on his sleeve.

The bare back of the young man was lathered with a red liquid, while a somewhat illusionary looking old man was currently using a jade plate to slowly spread the liquid. Every time his hand moved to spread the liquid, the young man’s body jerked violently.

Only when the old man had spread the red liquid until it completely covered the back of the young man did the old man grudgingly stop. Lowering his head to gaze at the youth who was in so much pain that his face had cramped up, the old man cheerfully laughed and mocked, “Isn’t it comfortable?”

“Comfortable, my a**!” A burning pain emitted from Xiao Yan’s back, causing him to immediately curse out; he was already mentally scarred by the burning pain.

“Hehe,” Yao Lao chuckled as he looked down to gaze as the red liquid did it’s work on Xiao Yan’s back before slightly nodding and then inquiring: “Well? Have you become aware of the threshold to the seven star Dou Zhe yet?”

Hearing these words, Xiao Yan rolled his eyes, lips curling as he grudgingly answered, “It has only been a month since I’ve advanced to a six star Dou Zhe, how is it be possible for me to continue and reach the threshold of seven stars so quickly? The last three stars of every rank are the hardest to breakthrough.”

“From the time we left on this journey till now, it has almost been five months and there is less than a year of time left till the promise you made with the girl from the Misty Cloud Faction.” Yao Lao smiled as he indifferently said.

Slightly dazed, Xiao Yan licked his lips, frowning as he said, “I wonder what level she is at now. Two years ago she was already a three star Dou Zhe and according to her potential and the power of the Misty Cloud Faction, I don’t think that she will be any weaker than me.”

“Indeed, although I have many means to abruptly make your strength soar, there will be exceptionally strong repercussions. If these secret methods are used, I’m afraid that you will forever be stuck at that level.” Yao Lao slowly explained as he glanced towards the silent Xiao Yan before continuing, “I will never let you use those secret methods, even if you are eventually defeated by that girl, the price will still be too high.”

“With regards to the three year promise, I don’t plan on losing to her. You also know how much I have suffered during these two years...... She is the reason why I have managed to endure all of the hardships and bitter training.” Xiao Yan flipped his body and raised his head to gaze at the silver moon in the night skies, reaching out a palm as he narrowed his eyes before voicing out in an icy-cold tone.

Slowly spitting out a sigh, Xiao Yan leaned his head to look upon the somewhat illusionary figure of Yao Lao, twitching his mouth as he said, “And initially teacher agreed that he will help me catch up to her.”

“You brat......” Eyeing the playful rascal Xiao Yan, Yao Lao helplessly shook his head. As he stretched forward his palm, a white and cold flame appeared at the center of his palm. Staring at the ball flame as it gracefully danced about, a faint smile formed on his aged face, “Fret not, if I do not even have this little bit of ability, I would not have the face to boast in front of you.”

“I can help you raise your strength, however, that is only if you have the time to follow my instructions to train. Since you keep being hounded all over the mountains, you’ve wasted much of your already precious time.” Yao Lao bantered.

Rolling his eyes, Xiao Yan spread out his arms and helplessly said, “Actually teacher only needs to fart to completely wipe them out, however you refuse to make a move.”

“Pa!” A palm smacked the back of Xiao Yan’s head as Yao Lao smiled while scolding, “If I settle every single problem for you, what is the point of living? Is struggling against others not a way for you to gain wisdom and experience?”

Xiao Yan shrugged his shoulders before once again flipping his body around. Vexed, he groaned before cursing to himself, “Those bastards, sooner or later I will get rid of all of them, this is such a waste of my time......”

Xiao Yan coughed dryly before he suddenly once again bit onto his sleeve and said in a muffled voice, “Teacher, continue......”

“Eh?” At these words, Yao Lao was slightly shocked, “You can still endure?”

“Ai, I don’t have much time to rest......” The young man buried his head into his clothes as he replied in a muffled tone.

Gazing at the young man who had once again braced himself, Yao Lao was dazed for a split second. The stubborn temperament hidden deep within the very core of the youngster caused a gratified expression to surface on his face, with a small smile, he nodded and once again retrieved a bottle of “Burning Blood” from the Storage Ring before tilting it.

“Hiss......”

In the quiet night, the trembling misty breaths that escaped from between the young man’s teeth slowly circled around without dissipating.

......

The blazing rays of the sun penetrated through the branches, leaving behind countless tiny spots of light in the dense forest, a dazzlingly beautiful scene.

Xiao Yan’s body was curled up in a concealed spot of the forest as he tightly knitted his brows together as he gazed at a group of mercenaries nearby. This place was the main road into the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Although normally there were quite a few mercenaries passing through, today, Xiao Yan could faintly feel that something was wrong.

Xiao Yan’s line of sight passed through the brush to stare firmly at the passing mercenaries. A long time later, his pupil’s suddenly shrunk, he finally understood why he had felt something was wrong.

Many of the teams passing by below looked as if they had been only just temporarily brought together. Yet as they moved out, they tended to display habits that are only shown after a long amount of time and practice together.

“It truly seems that something is wrong......” Eyebrows tightly knitted together, Xiao Yan spit out the grassroots in his mouth. His eyes turned to look about before he cautiously burrowed out of the brush and quietly made his way into the forest.

Xiao Yan’s clothes were smeared with green stripes that were from grass juices which allowed him to be extremely safe as he hid himself in the forest.

Hidden in a secret spot within the dense forest, Xiao Yan once again saw two to three waves of five man teams. Hiding while carefully observing the movements of these mercenary teams, a moment later, Xiao Yan could finally confirm that these mercenaries who looked like they were here to capture Magic Beasts were actually looking for something else.......

Borrowing the cover of the thicket and the smell of the plant juice on his body to conceal himself, Xiao Yan successfully evaded these mercenary teams and the Magic Beasts wandering about in the forest.

After half an afternoon of investigation all over the forest, by chance, Xiao Yan finally understood the identity of these small teams of mercenaries.

“Wolf Head Mercenaries......Tch tch, looks like by killing their so called third commander, I’ve really stepped onto a hornet’s nest.” Knowing this news caused Xiao Yan to be slightly stunned.

“Goddamnit, hiding for an afternoon and holding back my anger, you all deserve to have bad luck......” Hidden in the shadows, Xiao Yan gazed at a five man team who were gradually entering into the dense forest as he quietly sneered.

This team had been observed by Xiao Yan for a long time. There were five five star Dou Zhes and Xiao Yan felt like he could dispatch them all, furthermore. And because they entered into the dense forest, he did not need to fear that he would be seen by the other teams and then surrounded like a dumpling.

Tailing this team into the dense forest, Xiao Yan was not so stupid as to immediately make his move from the front. Sneakily hiding in a thicket on one side, like a viper stalking it’s prey, he patiently and quietly waited......

After Xiao Yan followed the team for a length of distance, the team finally stopped their progress to rest. When resting, one of the mercenaries left his companions and slowly walked towards a small bush.

Turning to stand behind a big tree, just as the mercenary got ready, a darkness fell over his eyes followed by a pain on his neck as his consciousness quickly faded away......

Not long after the mercenary left to relieve himself, a shout that had gone off-key due to panic sounded, “There’s a Magic Beast, a rank three Magic Beast!”

Hearing his shout, the few mercenaries who had just finished their break were suddenly jolted. One of the them turned to face their companion who had his head bowed and was escaping over to their direction before light heartedly scolding, “Damn you, were you sucked dry by a woman last night? This is the outer area of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, how can there be a rank three Magic Beast......”

Before the scolding voice faded away, the mercenary with his head lowered had already rushed to his front. A cold light abruptly shot out as the scolding that had yet to be completely finished by the mercenary was cut short in his throat.

Dispatching one of the mercenaries in a flash, the figure with his head lowered suddenly moved. With a lift of his palm a ferocious sucking force pulled the furthest mercenary, who still had a blank look on his face, towards him.

The dagger in his hand fiercely shot out, ruthlessly landing on the neck of the mercenary who had just been pulled over.

“It’s Xiao Yan! Xiao Yan!!”

In a brief ten seconds, the lives of the two fifth star Dou Zhe were easily ended by the disguised Xiao Yan. Finally, the other two mercenaries had regained their wits; the older mercenary suddenly kicked his companion beside him towards the swiftly approaching Xiao Yan before quickly drawing a short flute from his cuff and placing it into his mouth. Before he could blow into it, he was interrupted by a black figure that appeared in a flash before him, ruthlessly landing a vicious kick on his chest.

“Pu chi.” Blood violently sprayed from his mouth. Borrowing the pushing force from the Qi energy, the older mercenary’s body flew through the air, tracing out a parabola and with the last bit of strength within his body, he blew the whistle in his mouth, emitting a short but intense sound wave.

The sound wave was sent out from the short flute before spreading out in all directions.

With a gloomy expression, Xiao Yan’s hand raised and the sword fell as Xiao Yan ended the last breath of the dying mercenary. Lifting his head to gaze outside of the dense forest, there, figures were starting to fly over.

“Crap, I’ve underestimated these guys,” Xiao Yan cursed out in a low voice before he turned to run.

“Ji ji......” When Xiao Yan turned to flee, outside the dense forest behind him, many whistle sounds continuously sounded out. At this time, all of the mercenaries were rapidly rushing towards the direction of the dense forest.

“Catch him!”

Behind him, a large group of mercenaries desperately chased after the faintly discernable figure in front of them as shouts continuously sounded out in the dense forest.

“God, the stakes are really high now.” Glancing towards the large group of mercenaries chasing him, the corners of Xiao Yan’s mouth pulled taunt. Somewhat depressed, he shook his head before borrowing the green streaks on his body as cover to continuously flee through the underbrush.

Once again running a length of distance, Xiao Yan’s complexion suddenly changed. Turning his head, Xiao Yan saw that at the front of the group of mercenaries, a middle aged man with a gloomy complexion was madly rushing towards him at breakneck speeds. Seeing Xiao Yan turn his head, a vicious smile appeared on the middle aged man’s face. A low roar, passed through the underbrush and tunnelled into Xiao Yan’s ear.

“Little bastard! Today your body will be buried within this Magic Beast Mountain Range!”