In a dense, enclosed forest, with immense trees untouched by man, birds and small animals nestled and lived their own lives — singing, playing, and, of course, hunting.

But in that forest, where danger and peace walked hand in hand, and where anyone could be prey or predator, three humans walked calmly.

They were Bao Wuji, Aotian, and Rihai.

Due to the danger, it was Ancestor Bao who took the lead on the walk.

Aotian couldn’t help but admire the landscape, where nature seemed so calm and beautiful.

The rays of light pierced through the treetops, lighting the path. The scent of the forest, the fresh breeze that touched his face and made his eyes close slightly in contentment.

Unlike the last two times he had been there, when he hadn’t had time to admire much due to concerns for his safety, this time, under the protection of his avatar Bao Wuji, he walked peacefully.

“Aotian, we’re almost at that spot, but we haven’t seen any sign of the city lord or Jun Moji,” Rihai commented, confused, waking Aotian from his tranquility.

They were about to reach the place they had arrived at when they came to challenge the Red Tiger back then.

Bao Wuji, who was walking ahead of them, suddenly stopped.

“Something’s wrong with this forest,” He said, observing the surroundings.

Aotian looked at him in confusion, as did Rihai.

Of course, he was only pretending to be confused, for inside, his thoughts were serious and thoughtful.

‘It seems like some kind of formation. My accomplishments in formations are too low to fully understand it, but I can still get a sense. Fortunately, by using Bao Wuji and his high realm, everything became clearer.’ Aotian thought, surprised by the discovery he had made through Bao Wuji.

“Ancestor Bao, is there something?” Rihai asked, curious and confused.

“Hmm…” Bao Wuji nodded, confirming, and then remained silent.

Rihai, seeing this, felt a little uneasy and even more curious.

‘Since the ancestor didn’t say anything, he must have his reasons.’ She pondered seriously.

In truth, Aotian was just teasing her.

“He’s messing with you, Hai’er.” He smiled at her, receiving a surprised look in return, and continued, “You don’t need to feel uncomfortable asking things, just say it. If he doesn’t want to answer, he’ll say so. And forget the formalities, just call him old man like I do.” He said, amused.

Bao Wuji rolled his eyes and gave Aotian an irritated look while pointing at him.

“Ill-mannered brat, don’t teach strange things to the girl.” Bao Wuji complained and then, seeing Rihai’s curious gaze, showed helplessness on his face as he lowered his finger.

“Haah…” He sighed. “…There’s a type of natural formation that formed in this forest.” Ancestor Bao explained.

“Natural formation?” Rihai, though secretly amused by the interaction, quickly focused and raised an eyebrow upon hearing the information.

“Yes. Apparently, the formation prevents most of the spiritual energy from escaping from within. If I’m not mistaken, the closer to the core, the harder it is for the energy to escape and spread through the surroundings.” He explained without much concern.

“Well, that makes things a lot clearer.” She nodded, now understanding most of the doubts about the past events.

It was indeed strange for a wild spiritual vein to remain hidden.

Without formations sealing its energy, the veins would simply gush out spiritual energy for thousands of miles, and a region with high energy concentration would be easily noticed by cultivators who would quickly understand it was an unclaimed vein.

That way, it would have been discovered from its birth, instead of remaining hidden.

“The beasts of this forest are really lucky. Even without knowing how to create formations, they were born in one that formed naturally, hiding their greatest treasure, which allowed them to live in peace for a long time.” Aotian commented, rubbing his chin.

Natural formations are rare phenomena of nature, where the Feng Shui of a region causes spiritual energy to flow in an unusual way, creating wonders in the area.

Many cultivators throughout history have relied on such formations for inspiration in creating spells, techniques, and auxiliary cultivation methods — especially those focused on the field of formations.

Rihai looked at the forest and furrowed her brow before turning her gaze to Bao Wuji.

“Ancestor Bao, is there something that prevents second-level beasts from leaving the forest?” She asked her last question about the events of that day.

Bao Wuji, after hearing the question, observed the surroundings with his spiritual energy and pondered.

“I’m not sure, I’ve never studied formations deeply… and natural formations are harder to study than those made by cultivators…” He replied, uncertain.

And it was true. Aotian wasn’t sure either. He would need to study this formation more thoroughly or gain more knowledge before stating anything with certainty. But he wasn’t completely in the dark — Bao Wuji’s realm was very high and he had a solid foundation in formations, which allowed for a clearer perspective on what the spiritual energy in the environment might be doing, even with a superficial analysis.

“…But that possibility exists. Since the formation is preventing spiritual energy from escaping, and more strongly the closer to the core, if a high-cultivation creature living at the center simply runs out and breaks through the formation that surrounds the forest at once, there’s a high chance it would enter a malfunctioning state, causing a massive energy leak and revealing its location in the region.” Bao Wuji concluded.

Rihai pondered for a moment and thought it made sense.

Aotian also believed this could be the reason why the Red Tiger didn’t continue the chase right after they left the forest back then.

‘Perhaps he feared damaging the formation that hid his forest from the world.’

As the events of the past became clearer, they arrived at the exact place of the battle that day… or massacre, to be more precise.

Aotian looked at the ground and at the thousands of pieces and fragments of armor and weapons scattered around, now covered by grass and dirt.

As for the bones, there weren’t many — the beasts had probably devoured most of them.

Aotian looked around, trying to find any trace of the cultivators who had come with Rihai back then, but found nothing.

‘They must have been tastier to the beasts.’ He couldn’t help but think darkly.

“No sign of Jun Moji, the city lord, or his men. What’s going on?” Rihai frowned when she saw no evidence of a different battle having taken place there.

Aotian shared the same doubt.

Advancing and occasionally stepping on metal plates and rusted swords, they moved toward the border marking the center of the forest. Their auras were hidden and protected by Bao Wuji, which prevented the beasts from noticing their presence.

With one more step, they officially entered the center. As if passing through a barrier, spiritual energy surged against their faces, causing their expressions to shift slightly.

‘Perfect second-level energy—if condensed, it could reach the third level! Now more than ever, it makes sense that high-level beasts prefer to hide here rather than reveal their spiritual vein to the world.’ Aotian raised his hand, as if he could feel the weight of the energy in the air.

In fact, he had already analyzed the area using Bao Hui’s treasure radar for anything above Founder-Tier, and had a general idea of what to expect here, but knowing and seeing were different things.

“If these beasts knew how to use formations, they could condense third-level energy, and then third-level spiritual beasts wouldn’t be difficult to appear here, based on the forest’s beast population.” Aotian pondered, hand on his chin, catching Rihai’s attention.

But this time, Rihai shook her head at his opinion.

“Not necessarily, Aotian. This world often tends toward balance. Spiritual beasts aren’t like cultivators. They have much longer lifespans, but in return, their cultivation speed is much slower. Beasts don’t have roots, and all of them can cultivate as long as there’s spiritual energy in the environment, but the level they can reach depends greatly on their bloodline and birth.” She explained gently.

“Well, that makes sense.” Aotian smiled and nodded, grateful for the explanation.

He had read many xianxias in his past life, each with different worlds and rules, and because of that, he sometimes got confused about what could apply in this world.

Fortunately, he had Rihai, who proactively helped him better understand how things worked there.

‘Talent depending on bloodline and birth isn’t much different from how it works with cultivators’ spiritual roots, so it’s still advantageous that all beasts can cultivate… but then again, it also has its downsides. High-quality roots can still be born from mortals, and great talent can emerge among the talentless. As for beasts, if only low-level ones exist, that reality will hardly change with future generations.’ Aotian analyzed as they continued walking.

Since they were in the core, the number of beasts had increased significantly, as most of the forest’s stronger creatures lived there. Even with their aura hidden, their figures were still visible to the naked eye as they walked.

Then, not long after entering, an angry sound echoed.

“HHRRRK!!!”

Looking in the direction of the cry, they came face-to-face with a large boar, which stared at them with red, furious eyes while bellowing.

The piercing scream seemed to echo through the previously silent forest, which, in a chain reaction, soon plunged into chaos.

“Looks like we’ve been found.” Aotian nudged Rihai playfully with his elbow.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Rihai rolled her eyes at him.

Beneath their playful banter, a cacophony of angry sounds filled the jungle.

ROAR! HOWL! SNARL!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep