The tiger by the lake had been a juvenile cub then. Well, it was a full-grown tiger according to a wild beast timeline, but based on its current mindset, that was when it was still a baby.
Martial dao... how long had it been since itâd seen a martial master? The world had apparently completely changed in the outside world. Martial masters that once dominated the land were either dead or had gone quiet. As for supernaturals... the tiger had seen a few in its time. They were too weakâthey died with one swipe.
It sometimes thought back to that person and wondered if he was still alive. When he perfected his five auras, that arrogant human had declared that it would dominate the lands after it left Ash Mountain and unite the martial world. He would set foot into Dominator and pioneer the martial path beyond it...
Was he dead too?
The golden eagle also took a walk down memory lane as the tiger rifled through its memories. That had been a martial master, hadnât it? A martial master of Skystar Dynasty. Its presence had not been apparent, so it wasnât a supernatural. The eagle was once thrown down a mountaintop by a most villainous human. That human wanted it to hunt and fly. He beat the eagle if the eagle refused or ran away. A beating was in short order even if it flew too high!
The beatings came in mixed format as that scoundrel had been too strong. Any random pebble he tossed into the air reached several hundred meters high. There had been nothing the eagle could do. Now that it thought about it, that was all there was to the situation.
The giant ape on the other side didnât think too much. It did recall a strange human who liked to imitate it a long time ago. The human lived with the ape and ate with the monster spirit, doing whatever the ape did. It hadnât seen the human in a very long timeâhe was probably dead.
The ape snuck a glance out of the corner of its eye at the tiger and eagle not too far away. Those two had been beaten up by the human, right? It couldnât recall if it was those two. Its memory during that time was hazy, a far cry from the clarity it possessed now.
It was difficult to say if these two had been the ones of his memories. The ape had asked a few times, but both denied it. Perhaps it was other members of their species? Who knew.
Only the enormous snake of the four monster spirits didnât have much on its mind. It didnât care about the human thatâd just escaped, it only had eyes for the Golden Lotus. How much could it claim this time? They would have to wait another five years if they missed this opportunity. This area was their joint territory. Whether it was equal division, a fight to determine one victor, or any other manner, theyâd yet to settle on a conclusive method.
The four monster spirits immediately forgot about that person. Whether the human had run off or was spying on them, they didnât care so long as there was no interference in their division of the spoils.
......
Li Hao quickly returned to where the team waited, his clothes soaked through with sweat. Liu Long and the others wanted to greet him when they saw the young man, but he transmitted, âNo one talk!â
An instant hush prevailed.
âWe need to circle around this area...â Li Hao swallowed hard, finally able to relax slightly. Thank goodness he hadnât been discovered, that would be horrifying. Knowing that the team was confused, he transmitted a further explanation, âThereâs major monster spirits further inside, all of them unparalleled in strength! Theyâre so strong that they might be Director Houâs level!â
Everyoneâs movements stilled as they stiffened. What level was Director Hou? Someone who killed a Nova with one spear jab!
Major monster spirits, plural? Liu Longâs scalp crawled with numbness. When had Ash Mountain turned this terrifying? It was lucky that Li Hao had discovered them so early without mishap. Otherwise, the team was done for!
Li Hao swallowed hard. A light glittering in his eyes, he tore off a tiny piece of his clothes. It was so small that regular people wouldnât see it with their eyes. He looked toward the mountain entranceâwhere the three great organizations still following him?
If they were, they had certain tricks up their sleeves. And if they followed him here, they would certainly press forward. Anyone would be curious when they saw the unique broken mountain.
He didnât make too many arrangements. Too many would ring too falsely. Anyone slightly sharper on the uptake would find something amiss. Some fibers from his shirt caught in a moment of carelessness would be the best temptation. Regular people wouldnât detect it and they wouldnât care if they did.
I hope you idiots donât keep chasing me. If you do, even Novas will meet their doom if you barge into that place!
Four Novas, much less one, would be the work of a few moments for the monster spirits even if they were on Hou Xiaochenâs level. Li Hao turned back to the group and transmitted, âStep lightly. Itâs best if each of you can carry a comrade on your back and leave as few traces as possible. We need to stay far away... If it really comes down to it, weâll go back the way we came in. If someoneâs followed us into Ash Mountain, weâll avoid them on our way back!â
â......â The Demon Hunters paused. Wasnât the plan to go out through the eastern side to emerge in Rift Canyon? Why were they retracting their footsteps?
âDonât look at me like that, weâve already run into almost ten Solar level monster spirits along the way. Thereâs four here on par with Nova or even greater! Iâm afraid of all of us dying before we reach the east. If someoneâs following us, theyâll run into the Solar monster spirits before reaching this place. Letâs take stock of the situation first!â
Li Hao wanted to retreat. Could they really make their way past Ash Mountain and keep heading east? This place was sending chills down his spine. Thank goodness for his eyes or theyâd be dead a long time ago!
That flower seemed to be a treasure. Ordinary martial masters or supernaturals might try to take it if they saw it. Li Hao didnât go because he saw the balls of light. Those monster spirits might be existences like Hou Xiaochenâtheir presences were retracted. Regular people wouldnât sense anything amiss and might treat them as regular monster spirits. That would make for quite a show!
Li Hao put this out of his mind and quickly led his team elsewhere. Traveling through such perilous conditions was also a type of training. Sweat drenched backs when the Demon Hunters cautiously crept through another Solar monster spiritâs territory. Theyâd seen this level of monster spirit before and werenât that afraid. The true fear was that if the monster spirit discovered them and attacked, would that arouse the attention of the major monster spirits that were on par with Director Hou?
That was a truly horrifying proposition that even Li Hao was concerned about. Therefore, he didnât dare do anything to the monster spirits they came across. He carefully steered everyone out of danger before finding a suitable spot to rest.
There was a buffer territory between Solar monster spirits that nothing resided in. It was possibly the demarcation between their domains. Li Hao led the Demon Hunters to a massive nest formed by a copse of trees growing randomly. Vines trailing down shrouded it from view and created an enclosed space beneath them.
Panting sounded only when everyone settled down. The group kept their voices low.
âWill we catch the attention of that monster spirit?â Liu Long muttered. Theyâd been less than one thousand meters away from the spirit overseeing the territory that theyâd just traveled through. Those with keener eyesight had seen the monster spiritâit was a lion that was either sleeping or napping. Whatever it was, it hadnât moved, but its presence was formidable. The Demon Hunters were terrified to be so close to it.
âItâs fine, weâre martial masters and the armor further conceals our presence.â Li Hao shook his head. âIâve observed it, itâs fine.â
He observed the monster spiritâs supernatural ripples as opposed to its form. The appearance of supernatural ripples would mean that the monster spirit had discovered them. Lack thereof would mean that it hadnât. This was an ability that the others did not possess.
Major monster spirits might also pretend to not notice the group, but their energy would give them away. However, who could read supernatural ripples?
Li Hao could.
The young man was finding his eyes to be supremely useful. They were sometimes more useful than sword energy. So... what had happened to the others who could see the scarlet shadows? Thereâd been multiple in Silver City, at least ten in one million. Even if some had died, one per one million meant that Silver City could produce one hundred.
Where had they all gone?
No one among the Night Watchers mentioned these people. If they possessed the same abilities as he did, it would be a snap of the fingers for the agency to uncover supernatural hideouts.
Despite the questions running through his mind, Li Hao didnât intend to probe into the matter. Heâd just ask about it obliquely.
âChief, you guys stay here. Iâm going out. Donât go out without reason. If you need to answer natureâs call, do so here!â
Liu Long looked solemnly at the young man. Where was he going?
Li Hao didnât explain himself. He wasnât going to fish in troubled waters or shadow the major monster spirits. He just wanted to see if anyone was following him. If so... he wouldnât mind stirring up some trouble and luring them all to that place!
The young man didnât consider the notion of being a fisherman that benefited from a fight between snipe and clam. There was no such possibility with those four monster spirits present. The only potential was for his pursuers to be killed and him to wait around to collect their corpses.
Did monster spirits eat people?
They seemed to.
Did they eat storage rings?
Who knew, but maybe the rings would pass through their systems.
Li Haoâs thoughts were traveling too far, but they were also very simple at the same time. What if the monster spirits didnât eat his pursuers after killing them? What if monster spirits produced fecal matter? They didnât use storage rings, right? In that case, he might be able to pick up something once the monster spirits left.
It was more convenient to operate alone; dark mysterious power helped restrain oneâs presence. He also had the bronze mirror on him.
Li Hao suddenly stopped and took out an energy ring, preparing to absorb more dark mysterious power. Heâd found it useless before as he didnât think himself in the insidious business of ambushing others. Martial masters took the fight to the enemyâs face! What need was there for dark mysterious power!
But now he felt that he should absorb someânot for ambush, but to further weaken his presence so that he wouldnât clash with the monster spirits. Humans and monster spirits could coexist peacefully.
He quickly absorbed the mysterious power and crushed another two stones, leaving only eight in his storage ring. The young man had absorbed nearly five hundred cubes of dark energy by now. He didnât lack it as peak Solar Yue Pu had supplied nearly two thousand cubes. Heâd only absorbed half of his gains.
The sky darkened when he finished absorbing five hundred cubes. Li Haoâs figure shifted like a shadow before blending into the darkness. Dark energy didnât strengthen him, but it did decrease his sense of being.