Chương 55: A Group’s Failure and Confrontation

"Quietly... careful... There." An muttered, sitting on the ground as he dug under the roots of a huge white tree whose trunk alone was more than ten meters wide. Next to the hole lay neatly arranged black mushrooms with small white hairs on their caps.' Carefully. Not a trace of Qi! I need to be reeeal careful.' He continued slowly digging out the mushrooms with his bare hands. The reason was these mushrooms were very sensitive to Qi.

If they felt foreign energy nearby, they would release a toxin that would instantly burn it from the inside out.' Twenty Hairy White Mushrooms... That should last for a while.' Placing the mushrooms into small wooden boxes he had made himself from bark and vines, he packed them into his pouch next to other second-rank plants. After making sure he had dug up everything, he flew up into the tree and resumed his journey. …. In another part of the sector." Argh!"

"Don't move, let me apply medicine to your wound!" Holding a disciple's hand, a girl applied a thick ointment to a deep gash on his chest. After treating his wound with the cheapest healing salve on the market, Mi Mili stood up and looked around. Of the original group of nine, only five remained. Moreover, two had serious injuries: the first being the disciple she had just treated, and the second, a girl who had lost an entire hand." Hoo…"

Standing up from the ground, Mo Fan dragged his battered body toward the maimed girl. His face and hands were covered in scratches, which were slowly healing after he took a recovery pill.

"We need to treat the wound and stop the bleeding, or this won't end well." Approaching her, he sat down next to her and took out a pill and a clean cloth. The girl nodded and, holding back so as not to scream in pain, endured while he worked.

"I have only two Strong Heart pills left, and that's it, what about you?" Checking his spatial ring, Shepor Dunt, with a furrowed face, took out and laid out before him all the pills he had left.

"I'm completely out..."

"Me too." Those who had the strength checked their supplies.

"I think we should leave! We can't stay here. If they risk attacking us now, even a single ninth-layer bandit would be enough to cut us all down, considering the state we're in… even though Mo Fan managed to chop off the third brother's arm..." The disciple with the chest wound stood up with difficulty and, his voice trembling, spoke helplessly. All five looked toward the cave visible beyond the thickets, fully agreeing with this disciple. The others began to rise.

"Brother Mo, scout the escape route while we carry the wounded." Dunt approached Mo Fan, not taking his eyes off the cave entrance. In response, Mo Fan nodded and walked toward the thick undergrowth, not forgetting to glance at Mi Mili one last time.

"Get up and follow me! Stay close together and be ready!" Shepor Dunt placed the disciple with the chest wound in the center, the injured girl in front of him, Mili in the front while he took the rear, closing the formation. …. Two days later, in another part of the sector." ROOOAR!" BOOM! The roar was followed by a heavy crash against the ground." Whew! Damn gorilla!" Standing over the body of a slain red gorilla over five meters tall, An shook the blood from his fists.' Hmm...

What should I take from you besides the core? Heart? Brain?.... Oh, you don't have a brain anymore. What about the heart then?' Thinking to himself, he began digging inside the beast's body. The reason he wasn't using his Qi for this, and was instead reaching inside the creature's body himself, was because of the smell he wanted to absorb onto himself. All this time, the local beasts had been constantly bothering and attacking him, not letting him gather plants in peace.

He decided to find one of the most fearsome creature in the area and use its scent to drive away the annoying monsters, since spirit beasts mostly rely on smell, especially those below the second rank." Ho! Could this be a second core in the stomach?" After cutting open the carcass, An saw Qi flows similar to those of a spirit core in the gorilla's stomach. Taking out both and comparing them, he realized that the second one, from its stomach, belonged to another beast, a weaker one.'

Then why was it sitting in its stomach instead of dissolving, as it should have?' After a moment of thought, the only explanation he came to was that the gorilla had deliberately decided not to dissolve it, but to store it inside itself. Perhaps this beast wanted to accumulate enough spirit cores to get closer to the peak of the first rank. However, on its way back to its lair, the beast met An, to its own misfortune. ….

"Did you hear that? The beast's cries were not far from us… In that direction!" Carefully moving ahead, Mo Fan gestured with his head toward the large thickets. Keeping his sword firmly in hand, he took a step forward.

"Sister Mili, are you sure your talisman is hiding us completely?" asked Shepor Dunt, turning back to the other three in the group." Uh-huh! Only a Golden Core cultivator could detect us, and even that's not guaranteed... We're safe as long as we don't enter the beast's field of vision or run into cultivators with realms much higher than the Golden Core stage." Mi Mili nodded, passing a water flask to the handless girl standing next to her.

"Quiet! Listen, everything's gone silent! Looks like the fight just ended… Let's go, maybe we can kill the second beast while it's wounded and tired." Mo Fan, without looking back, walked confidently through the thick undergrowth.

"Let's go, try not to make too much noise, just in case. Huuh, let's go!" Dunt shook his hands and followed Mo Fan. Passing through the thickets, they found themselves in a large clearing that was completely torn up; all the surrounding trees and bushes had been uprooted and shredded. Continuing forward, Dunt suddenly extended his hand in front of Mo Fan and stopped him. Looking at him, Mo Fan saw him pointing at a massive red carcass on the other side of the clearing.

Stopping and looking around, the entire group moved a little closer, about a hundred meters from the carcass, constantly looking around as they tried to find traces of the second beast. But there was nothing around, not a single trace. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Squawk! As soon as they got closer, they heard and saw something tear inside the carcass. Tensing up, they assumed a stance, ready to attack as soon as whatever was inside emerged.

Then they saw the carcass begin to shake, and from inside it, a person emerged, his back to them, covered from head to toe in the carcass's blood. Head, hair, clothes, everything was covered in blood." Ha... how can this be, even the heart isn't intact, I didn't even touch it, how did it fall apart. Eh …" Hearing this teenager mutter and shake off the excess blood, they didn't know what to think.

Finally, they made out the teenager's uniform under the layer of blood, and Shepor Dunt frowned, immediately thinking of the tenth member of their group. He was about to take a step forward and shout, when the person suddenly turned sharply toward them, and with burning eyes, stared intently at them. Seeing that gaze, Dunt subconsciously tensed up slightly.' Damn... how?! How did they get so close to me, why didn't I hear or see them through the flows?! Wait… why can't I see their Qi flows...'

Taken aback, An stood rooted to the spot, replaying the reasons why he couldn't see their Qi or feel their physical presence. Only a moment ago, he had intuitively felt weak, almost imperceptible, energy vibrations in the air right around their group, and that was why he had turned so sharply, immediately focusing on them. Up to his chest in the carcass, he carefully examined them with his burning eyes. Without thinking long, he activated his Qi just in case.

The strange silence was broken by Mo Fan, who stepped forward.

"It's good that you're alright. We were starting to think something might have happened to you on the very first day, when you made a hasty decision and separated from us." He spoke first, trying to calm the nerves of everyone around, especially the disciple standing hip-deep in the bloody carcass. Even Mo Fan was tense under the weight of those eyes - specifically, the gaze with which this outer disciple was examining them. In response, he received silence. An just stood and looked at them.

"Good that he's alright? What does that even mean? Brother Mo, this... he abandoned us, spitting on the Sect's decrees and the integrity of our group!" Dunt stepped forward, holdingf his sword, his face twisted in fury as he looked at An, unable to calm down and accept that this outer disciple had dared to completely ignore them.

"Don't, Brother Shepor..." Mo Fan wanted to calm him down, but it wasn't that simple.

"Don't what?! If he hadn't run away! If he had followed orders, as an outer disciple should when an inner disciple gives them a command! We wouldn't have lost so many!" Dunt began to get worked up, and everything pent up began to spill out. Finding in An not the root cause, but a perfect scapegoat to finally open the floodgates and let it all out.

"We wouldn't have lost four people if he hadn't chickened out and run away from us." He continued, approaching An.' Was this a coincidence? Or did he actually sense us? That's impossible, unless...' Mi Mili thought, watching the bloody young man with a serious gaze, trying to understand something.

"I didn't feel safe with you. As you can see, I'm the only outer disciple among you… Or did you think I should happily smile and become the fifth person in the group to die because of your own stupidity…" An looked at Dunt, initially trying to calm him down, but things didn't go quite as planned, and involuntarily a barely noticeable smirk appeared on his face. Hearing what he said, all five frowned, even Mo Fan and Mi Mili.

The two wounded standing behind everyone looked with cold eyes at this disciple, who was clearly overstepping his bounds.

"You! How dare you?" Activating his Qi and directing it into his sword, Dunt took a step forward, ready to attack him.

"Stop! Don't! Enough!" Behind him, he heard Mili. Turning around, he saw her looking at him and shaking her head. Immediately, Mo Fan approached him and stood slightly before him, as if blocking his way.

"Disciple...." Mi Mili tried to learn An's name, starting with this approach. But he remained silent, just kept watching them. Realizing he wasn't going to introduce himself, Mili exhaled and, disappointed, slightly shook her head.

"Disciple, I perfectly understand why you did what you did. It's all because of your past." Mili, with sympathy in her eyes, continued pointing at the spot on her neck. Seeing what she was doing, everyone glanced at An's neck, and under the layer of blood, made out the outline of a slave brand. The two wounded, the handless girl and the heavily wounded guy, showed, even if hidden, disgust on their faces.

"We all understand. Your distrust of us is justified, your actions are understandable. But you shouldn't have stayed alone, you shouldn't have run away from us. I admit, this is our fault." Mili continued smoothing things over between her group and him, talking to him like a foolish child. Stepping forward, she approached Mo Fan and Shepor Dunt, standing next to them and casting a glance at Dunt to calm him down.

"Forgive our behavior, you have to understand, our nerves are frayed from the loss of our brothers and sisters." She took a step toward An. Seeing this, Mo Fan threw a glance into An's eyes, and saw only emptiness, a complete absence of any emotion. Without realizing it himself, he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. Standing nearby, Dunt, hearing what Mili was saying, cooled down, understanding that his hatred for An was actually unjustified, and that he was merely taking his frustration out on him.

"There are few of us left, and we still have four days ahead in these forests. We need to join forces, for your safety and for ours." Mili took a few more steps toward him.' Eh... if she weren't here, I would have used my Qi and gotten out of here long ago... And how did I even manage to get into such a stupid situation...' An didn't see any easy way out of here.

Wary that if he tried to bolt now, Mili might be able to understand from his Qi exactly who he was, even though he wasn't one hundred percent sure, he still wasn't going to take the risk.' Oh! Why didn't I think of this immediately? I can continue isolating my unique signature in the energy, and to understand who I am from my Qi, she would first have to sense that signature in my Qi… Only that would require too much expenditure, both mental and energetic.'

Having figured out a way to get out of this situation, An concentrated his Qi, using the principle of Qi Silence on every particle inside his hand, and with a wave, enveloped the gorilla's insides, which he had set aside earlier, in his Qi and sent them into his pouch. Even though he managed to conceal the use of Qi, the output energy was very weak, roughly equivalent to the energy of a cultivator at the second layer of Qi Condensation.

Seeing An's movements, everyone around tensed up, especially Mi Mili, who was standing closest.' Wait, why can't I feel him using his Qi? I can only see it with my eyes? What is this? Why is my Dragon's Breath just ignoring his energy?' Mo Fan tensed up more than anyone, understanding that the reason he couldn't feel An's Qi was either that his mastery of energy was much higher, or his Qi was much purer and denser.

There was also the possibility that this disciple before him had some special technique, but Mo Fan didn't even consider this option, understanding the background of the disciple before him. Everyone tensed up for the same reason as Mo Fan. They could all see his energy enveloping the innards, but no one could feel it, as if it wasn't there, as if it were an illusion.

"My answer is no. I'm not interested in your alliance… And to be honest, seeing how you managed to lose almost half your group… I'm safer keeping my distance from you." An looked at each of them and said the truth as he really saw it, then turned and resumed smearing himself with the gorilla's innards. Hearing this, even Mili frowned and stopped in place.

"Who do you think you are, you damn slave? How dare you talk to us like that? Have you forgotten about hierarchy, bastard?" The injured girl boiling with rage: at herself, at her failure, and at how this outer brat dared to speak to them. Seeing where things were heading, Mo Fan wanted to try to calm everyone down, but he was too late." HA!" Shepor Dunt launched from his spot, activating Qi at the tip of his sword.

"Who gave you the right to judge us! Soaring Strike!" Appearing before the brat in an instant, he raised his sword and sent a wave of Qi straight into An's chest. Bracing himself, An was about to attack head-on, but stopped abruptly. Activating his Qi Armor, he jumped into the air, curled up, and took the energy wave head-on. BOOM! The wave of energy slammed straight into his defense membrane, and it immediately burst, allowing the wave of Qi to crash into An's body.

Having delivered his attack, Dunt wanted to swing again, but he saw An twisting his hands over his chest, trying to hold back the blood gushing from the wound on his body, and flew backward like a cannonball, using the momentum from Dunt's attack to escape.

"N-no! No!" Mi Mili rushed into the thickets. Standing in place, Dunt lowered his sword, fully aware that he had screwed up. He suddenly turned to Mo Fan, who was looking at him with disappointment. Realizing his mistake, he exhaled, scratched his head, and turned his gaze toward the thickets where An had flown. Just a few moments later, Mili emerged from the bushes with a puzzled expression, constantly looking back.

"Mili?" Mo Fan took a few steps toward her.

"He's gone... I couldn't find any traces, even his blood, which was spraying from his wound... he and everything else just dissolved into the air. Even my talisman couldn't find him. As if he was never there, not even a trace of his energy…" She put the artifact into her ring and turned toward the thickets, carefully examining the spot where An had been and where he had flown, trying to find even a single drop of blood.

"Just like on the first day! He used my attack to escape! He planned it all!" All the pity and guilt in Dunt's eyes disappeared, replaced by rage and hostility.

"You're right, he used you. But he didn't plan anything, it was just luck, nothing more." Mo Fan looked at Mili and the forest with a strange gaze.

"What do we do? What's our plan?" The disciple with the still-troubling chest wound interrupted them." Oh...." Dunt understood and quickly switched gears, fully aware that they couldn't get distracted. He began looking around, trying to choose the best direction. Even though the situation with their tenth group member was unsettling for all of them, they understood that there were clear priorities in this place.