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Two weeks after the disciples entered the cage formation, there were still no news. No one could find the spiritual beast. The Elder had saved the sole poor child who survived the assault of the beast and learnt about what happened. He had a hard time believing a spiritual beast could be so smart but the proof had been right there. Unless the cultivator behind it was cautious enough not to even show himself after finishing off all the opponents.

Regardless, they made sure to keep the news by spreading. It was quite easy, they only had to put the kid in house arrest while he was being healed. They made sure to have someone watch him 24/7. And they waited for the good news to arrive.

It never did.

After two weeks, they couldn't wait anymore and went to search themselves. Two days later, they found a hole dug into the ground. It was very small but wide enough for the spiritual beast to escape through according to the survivor's description.

It meant that the prize escaped already and the disciples had been searching for something that wasn't even there. The Senior Elder was enraged when he learnt of it and nearly lost control of the formation. It was quite likely that the being had left long ago. He probably left the forest altogether since he was that smart.

They now faced a very big problem. They had reduced the area of searching yet failed to provide the target of the search. They certainly hadn't expected the thing would dig his way out…But it wasn't an excuse. At least, the Grand Elder wouldn't accept such an excuse. He would roast them alive for failing such a simple task instead. Literally. They had to find a solution and quick.

In the end, the Senior Elder ordered the Elder to go buy a flying spiritual beast at the first stage of spiritual assimilation and place it in the cage. Since they couldn't catch the real thing, they would plant one themselves.

Fuck it.

They didn't want to be roasted alive because of such a dumb failure. The Elder agreed and went on his way. He came back with a fire-tailed sparrow that was 50cm long. It had beautiful ruby-like feathers and its tail was constantly ablaze. It was a spiritual beast who had natural elemental talents. Quite a powerful breed. The Senior Elder was satisfied and they let it out inside the cage. It would soon be hunted and become the prize for a disciple.

But there remained a problem. There was someone who knew the real appearance of the spiritual beast. They had to tie the loose ends. The Senior Elder left it to the Elder. He had been and still was stuck maintaining the formation.

The Elder entered the room of the disciple. He was bandaged heavily in several parts. Especially the chest where he received the fatal blow. The disciple was sleeping. The Elder bent over and bowed once. He whispered: "Forgive me for this sin, great heavens"

Then, he cut the throat of the kid with a knife. The kid woke up for only a second with disbelief in his eyes before his eyes closed forever. The Elder left and went to a lake inside the forest. It was a place he enjoyed staying at. He sat on a rock next to the flowing river. The flow made a relaxing sound. He looked up at the night sky in hope to find comfort and answers. But the sky remained unperturbed and unchanging. In the end, he took out a glass bottle from his spatial ring and drank some.

It was an alcoholic beverage known as Frone, the favorite drink of cultivators.

He kept drinking through the night as he watched either the stars or the flowing rivers, wondering how it had to come to this.

…

A day later, a disciple caught the bird and even made it his tamed beast. He was officially deemed the winner and granted the rewards. He was of course overjoyed. And no one talked about the two friends from his team that he slaughtered to keep the reward to himself.

The disciple that the Elder killed wasn't talked about either. Officially, on the records, he killed himself out of madness because of his injuries and mental trauma.

Everything seemed to be going well and as planned until they met the Grand Elder. He had watched them and everything they did. He told them that he would give the one-week tutorial to the disciple as he was sinless but they had to pay the price for their felony.

They were sentenced to a ten-year imprisonment, as forced seclusive training without being provided by resources. Having to cultivate only with the wild energy at their levels was impossible. It meant that they would be losing ten years. But only this would have been too light of a punishment. The Grand Elder took an arm and an eye from each of them and they were forbidden from healing themselves (regrowing the lost parts). They would have to live as cripples until they died if they remained in the sect and they knew that they would be murdered if they tried to deflect. Their only way out would be to reach the same stage as the Grand Elder…Only power mattered in the end.

Regardless, they would suffer from their attempts to trick the sect.

…

It was only a year, seven months and some days after starting his secluded cultivation that the owl left his new nest. He had spent all his time focusing on growing his core and had reached the peak of the ninth stage of spiritual accumulation. It was one hell of an achievement to have gone so far so quickly. If he had been human, he might have been considered a once-in-a-century genius. But as a spiritual beast and reincarnated, he felt it to be natural.

The problem was that he couldn't go further even though he still had quite the stash of pills. To cross over to the 10th stage, he needed to absorb an elemental treasure. And there were none in the spatial rings. If he had been a human, it wouldn't have been hard to get his hands on one but as a spiritual beast… Most of the natural treasures were being picked or had been plucked long ago. Only humans farmed and reared those, even artificially creating some.

What he needed was the first rank of such a treasure, a one-year-old elemental treasure. Only through such an absorption could he breakthrough. Because the 10th stage was the beginning of a new realm. It was when one became able to create the elements and mix them with his spiritual energy. Without that treasure, he would forever be stuck…

As he pondered while bathing in the sunlight, standing on a branch near the edge of the forest, he heard a commotion not far. Using his spiritual energy to sense the surroundings, he pinpointed the location of the disturbance. Five cultivators weaker than him. He decided to go check it as it didn't seem to be too risky.

He flew closer and closer while remaining on guard and hidden within the trees. Then, he witnessed the scene. Four cultivators were beating up another one while insulting him. They kicked him, spat at him and used words to mentally abuse him. This was the usual case of bullying.

Young cultivators in sect earned strength rapidly with no place to send their frustrations. They would often find a weaker and less talented disciple and bully him. It was a way for the stronger ones to let off some steam. Of course, the one suffering ended up quite pitiful. But no one cared because the value of a disciple was in his strength and talent.

The owl continued to observe as they kept on hitting. Once the four left, they were laughing. The one who had been beaten up dragged his body with difficulties to sit with his back against a tree. He had bruises everywhere and some blood here and there. His robe was torn but owl realized it wasn't the same as the other cultivators he had met. There probably was another sect close-by.

The disciple was in such a bad state though. He was near death. If he wasn't treated, he would die. So, why wasn't he taking some medicine from his spatial ring? Owl wondered until he checked the kid's fingers. No rings. Did they steal it from him or did he not have anything in the first place. Still, it was quite pitiful.

The kid had silent tears.

Owl heard him whisper with the little strength he had left: "Gods, Devils, whoever, anyone, please, someone punish these fuckers and give them a gruesome death in my stead. Mother, Father, sorry, your son was trash and couldn't do anything for you"

He was unaware that a certain owl heard him and got an idea from this. This pushover would be the key to him entering the human society. He would play the supreme guide with this kid and scam him of resources!

"Wait for this owl, young one, I will take you under my wing, eh~eh~eh~"