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Days went by as Jung-Su fell back into his previous habits. Owl only tagged along, waiting for the group of bullies to come back and end this charade. From time to time, the kid did things that got on his nerves, not able to appreciate what he had.

But after the third time, he began to question himself. Why was he acting like that? Where did the anger come from? Why would he react in such a way that could give out his act? As his thoughts kept revolving around the issue, he reached a certain conclusion that frightened him. Maybe it was due to him being a beast now?

Spiritual beasts did act upon instincts and feelings much more than humans or sentient beasts who had rationality. Was he being led astray by his bestial instincts? It was possible. Back in the days, he was easily irritable too but he wasn't so prone to anger issues and murder impulses. At least, his first reactions weren't to think ten thousand of ways of killing the other.

After coming to this realization, he tried to distance himself from everything that was happening. He tried to act like a passer-by and, soon, he saw the results. He was less angry and murderous. There were still times when the kid managed to anger him enough that he was close to losing it but he was able to calm himself now. Because he was aware that it wasn't truly him feeling this way.

The instincts of beasts were truly dangerous.

…

It was only after six days that the group of bullies came back to meet Jung-Su. They were very eager to take him for a stroll in the woods. Jung-Su tried to resist and even pleaded to his brother Owl. It was to no avail.

One of the goons picked the owl in his arms while the others grabbed Jung-Su by twisting his arms behind his back and encircling him. They had called a dozen more people this time. They seemed to be very hell-bent on ending him. Maybe it was because they publicly lost face previously but the leader was particularly angry-looking.

Owl on the other hand hoped that they would take them to the woods. He needed safety in order to breakthrough and dangers to his 'host' were dangers to him at the moment. This was the relationship he had with Jung-Su. Because to the rest of the world, he was nothing more than a tamed beast, a property belonging to Jung-Su.

If Jung-Su died, what about the stuff he owned? Owl didn't want to think of it. Rather, he didn't want to have to consider this as something he needed to think of. And he believed that once he took care of this group of idiots, he wouldn't have to.

The guards at the entrance didn't even bother stopping the group or check, even as Jung-Su was crying tears and begging them. This was the problem of hiring mortals as door guards. They were useless in most cases. Would they try to put their lives on the line to stop someone from leaving or entering the sect? Probably not. Owl wondered why they didn't pick other disciples to guard the gates instead of those mortals. They might fool around but it would still be better than those mortals.

Anyways, they were easily led outside and towards the forest.

…

Pyon Hyun-Seok was a door guard for the Serene Summer Pavilion. It might seem like a lofty position to other mortals but it was a very stressful job. One had to deal with cultivators on a daily basis after all. Even the young disciples that weren't even adults were stronger than him and could easily twist his body into meat paste. Fortunately, as a low-rank sect, there weren't many visitors and such. It was also quite rare that the disciples gave him a tough time. After all, even if they were mortals, they were part of the sect. The disciples gave them respect.

Most of them…

There were always a few bad apples in every harvest. This was no different here. For every hundred of good kids, there would be a few bad ones as well. And today, it just happened that a group of those was going out. Judging by the crying mess that the kid in the center was, they were up to no good. But what could he do? If he tried to stop them, would they simply turn back? They would probably take him outside as well. He wouldn't save the kid and would even end up in the same situation. He couldn't do that. He had his own family to provide for. He could only turn a blind eye and protect his own life.

It pained him morally but he wouldn't act. Because he was not a hero and he didn't want to risk himself for someone else. Still, he felt bad about it. This was one of the characteristics of humans: shallowness. They always found things they disliked but rarely did they take matters in their own hands to change them.

Sure, there wasn't much he could have done. And that's what he would keep telling himself. That's how a door guard lived. Until one of his colleagues approached him and said: "Boss, there was a girl who told us to warn her if this kid was taken outside again a few days ago, should I go tell her about this?"

He turned towards his subordinate and told him to hurry and go get her. Whoever she was, she might be capable of doing what he couldn't do. That was to save the life of a poor kid.

…

It didn't take too long for them to reach the forest. The guys dropped Jung-Su harshly to the ground. Then, the leader of the group walked forward and grabbed his head before he spoke: "You thought you were all tough at the market, eh? Well, look at you now, tough guy~ Last time wasn't enough, it seems. Don't worry, we will thoroughly teach you this time!"

He began to prepare himself to punch forward. However, before he could, he heard a weird sound. It was a single sound.

"Pop"

And from there, many more sounds were heard.

"Pop" "Pop" "Pop"

He turned around only to see his goons frantically trying to escape as others had their heads explode. He couldn't even comprehend what was going on and stood there looking blankly at the gruesome show.

…

Owl waited until they entered the forest. Then, he activated his Domain. A Domain was like claiming a territory to be your own. It was an extension of oneself. He could materialize his spiritual energy anywhere anytime in his Domain. And it was close to impossible to detect unless you were on guard or trying to sense it.

Domains were spiritual techniques. They could only be countered by another Domain but most cultivators did not bother doing so. They preferred to activate their own Domains instead, making the territories overlap. Both cultivators could then engage in battle on the same footing.

As such, one could either use his Domain to fight off another one or to extend his reach in technical uses.

To younger cultivators, the principle of a Domain was difficult to understand and even harder to put into practice. Owl had learnt and trained for years to get to where he was and it wasn't that much according to a few things he saw. Still, he could easily make use of his Domain in both ways.

Once he activated it, most of the disciples were inside of it. Then, he just had to conjure spiritual energy where their heads were and 'pop'… He could easily explode the heads of the unprepared.

The first reaction the kids had was to flee, they didn't even bother coating themselves in spiritual energy to protect themselves. Even though it would have been effective. No, they tried to run. Because of fear. The sight of witnessing a friend's head explode, the sight of witnessing a gruesome death so closely… It wasn't something they were used to. Compared to Owl who fought in a war, they lacked experience.

It was obvious. They were young and sheltered kids from a low rank sect. They had a vague notion of death but weren't truly aware of it at the same time. He would help them understand it by granting it to them. In a non-painful way.

Since one's head exploding killed right away, they probably wouldn't feel the pain. And so, more and more heads exploded, spraying the forest with all kinds of blood, gore, facial parts, bones and brain matters. The survivors ended up with the remains of their friends plastered over their bodies and clothes. Until they turned into headless corpses in turn.

It had been very savage and frightening but only took less than five minutes. Then, only silence was still there. The only ones left alive were a trembling youth who peed itself and a one-meter tall that was expertly cutting ring-wearing fingers from dead bodies.