the wilderness

Li Tian knew that information about this battle would soon be made public by those who arrived so he didn't want to be associated with anything related to the battle. If it was revealed that he killed the cultivators of the Zhao clan, they would have a legitimate reason to denounce his actions as the real reason for the battle would remain a secret. However, now he knew that only Zhao Yumin and maybe a few people from his clan knew the reason for the battle. They couldn't possibly reveal Li Tian's involvement without stating why they suspected him. 

He was sure it would remain a secret unless something unexpected happened. 

He wanted his enemies to continue underestimating him for as long as possible.

He also realized that there were many talented people in this world. Just some cannon fodders from the Zhao clan had made him use all his tricks.

He had to be more cautious in his dealings with the people of this world.

He realized that in his hasty departure from the battle site, he had lost his way. He took out the map and observed and soon he found out where he was and then moved in the direction of his original destination. 

The wilderness had been divided into different zones depending on the threat level of the beasts found in that area. At this point, almost the whole wilderness had been zoned. The area where Li Tian fought the others earlier was in the green zone and from the information he gathered the flame serpent was found in the yellow zone. This did not surprise him as it was commonplace to find rank-3 beasts. If it was in a blue or red zone he wouldn't have dared to go, at least not yet. 

The blue zone had beasts there that had reached rank-4 and the red zone had beasts there that had reached rank-5.

The demonic flame serpent was located on a volcanic mountain in the yellow zone. It was where it nested and the environment was quite good for its cultivation. 

From the information, Li Tian gathered the hunters who encountered this beast before reporting it actually fought with it. There was a mid-level foundation cultivator amongst them, but still, they almost didn't get out alive. According to them, the beast had a strong body and great defense, but what was even more terrifying was its flame power. 

Cultivating in the volcano had allowed its strength to soar and its flame to grow ever more hot and destructive.

He knew he had to be especially careful when he had to battle the beast.

It took him less than a day to arrive at the location. From his position, he could see the volcano. The temperature in the area was terrifying, all he could see as far as his eyes could reach was magma and scorched earth. He knew that there were more terrifying creatures living within the volcano. He didn't know how he was going to fight the serpent without drawing the attention of other beasts.

After thinking, he remembered where the hunting party had discovered the beasts a little ways from here. They only came here trailing the beast to discover its hideout, however, they didn't dare to go in because like Li Tian they had come to the same conclusion. This volcano was too deep, who could tell exactly what kind of creature would be awakened if one recklessly fought there? There was no noise in the area making it eerie.

Li Tian looked for a place to hide and recover to his peak state while scouting for the serpent. If it came out once, it would come out again.

...

After Li Tian ran from the battle site against the members of the Zhao family, people gradually gathered there. The number of people that had been attracted by the noise from the battle was high. As they gathered and observed the surroundings, they could tell that the battle was intense. They of course saw the six lifeless bodies lying in different parts of the forest and soon their identities were gradually revealed. Those who identified them were mostly cultivators from city E who had likely come in contact with them before. 

It didn't take long for the news to spread and quickly reach city E. Zhao Yumin who at this moment was enjoying himself with a few ladies was interrupted and when he heard the news he could not believe it. Zhao Shengmin was his cousin and the servants that died were not easy to nurture. How was he going to explain their deaths to the clan?

He had a feeling that someone had intervened in this affair because no matter how he thinks about it, he can't believe Li Tian killed all those people without them being able to escape. He knew that if his cousin had realized the danger in the mission, he would prioritize his safety above all else. What happened?

He was still questioning himself and trying to find answers to the questions when another voice interrupted him.

"Lord Zhao, the elders are in the meeting hall, they request your presence" a servant reported from outside the door.

"I'll be there shortly" he replied and while the servant took his leave, Zhao Yumin was formulating a plan to get out of this mess. He had to think of what to tell his elders and transfer all the blame to Li Tian without hurting his own interest.

He was the current clan head if he did not handle this matter carefully it might lead to him losing his position.

Arriving at the meeting hall, he greeted the elders respectfully and then went on to take his seat.

This already raised the suspicion of the elders as this man was normally very arrogant. 

"Elders, I presume you all called me here to discuss Shengmin's matter?" He asked without his face betraying his true feelings at this moment.

He knew that even if the elders suspected he was involved in this issue they would not ask him directly after all his grandfather was the strongest person in the clan at this moment. This gave him a lot of maneuvering room.

However, before the elders could start asking, the door opened violently and a man walked in. Anger could clearly be seen on his face. He looked like an old man in his 60s, though his eyes were very bright indicating his strong vitality. This was Zhao Yumin's grandfather, a powerful core realm cultivator. Behind him came two people though younger, they too were in the core realm and the auras they emitted were weaker than the old man in front of them.

As they walked in Zhao Yumin hurriedly stood up from his seat to greet them.

"Greetings, Grandfather, father and uncle" 

However, no response came. He lifted his head from his bowing position only to see three pairs of eyes glaring at him with anger. Cold sweat rolled down his back.

"Kneel" the next thing he heard were these words and that was clearly his grandfather's voice. He did not delay and immediately went down on his knees in the center of the room. The three passed by him and took their seats before saying

"Explain everything related to this matter without omitting a single word" his uncle Shengmin's father spoke and from the anger in his voice Zhao Yumin knew he was about to explode.

He was confident that his grandfather would normally cover him from the elders but too bad he was not the only grandson of his grandfather. Shengmin who had died was even a greater genius than himself and if not for their age gap he would have been the clan head. It was only now that the true circumstances of the situation became clear to him.

At this moment he did not know that the bloodline purity in Shengmin was ranked 3rd in their clan, miles ahead of himself. Only that it had been kept a secret by the seniors. This was a great loss to the clan