Chapter 52. Battle in the Forest.

Just over 4 months ago.

Dalaran Forest.

After Prince Rand's impressive victory over the gorilla family, he had a long conversation with the hunter Galik. In exchange for eliminating his father's killer, Galik gifted Rand his family's "treasure," the Last Breath Powder, capable of attracting a great many animals, and in addition to this gift Galik also offered the ideal place to use it.

Rand, after some thought, decided to accept Galik's "present" and even follow him to the place where it would be best to apply it in his opinion.

After all, if the hunter's assumptions about the number of beasts attracted by the powder were even half true… Then killing such a volume of animals should be enough to get the first place in the Great Hunt declared by the emperor. Winning this hunt would bring him prestige, strengthening his position as the heir and one of the empire's strongest geniuses. Additionally, it would allow him to outshine his arrogant sister. The artifacts and resources awarded for first place, which most low-ranking participants fought for, did not interest Rand at all, as they were not truly unique, and he already had so many ordinary resources that he would not be able to spend them in the coming decades.

Having made his decision, Rand led his six-person team — three knights, the elderly mentor-bodyguard Lark, the hunter, and himself — towards a canyon southwest of the gorilla mountain. The journey to the canyon was lengthy and fraught with challenges. They had to traverse several hundred kilometers of dense forest, frequently encountering various beasts defending their territory. The strength of these beasts ranged from the late levels of Qi Condensation to the mid-level Foundation Establishment stage.

The imperial knights serving Rand dealt with most of the opponents without much difficulty. Rand had to intervene only once when the group encountered a large flock of fire ravens. These birds were not particularly strong: they had small, fragile bodies, relatively low flight speed, were quite cowardly, and their fire control abilities were fairly weak. Even living in large flocks didn't significantly improve their situation; they remained weak opponents, barely higher than the lower steps of the forest's food pyramid.

Initially, the prince's team thought they would slice through the ravens like a hot knife through butter. However, suddenly this flock was led by a beast that partially awakened the bloodline of its distant ancestor, the Three-Legged Crow, a creature capable of rivaling True Dragons. Though its bloodline was barely noticeable, it was enough to turn a weak fire raven at the early Foundation Establishment stage into an opponent that the three elite imperial knights couldn't quickly defeat, and Rand himself had to expend considerable effort to kill it.

But after this small battle, they traveled through the forest without further problems, reaching their destination, the canyon, by early evening. The canyon was a deep valley covering several dozen square kilometers, with nearly vertical slopes thirty to forty meters high, which seemed to be even more so because of the huge trees growing on their edges. On imperial maps, it was marked as the Dead Dalaran Canyon.

And it deserved the name because unlike the forest surrounding it on all sides, which was overflowing with all kinds of vegetation: from huge trees to small shrubs, the canyon was utterly barren. Its soil was lifeless, resembling a mix of sand and ash that, for some unknown reason, didn't rise into the air even in the ever-present winds. Most beasts avoided stepping on it without necessity.

As soon as Rand and the others entered the canyon, he felt a piercing gaze upon him, and his intuition screamed that it wasn't just a random beast but something very dangerous.

Glancing at his companions and confirming it wasn't them, Rand extended his spiritual sense to its maximum range, meticulously scanning the surroundings. But he was unable to locate the observer, so he turned anxiously to his mentor and protector, the great knight Lark:

"Someone was watching us for a moment, and my intuition tells me it wasn't just another beast. Lark, could you please check the area?"

"Of course, my prince," Lark replied immediately, spreading his spiritual sense over the area, trying to see everything visible and invisible. Compared to Lark's all-encompassing spiritual sense, Rand's seemed like a small campfire against a raging forest fire.

Under normal conditions, cultivators don't extend their spiritual sense beyond the normal range — about a few dozen meters for those in the Foundation Establishment stage and around a hundred meters for Core Formation stage. Cultivators, of course, can expand the spiritual sense beyond the "norm". A tenfold increase in the range of propagation is quite possible. But practitioners do not do this unnecessarily, because the coverage of space "beyond the norm can cause significant mental strain and fatigue, and if you do not stop in time, then such excessive use of it can even cause irreparable harm to the practitioner's body.

Lark briefly closed his eyes for better concentration, then opened them and said, "I sensed no presence other than a few small animals far from us, which haven't noticed us yet."

"Interesting. Maybe it was just my imagination. It's unlikely anyone could hide from your sight," Rand responded, as if he had completely discarded the problem, but in fact, from then on, he began to observe his surroundings even more closely.

After this conversation, the group continued towards the canyon's center. And one of the knights, Karl, asked the hunter:

"Do you truly believe this place is ideal for your miraculous powder? Wouldn't it be wiser to use it directly in the forest, where there are obviously more beasts?"

"Surprisingly, it works better here. The main reason is the strong, constant wind in this canyon, which will spread the powder's scent throughout the forest. These high canyon 'walls' are no obstacle for the wind. Additionally, the open space here makes it easier for you to defend, allowing more effective use of your techniques, while forest-adapted beasts will struggle to fight here."

Upon reaching the canyon's center, the group halted, and Galik pulled several items from his spatial pouch: a cauldron, a multi-dimensional flask of liquid, and the Last Breath Powder, which glows purple. Galik informed Rand:

"I'll need ten to fifteen minutes to prepare the powder. Once ready, its scent will spread rapidly. Given the speed of wind, the first beasts should arrive in twenty to thirty minutes."

"Alright, Mr. Galik. We'll use this time wisely and prepare," Rand said, then instructed the waiting knights:

"Karl, Ulrich, Drags, take up a circular defense. Set up explosive talismans around defense point here, radius wo hundred and fifty meters, density two per square meter. Once done, set up the minor Four Elements protective formation. Proceed."

"As you command, Your Highness," the young knights responded in unison, placing a hand on their chests as a sign of respect before starting their tasks. They pulled out hundreds of sheets of dense paper inscribed with glowing red runes containing fire Qi energy from their spatial rings, placing them on the ground. Once the talismans touched the surface, their glow vanished, and they became nearly transparent, blending into the surroundings and becoming almost invisible.

After finishing the talisman placement, one knight took four flags from his ring, each radiating different elemental energy, and arranged them in a square around the prince. The flags flashed brightly, forming a semi-transparent protective square. While the knights were busy, Galik began preparing the powder. He poured about ten liters of a greenish liquid from the flask into the cauldron, heating it with the cauldron's magical properties. When it boiled, he added the violet powder, which dissolved in about ten minutes, turning the liquid violet. And as soon as this happened, steam, which was overflowing with Qi, barely noticeable to the ordinary eye, began to rise from the cauldron in a huge volume. It was immediately picked up by the wind and started to spread throughout the area.

Everyone except Lark immediately sensed a sweet, alluring scent emanating from the cauldron, feeling it would greatly aid their cultivation if consumed. Knight Ulrich commented on this sensation:

"It feels like a natural treasure calling out to be consumed, promising breakthroughs through any barriers."

Galik smiled and explained, "Animals feel this even more intensely. It is a natural treasure in a way, containing the 'energy extract' of several mighty beasts at the Core Formation stage. If a beast in the early Foundation Establishment stage drinks this 'broth,' it has a high chance of quickly reaching the late level, skipping the middle level. A peak level beast would have a good chance of breaking through to the next stage. Even for a Core Formation beast, this 'broth' would be somewhat beneficial. Humans, too, would feel positive effects, though much weaker — of course if they don't burst from the energy overload."

After this brief explanation, the conversation died down, and the group spent the next fifteen minutes in silence until beasts appeared in the distance. The knights immediately engaged them, attacking with long-range techniques. Initially, they managed well, keeping the beasts from reaching the main defensive line with the explosive talismans. However, as more beasts arrived, the knights struggled to contain them.

The first to nearly breach the talisman line was a large, four-legged horned beast. It withstood several " Heavenly Light Beams" from the knights with minimal damage. Just as it seemed the beast would reach the main defense line, Rand intervened, using his primary attack technique, mastered since childhood:

"Lunar Palm."

A dark-milky replica of Rand's palm appeared, rapidly enlarging into a giant hand. Finding one hand insufficient, Rand used his other hand to summon another "Lunar Palm." He directed the two massive hands at the charging four-legged beast, which a bit resembled a legendary Kirin.

Although the beast had noticed the danger in advance, it seemed that it did not take it too seriously and simply continued its run. And only when two nine-meter-long hands were already fifty meters away from it, electricity began to spark in its horns, which immediately transformed into two lightning bolts that flew towards the oncoming palms in order to disperse them. After all, lightning is very good at destroying constructs created by Qi techniques.

But Rand seemed to expect this action from it, because it was difficult to explain in any other way the fact that at the right moment two gaps appeared in his lunar palms, through which lightning pass through harmlessly.

This development caught the false Kirin off guard, and it didn't have time to do anything else before the hands closed around it and turned the beast into a bloody mess.

After dealing with this minor threat, Rand instructed his knights:

"I'll hold off the beasts for now. Retreat into the protective formation and prepare to use 'Thousand Swords of Light.' The real battle is about to begin."