Ambushed!

Feng Hei Lang found Kirei and Kang Lei hidden underneath a bush. Both of them were covered head to toe in blood. She frowned and jumped back. "Are...Are you alright?"

Kang Lei grinned. "Yup! This isn't our blood. We barely got hurt since we found our rhythm just a few seconds in when we were fighting!"

Kirei glanced at her. "You have a third tail now."

She smiled. "Well, you certainly noticed. I evolved into Rare Grade!"

Kang Lei gaped. "Wha- How did you evolve so suddenly? Normally, evolution takes quite a while to prepare with a proper environment and other materials! How did you do it within the battle?"

She gave him a sly smirk. "Well~ I made a shadow dome somewhere and met the requirements. The rest is a secret!" She held a paw up to her mouth.

Kirei took out his spatial pouch and brought the alpha's body out. "Well, congrats. We can head back to Hu Li University now. We have the alpha. Also, we better get back as soon as possible. The tournament in Hu Li University is going to start soon."

Feng Hei Lang made a surprised expression. "Ooh! What's going to happen during the tournament?"

He shrugged. "It varies. Last year, we had team battles. The year before that, we had some agility race. Each tournament tests our abilities and signals whether we are ready to go out of Hu Li University or not."

She tilted her head. "Didn't we just go out of Hu Li University though?"

He nodded and placed the wolf corpse back within his spatial pouch. "This would have been counted as a C-grade mission, but there was an assassin, so I assume it would probably be around B-grade. Other missions, like hunting someone down within human cities, or more dangerous things require permission. Permission to get harder missions are given during the tournament."

Feng Hei Lang clapped her paws together. "That sounds exciting!"

Kang Lei but into their conversation. "You're forgetting the most important part! Every year, there's a prize! Last year was some plant that gave you a small permanent boost in speed and strength. I wonder what it is this year..."

She turned away from both of them. "Anyways, we should probably head out of Celio Forest."

Both of them nodded and they all started running towards the exit. They could see trees parting the way for them, and just when they were about to head out, three foxes rushed in the path in front of them.

Feng Hei Lang skidded to a stop and noticed that it was Fo Lau, Mian Li, and Ge Xiao. She hissed as they blocked her path.

Fo Lau held out a paw. "Hand over the wolf corpse. Now!"

Kirei narrowed his eyes. "And if we say no?"

She snarled and got into a readying position. "Then we'll take it from you."

Kirei didn't even hesitate and stomped his paw into the ground. "Hell Fire: Annihilation."

Black fire rose up from the ground and surrounded the three foxes. Fo Lau let out her [Ice Field], but it completely melted in the fire. All three of them ran without a second glance.

Silence was left around Kirei, Kang Lei and Feng Hei Lang.

Kang Lei burst out laughing. "That was so anti-climatic! They acted like they could take it from us, but in reality, they couldn't do anything!"

Feng Hei Lang giggled a bit. "Well, that was expected. The only offensive ability they had was [Ice Field] and it was completely countered by Kirei."

Kirei let out a long breath. "That was a waste. Anyways, let's head back to Hu Li University."

All of them quickly ran out of Celio Forest and was greeted by a bright light. They were outside of the foggy forest. Feng Hei Lang looked up to see a net flying towards her. She instantly activated [Dash] and [Slowdown] to push Kirei and Kang Lei out of the way while running from the net.

Feng Hei Lang hissed as the net missed them. She looked up to see a bunch of humans carrying swords, nets, and other weapons. She snarled as one approached with a net. Using [Appraisal], she could see how good these men were.

[Wang Zhao]

Species: 5th Level Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator

He didn't seem that old and looked only around the twenties. Wang Zhao held a net over them. "Come here, little foxes!"

Kirei yelled, "Run!" All three of them started running, but the humans were easily catching up. With one look behind her, Feng Hei Lang spotted three cages where Fo Lau and her group were caught.

She pulled two speed talismans out of her inventory and slapped them onto Kirei and Kang Lei. "Keep going, I'll catch up!"

They had a sudden burst of speed as Feng Hei Lang activated [Dash] too. She was faster than the humans now, but they probably had talismans somewhere too.

She turned to Kirei. "Why are they attacking us?"

He frowned at her as they ran. "It's part of the Territorial War! Have you not heard of that?"

She shook her head.

Kirei sighted as he continued running. "A few centuries ago, humans wanted more territory and tried to invade the homeland for the foxes! We managed to fight them off, but they always wanted our homeland since it had lots of Qi! They still try to capture foxes today to weaken our defenses! That's why we still hide when heading to human cities. We both hold a grudge against each other!"

Feng Hei Lang nodded in understanding. "I see...Anyways, let's hurry up and get these humans out of our sight! Let's run even faster!" With that, they all started dashing at full tilt, heading towards the mountains.