Guardians

The mountain path was quite easy, avoiding any stray Demonic Beasts, and ascending from the opposite side of the horde.

*Rooaaaar!!!*

But halfway through their climb they heard a thunderous roar resounding from the opposite side with a powerful presence along with thousands of terrified howls of the horde as the tremor of their steps intensified.

"...! Is it... the predator you talked about?"

One of the Core Disciples asked Wu Long, all of them widening their eyes while Xue Bing and Hua Ziyan turned a concentrated look to the peak of the mountain they were climbing.

"Mm, I expected we would meet it by the time we had to go back"

"But..."

"Haha, don't worry, this one's not as problematic to deal with as the previous one. As I said, I was prepared to encounter it so you don't need to worry. 

The only genuinely unexpected factor in this whole trip was that alchemist, which I would ask you to keep a secret as I already told you before"