Chapter 34

Four days had passed since the journey started and he was deep in the forest, away from the others and searching for the Fox Bear Demon Beast nest with Nie Li's instinct.

It didn't take him long to find one and he was proud of the fact that he was able to recognize the Demon Beast with his own growing fountain of knowledge instead of totally depending on Nie Li's instinct.

Because he knew that they would sooner or later run across the Fox Bear Demon Beast, he made sure to learn as much about them as possible and could now understand why Nie Li was so worried about these bears.

With how powerful these Fox Bears could grow up to be and with how aggressive they were at this time of the year, staying here was just asking for trouble.

Just at that moment, Chen Linjian and his group arrived on the sight while on patrol.

This guy really took his job of keeping the others safe seriously and for that at least, he respected the older teenager.

"Itachi Uchiha. What are you doing here so late at night?" Chen Linjian asked in confusion.

"While I was cultivating, I smelled something strange and came to check over this area." He said while pointing at the recently disturbed nest on the ground "So I came here to check up on it."

"I see. Two people from my side found a similar beast's nest while searching the forest so I and Shen Yue came to take a look."

"I does smell strange indeed." Shen Yue said, adding his two cents even if he had not really productive to say. But still, unlike Nie Li, Shen Yue didn't have a hate boner for him so the boy didn't try to put him down every chance he could get like he did with Nie Li.

Hell, he was surprised to find that the guy could even act decently if you're not flirting with his fiancee right in front of him all the time.

From what he'd seen so far. Shen Yue was very similar to Draco Malfoy. He was an ignorant child simply following things that had been taught to him since childhood without truly knowing what was wrong or right. Except that unlike the hatred between the Purebloods and the Muggleborns in Harry Potter, there was no such hatred between the Nobles and Commoners in this world so Shen Yue mostly kept to himself and his followers while looking down on the Commoners but not really bothering with them.

In some ways, he pitied the boy.

Before Shen Yue could speak some more and show everyone his ignorance on the topic of Demon Beasts, he continued.

"Judging by the size and shape of the scratch marks on the tree trunk and the fur residue on the nest along with how the nest is made, I deduce that it should belong to the Demon Beast called Fox Bear." He said "Judging by the size of a normal Fox bear, there should have a lot of them living in this nest."

Shen Yue looked sceptical. But once again, no hate boner so no interruptions.

Chen Linjian gestured for him to continue and he went on to explain to them about the Hibernation cycle of the Fox Bears and how they'll probably appear soon and wreak them up if they didn't leave.

"Then what should we do?" Chen Linjian asked, trying not to show the worry that he was feeling in his heart.

"We should leave this place immediately in the night. Fox Bears have a very good sense of smell. If they found us then a battle will be inevitable. And while I'm sure that you and your core followers will come of it with only a few bruises, the same couldn't be said for the others who was still at Bronze Rank."

"That seems a little excessive." Shen Yue said. The guy probably felt that if he didn't contribute then others will forget that he even existed. Which was mostly true because the guy was like a pampered prince who was totally ignorant about how real life works and thus, useless when it came to discussions like these.

"Probably." He shrugged "But it's better to be cautious and avoid the fight then stay here and risk it."

Chen Linjian nodded and half an hour later, everyone had packed their belongings back into their spatial ring and were ready to leave the clearing in the forest.

Once they were a sufficient distance away from that area, they heard the loud roar of the Fox Bears who had probably found their camping ground and were now declaring the area as their own once again.

Everyone realized why they had started to move so late at night and started to praise Chen Linjian while he probably earned some browny points with the guy that he might use to build his connection and then buy the 20 year old Holy Dark grass for his own cultivation.

"What was that Itachi?" Ning'er asked from where she was walking beside him.

"Found a nest of Fox Bears." He said "I suggested that we move because the Fox Bears are very aggressive this time of the year. Chen Linjian accepted the advice and now here we are."

Ning'er nodded, not questioning him anymore but it seemed like the girl walking beside her wasn't satisfied by his answer.

"You know a lot about Demon Beast?" Ye Ziyun asked.

The girl had been trying to integrate herself with Ning'er for a while and had only become more persistent after she saw him making out with Ning'er. He told Ning'er to play along with her because if they pushed Ye Ziyun too far away then she might do something stupid like revealing their relationship to others.

He knew that Ye Ziyun would not do something like that but Ning'er did and he wanted Ning'er to befriend the City Lord's daughter.

He can use that connection in the future if nothing else.

"I am a man of many talents." He said with a wink and Ye Ziyun flushed before she stomped her foot and didn't look back at him.

But while he was talking with her, most of his attention was focused toward the back of the group and he was trying to see if the Sacred family had sent those Silver Ranked fighter once again.

They hadn't, which he was thankful for.

The only reason why Shen Yue even called for those Silver Ranked fighter was because he wanted to quietly 'dispose' of Nie Li. Since Shen Yue didn't hate him or anything, no Silver Ranked fighter were called.

"Itachi." He heard a voice and was surprised to see Chen Linjian walking up to him.

"Young master Chen." He nodded.

"I wanted to thank you for bringing the matter of the Fox Bear Demon Beasts to my attention." Chen Linjian said "If you hadn't told us then we definitely would have been attacked by those demon beasts. Treat this as me owing you a favor."

He nodded with a bow. He doubted that the small favor would be enough for him to buy the 20 year old Holy Dark Grass but little things add up.

"Itachi Uchiha. You have such profound knowledge at such a young age. If you were to follow me then you would definitely get far with all the resources I can provide you with."

He sighed inwardly. This was the third time this guy has talked about recruiting him in the past few days. He had to give it to him, the guy was persistent if nothing else.

In fact, the guy was so persistent that he would have actually joined the Divine family if not for his highly abnormal rate in his cultivation.

He wanted to remain under radar for as long as possible for now.

"Young Master Chen is too kind. But I have my heart set in being selected by the City Lord."

Chen Linjian sighed and patted him in the shoulders.

"Well, if you've your mind set on it then I can't really do anything about it. But remember Itachi, the gates of the Divine family will always remain open for you."

He nodded with another bow and the guy patted him in the shoulder one last time before he left.

He sent one last probe toward the back of the group and relaxed a tiny bit when he found no Silver Ranked guys following them.