What happened to the RSS team?

Elena gradually slowed down her flight. She asked Bai Jingshen and Sam to help her with keeping an eye out, while trying to find her protector. The young woman began to concentrate on her body. Unfortunately, cultivators who decide to take the Rising Force World's way of Gene Activation didn't gain the Divine Sense Nascent Soul Realm cultivators had. In exchange they gained the special abilities inherent to their bodies instead. Depending on the unlocked ability, their bodies' instincts to perceive the world around them, were more or less strengthened. With Elena's Sacred Fate Body, which would even lead her to opportunities passively, her senses if she actively concentrated were naturally amongst the best.

While Bai Jingshen and Sam tried to just see something as they were forced to fly above the forest, Elena focused on her body. She conjured the image of her protector in her mind and trusted her Sacred Fate Body. Only a moment later it almost seemed to the young woman as if an arrow appeared in her mind, leading her into a certain direction.

Elena turned around abruptly. If he wasn't in the presence of his good brother and one of his idols, Sam might have wished to throw up right then and there. Enduring the maneuvers of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator in air wasn't easy for someone in the Qi Gathering Realm. Even Bai Jingshen could only endure it because he was used to flying. The two young men couldn't concentrate on their surroundings anymore and only noticed a conspicuously large boulder before they entered another cave.

Since her Sacred Fate Body didn't give her any danger signals, Elena didn't slow down much as she flew through the cave. Looking around there wasn't anything outstanding about this cave, apart from the walls which didn't look natural. Elena didn't take the time to confirm if the cave was only enlarged or completely man-made. It didn't make a difference anyway.

After the trio followed a tunnel for a few seconds, Elena suddenly slowed down and decided they should walk the last part. Bai Jingshen was confused, but from this distance only Elena was able to hear people talking upfront. Since her body still didn't sense any danger, she was curious about what kinds of people her protector met down here. The young woman informed her new employees about the situation while advancing in the cave. She knew her protector must have sensed her presence by now. Only a few seconds later the voices turned silent as the trio neared a big room.

A dim, yellowish light reached them from upfront. As soon as they crossed a bigger opening into a huge room, the trio recognized that someone artificially built this gigantic cave. Bai Jingshen was confused if its was man-man or the work of beasts. Observing this underground cave, the young man saw an obviously artificial lake. The walls were decorated with green-glowing vines and even pits filled with leaves and all kinds of soft-looking plants could be seen. Letting his gaze travel further to the right however, Bai Jingshen's eyes suddenly went wide. Who would have thought that they would find the RSS team in such a place? And furthermore, in such a condition?

Other than Bloodsaber who was talking to an old man until now and Ryan who meditated to the side, all the young men had disillusioned looks on their faces. But who could hold that against them, looking at their brutal injuries. All of them had claw marks covering their bodies. Michael was missing an arm, while Zell only had the upper part of his right leg left. Their whole bodies were trembling. Bai Jingshen couldn't even imagine what they must have been though.

Suddenly Bai Jingshen felt some movement next to him. He looked at Sam and noticed the tears running down his face, while he forcefully put on a stoic expression. As he began to run towards his team members, Bai Jingshen observed the raging flames in Bloodsaber's eyes. It looked like he blamed them for this situation. Although this newcomer guide didn't seem injure too badly, his arm was still bent in an unnatural angle. The former emperor was certain Bloodsaber would have attacked immediately if they were alone, but he seemed to fear the old man next to him very much.

Just as Bai Jingshen curiously observed the old man garbed in red armor, the latter was surprised that his young miss came here with two almost naked men in tow. He threw a suspicious look at Sam, frowning as he realized this young man had a complicated but comfortable aura on him. Only as his eyes fell on Bai Jingshen did he recognize their potential scholar. Afterwards he took a few steps forward and bowed to Elena:

"I apologize for my shameful display earlier. I don't know what happened. I am glad you are ok young Miss."

Under Bai Jingshen's surprised look, Elena took a step forward as she helped up her protector while telling him with a smile:

"It's ok, Grand Uncle. This wasn't your fault."

Not only was Bai Jingshen surprised, but so was the old man. Although he and his niece had a good relationship, ever since he took care of her as a child, he had always respected Elena' decision to keep their familial ties out of the company. After thinking about it for a moment he could only come to the conclusion that his niece wanted to appeal to her new recruits by appearing more approachable.

Most of the time Elena was good to those around her, but she was still the boss of her company and showed immaculate behavior. The old man realized once again how important the young men were to his niece, so he silently decided to pay more attention to them as well.

Observing the young, smiling woman and then the other people in this room, Bai Jingshen nodded in approval. As someone experienced in leadership, he understood the small trick Elena used. He was amazed that this young woman was already this good at reading the situation, as this small sowing of closeness was already enough to give everyone in this room a good impression of her.

No one could tell if the RSS members managed to recover their mentality, but Bai Jingshen had seen people come back from worse situations. Most of the time those cultivators built an iron will while rising rapidly in ranks. If Elena's behavior right now could build the foundation for their loyalty later on, she would have gained massively without any effort whatsoever.

If the young woman knew about Bai Jingshen's thoughts she would probably be embarrassed. Although she had good social skills, was well liked by her employees, and showed good enough leadership, she was after all still a young woman. Her only goal was to leave a good impression on Bai Jingshen and Sam, which seemed to have worked. At least in some way. She wasn't thinking so far ahead, as to plan for the small possibility of the RSS team member's having some hidden potential. After helping up her uncle, Elena looked around while asking:

"Can you tell me what happened here?"

"Of course, young Miss. As I chased after you, I was suddenly overcome by an unnaturally strong fear. I am once again sorry for turning around. I was only able to slow down after a few seconds when I noticed how all those beasts in the forest also escaped as if their life depended on it. Unfortunately, I still couldn't bring myself to fly after you. While I was fighting to regain control over my instincts, I suddenly saw a huge boulder being throw into the air. You can imagine my surprise as I watched weak beasts of many different species frantically escaping this cave.

This unnormal event was enough of a shock, so I could at least bring myself to stop. Since I still couldn't turn around, I decided to investigate this cave and quickly after came to this room. I soon found these young men tragically imprisoned behind a few earth pillars in the corner over there. They were naturally also influenced by this weird phenomenon, most of them lying unconscious on the ground when I arrived.

Taking a closer look, I noticed they were wearing our uniforms. I boke them out of their prison and asked what had happened. The newcomer guide explained how they arrived at New Haven City's connection point. After… splitting up… this part of the group sought shelter high up among some trees. It didn't take long however, until some beasts arrived. They quickly discovered them and tried to climb up their tree. At first the group wasn't in much danger, as those beasts were weak climbers and our recruits could stab them from above. Unfortunately, a few avian beasts arrived after a while, which proved too difficult to handle.

Eventually they made the decision to fight their way out, but the beasts proved too many and too strong. However, the strange part began here as those beasts only seemed to vent their anger before dragging our recruits to this cave and locking them up. Afterwards they ignored them."

Elena listened closely, a bit surprised that her mostly quiet protector would talk so much. She quickly understood the reason however, especially towards the end. Her smooth forehead creased as she stated the doubts her protector had:

"Building a cave and taking prisoners. Only a higher-grade beast should have such intelligence. However, only beasts above the immortal realm usually take in subordinates, but never such weak ones. We should try to keep an eye on this. Whether it be beasts or some humans, someone has controlled these beasts' actions…"