Red-eyed Mountain goat

In the evening they chose a large clearing to set up a camp. Nie Li again with Chen Linjian's two underlings leave the camp to scout. Even though this time they weren't in the forest and the chances of meeting dangerous demon beast was low, they still decided to scout. They again divided the area to explore took off. What no one noticed was Shen Yue's three 2-star Bronze rank followers too left the camp.

Nie Li scouted the area slowly gaining a distance from the camp. This time he could notice many small demon beasts. They weren't a threat to the camp so he continued. After ten minutes of exploring, he found only a 5 star Bronze rank Red-eyed Mountain Goat that could be said somehow dangerous, but they usually didn't leave their territory. And this one was with his kid. So Nie Li decided to avoid it.

But on his way back to the camp he noticed the most interesting thing. There were three humans at some distance in front of him. They were between him and the camp as if blocking his way. At first, he thought they were assassins the Sacred family sent after him. But he noticed that all three of them Bronze rank maximum. And they haven't noticed him even when he was 20 meters from them.

"Where is the kid? How is he this fast?" one of them asked.

"I don't know. He just disappeared before I got here" answered another one. Nie Li recognized them. All three were in Shen Yue's group. It looks like Shen Yue decided to take things into his own hands. As if confirming his thoughts the third one spoke.

"It doesn't matter. We must find him. If we fail, master Sen Yue will skin us alive."

'What's their plan?' Nie Li thought. Were they going to kill him or beat him up? Does it matter? He could circle around them and return to the camp but he must punish them. Can he deal with three 2-star Bronze rank demon spiritualists at once? Dealing with one or two is possible, but three at once? It's risky. 'And why I must deal with them myself' thought Nie Li with a smile.

He returned the way he came. After gaining some distance he shouted and ran towards the demon goat's location leaving traces on the ground. When he got close to the last place where he had last seen the Mountain goat he turned to the side and hid behind large boulders concealing his spirit force as well.

Ten seconds later his pursuers ran past, not noticing him. A couple of seconds later very loud bleat was heard. Nie Li slowly moved away. Red-eyed Mountain goats with kids were extremely aggressive. And considering its speed, Shen Yue's followers will find it hard to run away. Even if they survive they will be injured. Nie Li headed towards the camp whistling a tune from Robert's word. At least trying, because he wasn't good at whistling.

When he returned to the camp, he was invited into Chen Linjian's tent. There were Chen Linjian, his scouts, and surprisingly Shen Yue himself. Shen Yue was surprised to see him too.

"Did you find anything?" asked Chen Linjian.

"Nothing dangerous. A couple of 1-star and 2-star Bronze rank beasts. One 5 star bronze rank Red-eyed Mountain Goat here," he showed them on the map. "But they don't leave their territories so I avoided it."

"Okay. I will ask the guard to be careful. All of you can rest." Chen Linjian said. They left his tent. Nie Li could see Shen Yue was glaring at him. He must be wondering where his underlings disappeared. But it was not Nie Li's problem, so he acted as if he was oblivious to his glares.

Nie Li chose a place at a bit of distance from others and set up his tent. Then he put up a sensor array around his tent, using soul crystal shards. It will warn him if anyone approaches his tent.

Entering his tent, he took out the Starlight Crafting Plate. When he was creating his armor, he had an idea of how to improve his physical stats. He remembered some anime called Naruto where one teacher and his student trained their bodies by binding weights to their hands and legs. And weights weren't uncommon in this universe as well. While Nie Li thought the idea of weights rather crude, he could improve it. Instead of weighing down his arms and legs, he would use the resistance field on his entire body. He could make an undersuit that would create a resistance field around his body. The strength of the field would be adjustable. And he could shut it down any time he wanted.

He had bought all the necessary resources in the Glory City so he began his work. After two hours his undersuit was ready. He painted it green as a joke. He took off his armor and put on his new training suit. He activated the field and put the resistance at a minimum. Nie Li moved around, did some sit-ups, kicks, and punches. Resistance was barely noticeable.

He raised the level of the resistance. The suit had ten resistance levels, and he now put it on 2. Now he could feel as if he was underwater when moving, but it was still weak. So he raised the level by one again. Now it was acceptable. When moving he could feel his muscles straining. He did some exercises and was satisfied with his new invention. With this training suit, he would be able to bring his strength up to level quickly.

Then he turned off the field. He looked at the clock. It was 11 p.m. so he had time for cultivation. He set up his Cultivating tent and began cultivating.

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In the morning when he finished his cultivation he put on his armor and activated his training suit at level 3. Then he began his exercises. Guards who were on watch and few who had awakened looked at him strangely. Usually, demon spiritualists don't train their bodies, because advancing to a new level usually improved strength as well. They trained only if their bodies couldn't handle the demon spirit they wanted to integrate with. But Nie Li understood that it's important to keep the balance between his cultivation and physical body. Also, the Heavenly God technique he cultivated had a physical aspect as well. In later levels of cultivation, it will improve his physique greatly.

During breakfast, Nie Li heard the rumors about Shen Yue's underlings. It sounded like they tried to sneak into the camp but were noticed by the guards that almost attacked them. When they recognized them they called Shen Yue. All three of them were injured, one even heavily. Commotion awakened many people and Shen Yue had to answer some very hard questions. What were his followers doing at night outside the camp? Shen Yue claimed ignorance and one of his followers came to his aid claiming that they wanted to hunt the demon beast for its spirit. Chen Linjian called them idiots and told Shen Yue that he should control his subordinates better.

In other words, the night turned out to be intense. Only Nie Li who was in deep meditation failed to notice it. When the girls recounted to him the events of the previous night Nie Li hemmed and hawed at the right places and agreed with the girls' opinions on the three idiots. But inside he was laughing at the Shen Yue and his underlings' misfortune. Don't dig a hole for someone else, as you will fall into it yourself.