Spirit Cultivation

"Aww… Aren't they cute? Look at how they eat their leaves. I want to pet them."

Yiren couldn't help but stare in wonder at the tens of giant plant-eating beasts surrounding their tree. After escaping the group of predators, Drakos lead them to his hideout he made the last time he entered the hidden-realm. It was a small groove he carved inside the tree but big enough to fit them all inside.

Thankfully, just like in every ecosystem, not every Spirit Beast was predatory so they were safe in this area.

"There are few beasts that are harmless in this Hidden Realm and this is one of them," Drakos explained as they stared at the forty meters tall beast with a long neck, chewing on a leaf right beside their hideout. "No one touches them as they are still dangerous. One smack from their tail was enough to kill any beast in this region."

"Region?" Xuefeng asked curiously.

"Okay, let me give you a quick rundown," Drakos called out, gaining everyone's attention. "There is no question that this Hidden Realm is dangerous but what you saw so far was nothing. We are in the weakest region with beasts that mostly don't surpass Rank 8, the equivalent of the Spirit Sage cultivator. The whole realm is made out of three such regions, each stronger than the next.

"If we are careful, it should take us about a week to cross it, reaching the second region. That's when it gets tricky. Most beasts in that region are either Rank 9 or already reached the God stage. The Rank 9's are not really that big of the deal but the God Stage ones are the problem. They are much smarter and generally always lead a group of their kind. Once we face such group, the fight will get chaotic."

Everyone's faces got serious, realizing it wasn't a child play anymore. They were battling someone much stronger than them. What about the third region? Wouldn't the beast be even stronger than that?

"What about the third region? It should be where that mountain is located, right?" Xiao Wen questioned, recalling the tall mountain in the distance, their goal for his expedition.

"Exactly. That's the place we need to reach. I, being the greatest dragon of all time, didn't have problems with reaching the third region but then, I encountered a problem. The whole third region is filled with a strange force field that prevents anything to fly. Even if we wanted to, we can't just fly to the mountain. We have to climb it," Drakos replied, complicating everything even more.

"I know we want to use this expedition to hone our skills but I have a hypothetical question. Can't we just fly to the third region and avoid all beasts on the way?"

"Hah, that's impossible. There is a way why all the flying beasts are living within the trees. It's because of the king in the skies that dominates the whole space in this realm," Drakos explained with a bitter chuckle. "I am not sure what Stage he reached already but I'm sure he already close to transformation. In a few hundred years, he should be able to transform his body and leave this realm. I'm sure that's its goal."

Xuefeng couldn't help but tease it him, "Can you beat it?"

"Pfft!" Drakos immediately snickered. "Of course I can! I just need to regain my flames! To do that, I need more Fate Qi. There is a big source of Fate Stones inside that Mountain. I just need to get there and then I will show that beast who is the king of the skies!"

"Alright, let's get to that mountain then. I will get my Elemental Stone and you will get your Fate Stones," Xuefeng decided determined when he suddenly felt Tianshi's hand grip his arms strongly.

"Xuefeng! Something bad is going to happen to one of us!" she called out in panic.

It was the first time he saw her this worried. Just as her, he quickly got alarmed and asked seriously, "Are we in danger here?"

"I'm not sure. Everything is clouded in my mind. I only know it won't be you or me," Tianshi explained afraid and turned to the rest, "Everyone! Give me your hand! I need to check your future!"

She couldn't simply tell everyone's future without touching them. She can only see the future she was involved with.

"Wait!" Tianshi froze right after and gazed at Yiren who was standing at the edge of their groove, waving at the nearby plant-eater as if she wanted to play with him. "Yiren!"

Hearing her name, she turned around confused, asking, "What happened? I'm playing with bobby. Look how cute he is."

As Yiren spoke, she extended her hand and rubbed the plant-eater on the nose. It didn't even react, continuing to chew while observing Yiren with its large eye.

Xuefeng didn't waste time and quickly dashed towards Yiren, shouting, "Come here!"

Screeeeeee!

He couldn't even place two steps when they heard a horrific cry from the sky.

Drakos couldn't help but shudder and together with him, all tens of plant-eaters panicked as well. Bobby who was the closest quickly moved, hitting the tree with his body as if trying to avoid the incoming danger by hiding under the tree.

Unfortunately, Bobby seemed to forget his new friend was standing right at the edge.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Yiren screamed in panic as she began to fall but then froze mid-air, stopped by Xuefeng's and Nuwa's bloodline power, acting at the same time to save her. They smoothly pulled her back together when a passing neck of Bobby smashed against Yiren's body, knocking her away.

"Nooooo!" Xuefeng yelled as he flew towards the exit only to see another neck blocking it completely, consuming all the light inside the groove.

Rumble!

Their groove shook madly with each new beast smashing against the tree which almost knocked everyone but Xuefeng didn't stop his charge, pulling out Dragon Edge and pierced right through the tree, creating a new exit for himself.

"Yiren!"

He spotted her on one of the beast's back, totally knocked out from the unsuspected hit. He was never this close to losing someone he loved, making his heart beat like a galloping horse. Thanks to their connection he knew she wasn't hurt but that didn't lower his worry.

SCREEEEEEE!!!!

The same cry repeated, this time much closer and louder, almost deafening. Saving Yiren was a priority in his mind so he dove down but then a shock-wave came straight at him, blasting him back into the groove.

Bang!

He was like a bullet, smashing deep into the way but he wasn't injured thanks to his lightning armor that suddenly wrapped his body.

He saw Nuwa fly out as well, trying to save her daughter but the outcome wasn't different.

Swoosh!

Her body flew like a rocket, almost hitting him as she hit the wall. They didn't know what was hitting them until they heard an earth-shaking voice from the outside and a pair of claws that landed right next to them, catching one of the plant-eaters.

"LITTLE DRAGON! I FINALLY FOUND YOU! ARE YOU GOING TO RUN ONCE AGAIN FROM ME?! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU CANNOT RUN ANYMORE! I'M TAKING ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO EAT HER, YOU HAVE ONE DAY TO MEET ME AT THE PEAK OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR THE DUEL!"

The next moment, they saw Yiren's body being trapped right between golden claws, carried away on the back of unlucky Bobby.

They were the targets all along!

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THE WORDS YOU SAID!"