Although Feng Yuan didn’t hold much hope for this, he rembered that most of the spirit beasts in the back mountain were specially brought in by Maomu Academy to provide challenges for the students. Feng Yuan thought that there should at least be one or two rare spirit beast groups existing, but whether they are to his liking is another matter.
After all, the academy focuses on strength and whether they can achieve a training effect for the students, while Feng Yuan is purely concerned with appearance. Spirit beasts that are very powerful but don’t fit Feng Yuan’s aesthetic preferences clearly won’t suit him.
Qi Chen hadn’t thought so much about it before, but now that Feng Yuan ntioned it, he also felt that letting Dou Yanlan search the back mountain for a suitable second beast tar would be a good choice. The academy would definitely not overlook the aspect of strength when choosing spirit beast groups.
It’s not like the strong will only get stronger, but the overall potential of strong spirit beast groups tends not to be low.
The issue of credits was not a big deal. Aside from one class, students from other classes cared more about fate. Therefore, the academy didn’t require them to imdiately provide corresponding credits. They could owe it and repay before graduation.
Feng Yuan wasn’t concerned about this, considering he could always earn credits through the Special Duty Team. He had far more ways to earn credits than other students.
Due to Feng Yuan’s group’s extraordinary strength, the teacher specifically sought their opinion and, after getting consent, relaxed their supervision of them.
Technically, they were supposed to train in the wilderness for a week, but they couldn’t be left entirely unsupervised. Apart from fixed-ti gatherings, the students’ movents weren’t restricted.
The various training facilities in the back mountain were all active. If they weren’t confident in the students, who knows what accidents might happen?
"Alright, the fixed camp is done~"
Commanding Ah Mu to hastily grow the surrounding trees and set up a small cabin, Feng Yuan said with a satisfied grin. According to the rules of a fixed camp in the wild, he put up a sign indicating that this spot was claid. Then Feng Yuan and Qi Chen went off to explore the back mountain.
Although theoretically, Ah Mu could set up camp anywhere, the location of their temporary camp wasn’t bad. It was a short distance from a nearby creek and situated on higher ground, so there was no fear of flooding. There were many trees around, but none encroached on the campsite’s lawn.
As for setting up camp wherever they go?
It’s not impossible, but usually, if staying in an area for a period, one would build a fixed camp like Feng Yuan’s group did.
Even though this incurs extra ti returning to the camp, it avoids potential dangers of setting up camp just anywhere. They can’t thoroughly investigate every spot, and sotis they can’t choose a perfect location when setting up on the go.
This results in the sentries and spirit beasts not getting enough rest. It’s especially taxing on Ah Mu to maintain the camp’s structure constantly, which drains its combat strength.
"I wonder how the others are doing with their camps. So, where are we heading next?"
With his hands behind his head, Feng Yuan casually asked, gazing around. In his perception, there were many spirit beasts hidden in the dense forest around, but they hadn’t attacked his group.
After all, these spirit beasts weren’t belligerent by nature and generally didn’t react aggressively to humans entering their territory.
Of course, in Feng Yuan’s perception, stronger territorial spirit beasts existed further away, but he didn’t ntion it to Qi Chen and the others.
Since Qi Chen was leading, avoiding dangerous areas was an essential skill for wilderness exploration.
"Danger?"
Qi Chen looked around puzzledly, scratched his head, and stood unsure whether to continue following the route.
Dou Yanlan looked at Qi Chen, surprised, and asked
"Ah Chen, what’s wrong?"
"I feel there’s danger ahead, but... if we detour..."
"Then... shall we see if there are any traces?"
As Qi Chen ntioned it, Dou Yanlan was also uncertain about the situation. Although she didn’t sense danger ahead, she knew how strong Qi Chen’s battle intuition was.
Even Feng Yuan found it troubleso, mainly because Xiao Ji wasn’t strong enough. If Feng Yuan went all out, no amount of intuition could bridge the massive strength gap, which usually ruled out other ans of securing victory.
Even if the lurking spirit beast hadn’t acted, Qi Chen’s intuition could still sense a potential threat.
"I see, Ah Chen, look there."
Dou Yanlan turned around and discovered a patch of unusually vibrant flowers, pointing them out. Qi Chen, seeing the bush of flowers, paused and said
"This... seems familiar..."
Scratching his head, Qi Chen tried to recall, but he couldn’t rember exactly what this patch was about. However, he felt it might symbolize danger?
With a sigh, Dou Yanlan helplessly said
"Ah Chen, you could check on your phone. Besides, colorful ink flowers are a common danger sign in the forest."
Dou Yanlan felt a bit helpless, as Qi Chen’s battle capabilities were impressive, but he lacked knowledge about spirit beasts and wasn’t particularly adept with that information.
Awkwardly scratching his head, Qi Chen pulled out his phone to take a photo of the colorful ink flowers for identification. Soon, information about them appeared on the screen.
"Colorful Ink Flower, a special plant cultivated by the Nightmare Rose. It’s generally used as a territory marker by the Nightmare Rose. Upon encountering colorful ink flowers in the wild, it’s advisable to stay away from the direction behind the flower patch, which marks the Nightmare Rose’s domain. Entering it would be considered a provocation."
Reading the information from his phone, Qi Chen looked surprised at the patch of colorful ink flowers. Given that the Nightmare Rose is a rare-level spirit beast, detecting a threat was only natural.
As for ’behind,’ it was easy to discern. The bush had colorful ink flowers on only one side; the other side, devoid of blooms, was the back.
"Let’s avoid it. No need to stir up trouble."
Dou Yanlan glanced at Feng Yuan and addressed Qi Chen. Given Feng Yuan’s strength, they didn’t fear the Nightmare Rose, but there wasn’t much need to confront it. The colorful ink flowers served as a warning and reminder from the Nightmare Rose.
There was no point in forcing their way in. If honing combat skills was the goal, they could always trade potions or materials with more amiable wild spirit beasts, instead of provoking ill-tempered ones.
Otherwise, there’s no telling what might happen. It’s important to note that wild spirit beasts don’t just engage head-on. In such complex wilderness environnts, they could spring a trap without them realizing it.
"Hmm, let’s see how it goes. If its marked territory is extensive, we might have to engage peacefully."
Stroking his chin, Feng Yuan observed the colorful ink flowers and comnted. Wild spirit beasts have varying territory sizes, and Feng Yuan wasn’t sure how large the Nightmare Rose’s domain was. Forcing their way in?
The Nightmare Rose’s territory contained many toxic plants, making trespassing difficult.
It wasn’t clear if it was due to the generally stronger spirit beasts in the back mountain or sothing else, but this Nightmare Rose’s territory was smaller than expected, about half of a typical Nightmare Rose’s domain.
Since the back mountain was under academy control, Feng Yuan wasn’t sure if the limited territory was due to neighboring spirit beasts with similar strength or academy restrictions.
This made little difference to Feng Yuan and his group since they wouldn’t be entering the Nightmare Rose’s domain. Its size didn’t affect them much.
Still, encountering various territorial markers wasn’t fun. He wondered if this area was full of aggressive wild spirit beasts?
In natural environnts, strong territorial spirit beasts typically have common spirit beasts between their domains, but here it was different.
"Hmm, maybe we’ve reached a practical training area."
Rubbing his chin, Feng Yuan seed to grasp the situation, thinking this area might be a training ground for certain courses.
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