Han Yu was a bit relieved that the Elder had emphasized on the safety part, but if that was all there to it, they wouldn’t have put soone like him who was still in the Body Tempering Realm on this mission.
This was no ordinary mission.
It was a test — maybe even a trap.
Especially with Liu Ping and Sun Kang smiling so politely at him.
Han Yu’s instincts scread at him, but he had no choice.
Refusing a direct mission from the sect would lead to punishnt — at best, docked contribution points. At worst, expulsion.
He bowed low with the others and accepted the scroll containing the details.
Two days later, Han Yu departed with the assigned group toward Black Moss Ridge.
The path to the Black Moss Ridge was certainly not simple. After leaving the sect, they first passed through the Spirit beast forest’s outer edge, which was possibly the safest area. After that they reached the middle ring where the danger finally began to show.
Several weaker spirit beasts passed around them and didn’t attack them at first, but once they had assessed these humans, they finally mustered the courage and attacked them. These were so common Brown Furred Spirit Wolves and were the main predator here.
Han Yu had been worried about this, but thankfully for him he wasn’t alone. There were nine of them, which was more than enough to take out a handful of Early Qi refining realm spirit beasts.
They were killed without even being given the chance
With the Brown Furrwed Spirit Wolves dead, they harvested so useful materials, leaving the rest of the corpse behind.
"Do we really have to waste them?" Han Yu asked feeling unwilling.
"If you want to haul the corpses all the way, feel free." Wu Shan spoke.
"Fine." Han Yu let out a sigh.
There was no way he was doing that as it would be too tiring even with his increased strength. Not to ntion, none of them had Spatial Storage treasures with them. and even if they sohow did, no one was going to use up precious space to store so corpses.
For a low grade Spatial Storage bag, even fitting a single wolf’s corpse might be its limit, so they would have to give up on the rest anyway.
They traveled under grey skies and along crumbling paths, the air growing damp and the forest thicker with every step.
The deeper they went, the more the mist coiled around their legs like living things.
No spirit beasts attacked them due to so beast repelling powder that they had saved for the more dangerous areas, but the eerie silence weighed heavily.
They found little evidence of beast activity aside from a few deep gouges in trees and stone, marks wider than anything a mundane creature could make.
Han Yu remained alert, and so did the others.
That night, they set up camp at the base of a large cliff face, a relatively safe clearing with visibility on three sides.
Han Yu volunteered for first watch.
He didn’t trust anyone else — especially not Liu Ping and Sun Kang, who kept casting dark looks at him when they thought no one was watching.
Hours into the night, with the others asleep and only the crackling campfire for company, Han Yu sensed movent.
Two figures crept toward him under the misty veil.
Liu Ping and Sun Kang.
Han Yu kept his breathing steady, waiting until they were nearly upon him before casually lifting his broom.
"You should turn back," he said softly.
The two froze.
Liu Ping laughed, trying to play it off. "Brother Han, why so tense? We just wanted to offer a little... company."
Han Yu shifted his stance slightly, keeping his broom between them.
"I prefer my own company, thanks."
Sun Kang sneered, pulling out a short dagger with a faint green sheen.
Poison.
Han Yu’s eyes narrowed.
Before either could act further, he moved first.
CRACK!
The broom handle slamd into Sun Kang’s wrist, knocking the dagger spinning into the grass.
Liu Ping cursed and lunged with a hidden blade, but Han Yu sidestepped smoothly and swept his leg out, knocking the attacker off balance.
THUMP!
Liu Ping crashed to the ground with a pained grunt.
Their scuffle, though swift, echoed sharply through the silent ridge.
And that was when everything changed.
RRRRROOOAAARRRR!
A monstrous roar ripped through the mist.
The ground trembled under Han Yu’s feet.
From the shadows of the treeline, a massive shape surged forward.
Black scales glinted under the moonlight, and wicked claws gouged deep furrows into the soil with every step.
A beast unlike any Han Yu had ever seen.
"A Black Claw Giza Lizard!?"
Sun Kang seed to recognize it.
A Core Condensation realm spirit beast.
"RUN!" Han Yu barked, not wasting a second.
Liu Ping and Sun Kang scrambled to their feet and bolted after him, terror etched across their faces.
They raced toward the path they had co from — but the Black Claw Giza Lizard was faster.
In a blur of black scales, it leapt and slamd down in front of them, sending a wave of force outward.
The ground cracked.
The cliff edge groaned.
The others, roused by the roar and the tremors, ca rushing toward the commotion, weapons drawn.
"What is that!?" Wu Shan shouted, eyes wide as he saw the titanic lizard.
"A Core Condensation Beast! How is there one here?!" another disciple scread.
They ford up instinctively, preparing to rescue Han Yu — unaware of the earlier betrayal — but the Black Claw Giza Lizard was enraged beyond reason.
It swiped its massive claw sideways.
Han Yu, Liu Ping, and Sun Kang barely managed to dodge, but the cliff could not withstand the assault.
With a deafening crack, the edge gave way.
CRUMBLE!!
Han Yu felt the ground vanish under his feet.
He caught a glimpse of the horrified faces of the others reaching for them — too late.
Then he was falling.
Falling into a swirling pit of mist, rocks, and broken earth.
The last thing he saw before the mist swallowed him was the black-scaled monster roaring above, glaring down into the abyss as if daring anyone to follow.
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