Selection (2)

The mantis started by slowly circling around Shui. This didn't seem like it was doing much, but this slow motion would eventually hypnotise its enemies; slowing their reaction speed considerably. Even some of the audience had to shake their heads and turn away to prevent themselves from falling for this ability. Any opponent that had been caught by this ability never lived so they thought it was over for the golden monkey.

"Will he be okay?" asked Riu.

"I'm not sure."

Even Teil, who knew that Shui wasn't ordinary, didn't know if he could overcome this ability since he didn't think he could either.

As it continued circling around him, Shui didn't bother following the mantis with his eyes. The sight of him staring off into space, gave the mantis the idea that its ability had worked so it swiftly pounced on him with its sickles to land the finishing blow. This was the style of the mantis, ending the battle in a short time with as little injuries as possible. Unfortunately, its opponent was on a level of strength that its skills and speed couldn't overcome.

Much quicker than last time, Shui enlarged his hand and slammed it down on the mantis. It was a simple but effective show of strength that demonstrated how powerful Shui was. This power easily won the cheers of the crowd who loved brute force.

After getting their quotas, Cin was challenged twice more while Shui was only challenged once more. They had no problem repelling these challengers so they became part of the group that would enter the secret world.

"Follow me."

Once the selection was over, nine other crown panthers, five being beast spirits and four being high beasts, joined with the crown panther great beast and led everyone else to the entrance of the secret world.

It wasn't very far from the location where the selection was held. Right in front of a large cave, was a big purple oval that made even the beasts who had seen it before gasp in amazement.

Shui didn't know what to expect when he first heard about it, but now that it was right in front of him, he was sure.

'I should be able to get something good out of this place.'

While Shui was excited to enter the secret world, the five cities were getting ready to attack Malirin Forest. In Cyrus, the normal students of the martial academy were given the choice of whether or not to participate, but the core students had no choice. Since this wasn't the first time it happened, the amount of parents who argued about it with staff was around the same and nothing major occurred.

When they heard the news about the hunt, the twins were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to attend, but Lily and Ryan promised to take them along to kill beast spirits once it was over. Although it wasn't mandatory for workers to participate in the hunt, anyone who didn't have other plans and wasn't injured would. After all, they knew that if they didn't show up without a good reason, the association would handle them under stricter conditions.

Ryan and Lily would both be participating, but no one was worried about them. The younger siblings had seen how strong Lily could be, and Ryan seemed to be improving at a good pace since Shui passed on his insights to him. No one could be sure of what would happen but there wasn't any particular worry of something going wrong.

In the other cities, those who went to Cyrus had returned, those who were alive anyways. All of the top brass of these cities, except for Rinto City, wanted to march into Cyrus ask the mayor to explain why their people had died in his city, but it would have to wait until after the hunt.

Henry expected this response from them, but since people from his city were also hurt, they wouldn't be able to apply too much pressure on him. They would likely send people to search for the culprit but since Shui was long gone and no one remembered who he was connected to, that would be a fruitless endeavour.

In Rinto City, while Cleia wasn't punished, she got a long lecture from Jade's grandmother about how to interact with men.

"Look, I'm not like the sect master, I won't tell you not to think about that stuff. But you should at least know how to act. I heard from Jade that you fell hard for that boy and didn't even hide it. No wonder nothing happened between you two, men get bored of easy prey like you quickly."

It was without a doubt both uncomfortable and embarrassing listening to this sort of lecture from someone who was several times her age, but part of her was still invested. In addition to embarrassment, she also felt the need to mentally note down what she was saying. For uh, future reference.

Pemacreba was very vocal about their dissatisfaction with how the mayor of Cyrus handled the security of his town, but within their walls there was much gloom. If only those of the younger generation died, they would have been bursting with fury. However, having even an elder seriously wounded left them ashamed. No one was sure of who harmed him, not even himself, but they all remembered the pair of eyes that gazed on them and assumed that that figure was behind it.

At Reich, the well-built young man who tried to take Ross away and got pushed back by Shui, Bastor, was called before the sect master of the Beast Mountain Sect. His master normally didn't like letting his disciple come here alone, but since the sect master promised him certain things, he agreed. Additionally, he was once part of the sect but left to train in distant highlands, so he acknowledged there was a connection between them.

The sect master wasn't his direct superior, but Bastor still behaved respectfully while seated. Unlike the rest of his sect, the sect master was more on the slender side. However, everyone looked up to him because his form was proof that he had no unneeded muscles and all of his power was concentrated into that lean body.

"Bastor, did you meet him?" asked the sect master.

"Yes."

"Was he strong?"

Rein hesitated for a brief moment before responding. Shui was able to annihilate the force from Silver City so there was no shame in admitting it. However, the fact that he still had his memories due to being in Malirin Forest at the time was still a closely guarded secret.

"Yes. I can't be sure of how strong, but he's definitely dangerous."

"Hmm..."

Unlike Pemacreba and Silver City, Reich only lost young members and they were only killed because they were trying to ride someone's coattails. The sect master didn't feel any remorse over their deaths, but they had to appear angry in order to keep their image. Reich was a place where the strong deserved respect, but none of those aware of Shui's might thought to scheme against him. They only kept it in mind and reminded the youth to be careful of who they offend.