Han Feng

The weather was neither extremely cold nor sizzling hot. The wind caressed the grass and swayed the trees. It carried the fragrance of flowers, the minuscule dew drops from the leaves, and the never-ending stream of freshness and vitality.

The sun was peaking through the trees, it's rays penetrating the fog that filled the entirety of the forest, making it's way to everything from living to the non-living. Reaching the budding of grass shooting from the ground to the crawling insects.

Outside the forest stood a great wall. You could not see it's ending. It was a wall made of red stones, seemed to be standing there forever. It surrounded the city from all sides, called the Red Stone City. Famous for the red colored stones. There were guards patrolling on the wall.

There were only two entrances to this city. The main gate in the North and the other in the South.

At this time a large group of people was coming out of the main gate of the city. It consisted of 50 people wearing the same dark green robes and rushing in an orderly manner.

In the front, a person with a huge build was leading. He looked focused and alert. His name was Jiang Hou, the leader of the team and the one with the highest cultivation.

This time the elders of the Jiang clan have promised richer rewards so there were more people this time.

But the task this time was also more dangerous. They were supposed to hunt Flaming Rhino, a Level-2 Magical Beast which was equivalent to a mid-level Foundation Establishment cultivator and lived deeper inside the Chaotic Forest. Although Jiang Hou was also at this level, but the magical beasts were twice as strong in the same realm.

"Master Jiang! This is really a good opportunity. Elders will give double rewards for Level-2 magical core. I can improve my cultivation by a few levels." Said a thin man with a smile.

"Although it's an opportunity, but you must live to enjoy it. This time there is no room for any mistake. Listen up! Anyone who messes things up, I will kill him myself. You hear me?" Shouted Jiang Hou.

"YES!"

Everyone gave a brisk reply.

Hiding far behind the group was a young man who appeared to be of 16-17 years of age, he was wearing a black robe and a wine gourd was stuck to his waist. He looked average with pale and rough skin, a thin body, and black eyes full of brightness and solitude.

He was looking thoughtfully at Jiang Hou and the rest while maintaining his speed with the group, lagging far behind, lurking in the shadows so as to avoid being discovered.

"Shouting in every 2 minutes... He is not in an ideal state of mind, maybe this time danger level of their quest is higher and If this keeps up, they might go deaf before reaching the forest."He thought.

His name was Han Feng, a resident of Red Stone City. His father was a winemaker and sold it to the restaurants. Everything was going smoothly until last year when his father died inside the Chaotic Forest only leaving a small house and some brewed wine.

The death of his father made him realize, that nothing was more important than cultivation. If his father was strong enough he would still be alive. He was a scholar and never paid attention to cultivation. His Ideal was to open a school and teach young children.

But his father's death shocked him to the core. Drowning his sorrows with the wine his father made, he slowly got addicted to it. Since then his scholarly character became tinged with lethargy and sloppiness.

He sold most of the wine in stock in order to buy equipment needed for hunting Magical Beasts.

He also had some expertise in cooking food but didn't have enough money to open even a small restaurant. So he tried to find other ways to earn spirit stones. Now he wanted to earn spirit stones more than ever. He wanted to become strong. Stronger still.

It has been a year since his father died. Although he knew how to brew wine, this was not what he wanted to do now. He wanted to be a strong cultivator, and for that, he needed more spirit stones than he could ever earn by selling wine. So he decided to hunt magical beasts.

Magical beasts were found everywhere inside the Chaotic forest. The deeper you go the more you will find. It was very dangerous to go there alone as some magical beasts live in a group and you never know which level of the magical beast you might encounter.

"I have to be careful. The members of these clans aren't a good bunch." Han Feng thought and moved as silently as he could and as far as he could so that he was not spotted by them.

Cultivation started with the Body Refining realm, where one had to refine his body. Starting from blood, internal organs, then, at last, the bones. The basic aim was to integrate spiritual energy into each and every part of the body and then constantly refine it with the spiritual energy.

Han Feng was at the 6th Layer of Body Refining, i.e. he had completed refining the internal organs. In order to break through to the 7th layer, he needed body refining pills and other resources, and for that, he needed spirit stones. These things weren't cheap.

Thus, the need to hunt magical beasts in the Chaotic forest. Magical beast's parts were sold at a very high price but simultaneously had a very high level of risk. Every magical beast had a magical core inside, that stored all the spiritual energy. Although it couldn't be directly refined, it could be sold for spirit stones.

Thus Han Feng was following the people from the Jiang clan, trying his luck to get some benefits along the way. It was not easy to tag along with any hunting party. They were always careful about followers.

The Red Stone City had a total of 9 clans that lived with peace and harmony, but just on the surface. In reality, the water was too deep. The clans were under the jurisdiction of the city lord who maintained peace and order with his influence and power.

The city had a history of millennia. The people of the city have fought countless battles both against the monsters and the other clans, to maintain their footing in the Red Stone City.

"The Jiang clan often sends its members to hunt beasts into the forest. If this time I can take advantage of the situation..." He was thinking deeply about the possible scenarios that may happen inside the forest and his knowledge about various Magical Beasts, their features, habits, etc.

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, the members of the Jiang clan disappeared from his sight.

"Hm? Where did they go?"