Inside The Forest

Han Feng saw Jiang's group disappearing into the forest so he sped up in order to catch up with them. Soon he could see them but just for a moment then they again disappeared behind the dense trees.

"What the hell. Are they running from a magical beast or what. They ran as if escaping for their life." Han Feng was breathless as he ran as fast as he could but still couldn't manage to catch a glimpse of the disappearing backs of the people from the Jiang clan.

Han Feng was just a Body Refining Cultivator. While the people from the Jiang clan were at least of Foundation Establishment level. He shouldn't have expected that he could follow them throughout the journey.

"Damn it. I will just follow the same path for a while. I don't believe they will keep on running forever. I might just catch up with them." Han Feng was not discouraged. He kept on going the same path in order to see their trail once again.

Time passed very quickly and after more than 2 hours of exploring the forest, he was starting to get tired. As he went further into the forest, the trees got denser and he could hear the roar of different beasts. He had to stop going forward as now he was passing the safe zone and entering the real danger zone.

Soon he had to lay down and hide as he spotted stood a hound-like beast having blue stripes and It's whole head and legs were covered with silver scales. It had sharp teeth that were dripping saliva on the grass, and a pair of red eyes looking around fiercely at it's surrounding.

"Silver Scaled Hound!" Han Feng recognized this magical beast from the Magical Beasts Encyclopedia that he memorized by heart. It was a peak Level-1 Magical Beast which generally liked to live in a group.

*Deep breath*

Han Feng took a deep breath and calmed himself. If he took any rash decision, he would die as he wasn't this beast's match at all. He decided to look for any changes for now and hid by laying down behind a thick layer of grass.

"Aooo. . . ." The Hound suddenly started howling.

Han Feng's eyes suddenly contracted. He saw a 15-16 feet long Snake, totally covered in black scales, coiled on top of a tree.

Soon it appeared behind the hound in the blink of an eye and attacked the Hound.

The hound was extremely cautious. He dodged the Snake's attack and moved diagonally then bit Its tail.

The Snake also coiled it's body around the Hound's neck, causing it to loosen its jaw.

The Hound could only shake its head and fling the snake far away.

"It is Black Scaled Python. This is also a peak Level-1 Magical Beast on par with The Silver Scaled Hound."

"Strange, It is very rare for these beasts to fight someone of the same level. They generally avoid fighting same level beasts and only kill those who are weaker than them and run away from those stronger than them." Han Feng was now holding his breath while lying under the cover of grass.

His whole body was stuck very close to the ground. He didn't even dare to look directly at the fight for a long time and took glances every now and then.

As Han Feng was thinking whether he should retreat or stay to obtain fisherman benefit. The fight grew more and more intense with each passing second. The wounds on their bodies kept on increasing. Both beasts were dripping with blood and their ferocity kept on increasing. The fight went on for hours.

At this moment, the Hound was holding the Python's head with its sharp teeth and the Python was Coiled around the Hound's whole body. But this time they both didn't compromise.

Han Feng was shocked. This was the first time he saw the savageness and cruelty of Magical Beasts. In order to kill the enemy, they didn't care about their own life. No matter the cost, no matter how much damage their body took and even if in the process they lose their life.

Then Han Feng realized he had difficulty breathing as he has been holding his breath for too long. So he took a deep breath and calmed his shaken heart. Now it was a very crucial time, both for him and the fighting beasts.

Now both the Hound and Python were rolling on the ground, the Hound trying to shake the grasp of Python and the Python trying to crush the bones of the Hound.

Suddenly, the situation took a drastic change. The hound let loose the Python's head and bit it's the neck, crushing and chewing it while vigorously shaking Its head. Ultimately he tore the Python's neck and broke Its head in half. Python's body slipped and slumped on the ground.

*ROAR*

The Silver Scaled Hound roared upon his victory. Then he held the Python's head with his jaws and disappeared deep into the forest.

"That was awesome. It is good that Silver Scaled Hound left here. Maybe due to the serious damage, it went to hide and heal it's wound somewhere safe." Han Feng was very excited. This is the first time he witnessed such a fierce fight.

In fact, he was right. Although in the end, the Silver Scaled Hound won, the grip of the Black Scaled Python crushed most of Its bones and internal organs. So instead of taking the whole body of Silver Scaled Python, It only took the head that contained the Monster Core and left quickly to heal somewhere safe.

"This fight will attract many beasts. I must act quickly and get the rest of the Silver Scaled Python's body. The head is gone but the rest of the body is more than enough to earn 1000-1500 spirit stones." Han Feng quickly made his way to the Python's body.

He gently caressed the ring on his left forefinger and the body disappeared.

It was a space ring. The space ring was commonly used by people to store things as it made carrying them easier. It was made by refiners and was marked with space runes.

There are different qualities of space rings available that had different volumes of space. The one that he bought was at the lowest level.

Han Feng bought this space ring by spending 5,000 spirit stones which he earned by selling almost the entire stock of wine that his father brewed. It has a space of 2-meter cube(2mX2mX2m). Python's body entirety packed that space ring.

He quickly left the place and returned to the city. On the outskirts of the forest, he laid some simple traps that he bought specially for this trip and continued hurrying towards the gate.

As he reached the city gate he saw the people from the Jiang clan entering the city in a hurry. They all looked the same as before they left, there were no signs of battle or any injury. The team leader's face was solemn and the rest were very hurried in their footsteps.

"Something is wrong with these people. It has only been 6 hours at most and they have already returned." Han Feng thought deeply about the behavior of the people from the Jiang clan. If they had completed their goal they would be happy and excited. If they failed their mission, whatever it may have been, they would be depressed and angry. Now they were clearly showing neither of these emotions.

"Interesting." Han Feng smiled. He looked one last time towards the departing crowd and then entered the city.