After 3 months of traveling, I was finally deep enough in the forest to start encountering Rank 3 demonic beasts.

I had noticed that the deeper you went into the forest, the more powerful the beast and the more valuable the herbs became.

In those three months, I haven't been idle, and I've just reached the third level of the Foundation Establishment and Bones Forging realms.

I've noticed that with the help of the Yang Qi fluid, I'll reach the next major bottleneck in about 1 year and 9 months. This is because I can't drink it continuously without putting a strain on my body.

Just as I was about to enter the realm of Rank 3, I felt a group of people behind me enter the realm of my Spiritual Sense. They were all in the Foundation Establishment realm, and they seemed quite relaxed as they were chatting.

I moved closer, hiding in the shadows of the trees, and began to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Hey boss, how sure is the information?"

"Once again, the information is quite certain, the guardian beast of this area has reached the critical point of its cultivation and has gone into hibernation. Our task is simple: while our elders raid the nest and create a distraction, we are to kill the three beasts that have reached sentience at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, using the formation given by the elders. We can keep any magic herbs and cubs we find.

When I heard these words, I immediately became angry. Those bastards don't kill for the sake of resources, they kill for the sake of killing.

I controlled myself and kept listening to get more information.

"We are assigned to the territory of the Great-Eared Mouse. This beast isn’t particularly strong for a peak Rank 3 demonic beast but it has a lot of subordinates and it has very strong sensing abilities so we must act with caution. Use the Lightsteps Talismans and set up the formation flags so he won’t escape.”

I was about to slip away to the Great-Eared Mouse when the following words made me freeze.

"What about the mutated bear that escaped from the Myriad Sect?"

"Tsk, those fools can't even contain its wisdom properly, and now they've put it on the wanted list, dead or alive. Why do you ask? It's unlikely that we'll find it here, and even if we do, it's only an early-rank 3 beast, hell, even if it was a mid-rank 3, we could easily handle it. The rewards are pretty good too.”

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‘So they put a bounty on me. Not only that, but it seems that the sects are targeting the demonic beasts with awakened wisdom. Good to know.’

I ran deeper into the forest until I spotted a mouse with particularly large ears. I stopped and, stepping out of the shadows, asked: "Hello little friend. I have a message for your leader. Would you show me the way?"

The mouse seemed frightened and showed me its fangs. After a few unsuccessful attempts to make it my guide, I gave up and hid in the shadows again.

I stared at the mouse which, when it had calmed down, went to a nearby rock and began to claw at it. 3km away I felt another mouse coming out of a hole and doing the same. I started to run and soon, 6 km from the original mouse, I felt another one doing the same.

I followed the trail of tapping mice in a zigzag pattern through the forest until I came to... nothing. I didn't find any other creatures for 5 km around the last tapping mouse. I started to move around searching until 6km from the last tapping mouse I felt something moving in a hole.

I approached and found a black mouse the size of a cat with ears as big as its head.

As I approached it spoke: "Well, it looks like you found me after all. Why don't you come out so we can talk snout to snout?"

I emerged from the shadows and said: "Greetings, my name is Zhao. I am here to warn you of something. There is a group of disciples from the Foundation Establishment realm who are coming here to kill you; they have a special formation for that.

(Giant Eared Mouse) "And why are you telling me this? Out of the kindness of your heart?"

(I) "Yes?"

(Giant Eared Mice) “I don't know what you want, but you should make up a more believable story. The Blue Flamed Leopard wouldn't allow anything to happen to me, the Golden Crocodile, or the Icy Sparrow, since we're going to the Beast's Continent."

(I) “I’m not making up anything! I heard them talking a while ago and they said that the guardian is going through hibernation and the elders will raid its nest to cause a distraction.”

(Giant Eared Mice) “I am starting to believe you. But I am not sure about your motives. One thing that I learned is that no one does anything for nothing.”

(I) “We are of the same species: we should stick to each other.”

(Giant Eared Mice) “What are you five?”

(I) “ yes.”

If a mouse could do a surprised face the Giant Eared Mice would be doing one now.

(Giant Eared Mice) “You reached Rank 3 and unlocked your wisdom in only five years? What kind of freakish bloodline do you have?”

(I) “Yes? And a normal one I think. If you are asking about my species, I am a YinYang Bear.”

(Giant-Eared Mice) “You call a bloodline with two composite attributes normal?! There is nothing normal about it! Besides, only very few high-ranked bloodlines give the holder the possibility to awaken their wisdom so early. Most of us beasts must live like dumb creatures for decades before we even have a chance of that happening”

(I) “Oh.”

(Giant Eared Mice) “Well, I will believe you for now. Or you are telling the truth or you are the worst liar in existence. We will talk more later, now we must act. Here is the plan.”