"Shall we go, Brother Jian?"

Looking at Kai Ren, whose face was getting redder and redder by the second, Jain Li laughed out loud before saying, "Yes, let's go."

"See you soon, master." After getting the reply from Jian Li, Kai Ren immediately said goodbye to his master before running away to hide his embarrassment.

"This brat, Jian Li, I hope you take good care of him." Looking at the escaping Kai Ren, Lian Hua chuckled and said to Jain Li.

"Of course, sect master, you can rely on me," Jian Li replied, bowing.

Looking at the bowing Jian Li, Lian Hua nodded in approval and said,

"Now go before that brat runs too far away and makes it hard for you to find him." after saying this, she chuckled again.

Hearing her words, Jian Li realized that Kai Ren had already become a tiny dot on the horizon and he was still not stopping, so he quickly chased after him while shouting,

"Junior Kai, wait for me."

After both of them were out of her view, Lian Hua's previous amused expression changed to a serious one, and she called out "Elder Hun" in her usual authoritative voice.

"Yes, Sect master." Suddenly, Attila appeared in front of her.

"Follow them and make sure not to reveal yourself until absolutely necessary, do you understand?" The sect master said in a severe voice.

"Yes, Sect master. Now, if you'll excuse me." Elder Hun replied before he disappeared, just like he appeared.

After Elder Hun disappeared, Lian Hua muttered to herself,

"I hope you both will return to the sect safely," before returning inside the sect.

Meanwhile,

Jian Li was finally able to catch up to Kai Ren,

"Brother Kai, you ran too fast. It was tough to catch up with you, you know." Jian Li said to Kai Ren.

"Hahaha, sorry about that. Anyway, where should we go now?" Kai Ren apologized to Jian Li after realizing that he had indeed not thought about anything else before he started running.

"Hmm, let's see," Jian Li started to think about where they should go after hearing Kai Ren's question. After thinking for a while, a bright expression appeared on his face, and he turned toward Kai Ren and said,

"I know. Let's go to Shadowfang forest. It will be the perfect place for you to start you to get the basic feel for real battles."

"Then I'll do as you say, brother Jian," Kai Ren replied with a nod, agreeing with the arrangements Jian Li had decided on.

So they started walking toward Shadowfang forest. After travelling for about two weeks, they finally reached it. They also came across some bandits on the way, but as soon as they saw their Emerald Peak sect's uniform, they scrambled toward the forest.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

When Kai Ren first saw the Shadowfang forest, he immediately understood how it got the name Shadowfang.

The forest was filled with dense trees that cast a shadow on the entire area without letting a single ray of light pass through furthermore, the shape of the branches on the trees was such that it looked like a fang of a ferocious beast, giving an eerie feeling to the entire forest.

"You don't have to worry about the beasts here, As long as you stay focused, they won't even be able to touch you." Jian Li said to Kai Ren after he saw the slightly wary look on his face.

"The highest rank beast in this forest would be a rank five beast, which is equal to a Qi master realm cultivator," Jian Li further explained. "Even if there's a beast ranked higher than that, I am still here."

Looking at the sceptical expression Kai Ren was giving him, he further explained.

"I don't mean to brag but I am a bonafide Qi Sage realm cultivator, you know."

Though he said he wasn't bragging, the smug expression on his face said otherwise,

"Is that so? Well, I guess I will rely on you then, brother Jian," Kai Ren replied with an expressionless face and started to walk toward the forest.

Looking at the bland reaction Kai Ren gave him, Jian Li got a little embarrassed and said to Kai Ren,

"What do you mean by 'is that so' I will literally reach the peak of cultivation before even being a hundred years old, and yet all I got from you is that, Not even the slightest surprised expression or praise?"

Hearing Jian Li's rambling, Kai Ren just shrugged his shoulders and said,

"I am the sect master's first disciple."

"But still, I am the most talented grandson of the Grand Elder and a known genius throughout the Emerald Peak sect."

"I am the sect master's first disciple."

"I am just twenty-five years old and have reached the Qi sage realm and, if I am lucky, will be able to reach the Ascension realm in less than twenty-five years"

"I am the sect master's first disciple."

"I am-I am... Fu*k, do you have anything besides being the first disciple of the sect master?"

Hearing Jian Li's words, Kai Ren looked at the ground and started to ponder. After some time, he looked up. After Jian Li saw that Kai Ren was about to say something, his ears perked up as Kai Ren's entire existence was shrouded in mystery.

Apart from him being the first disciple of the sect master, there was nothing much known about him, and even his grandfather was unwilling to tell him about it.

"I am," Kai Ren paused for a second, then continued, "the sect master's favourite disciple."

"FUUUU*****KKKK!" Jian Li immediately cursed after hearing Kai Ren's reply.

Looking at Jian Li's indigent expression, Kai Ren laughed out loud and felt like he had gotten revenge for the little stunt Jain Li and Lian Hua had pulled at the sect gate.

"Let's go, Brother Jian. It will be nightfall in a few hours, and I want to hunt my first beast before that," Kai Ren said after he had finished laughing and started to walk toward the forest.

Jian Li flipped a middle finger toward Kai Ren before following him from behind.

After they entered the forest, the entire atmosphere around them changed, and they raised their guard to the limit. The previous playfulness they had during their banter was nowhere to be seen, and what remained in its place was serious expression.

As they continued to walk deeper into the forest, they suddenly heard a rustling sound from a nearby bush and immediately took out their weapons.

As they focused on the bush, they saw a snake coming out of the bush, the snake-like beast was pitch black and had four jewels etched onto its forehead.

"Shadow serpent" As Kai Ren was still looking at the snake-like beast, he heard Jian Li's voice beside him,

"A venomous beast that excels in camouflage and stealth, it's agile and has strong regenerative abilities. Its main attack method is shadow manipulation, which is used to manipulate shadows to attack its opponents."

"It also uses its body to constrict its enemies and suffocate them to death, but, looking at the jewels in its forehead, it is just a rank four beast and not too much of a danger."

"I'll leave it to you, brother Kai. You can start your combat training against it," Jian Li said after explaining some things about the beast.

Kai Ren also nodded and got into his battle stance, Even though the beast was one rank below him, he did not get careless in the slightest and decided to go all out from the beginning.

Just as Kai Ren got into his battle stance the Shadow serpent also lunged at him.