3 disciples with red robes were steadily speeding through the early morning air on their magic swords, seemingly looking down for something. On their chests was a large black hammer. This was the robe of the Black Hammer Sect, a subsidiary force to the Sword Union that specialized in weapon forging.

It was an unconventional sect where the most respected disciples were those managing to enter the forging department, followed by those from the array department, then the alchemy department and lastly the warrior department. The disciples of this last department had the reputation of being blockheads that only knew how to talk with their fists and to be fair, this assessment wasn’t too far from the truth due to the sect’s methods of recruitment.

Those three disciples were on a mission for the Black Hammer Sect. A mission to hunt Magic beasts. While magic beasts terrorized mortals and weak cultivators, for sects they also represented important resources.

When magic beasts leveled up, they generally reinforce important part of their bodies with qi, making for excellent weapon materials.

However, trying to rear magic beasts was a very expensive, difficult and often fruitless task. It was much more profitable to let Magic Beasts develop in the wild and hunt them down. At the same time, for the Black Hammer Sect, it served as a training experience for its disciples.

Because it was so vital to its business, the sect had carefully categorized the areas with each tier of magic beast present and were frequently updating it.

Successfully hunting a rank 2 magic beast was a great honor for qi condensation disciples of the Black Hammer Sect but not all qi condensation disciple had the opportunity to do so. To minimize the casualties, those that were allowed to go on missions would be first selected, then would be grouped with disciples from different departments.

With this strategy, the Black Hammer Sect boasted a great success rate. During the last couple of decades, it became one of the most prominent subsidiary sects to the titan that is the Sword Union, partly due to its expertise in weapons that was greatly sought after, and partly due its excellent disciple cooperation that started from a young age.

One of the 3 disciples on the hunting mission suddenly raised his hand covered in blisters, indicating to stop. He was the youngest looking of the three but had the sharpest eyes.

“Do you sense that? In that direction?”

His companions, a tall girl and a burly man looked at each other and shook their heads.

The young disciple closed his eyes in apparent concentration just as a distant roar was heard.

The girl squinted and the burly man started to warm up his wrists with a grunt.

“Brother Yu really has a sharp perception. Can you tell what is happening over there?”

“There is no need to flatter me, Sister Xiang. Two beasts are fighting, one seems to be a Blood Panther, I’m pretty sure I recognized the roar. As for the other one, I’m not sure. But their level isn’t too high, considering the distance, the faint qi fluctuations I can sense indicate that their power are barely at the late qi condensation realm.”

The girl took out an array disk. “Let’s go take a closer look then.”

The three quietly approached as they tried their best to hide their presence. They would be hitting the jackpot if both beasts injured themselves or wasted their energy fighting one another. This situation rarely happened as magic beasts at that level generally had their own territory and avoided each other while preying on the weak.

Reaching the scene, what the three disciples saw were dozens of uprooted trees, deep claw marks and lots of blood.

“The battle ended quickly.”

The young boy threw a pill and willed his qi. The pill suddenly exploded, and a repulsive stench spread out.

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Responding to the burly man’s questioning gaze, the boy explained.

“This will cover the smell of blood and prevent it from attracting unwanted guests.”

He crouched down and examined the blood projection and other traces.

“If I’m not wrong, the Blood Panther was fighting a Crazed Warthog that made its way into the Panther’s territory for some reason. It happens when the boar is chasing other magic beasts, those are some stupid creatures after all.

The Blood Panther has been injured and the Crazed Warthog is definitely dead. It seems that the Panther picked up the remains to consume them slowly in its lair. Let’s follow their traces.”

Finding the lair proved to be a piece of cake for the 3 disciples, especially with the trail of blood and organs belonging to the Crazed Warthog along the way, mixed with spots of the very distinct striking bright red blood belonging to the Blood Panther.

In front of a dark cave, the young cultivator silently gestured to the tall girl. She nodded and picked up 6 black flags which she arranged just before the entrance. She also took out a control disk in her hand.

“All right, I arranged the trapping formation.”

The burly man looked skeptical. “Are you sure this will keep the beast in place when it steps inside?”

The girl looked back haughtily. “Brother Ping, do you doubt a formation crafted by Elder Hu? Even an early formation establishment cultivator would find himself unable to move with his qi locked into place.”

“Hmm.”

“Okay, brother Ping, get ready, I’m going to launch this Smoke pill to drive the Blood Panther out, if the beast doesn’t want to suffocate inside that is.”

After a silent nod from his two comrades. The boy threw the pill at high speed in the cave. A pshht sound was heard and an unhealthy greenish gas began wafting out from the cave entrance.

Just as planned, the Blood Panther soon came rushing out but suddenly found itself nearly frozen in place, unable to advance further. It was as if it had entered an incredibly viscous quagmire.

Just at that instant, three qi attack came crashing into its red skin. Two of the qi attacks failed to penetrate its extremely tough skin but the third tore through its side.

Blood came rushing out as the Blood Panther roared and grew desperate as it tried to escape.

“Quick, brother Ping, finish it! With each second it struggles, qi crystals are burned to maintain the array.”

The girl’s voice hadn’t finished those words when two additional devastating attacks had crashed into the Blood Panther, tearing through its flesh and ending its misery.

“Nice job everyone! Now let’s collect the valuable parts of the 2 beasts and head home. This hunt will net us a great profit this time!” The young boy exclaimed in joy and immediately released another Stinking Pill and started cutting the skin of the Blood Panther with his precise hands.

But his joy was soon replaced with repulsion as he forced himself not to gag.

The tall girl approached her companion. “Do you need help, brother Yu?”

He sheepishly backed away from the Blood Panther. “If sister Xiang doesn’t mind doing the dirty work. I’ll go fetch the horns from the Crazed Warthog in the cave, the smoke should have dispersed already.”

The young disciple glanced at their burly companion. He was sitting down, facing the forest looking for any threat approaching while the two others were collecting the spoils.

After entering the cave, the young disciple rapidly found the large carcass of the half-eaten Crazed Warthog. He slapped himself once, took out his knife and plunged it into the Crazed Warthog.

Taking the horns was actually a tricky endeavor. After nearly vomiting due to the Crazed Warthog’s stench, the disciple began to deeply regret not continuing to skin the Blood Panther instead.

He had to find the bone of the Crazed Warthog’s jaw to detach them and cut through its base. But it was a very hard material and the inexperienced disciple was making a mess.

‘I’m not familiar with these ugly tasks. Perhaps, senior sister could show me how it’s done.’

“Sister Xiang, if you have finished taking care of the Blood Panther, could you come give me a hand?”

The young disciple remained still and listened carefully for a couple of seconds after calling out, but no response came back.

“Sister Xiang?”

‘Ugh. I guess I took too long and sister Xiang wandered a bit further away while waiting.’

The disciple exited the cave and couldn’t help but notice the perfectly skinned Blood Panther without the female disciple at its side. The array flags were still in place though.

“Brother Ping? Sister Xiang?”

This time, the young disciple frowned after not receiving any responses. He took a couple of steps forward and froze in terror as he spotted the burly man laying on the ground, a puddle of blood next to his neck.

His instinctual reaction was to grab for his pills, but the disciple realized he couldn’t move anymore. To his horror, he noticed that he was inside the array formation and it had just been activated.

His thoughts were racing as he couldn’t understand what was happening.

‘Sister Xiang?’

Suddenly his eyes spotted movement ahead. A dirty youth stepped out from the shadow of the forest, a control disk in hand. His robes were torn to shreds, covered in dried blood, mud, and other unknown substances. His face remained placid.

The young disciple had never seen this person but he seemed to understand something and stopped trying to resist the array futilely for a moment. Then all sorts of grievances came crashing through his mind as a blade severed his head and his life began slipping away,

The dirt-covered youth had already crouched next to the body of the burly man. He was murmuring to himself. His placid face suddenly broke countenance and he kneeled down, banging his head on the ground in direction of the burly man’s body.

“I am sorry, but I needed your sword. I needed it.”

The young man’s eyes widened in unwillingness, incomprehension overwhelming his fading consciousness. Shortly after, the specter of death interrupted his thoughts.

Several breaths later, the dirt covered youth picked the sword next to the dead burly man and stood up.