[Place: Sistine Continent,  Southern ends of Burnwood forest; Time: Midnight]

Five days had passed since Ling and their group started searching for the Wild Tiger Mercenary's hideout. The forest was bathed in glorious silver light as rays of bright dazzling moon light lit up the dark ground. 

“ We and the other disciples have already searched the Southern, Eastern, Northern and Central region but still we haven't found a single trace of them. Just where the hell are they hiding? ” Kaminari Shun said in an irritated and tired voice. They had set up a small camp and were sitting surrounding the bonfire. They would always halt their search at midnight and take a small break before starting to search again. And just today, they had finished searching the Southern region of the forest.

The disciples of Starlight Imperial sect had already scouted most of the forest but since the day Tianying and others fought with some bandits from the Wild Tiger Mercenary, they haven't encountered anyone else. The other groups of inner disciples also didn't come across anyone from Wild Tiger Mercenary. It was as if their existence itself suddenly got erased from the face of the earth.

“That means their base must be somewhere in the Western region. I hope the groups that are scouting the Western side will be able to find them. ” Prince Tianying said.

“What if they don't even have a branch here? Is it possible that the Imperial Army did some mistake? ” Princess Sao said as she looked fed up with this task.

“Hahaha! Well that would be for the best to be honest, then we would get our rewards and we won't even have to do anything. ” Prince Tianying said with a laugh to lighten the mood of everyone. But that didn't seem to work very well.

“Ai! I wanted an actual fight to gain some experience and thrill! Sparring with others is good but still an actual life death battle is something different!” Shun said while giving a dull sigh.

“Huh…brother Shun all you think about is training, competition and fighting…don't you think there's much more to life than only that? You Cultivation freak!” princess Meng said as she looked annoyed by Shun's over obsession with training.

But then Shun made an innocent face as he pointed out his right hand towards a rock on which Ling was sitting with closed eyes and said, “Huh! Don't you feel ashamed saying that I am a Cultivation freak in front of him. Look at that guy, since the day we started doing this task together all he has done is eating, searching and cultivating. In these five days he never took any rest or he barely spoke a word except for asking quest related things. ”

When Shun said this out loud, it caused everyone to look at Ling who looked like he was cultivating. But in reality, he was comprehending the second stage of the Void Art, ‘The Absolute Beginning’ during these five days. And he was sure that he would be able to completely learn it today. And he was only able to spend time comprehending it because he had Vanisha who would wake him up any time when there's someone near.

Caihyi was staring at him and she thought, ‘No wonder this guy is a so strong! He knows nothing but Cultivation and training! I wonder what's the reason he wants power so much?…Oh now that I think about it should I tell them about his true power….or maybe he is purposefully trying to hide his power. Well whatever I don't want to anger him. If he wants to tell them, he will tell it himself. ’

Yuan Meng looked at Caihyi who was lost in her thought and said softly, “It's true! I also wanted to ask him a few things but it's really hard to hold a conversation with him! Junior Sister Caihyi...aren't you his close friend? Why don't you tell him to join us for a chit chat?”

Caihyi who was still looking at Ling suddenly came to her senses as she a blush crossed her face and she shook her head heavily and said nervously, “No no…I also met him that day when I was doing my task in this forest. Before that I never even knew his name! We can not even be considered friends much less close….friends! ”. 

This time Yuan Sao was about to say something but Yuan Tianying spoke up before she could and said, “It's really rare to see someone working so hard! With his talent if he continues to train like this, he will definitely achieve great heights! Anyway...let's get moving, we need to help them search the Western region. Sister Meng go and call junior brother Ling! ”

Then the rest of them stood up and Meng walked towards Ling. When she was right in front of him, she stood silently for a while while narrowing her eyes slightly. It looked like she was trying to examine something but in the end she gave a quite sigh and said, “Junior brother Ling, we need to move out. ”

Even after hearing her, Ling didn't move immediately. Meng thought he had sealed his senses to focus on cultivating so stretched her hands to call him. 

But then Ling finally opened his eyes as a mysterious smile surfaced on his face.

“Allright, I am coming!” he replied in mild voice and stood up.

“Why are you smiling? Is there something funny on my face? ” Meng asked as she rubbed her cheek with her right hand. Ling started walking forward and said, “No! It's nothing! ” as his calm and indifferent expression returned again. Meng gave a shrug as she was confused and started walking as well.

“ Have you learnt it? ” Vanisha asked curiously in a soft voice. Usually Vanisha didn't have interest in much things but ‘The Absolute Beginning’ was definitely an exception to it. Even she was deeply interested in this Hidden art which was said to be the one of the arts created by the Ancestor Clans.

Ling nodded and said, “Now I just need to use it in a real fight ! ”.

“Well done! With this you are one step closer to your goals. You will probably get a chance soon enough! ” Vanisha complimented Ling like an elder. Then Ling got near the group and said, “So where are we going? ”

Prince Tianying was about to reply but at this time a sound transmission jade which was in his hands suddenly blinked and a voice came out from it, “Prince Tianying, we have found their hideout. It's at the center part of the Western Region. There's a cave near there hideout, all of us are currently gathering here. ”

Prince Tianying immediately replied in a heavy and solemn voice, “Okay! I will get there as fast as possible! Till then scout their base carefully and don't take any other actions! And also Make sure that they are not able to find you!  ”.

Then he put down the sound transmission jade and said, “Let's go! ”. 

Everyone nodded and headed  towards Western region of the forest at a fast pace.

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[Place: Sistine Continent, Western region of Burnwood forest, Center part]

After four hours, Tianying and their group reached the location where the other disciples were gathered. They were waiting in front of a cave inside the dense and dark forest. It was already dawn but almost no sunlight could come through the gaps between the branches and leaves. When Ling finally got there, he could feel everyone was at Crimson Star realm except Yuan Tianying and Yuan Meng. Most of the group was at the early stages of Crimson Star realm and four disciples including Shun were at mid stages.

When Tianying arrived one of the disciples came near him.

“How strong are the enemy forces, junior brother Lio? ” Tianying asked.

“From the information we have gathered, there are approximately one hundred and thirty enemies inside the hideout. Within them seventy are at late stages of Yellow Star realm and fifty two are probably at the early and mid stages of Blue Star Realm. The last ten are probably elders of their branch, they are at early stages of Crimson Star realm. If we are talking about numbers, they are greater but if it's about power then we can easily annihilate them.” the disciple called Kui Lio reported.

Ling was slightly stunned by the detailed report he heard and said quietly, “How were they able to get such precise information? ”.

Caihyi who was standing right beside him was able to heard it and replied, “Every Imperial sect has a part of inner disciples who exceeds at hiding and concealment techniques. They train to become skilled assassins for the Imperial Army!”

Ling only nodded slowly and didn't give any reply. Kui Lio then asked, “So how are we going to attack? What's the plan Prince Tianying?”.

But this time, Shun came from behind and said, “Since their forces are weak let's just get in from the front door. What do you think brother Tianying?  ”

Yuan Tianying thought for a while before nodding and said, “That's right! As the enemies are weak then we don't need to waste any time creating plans! brother Shun and ten other disciples will take care of the elder while we will eliminate the others. Tell everyone to prepare! We will strike right after fifteen minutes! ”.

When Ling heard the plan, his eyebrows sank deeply as he blurted out concernfully, “Wait? Isn't that being too reckless? I mean no matter how much weak the enemy is but still we should take necessary precautions. But you are all just going to barge in only relying on some information which you aren't even hundred percent sure of! ”. 

This caused all of the inner disciples to shift their gaze at him. Prince Tianying thought that he was worried about his safety as he was the only one who was at Yellow Star realm. So he turned around to reply but before he could let out a single word, Kui Lio growled out, “Impudence! How dare you question the Prince's decision! Wait a minute….is that the outer sect robes and you are only at Yellow Star Realm?…..You are an outer disciple! How disrespectful! How did you get here…answer immed..” but before he finished Yuan Tianying raised his hand to stop him.

“I am the one who has brought him here. It's my fault for not explaining the situation but I met inner disciple Xia Caihyi and outer disciple Shin Ling in the forest and brought them here. I have already told the sect about Xia Caihyi and as for Shin Ling, I have personally chosen him. He will be with us in this mission! ” Tianying said in a heavy voice filled with majestic and domineering pressure.

“But prin…”

“No buts! It's final! And Ling you don't need to worry... even if the information isn't perfect, we can easily trust it. They have never done any big miss on that part. And also when we attack just stay together with me or Meng or anyone else. We will protect you in case you are in danger. Believe me! Now with that said, everyone get ready. It's time to hunt down some bandits!  ” Tianying said the last line to sound cheeky as a cold smile crossed his face. 

Ling still looked worried and seeing that princess Meng came beside him. 

“Don't worry! It's just as brother Tianying said, you won't get hurt! Since we are the one who dragged you here, we will also protect you! ” Meng said gently. Ling looked at her and replied calmly in a mild tone , “Thanks for assuring me! But you are wrong…you haven't dragged me anywhere…I am the one who chose to come so even if I end up in a bad state…I won't mind it at all! So don't put pressure on yourself thinking like that! ”. Meng was surprised as this was the first time he had actually said something in that manner. Then Ling walked towards the rest of the group.

In some distance Xia Caihyi heard every single word they said and thought, ‘Heh! As if he would need protection! You people don't know it but he is a monster! We might be the one who end getting saved by him!’

SoulBlaze

Next chapter on 26/07/2020. I hope you liked the chapter and let me know what you think in the comments.