Sheep-Horned Beasts Vanish

At dusk, the western sky was adorned with brilliant clouds.

In the Trial Grounds, the seven brothers gathered together like the seven Calabash Brothers.

Their second hunt had left the team with plenty of operating funds.

The four thousand Demon Spirit Coins they had earned from hunting, together with the more than one thousand Demon Spirit Coins Lu Piao had left, came to a total of over five thousand.

So Nie Li bought three more light crossbows and several quivers of a hundred bolts each, then prepared a large quantity of anesthetic poison for the Sheep-Horned Beasts.

Before the operation began, Nie Li drew Xian Wu over to his side and addressed everyone with a serious expression. "Before we hunt, there's something I need you all to do. If you can't do it, I won't force you. Put down your tools and leave our team."

"What is it, Nie Li?" Seeing how serious he was, Lu Piao couldn't help asking.

Du Ze already had a guess. He nodded. "Go ahead, Nie Li. We're listening."

"It's nothing major." Nie Li held up four fingers. "I need every one of you to swear by the Heavenly Dao that you'll keep Xian Wu's secret, and never tell anyone—not even the people closest to you. Can you do that?"

"I can!" Zhu Jun Xiang raised his hand without hesitation. "I, Zhu Jun Xiang, swear by the Heavenly Dao that I won't reveal Xian Wu's secret to anyone. If I break this oath, may the heavens strike me down."

The others stared at Zhu Jun Xiang in disbelief. How much had Xian Wu given him to make him swear such a dreadful oath?

Though the others hesitated a little, they all followed suit and swore.

Nie Li nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Let's go!"

He had been the second to swear. He'd wanted to lead by example and go first, but Zhu Jun Xiang had beaten him to it.

Xian Wu was also very grateful to Nie Li.

He had been worried that too many people learning his secret might put him in danger. He hadn't expected Nie Li to solve the problem with a single move.

Zhang Ming and Wei Nan were very curious about what secret Xian Wu had that was worth such a serious oath.

When they saw Xian Wu dig a huge pit in the ground with his bare hands in an instant, they began to understand.

It was impossible not to covet such strange and powerful strength.

Even children like them wanted to possess it, let alone greedy adults.

"Why are you just standing there? Too scared to move? Raise your crossbows and shoot!" Seeing that the two were still stunned, Lu Piao couldn't help reminding them.

The Sheep-Horned Beasts writhed in the pit, packed together like maggots. It was a truly horrifying sight.

Coming to their senses, the two raised their light crossbows and joined the shooting.

Xian Wu stepped away from the edge of the hemispherical pit, making room for Nie Li and the others.

The Demon Left Hand could expand or shrink the area it decomposed at will. So when Xian Wu placed his left hand on the ground, he could leave the quarter-sphere of earth beneath his feet intact and create a pit only in front of him.

With Wei Nan, Zhang Ming, and Zhu Jun Xiang joining them, the hunting team's efficiency skyrocketed.

They swept every inch of the beginner hunting grounds, hunting down every last Sheep-Horned Beast.

Sheep-Horned Beasts had nearly vanished from the Trial Grounds.

It was downright inhumane!

On their second night, they hunted over a thousand Sheep-Horned Beasts. Their spoils were worth more than thirteen thousand Demon Spirit Coins in total.

Adding the more than four thousand Demon Spirit Coins they still had from before, their total assets reached the staggering sum of seventeen thousand.

"Are we coming back tomorrow?" Zhang Ming carried two large bags, so delighted that his eyes nearly popped out.

He had never seen so much money in his life.

That oath had been worth it. Damn right it had.

Nie Li shook his head. "My special anesthetic was made specifically for the Sheep-Horned Beasts. Now that they've all been wiped out, what's the point of coming back? Besides, we've already reached the modest goal I set. It's time to start on the next step of the plan."

"What plan?" Lu Piao leaned his big face closer.

"Secret." Nie Li pushed his face away.

After selling their spoils, they still had some time before dawn, so everyone decided to go back and catch up on sleep.

Nobody objected to Nie Li being in charge of the money. Without his special anesthetic, they could never have hunted the Sheep-Horned Beasts so efficiently.

"Nie Li, I've finished reading The Complete Guide to the Human Body. What should I study next?" Xian Wu asked as they walked back to the dormitory.

"Next, you put it into practice." Nie Li patted Xian Wu on the shoulder, his eyes ringed with dark circles.

"Guide your Soul Force into your meridians, then slowly clear the blockages. Remember, don't use too much force. Clearing your meridians hurts a lot. You have to be gentle, and take it slow... Hey, don't go! I haven't finished! You have to be gentle!"

Gentle? There wasn't a single trace of gentleness in his vocabulary.

His Soul Force could only last a minute. How could he afford to take it slow?

Back in the dormitory, Xian Wu took off his shirt, leaving his upper body bare. He picked up an oil lamp and a bronze mirror, then began to guide... guide his Soul Force.

The bruises on his face were the first priority. He'd been wearing a face covering for two days, and the sweat had nearly soaked his handsome face to ruin.

Xian Wu forcefully pushed his Soul Force into his skin. Using what he'd learned that afternoon, he quickly found the nearby acupoints and meridians, then cleared them as roughly as if he were scraping fish scales.

The dawn broke through the veil of night and spilled a brilliant glow across the sky. In the blink of an eye, morning had come.

Xian Wu put on his pants and slipped on his outer robe.

He had cleared most of the bruises with overwhelming force. The remaining ones were hidden in obscure places, and he hadn't found them yet.

Looking at his reflection in the bronze mirror, he saw that his complexion wasn't very good.

It wasn't because clearing the bruises had hurt too much. The main problem was that his hair was still silver-white, with no sign of turning black.

"I'll ask Nie Li!" Xian Wu put the bronze mirror back on the table, threw on his cloak, and left the dormitory.

Dormitory Xuan-10.

The dormitory door was open, so Xian Wu went straight inside.

Lu Piao was sprawled under the covers, hugging his pillow and sleeping soundly. He didn't notice anyone entering.

Nie Li's bed was empty, with the covers neatly folded. He had disappeared without a trace.

Xian Wu quietly closed the door and tiptoed out.

After finishing his work in the cafeteria, Xian Wu took off at a run toward the classroom.

"Hm?" He suddenly spotted a familiar figure rushing out of the dormitory area. As he got closer, he saw that it was Lu Piao.

Xian Wu asked in surprise, "You only just got up?"

"Don't even get me started! Nie Li not only didn't wake me up, he shut the door tight so I couldn't hear anything in the hallway. He made me sleep until now. That bastard!" Lu Piao grumbled.

Xian Wu gave an awkward laugh. When Nie Li had left, the door seemed to have been open...

"Maybe Nie Li left the door open for you, then the wind blew it shut?" Xian Wu tried to explain.

Lu Piao wasn't an idiot. He knew some basic physics, too.

"Don't give me that. If the wind had shut it, it would've slammed with a loud bang, and that would've woken me up. But I didn't hear a thing..." Lu Piao grumbled angrily.

"Nie Li must've gone on a secret date with 'Sweetie' and didn't want me to find out. That traitor, choosing romance over friendship! We're done!"