Leave It To Me!

In a clearing spanning over ten meters in the depths of the dense forest, various branches were scattered messily. A faint smell of urine seemed to linger in the air. Gray hairs were also stuck to the tree trunks.

These hairs were about two inches long.

As soon as he saw these hairs, Nie Li recognized them. It was a Fox Bear Demon Beast!

"Who?" A vigilant voice suddenly rang out.

Nie Li looked over and saw a figure emerge from behind a tree. Upon seeing the person opposite him, Nie Li was a little surprised. It was Chen Linjian. A moment later, several more people walked out from behind Chen Linjian. Two of them were Chen Linjian's followers, and one of them was Shen Yue.

"What are you doing here?" Chen Linjian asked, looking at Nie Li.

"I smelled a strange odor in the air while I was cultivating, so I followed it here!" Nie Li replied. His gaze swept over Chen Linjian and Shen Yue. Chen Linjian and Shen Yue should only be acquainted, not allies. Otherwise, Chen Linjian wouldn't have killed so many people from the Sacred Family in his previous life.

Shen Yue glanced coldly at Nie Li, his gloomy gaze completely hidden in the darkness.

A strange odor? Why hadn't they smelled it before?

"My two subordinates detected this place while searching the forest, and Shen Yue came with me to take a look!" Chen Linjian said. Currently, his relationship with Shen Yue was quite good. They were both direct descendants of the Peak Family, so they maintained a surface-level cordiality.

Shen Yue snorted coldly and said, "Coming to a place like this in the middle of the night, one might have ulterior motives." Shen Yue wished he could throw all the blame onto Nie Li.

Nie Li couldn't be bothered to argue. If Chen Linjian believed such baseless accusations, he'd be a fool.

Chen Linjian looked at Shen Yue, then at Nie Li. He had heard about the conflict between Nie Li and Shen Yue. A student with no background actually dared to oppose the Sacred Family. Was Nie Li confident or ignorant?

"This demon beast's lair has probably been abandoned for a long time," Shen Yue said, scanning the area. After Nie Li arrived, he couldn't be bothered to stay here any longer. Anyway, on their journey to the Ancient Orchid City Ruins this time, he would have plenty of opportunities to deal with Nie Li along the way, so there was no need to waste more words on Nie Li.

"This demon beast's lair has indeed been abandoned for a long time!" Chen Linjian said, nodding as he looked at the scattered branches around them. Suddenly, he seemed to recall something and asked Nie Li, "What do you think?" Nie Li's knowledge was quite extensive.

"There are some hairs left on the tree trunks here, and the way the nest is piled up. Based on my judgment, it should be a type of demon beast called a Fox Bear. Fox Bears are not large. Adult Fox Bears are about one meter tall, and a body length of two meters is already very robust. This nest is so large; it must have been an entire Fox Bear tribe living here," Nie Li analyzed and judged.

Hearing Nie Li's words, both Chen Linjian and the two followers behind him stared blankly at Nie Li. With just this little information, he could deduce which type of demon beast had lived here before. It was simply astonishing, considering there were tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of demon beast species in the Sacred Ancestor Mountain Range.

It seemed bringing Nie Li along was a rather wise decision, Chen Linjian couldn't help but think.

"To infer that this was a Fox Bear's lair based on such meager clues is too hasty!" Shen Yue retorted from the side. He opposed anything Nie Li said.

"Continue," Chen Linjian said to Nie Li, ignoring Shen Yue.

Shen Yue opened his mouth in dissatisfaction but said nothing more. Although he and Chen Linjian were both direct descendants of the Peak Family, the Sacred Family had seven direct descendants of his generation. He was not particularly favored. If he could marry Ye Ziyun, his status within the Sacred Family would rise to another level, making him a candidate for the next family head. Chen Linjian was different from him; from birth, Chen Linjian had practically been confirmed as the next family head, and his talent was also exceptionally outstanding. Therefore, Shen Yue dared not strain his relationship with Chen Linjian.

Nie Li completely treated Shen Yue as if he were air and continued, "Adult Fox Bears are generally Silver-ranked demon beasts. According to the habits of Fox Bears, they spend three-fifths of the year in hibernation in their dens, enduring the coldest period of the Sacred Ancestor Mountain Range. Only when early summer arrives do they emerge from their dens and move into the forests to hunt."

"Is it precisely at this time of year?" Chen Linjian asked in surprise.

"Indeed," Nie Li nodded. "The air here carries a slight smell of urine. If it were left from last year, after so much time exposed to the wind and rain, the smell would have long since dissipated. Fox Bears are very territorial; they use their urine to mark their territory. I suspect they will appear soon!"

Nie Li's meticulousness and keen observation allowed him to gather so much information, which greatly impressed Chen Linjian. He looked at Nie Li with newfound respect. Nie Li was practically a living encyclopedia of Spirit Beasts!

"What should we do then?" Chen Linjian asked, beginning to seek Nie Li's opinion.

"We must leave here as soon as possible. Let's go while it's still night. Fox Bears have very sensitive senses of smell. If they discover strangers intruding on their territory, they might attack us with all their might. Although we can defeat this Fox Bear tribe with our strength, casualties are inevitable. Our objective is still the Ancient Orchid City Ruins!" Nie Li also recalled that in his previous life, Ye Ziyun had mentioned that they were attacked by Fox Bears on their way to the Ancient Orchid City Ruins, and several people had died. This made Nie Li even more certain of the danger here.

Chen Linjian pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, we'll leave tonight!"

"Young Master Chen, don't listen to his nonsense. Since this place is empty, there's no way any Fox Bears would appear. Traveling at night is even more dangerous. It's better to wait until daytime!" Shen Yue immediately retorted.

Nie Li shrugged. It didn't matter to him how Chen Linjian decided. Whether they stayed or left, it wouldn't threaten him.

"Let's go!" Chen Linjian said decisively, undoubtedly choosing to believe Nie Li's judgment.

Chen Linjian was a wise person and knew whose words to trust and whose to dismiss.

Upon returning to the camp, Chen Linjian immediately summoned everyone from their sleep.

"Young Master Chen, what happened?"

"Yes, why do we have to travel at night?"

Everyone was confused.

"Don't worry about it, just follow my orders!" Chen Linjian decided immediately, disregarding any further persuasion from others, and led everyone out of the forest.

Nie Li walked with Ye Ziyun. Although Ye Ziyun was a bit confused, she didn't ask too many questions.

As soon as the group reached the edge of the forest, they felt the ground tremble with a rumbling sound, followed by roars of bears from the depths of the forest behind them. In an instant, everyone understood.

"Young Master Chen is brilliant!"

"Fortunately, Young Master Chen led us out. Otherwise, we would have inevitably had a fierce battle with those Fox Bears!"

Everyone praised Chen Linjian. However, Chen Linjian knew that all the credit belonged to Nie Li. If he hadn't listened to Nie Li, they would have certainly been attacked by the Fox Bears. Although they could still defeat the Fox Bears, there would have been casualties!

At this moment, Chen Linjian was utterly impressed with Nie Li. Since childhood, he had been an outstanding leader among his peers. This was the first time he had to admit that Nie Li's knowledge far surpassed his own. After all, Nie Li was several years younger than him!

Shen Yue, on the other hand, was incredibly frustrated. He hadn't expected Nie Li to be right; there really were Fox Bears there. He had been at a disadvantage in every encounter with Nie Li, which deepened his resentment.

Fortunately, the elder had sent three Silver-ranked experts to follow them. Shen Yue's gaze turned grim. Once Nie Li was separated from the group, he would find an opportunity to kill Nie Li!

Nie Li walked quietly at the back of the group, with Ye Ziyun. He glanced behind him, a cold smile appearing on his lips. He had already sensed someone following them. Seeing Shen Yue's distracted look, he could guess that those people were definitely from the Sacred Family.

They were probably looking for an opportunity to attack him!

Ye Ziyun and the others hadn't noticed they were being followed, but it all escaped Nie Li's keen senses. If he couldn't detect a few Silver-ranked individuals following them, he'd truly have lived in vain.

"One, two, three... three Silver-ranked!" Nie Li walked calmly.

The sky began to show the first light of dawn. Chen Linjian slowly walked up to Nie Li and said, "Thanks to Brother Nie Li's foresight, otherwise we would have definitely been attacked by the Fox Bears. Although it wouldn't have been a complete annihilation, there would have been casualties. I, Chen Linjian, owe you a favor." If there were casualties on the first day, it would have had a significant impact on the team's morale.

Hearing Chen Linjian's words, Ye Ziyun glanced at Nie Li in surprise. She hadn't expected Nie Li to be the one who discovered the Fox Bear first.

"Young Master Chen is too kind," Nie Li said calmly, showing no hint of arrogance.

Chen Linjian nodded slightly. Ever since he first met Nie Li, he had found him quite capable. Seeing Nie Li remain composed, he admired him even more.

Nie Li lowered his voice and said, "Young Master Chen, we're being followed."

Upon hearing Nie Li's words, Chen Linjian's heart leaped. He turned to look at the jungle behind them.

"Don't look, it's three Silver-ranked individuals. I don't know who sent them," Nie Li quickly added.

Chen Linjian immediately averted his gaze and forced a relaxed smile. He whispered, "What's their objective?" Chen Linjian frowned. He hadn't offended anyone in the City of Brilliance!

"It might be people from the Dark Guild!" Nie Li said. Although he was certain the three individuals were from the Sacred Family, Nie Li still referred to the three Silver-ranked figures as being from the Dark Guild.

After hearing Nie Li's words, a cold glint flashed in Chen Linjian's eyes. The Dark Guild was infamous in the City of Brilliance. They were a secret organization founded by a group of criminals. Members of the Dark Guild generally didn't dare to appear in broad daylight. They committed all sorts of evil deeds in secret, such as murder and robbery, making them public enemies of all the noble families in the City of Brilliance!

"Leave this matter to me!" Chen Linjian patted Nie Li on the shoulder and then walked forward.