Meanwhile...
Nanmen Yun'er collapsed onto the ground, her ragged breathing finally settling.
Seeing her in this state, Vina walked over and crouched in front of her. Her Snow Lotus Martial Soul released a soft glow that covered Nanmen Yun'er's injured arm.
Green light seeped slowly into her skin. The stinging pain faded, and the bleeding stopped.
Vina withdrew her Martial Soul and asked, "How do you feel? Can you still move?"
Nanmen Yun'er tried moving her injured arm. The heavy numbness had faded. She looked up at Vina, her eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you. I'm almost completely recovered. I can move just fine."
Vina stood up and brushed off her sleeves. She didn't waste time on pleasantries. "Good. The forest isn't safe, so you should leave soon too."
As she spoke, Vina gestured to Ning Feng and Mu Xue to get ready to leave.
Watching the three of them turn to go, Nanmen Yun'er felt a strong urge to get to know them.
She pushed herself up from the ground, hurried a couple of steps, and called loudly after them, "My name is Nanmen Yun'er, and I'm a new student at Shrek Academy. Thank you all for saving my life! Which academy are you from? Could you give me a chance to repay you properly?"
Ning Feng, who was walking at the front, stopped and looked back at Nanmen Yun'er's curious, grateful eyes.
Vina spoke first. She smiled faintly, her gaze polite but distant. "Sorry, we have other things to take care of, so we can't stay. We'd rather not reveal which academy we belong to for now."
With that, Vina gave Nanmen Yun'er no chance to ask more. She followed Ning Feng and disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
Nanmen Yun'er stood where she was, watching the three quickly disappear. The shock still lingered in her eyes.
In her experience, even among the upperclassmen in Shrek Academy's inner court, few could match that terrifying combat ability and the flawless teamwork they'd shown in that instant.
"Which academy are they from...?" she murmured, lowering her head with a complicated expression.
Meanwhile, as the group continued on, Ning Feng looked troubled.
When Nanmen Yun'er had given her name, something had stirred in him.
From his memories of the original story, Nanmen Yun'er seemed to be on close terms with Ning Tian, and they were pretty good friends.
But given the circumstances, Ning Feng had no intention of trying to make friends with her.
He was a disciple of the Body Sect now, and he had little in common with Shrek Academy. The fewer complications, the better.
So after the three left the battlefield, they didn't linger in the Great Rock Forest.
Their objective was complete, so they began retracing their steps toward the Body Sect.
They made their way back much faster than expected.
After about a day of travel, the forest terrain began to level out, and a long dirt road appeared ahead.
They had only just stepped onto the road when a jumble of footsteps came from the woods ahead.
Ning Feng immediately raised a hand, signaling Vina and Mu Xue to stop. The three quickly spread out and hid in the bushes on either side of the road, taking up defensive positions.
Before long, six disciples wearing the Body Sect's inner-sect uniforms came into view.
They looked hurried and warily scanned every movement around them.
Ning Feng recognized their uniforms and confirmed they were from his sect. He stepped out of the bushes and called to them, "Are you fellow disciples from the sect?"
The six disciples stopped abruptly. When they saw Ning Feng and the others, their tense expressions eased slightly, but soon turned serious again.
The disciple leading them hurried forward and looked the three over. After confirming they were Ning Feng, Vina, and Mu Xue, he immediately said, "Ning Feng? Vina? Mu Xue? Great, we finally found you!"
"Looking for us?" Ning Feng frowned slightly. "What happened?"
The leading disciple caught his breath and quickly explained, "The sect master received intelligence from the imperial family. There's another, stronger group of Evil Soul Masters in the Great Rock Forest, all with Soul Power above level thirty-five. He sent us to support you and make sure you're safe in case you ran into them."
Ning Feng understood.
The sect must have received the latest intelligence and worried they wouldn't be able to handle the new enemies. That was why they'd rushed over to help.
He pointed behind them, in the direction they'd come from, and said calmly, "You don't need to look any further. We just dealt with that group of Evil Soul Masters in the forest."
The six disciples had been preparing a whole support plan, but when they heard this, they froze on the spot.
"Dealt with... them?" The leading disciple stared at Ning Feng, his eyes full of doubt. "That was a whole group of Evil Soul Masters above level thirty-five, and there were only three of you..."
Ning Feng didn't bother explaining. He took out some identifying tokens he'd found on the Evil Soul Masters and handed them over.
"Senior, we really did kill them."
"Things didn't go quite as planned, but in the end, we took care of them."
The disciples exchanged glances and quickly took the tokens from Ning Feng. Once they confirmed they were genuine, the way they looked at the three changed completely.
They had looked at them like younger disciples before. Now, they looked at them like monsters.
"You..." The leading disciple swallowed, then held back whatever else he'd been about to say.
"All right. Since you've already taken care of them, there's no need for us to go any deeper. We'll report everything to the sect master when we get back."
The Body Sect, side hall.
Elder Li was still pacing back and forth in the room.
About a day had passed since the disciple had delivered the report.
A sheen of sweat had appeared on Elder Li's forehead.
He'd tried several times to set off and rescue them himself, but Du Busi had made him stay.
"Have faith in them," Du Busi told Elder Li, not especially worried. "That group of Evil Soul Masters is strong, but with Ning Feng and the others' abilities, they should at least be able to protect themselves. If they can't win, they can always run."
Elder Li flung out his sleeve in frustration. "Sect master, your arrangements were far too reckless. What if something really does happen? What then?"
Du Busi smiled faintly. "Which of us didn't go through the same thing back then? I've always believed that while the sect should protect its disciples, it shouldn't shelter them too much."
"Otherwise, they'll remain hothouse flowers their whole lives and never grow."
"If we don't let them face a few brushes with death, how will they ever outgrow their childishness?"
Just then, the door to the side hall swung open.
Before you continue