In the time that followed, Lin Chuan trudged around Hunting Ground No. 44 with Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi, looking utterly listless. The reason was the strange looks the two kept casting his way. They drove him to the brink of madness more than once, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Their expressions were especially entertaining whenever Lin Chuan used his Byakugan to check their surroundings. Bu Lianshi would turn away in embarrassment and hunch over, while Qin Lang glared at Lin Chuan with resentment, wishing he had a pair of Byakugan himself. He was also deeply dissatisfied with Lin Chuan for keeping the ability all to himself.
"Careful, there's something nearby! Three hundred meters to the left, there's a Green Shadow Wolf. It's at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage. It seems to have caught our scent and is heading this way!" Lin Chuan's Byakugan narrowed slightly as he looked to the left.
Hearing that a Spirit Beast was approaching, Bu Lianshi and Qin Lang temporarily forgot that Lin Chuan was a lecher. Their expressions turned serious as they faced the direction of the Green Shadow Wolf.
Lin Chuan had already discussed it with them: he wouldn't fight any Spirit Beasts below the third level of the Qi Refining Stage.
It wasn't because Lin Chuan was lazy. If a team relied entirely on one person, its strength would never improve. Especially with someone as powerful as Lin Chuan, who could fend off every attack for the other two—his intervention would only make the teammates hiding behind him weaker and weaker.
It would be better to keep Lin Chuan's strength as the team's ultimate trump card, allowing Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi to fight without holding back and improve their own abilities. That was the key to a team's long-term growth.
Besides, now that Lin Chuan had chosen the two of them, he wouldn't let them fall too far behind him. In his previous life, Lin Chuan had been alone, and he understood better than anyone how important it was to have a circle of one's own—especially in a cultivation world where strength ruled and people would devour you whole.
This world's cruelty was far more terrifying than anything in his previous life!
Even as he grew stronger, he couldn't let the people important to him fall too far behind. After all, even Lin Chuan couldn't protect Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi every moment.
"And most importantly, they're practically destined to join the founding members of my future Akatsuki. How could I let them sit comfortably behind me?" Lin Chuan said with a quiet laugh as he watched the two rush forward.
The Green Shadow Wolf's body, over a meter tall, drew closer. Its blood-red eyes fixed coldly on the two small figures before it. It panted heavily, its rancid breath washing over them.
Though Qin Lang wasn't exactly afraid as he faced a Spirit Beast for the first time, his expression was tense. Beside him, Bu Lianshi's small face had gone pale. Her clenched fists trembled slightly, and cold sweat streamed down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry. I can't shield you from this world's cruelty. You have to face what's coming, and you need to grow up quickly." Seeing their expressions, Lin Chuan felt a little reluctant, but he could only steel himself and let them face it on their own.
"Ha!" Qin Lang roared, channeling his spiritual energy as he charged at the Green Shadow Wolf and swung his right fist with all his might.
Qin Lang's sudden shout startled Bu Lianshi, but she quickly recovered and gritted her teeth as she charged alongside him.
The three figures clashed at once, fists and claws flashing through the air, fangs colliding with legs and feet. Only a blur of afterimages flickered before their eyes.
At the Qi Refining Stage, cultivators couldn't project spiritual power outside their bodies. They could only convert the spiritual energy they cultivated into spiritual power, channel it through their meridians, and reinforce their bodies to strengthen their physical attacks.
Only upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage could spiritual power unleash its full force, even allowing cultivators to cast spells against their opponents. Only then would the strength of their different Spirit Root attributes become apparent. For now, all they could do was fight hand to hand.
The Green Shadow Wolf was only average among Spirit Beasts and had no special bloodline from some ancient divine beast. Its one advantage was its speed. Spirit Beasts were naturally skilled at fighting, and against Qin Lang, who was also at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage, it had him pinned down almost from the start. If Bu Lianshi, at the second level, hadn't been helping him, Qin Lang would have been beaten flat long ago.
Even two against one, the pair struggled to cope. Before long, they were both wounded, while the Green Shadow Wolf remained full of energy, seemingly without a care in the world.
Lin Chuan shook his head helplessly. As expected, children who had never fought before were still weak, even when they had enough strength—they didn't know how to use it. The two were far too kindhearted. It was both a virtue and a flaw, but it wasn't a serious problem. With enough experience, they would eventually grow stronger.
Lin Chuan himself had become formidable only after being bullied in his previous life and getting into one fight after another. His knowledge of the world of Naruto had also helped him reach his current strength.
Time passed slowly. As Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi grew more familiar with fighting and their fear gradually faded, they finally stopped being pushed around and began to counterattack in measured bursts. At least now, the two sides were evenly matched.
Seeing this, Lin Chuan knew there was nothing to worry about. He activated his Byakugan again and surveyed the surroundings. Once he was sure there was no danger, he turned his attention to himself.
Although he was already quite strong, and his Byakugan helped him avoid many dangers, his Gentle Fist could almost crush cultivators below the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage. But if he ran into someone at the seventh level, things would get troublesome.
Lin Chuan's speed wouldn't be able to keep up with theirs. Even if his Byakugan let him see their attacks, he wouldn't be able to defend himself effectively, let alone attack with Gentle Fist.
There weren't any opponents that powerful in Hunting Ground No. 44 right now. But Lin Chuan hadn't forgotten that, during the last two days, cultivators who had passed the assessment but failed to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage would enter the hunting ground. When that happened, if he didn't want to spend all his time dodging, he would have to find a way to improve his strength over the next few days.
"As for ninjutsu, I can barely use any of it right now because I don't have enough chakra. It's the same even with Senjutsu that uses Natural Energy. Low-level tricks like the Transformation Technique aren't very useful in this world. They have no real offensive power, and cultivators train their souls through meditation, too. They'd see through ninjutsu of this level at a glance. I might fool someone once in a while, but winning a fight with it would be difficult!"
"The Substitution Technique might come in handy. It could save my life at a crucial moment, but against a powerful opponent, I'd still get beaten up all the same!" Lin Chuan thought.
Before you continue