Henry recognized with one glance the position taken by Hei, who held his purple spear. Although he practiced the form of the sword and s.h.i.+eld, also called Val Parija, as a user of the Kalaripayattu Style, he knew the positions of the other forms.

"How can you know the Kuntham Form? In the Southern Royal War Academy, only the guards of the Imperial Prince and few others know the Kalaripayattu Style. And I know everyone who practices it!"

"You know that in the Library there are manuals also concerning fighting styles, don't you? If you are willing to pay the corresponding price of contribution points, you can read them easily. Why are you so surprised that I know the Kalaripayattu?"

Listening to Hei's response to his bewilderment, Henry calmed down and started laughing out loud. "For a moment, I panicked. So, you're just an imitator. There is nothing to fear. Before continuing, I must warn you of one thing. If you think it is enough to read a simple manual to master the Kalaripayattu Style, you are wrong. If it weren't for the constant monitoring of my grandfather, who was an imperial guard in the past, I would never have been able to learn the Val Parija Form. I will make you bitterly regret having dishonored my fighting style."

"Look, there is an error of understanding in your speech. I never intended to imitate the Kalaripayattu Style. I was just curious to know the various fighting styles of the empire and to integrate some movements into my way of fighting. I will not fight you using the Kalaripayattu, but I will use my personal style. Spider Style - Spider Lancer!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hei got down on all fours with his limbs as far apart as possible. Part of his hair instead took the spear and pointed it against Henry, who couldn't understand what was going on.

'What the h.e.l.l is he doing?! How does he plan on fighting that way?'

But Hei gave Henry the answer to his question in the next instant. With even faster speeds than before, Hei sprinted forward using both his hands and his feet. With four limbs generating momentum instead of two, it was normal for him to be faster than before.

'Spider Lancer. The combination I came up with to maximize the speed of Spider Run and my spear techniques. Besides, the Four-legged Mode is more suitable than the Two-Legged if it is about aiming for weapon-focused combat.'

Peng! Peng! Peng!

In a moment, Hei found himself in front of Henry, and his hair moved his spear as if it were his arms. Henry parried all attacks with his s.h.i.+eld, but as soon as he wanted to fight back, Hei had already moved elsewhere. And this continued for several exchanges.

As much as he tried, Henry was unable to keep up with Hei. The only thing that was keeping him in the game was his s.h.i.+eld. However, his attention was diminis.h.i.+ng every second that pa.s.sed due to the pressure exerted by Hei. At the same time, his arm began to ache from the repercussions he suffered in rejecting the spear blows.

"Nonsense! How can I lose against an unknown style?! Wind Law, Intent of the Sword, Whirlwind of Wind Blades!"

Despite his difficult situation, Henry managed to channel enough spirit power to use an elemental attack. Only from this, one could understand that the young man possessed a strong fighting sense. But unfortunately, his ability to sense the flow of battle and his techniques were not on par with Hei's.

"Snake Style - Snake Lancer!"

As soon as Henry sp.a.w.ned the blades of wind, Hei switched from the four-legged mode to the two-legged one. Then he activated Snake Coiling along with Snake Run, and he sprinted in the direction of the wind blades.

'Snake Run focuses on the flexibility of the movements that I can increase even more with Snake Coiling. Furthermore, thanks to Lian, I learned some dance steps to harmonize the movements and unify the rhythm.'

As if his body had become liquid, Hei twisted his body to pa.s.s through the s.p.a.ces between the wind blades. His legs, his arms, his back, and even his neck stretched and flexed at angles which for ordinary people were impossible. Even martial artists were unable to reproduce these movements without using special techniques. However, the fact was that there were no techniques that could replicate such a high degree of flexibility as the Snake Style left by Bao Bei.

"I can't believe it..." Henry remained motionless like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He could understand if Hei had blocked his attack or had dodged using his speed. Yet none of this had happened, but something completely unexpected had happened.

"Eight Slashes of the Spider!"

When Hei was in front of Henry, he began to rotate his spear and made eight consecutive hits against his enemy. Henry, who was still in shock, received the full impact of those eight slashes and fell to his knees while vomiting blood from his mouth.

"Cough!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Hei manipulated his hair to grab his opponent's s.h.i.+eld and sword so that they couldn't be used. Then he pointed the tip of his spear at Henry's throat.

"You lost. Your injuries aren't so severe. With a little rest and the help of some medicine, you will recover without problems in less than a day. Give me your s.p.a.ce ring now and don't resist. Even if I can't kill you, nothing prevents me from hurting you enough to make you fail the test."

Hei's voice was firm and ice-cold. Regardless of the wounded opponent who had just been defeated, he immediately imposed his orders. Henry, with the blood still coming out of his mouth, resentfully looked at Hei. However, he knew well that that young man with the spear had gone easy on him.

"Okay."

Without uttering any more words, Henry dissolved his spirit power and allowed Hei to take the s.p.a.ce ring he wore on his finger. The s.p.a.ce ring contained the resources and techniques acc.u.mulated in his career as a martial artist, including the notes of his grandfather's about the Kalaripayattu Style.

"Here. You can take it back."

In a flat voice, Hei threw the s.p.a.ce ring back to Henry. Since it was only the first day, there were only a couple of second-level spirit cores inside. The rest of the objects didn't interest Hei instead.

'It's only the first day, and it's not finished yet. It's not surprising that they don't have so many spirit cores. At least we managed to save the caracal.'

Leaving Henry on his knees on the ground, who was amazed that his a.s.sailant had kept his word, Hei headed for the caracal. The poor creature had also been taken aback and, despite having recovered some strength, it remained in its place.

"You can go. I am not going to hurt you or follow you. I just want to advise you to be careful in the next seven days. Warn the other spirit beasts too. Tell them to hide in the outskirts. There, it is less likely that you will meet humans. Just hold on for seven days, and then we will go away. It's up to you whether or not to believe what I told you."

After giving his warning to the caracal, Hei returned to his companions. With the advantage of cultivation over their enemies and their battle skills that had significantly increased after six months of intense training, Lian and the others successfully won their clashes. They quickly reported what they had found in the s.p.a.ce rings of the defeated enemies. Like their group leader, the rest of Henry's companions had at most a couple of spirit cores.

"It's the first day. It's normal that they only have so little. Yet, although they are only five people, they have already acc.u.mulated almost two spirit cores each. I have underestimated the hunting speed of our cla.s.smates. For this time, we will be happy to have saved the caracal. In any case, good job to everyone. The important thing is to have won without injuring. Let's go now. We still have a way to go before night falls."

Without wasting any more time there, Hei led Lian and the rest of his companions to go even deeper into the forest. From their hidden position, Mareo led Haruno, Lilian, and Mia to reunite with Hei.

*

The first day in the forest was over. With the setting of the sun and the rising of the night, the various groups began to prepare for camping. After all, fighting at night was disadvantageous to them, especially if the enemy were the spirit beasts.

During the day, Hei and his companions met another couple of groups chasing spirit beasts. As with the caracal accident, Hei led Lian, Leon, He Fen, Lang, and Fenrir into battle. With support from Haruno, Lilian, and Mia, the fighters of Hei's group could fight as much as they wanted, regardless of the expenditure of spirit power and the injuries they suffered. During the fight, they also had Mareo, who could help them by increasing their spirit power's flow.

On the second day, however, things didn't go as smoothly as expected. In fact, while moving in the forest, Hei and his companions made a disturbing discovery.

"Hei, there is a strong smell of human blood. Fenrir says the smell is fresh." Lang warned Hei as Fenrir smelled the surroundings with his superfine sense of smell.

"Human blood? How fresh?" Hei asked as he darkened. The presence of such intense human blood wasn't a good sign.

"It is quite recent. A couple of hours at most, not more. The conflict probably happened at dawn."

"What do you want to do, Hei? Do you want to go and see?" Beside him, Lian asked Hei. Since she knew Hei well, the young blue-haired woman already knew the answer.

"Let's go and see. But the situation could be dangerous. So I'll go with Ye and Xing. Lian will also come with me. All the rest of you will be hiding somewhere nearby. When I am not present, the orders will be given by Leon. Did you understand?"

With stern eyes, Hei looked at the rest of his companions who nodded in unison. They could perceive that the situation was certainly not to be underestimated. But Leon, who had found himself appointed to take the place of Hei, appeared unsure of his new position.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to give orders? Isn't Lang a better choice, or am I wrong? You gave her the command first."

"Leon. Before it was a different situation, Lang and Fenrir must focus on perceiving the smells of other living beings. They also have the highest mobility among you. In case of need, they can act as explorers or messengers. It is necessary that they can move independently. In addition, I have full confidence in your leaders.h.i.+p skills. Don't doubt yourself. "

"Hei, but-"

"Enough. It's an order. I've already made up my mind. You decided that during the whole test, you would do as I said. So keep your word now."

After saying this, Hei led Lian to the place where the blood smell was coming. Fenrir had told him the direction to take, and as soon as he was at a sufficient distance, Hei himself could smell the blood thanks to his Snake Tongue.

When he arrived there, what he discovered there was what he most feared to find - the corpse of three humans together with the remains of a spirit beast. The particular thing was that the spirit beast had the same cutting wounds that the three human corpses presented.

"A beast tamer? These wounds then-"

"They were wounded by edged weapons." concluded the phrase Lian for Hei. The young woman's expression had darkened at the sight of these bodies. "To kill a person, you don't need so many cuts. Whoever did it must have had a deep grudge against these people."

"Yes. But it is the state of the spirit beast that worries me most. The number of cuts is greater than that of the three humans put together. Furthermore, the spirit core hasn't even been extracted. Can you see it? It's still inside." Hei said as he indicated a slight twinkle between the guts of the poor slain creature.

'Big Brother. Approaching people.' (Ye)

'There are five of them. What do you want to do?' (Xing)

"Hei?"

"It wouldn't make sense to go back to the crime scene now. However, this possibility cannot be excluded either. Let's wait. In the case of the smallest hint of danger, we can run away or buy time until Leon, and the others arrive."

"As you want. We are here with you, anyway. Always." Ye, Xing, and Lian responded in unison as they placed their senses on high alert.