— Half a month later —
Bai Ning's standing within the Greenfla Sect progressed from that of a slightly noteworthy Trial Disciple to an up-and-coming Outer Disciple with a bright future ahead of her. Because of this high status, the matter of her being the sole survivor of one of many sudden surges in Demon Beast Tides was no longer put under scrutiny.
This also ant that Necro was far less likely to be found out just yet.
Although he was pleased to listen to the reports Bai Ning brought back to him, a completely unrelated problem arose…
"I'm not getting enough Lifespan or Evolution Points…"
Even with Roots that extended in every direction for over a hundred ters and Soldiers that scoured the Devastation Woods constantly, there was simply not enough to kill. At the rate Necro was going, it would take years to evolve to Rank 5—and that was without considering further diminishing returns on any Lifespan acquired.
"The more I kill sothing of a Realm, the less Lifespan I get from killing more…"
This was the reality of things, and unless he wanted to stagnate forever, Necro had to discover new hunting grounds.
As it just so happened, right when worry over this was growing in his heart, a few unsavory-looking characters walked into the Devastation Woods. They were holding rusted or damaged weapons, with so wearing eyepatches and others riddled with scars.
Bandits!
"I found my next targets." Necro revealed a sinister grin that made him appear all the scarier.
— anwhile, at the Eastern entrance to the Devastation Woods —
"Boss Van, there's definitely sothing off about this place." A short, ugly man wearily spoke to the big man advancing in front. "It wasn't like this the last ti I ca here… Even the usually active Mid-Rank 1 Demon Beasts are nowhere to be seen…"
"No more of your nonsense, Gu Bo!"
The one referred to as 'Boss Van' angrily turned around to face his quivering subordinate.
"If brother Som says he buried his treasure in these here woods, then it's certainly buried here," he added. "And so what if there are fewer Demon Beasts?? That just ans this search-and-retrieve mission will be all the easier!"
"Y… Yes, of course, Boss…!" Gu Bo agreed with sweaty palms. "What was I even thinking??"
"That's the problem," Boss Van clicked his tongue. "You don't think. That's why you and those skanky wives of mine should just leave all the thinking to !"
All of the rough-looking mbers of his group nodded their heads. Even if they disagreed, they still nodded.
Boss Van was, after all, just a step away from reaching the Bone Refinent Stage!
He was not soone to be trifled with!
While haughtily venturing deeper into the Devastation Woods, Boss Van noticed sothing unusual.
"Does anyone else see that little silhouette over there? Around the size of a child?"
His question went unanswered.
"Hey, you dumbasses, why is no one responding—"
He turned around, but the mont he did, his eyes grew round in horror. He stumbled, nearly falling.
"W-Wait, don't…!"
Before he could get back to his feet, a small shadowy creature the size of a child disappeared.
When it reappeared, Boss Van no longer had a head. Even in death, his arms were outstretched, seemingly trying to plead for rcy.
But sa as his entire group of Bandits, his life was erased, and there was no coming back…
*Ding!*
[Your Shadow Tree Soldiers (Half-step Bone Refinent) killed 7 Bandits (Skin - Half-step Bone Refinent)]
[Lifespan 12.9]
"12.9 years…" Necro felt a bit of disappointnt, but it was to be expected.
When the Shadow Tree Soldiers returned, they brought with them the mutilated corpses of the Bandits. And after searching through their belongings—which mostly consisted of useless trinkets—a map fell out.
Upon scanning the contents of the map, Necro's mood trendously improved.
According to it, the Devastation Woods was considered a very small section of the Forest of Jagga. And like the Greenfla Sect, there were plenty of other territories and areas in the Forest of Jagga.
If the map was accurate, the Greenfla Sect wasn't even that powerful of a force in the Jagga Forest. It rely had dominion over a hundred or so miles, with a couple of connections here and there.
Necro learned all this from a Relations Booklet that the Bandit Leader kept on his person. It inford him of the relationships between most of the Minor Powers in the surrounding five hundred miles, though it did so with short summaries.
"Alright, you can stop flipping the pages," Necro said to a Shadow Tree Soldier holding the booklet. "You're also the one who took care of this big guy, isn't that right?"
The Shadow Tree Soldier nodded while setting down the booklet.
"This human was half a step away from the Bone Refinent Stage, sa as you, yet you still took him down so effortlessly. It would appear that you lot are better than an average cultivator in the sa Realm as you. Perhaps this is because of that 'Shadow Punch' Skill of yours."
Looking at the injuries on the bandit corpses, one could tell that their heads were blown open like waterlons. This was because of the high destructive force of the 'Shadow Punch' Skill, which even made it so cross-realm killings were possible.
"This is good," Necro mused. "I do wonder how you bunch would fare against an actual Bone Refinent Realm Cultivator though."
"Why don't we test it out?"
Seeing his wide grin, the Shadow Tree Soldiers felt like sothing bad was about to happen.
"ROOOAARGH—!"
And they were right…
Making use of the innate shared-sight ability that he had with his Shadow Tree Soldiers, Necro watched as three of them faced a terrifying Demonic Bear. It was the size of a building and had been hiding out in a secret cave 700 ters away from where Necro was planted.
Only with the map was Necro able to find the beast and send out his Shadow Tree Soldiers.
As soon as the fight began, the Shadow Tree Soldiers got into formation—one on each side of the Demonic Bear, making a triangle shape.
{[Four-Horned Demonic Bear]}
[Cultivation: Mid-Bone Refinent]
[Lifespan: 19/107]
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