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Thus, he said to Night Demon, “I have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Your identity isn’t that of a princess of a vanquished nation or something like that, is it?”

Night Demon was caught off-guard by Su Chen’s sudden question. “What nonsense are you saying?”

“I’m not joking around,” Su Chen replied seriously.

Night Demon was flustered by Su Chen’s intensity. She could only reply, “I’m not. I am from the low-class Moon Race, and my status is extremely low. How could I be some kind of princess from a vanquished country?”

Night Demon was from the Moon Race – Su Chen already knew that.

The Moon Race were innately talented in concealment, commonly moving under the light of the moon. They were able to easily blend into the darkness, making them natural-born assassins.

“Since you don’t have a noble status, then there’s only one reason you were attacked......” Su Chen muttered in a low voice, “The Immortal Temple!”

Realization dawned on Night Demon. “Are you saying my identity has been revealed?”

“Yes, that’s certainly possible, but I’m assuming that the other party isn’t confident either. Otherwise, your attacker would have reported you to the authorities and tailed you rather than personally making a move. That person didn’t seem to be trying to kill you, but rather trying to restrict you. He or she was probably trying to confirm your identity. When you get back, it’d be best if you tell your higher ups and relocate immediately.”

“Then what about you?”

“I won’t have any problems. I’m wearing a disguise, so there’s no way he’ll or she’ll recognize me.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

After giving her a few more instructions, Su Chen accompanied Night Demon to where she was supposed to reconvene with the Immortal Temple before leaving.

Su Chen was able to waltz inside the Hidden Dragon Institute without any further incidents. The people who had been tasked to monitor Su Chen were completely unaware that Su Chen had gone out for a stroll right in front of their eyes.

However, after Su Chen entered the Hidden Dragon Institute, a black figure slowly emerged from the shadows not far away. It was the black-clothed individual who had tried to sneak-attack Night Demon.

Upon seeing Su Chen enter the Institute, a trace of surprise flashed across the attacker’s eyes. “He’s a student of the Hidden Dragon Institute?”

The attacker took off the black veil covering their face, revealing a bright, moon-like face. The attacker was actually a pale maiden. After taking off her black robes, she similarly headed for the Hidden Dragon Institute, quickly disappearing in the darkness.

——————————

The next day, Su Chen went through his normal routine – attended classes during the day, read a few books in the library in the afternoon, ate a meal in one of the Institute’s restaurants, and then began to head outside of the Institute.

He did not walk quickly; rather, he strolled at a leisurely pace. Occasionally, he would greet people that he recognized, even conversing with them for a bit. Those who were tasked with monitoring him couldn’t ignore him even if they tried to.

The people tasked with watching Su Chen quickly used their methods to notify their employers.

Su Chen began heading east after leaving the Institute.

To the east of the Hidden Dragon Institute was the Falling Eagle Mountain. The mountain’s terrain was extremely steep and was densely populated with Vicious Beasts that commonly harassed passerbys.

When the Long Sang Country had first been established, they originally intended to clear out the Falling Eagle Mountain to make the mountain completely safe and void of Vicious Beasts.

After the Hidden Dragon Institute had been established, the first Institute head needed to find a place for students to practice. There were many Vicious Beasts within the Mountain, but they were isolated from the Beast Race. The area was considered to be in control of the humans and was relatively safe, creating a suitable location for students to practice. Thus, the plan to clear out the Falling Eagle Mountain had been shelved.

From that point onwards, the Falling Eagle Mountain became a specially restricted location within Long Sang Country where students could go to practice. Students at the Institute could enter the Falling Eagle Mountain to hunt Vicious Beasts and temper themselves. The only rules were that teams larger than seven people were not permitted, nor was hunting cubs. The Institute was not responsible for any injuries or deaths that occurred.

Cultivating was inherently dangerous. Even the most casual students needed to prepare themselves to face potential dangers.

The Hidden Dragon Institute has a set limit on yearly deaths. As long as the number of deaths didn’t surpass that limit, there wouldn’t be any problems.

Because of these rules, many of the students in the Hidden Dragon Institute would go there to settle their scores.

The Falling Eagle Mountain was a great place to resolve any grudges that couldn’t be taken care of within the Institute. Their grudges would be settled with a life-or-death battle, with the loser’s death attributed to the hands of Vicious Beasts.

Cloud Leopard had been ambushed by Bai Ou and the others here.

This kind of thing had happened quite often.

The Hidden Dragon Institute couldn’t control this from happening, and they had no desire to – if you don’t have the strength, don’t go into such a dangerous environment. If you do go, you had to bear all of the consequences. As long as it didn’t happen inside the walls of the Institute, it wasn’t their business. This was a world governed by morals and principles, but ultimately it was still a world in which the strong preyed on the weak.

Su Chen entered the Falling Eagle Mountain and very quickly disappeared into the forest.

The trees were densely foliaged and seemed to be able to touch the sky.

Because of the time of day and the dense foliage, the already limited amount of light that filtered through the trees began to decrease.

Su Chen continued to trek through the forest. After an unknown period of time, he came to a stop in front of a treacherous slope.

A stele was erected at the base of the slope. Three large words were inscribed on top of it: “Red Cloud Slope”.

Su Chen found a piece of limestone to sit on and began to rest while lying in wait.

Not long afterwards, the sound of a group of people charging in Su Chen’s directions echoed throughout the forest.

Upon hearing these noises, the corners of Su Chen’s mouth twitched upwards in a cruel smile.

Cloud Leopard was right – they were all rookies. They would huff loudly as they chased after him, completely ignorant of covering their tracks. Someone with lots of experience would easily discover that something was off based on all the noise and make preparations.

Cloud Leopard was able to detect that he was being chased and prepared an ambush. Not only had he survived, he had also killed two of his opponents.

Su Chen didn’t need to do that, however, because he had already prepared a large present for his pursuers. Now all he had to do was wait for them to take the bait.

A moment later, a group of people appeared in front of Su Chen.

Bai Yihong and Bai Ou were obviously present. They had also brought three other students with them.

There were less people than he had anticipated, but Su Chen didn’t let his guard down. After they had suffered a loss the hands of Cloud Leopard, they had actually decreased the number of people that they brought along. Either they were incredibly stupid, or these three “helpers” were not simple characters at all.

From their appearances, Su Chen was leaning towards the latter.

The three helpers were youths with an almost tangible arrogance around them. All of them were wearing fancifully embroidered clothing.

The leader was holding a silver saber in his hand. He coldly laughed when he saw Su Chen, “Little Bai, this is the Su Chen you want to kill? He doesn’t seem all that impressive, yet you still called on us to help you deal with him.”

Bai Ou similarly laughed, “Senior Brother Yu, he is precisely Su Chen. I’m just trying to prevent any unexpected occurrences.

A blade-wielding youth to the side laughed, “Isn’t it better if he isn’t that impressive? The earlier we finish him off, the less time we waste and the earlier we can return to our cultivation.”

As he spoke, he pulled out his blade and said, “Su Chen, right? Today isn’t your lucky day. Remember this grandpa’s name! Your killer is Zhang Zhongyue, a sixth-year student at the Hidden Dragon Institute!”

The blade in his hand slashed forwards. An incomparably sharp blade of Qi surged towards Su Chen, carrying with it a frightening killing intent.