After the encounter with the Grey Wolves, they continued to make their way into the outskirts of the Forest.
They came across more and more beasts who were slain continuously by her Father, Uncle Cheng and the other men.
Although they had yet to see a Magical Beast, each Beast they fought were formidable for the Apprentice Rank, but with the flawless team work and the powerful Uncle Cheng they dealt with every encounter they came across without a single injury.
The previously, timid and nervous boys became more and more outgoing and relaxed as time went by.
Contrary to the time they were frightened by the Grey Wolves they became used to such sights of the menacing beasts, and even began cheering their Fathers on.
To each of the children it was their dream in becoming a powerful Warrior, so seeing exactly what they can be capable of in the future if they trained hard made them even more determined in their path into becoming a Warrior.
For children in poorer households barely any had the grand dream of becoming a Mage, as it is simply to rare. This Town alone had no Mages for years, so there was no point in getting their children's hopes up for nothing.
So aspiring to become a great Warrior was every child's dream, none dared to have the thought of even becoming a Mage.
"I will surely bring Home large bounties of Beasts when I'm older! In our household we'd have meat every night!" A boy said loudly.
"Hmph. Never mind just meat, I will surely hunt the Magical Beasts in the forest and retrieve their cores. Each core is worth a great price, so I'm sure I'd be a wealthy man in the future!" The confident boy said proudly.
"Yeah, yeah, says the one who wet himself at the sight of the Grey Wolves!" Hui Bai said mockingly under the amusement of the other boys.
"You wait, Hui Bai I will show you how great I will become!" Replies the boy.
"Silent!" Uncle Cheng suddenly said.
"What's wrong?" Said Hui Bingweng
"Those Grey Wolves, they've been following us this entire time. At first I thought maybe their hounding for to wait until we've been exhausted through a fight with another beast, but they've just been stalking us as if to keep our trail... I've intentionally been showing signs of tiredness to try and lure them out but they've been held back by something. This isn't usual Grey Wolf behaviour, they may be smart for Wild Beasts, but in the end they are still Beasts... " Uncle Cheng mumbled with a look of confusion plastered on his face.
Hearing that the Grey Wolves from earlier have been following them this entire time without them all not noticing but Uncle Cheng the entire group grew pale as an expression of shock appeared on their face.
But this quickly disappeared as the confident boy replied smugly, "So what if those bunch of beasts follow us, I'm sure Uncle Cheng will beat them back and blue like last time, no matter how many of them there are!"
"Yeah that's right! They're just sending their lives right to us, and saving us the effort in going to look for some Beasts.!" Another boy replied with a grin on his face.
For the past few years they witnessed Uncle Cheng, Hui Bingweng and the other men easily deal with the numerous beasts they came across.
Even those stronger than the Grey Wolves were dealt with, such as a Black Bear one step from becoming a Journeyman Ranked Beast.
Therefore, they were filled with confidence that they should be able to deal with the Grey Wolves no problem!
And the more beasts they come across, the more valuables they can obtain from this trip, though Wild Beasts are no where near as valuable as a Magical Beast corspe, some of the parts of their bodies were worth a bit of coin, such as the meat, teeth, claws and fur.
Although it is a bit far stretched for them to retrieve the fur in the time they have, the teeth and claws were still worth a decent amount as they have been nourished by essence continuously they have become fairly strong and can be fashioned into decent daggers.
The meat is also very nutritious and beneficial for the body and the boys even managed to experience what it is like to consume the meat of the beasts that have been killed.
Although they've eaten similar meat before, it felt different to do so of the beasts that they've seen slain, it seemed to fill each of them with vigour and enthusiasm as they dreamt in hunting and consuming the beasts they've killed in the future.
Therefore, they where filled to the brim with a sense of belief that the Grey Wolves would be dealt with.
However, the worried look didn't disappear on Uncle Cheng's one bit, "This doesn't make sense after seeing our strength the Grey Wolves would know they aren't our match and it is pointless to throw the lives of their pack at us. Grey Wolves never attack an enemy they have no confidence in beating, unless..."
As he had that thought a loud roar sounded which seemed to still the entire Forest, after that a pressure seemed to descend upon the group as if a formidable beast was on there way here.
After that a grave expression appeared on Uncle Cheng's face for the first time since they've been on this hunting trip he's turned serious, "Hui Bingweng I want you to protect the boys and girl behind us, we're in serious trouble now if it is what I think it is..."
Upon hearing Uncle Cheng's warning the entire group quickly got into action as they secured the group of children in the middle of a circle as Hui Bingweng stepped in front of them in order to ensure their safety.
A look of confusion appeared on her face as she thought in her mind, 'Zhang Wei what is going on? Why does Uncle Cheng look so worried?'
Through these past couple of days Li Fen never once saw Uncle Cheng bear such an expression he has been walking leisurely the entire way through, what could have caused such a dramatic change?
'That girl is a Magical Beast, although a very weak one it is enough to pose a great threat to your little group.' Zhang Wei said haughtily.
Upon hearing that Li Fens face turned grave as even she a cultivation newbie knew how serious this is, the minimum level of a Magic Beast is the Journeyman Rank, the same cultivation realm as Uncle Cheng and with Beasts generally being stronger at the same level, this truly was a serious situation.
The look of confusion intensified in the children's face, as they had no idea what could cause even the mighty Uncle Cheng in their eyes in grow apprehensive.
"Damn of all places why would one have to appear here, normally Beasts such as this could only be found in the inner layer... " Uncle Cheng voiced frustratingly as the beast which he was talking about finally appeared in full view.
A large Gold Wolf appeared who beside it stood the Grey Wolf leader from earlier who at the moment stared at them with a smug look in its eyes as it looked down at them.
"Damn a Gold Wolf! We got no chance!" Said one of the men with a stern look in his eyes.
"Relax, observe the Gold Wolf closely, this ain't a fully matured one you can see that this Wolf is an adolescent at most, a fully grown Gold Wolf would at least be a Rank 7 Journeyman, I feel this one is about a similar level to me in terms of cultivation so I can at least hold it off." Uncle Cheng said.
"Yeah but even a young Gold Wolf may to much for us to handle." Said Hui Bingweng grimly.
"Looks like I must go all out, listen protect the children, I will keep the Gold Wolf contained for now, if I can't beat it I want you to take the kids and get out of here. If worse comes to worse I can take down the thing with me." Uncle Cheng said as he seemed to turn into a different person
At the moment he seemed like a true soldier of the military who's experienced multiple battles, he stood as tall as a boulder as he seemed to emit a righteous aura.
"I will do as you say." Hui Bingweng said with a solemn look, he knew that the likelihood of all of them getting out of this alive was slim.
It caused him to feel a pang of regret taking Li Fen with him in this trip, as he'd never knew a seemingly simple expedition which they have taken many times in the past can quickly turn so deadly.
Sensing the atmosphere changing the children knew something was up as Hui Bai put his arm around Li Fens shoulder and voiced, "Don't worry cousin, I'll protect you!"
His little face was scrunched up in determination, making him look like a little kid who's pretending to be an adult.
A pang of warmth filled her chest as Li Fen finally for the first time in her life that she was lucky to be blessed by such a caring family in this World.
Although she felt in her eyes they could never replace her first parents, she now felt truly like she belonged to this family.
But, this time she knew that they were all under threat and at this moment in time she could nothing to affect the outcome, at most she could run away with her movement technique with maybe another one of the children, though she knew that she couldn't do anything in the slightest to a bonafide Magical Beast.
The Gold Wolf finally launched the siege as the Grey Wolves behind it swarmed towards the group as it charged at the lead instantly engaging Uncle Cheng.
The battle between the two was explosive from the start with Uncle Cheng going completely all out as he used whatever techniques he gained from the army and the Gold Wolf viciously using the inborn advantages of the Magical Beasts in gaining a slight upper hand in the exchanges.
However, this was amazing in itself as a human being able to compete with a Beast of the same level was rarely found, even if the Gold Wolf wasn't fully mature it could roll over most Rank 1 Journeyman Warriors, the fact that Uncle Cheng could compete with it demonstrated that for his level he was a fairly strong individual.
This again shows that talent doesn't determine everything, a figure who has a weak cultivation technique and wasn't that talented had far better battle experience than most of the so called geniuses at that level.
The factor behind this was simply that Uncle Cheng had to work hard for everything he had, being in the army he fought numerous battles, continuously honing his own techniques. Knowing his talent wasn't great in cultivation, he put all of his time in other ways to grow his strength, which for him comprised of all of his sword arts and battle skills.
He grew to the point of earning himself a decent level of standing in the army in comparison to his cultivation level, and it allowed him to make many contributions
As he fought the Gold Wolf he continuously pulled off manoeuvres and offensive strikes, as he fought the Gold Wolf into a stand still.
Despite the Gold Wolf stronger physique it couldn't get the upper hand in the battle which frustrated it to end causing it to increase the intensity of its attacks even more.
With the sudden increase in pressure, Uncle Cheng narrowly evaded death as he continued to rain his own strikes on the Gold Wolfs body.
Although most of his moves were purely defensive as the Gold Wolf was the stronger opponent of the two, he managed to inflict a few minor injuries on the Gold Wolf causing it to howl in anger at the weak human who dared to hurt it!
Knowing it couldn't get the upper hand any time soon, a crafty look appeared in its eyes as it looked at the weakness of the group, the bunch of small humans who they were so determined to protect.
Barking an order, the lead Grey Wolf began to charge at the group of men.
Hui Bingweng seeing that the strongest Grey Wolf was seemingly targeting him, sent a strike flying towards it.
However, the Lead Grey Wolf at the last moment cleverly backed off completely evading Hui Bingweng as it bypasses him, allowing it a clear view of the children.
Seeing that the Lead Grey Wolf was about to launch an attack at the children, Hui Bingweng disregarded all defence as he hurriedly threw an attack in an attempt to make the Lead Grey Wolf disregard its attack in order to defend his strike.
Usually the Lead Grey Wolf would back off in such a situation as exchanging a life threatening injury just to take out a bunch of little humans was a consequence not worth it in its eyes, but this time it didn't dare disobey the Gold Wolfs orders.
Viciously it swung down its claws at Hui Bai who jumped in front of Li Fen in order to protect her.
Time seem to stand still as its claw was about to land on Hui Bai, but...