Wang Li Tian ran forwards, panting at a constant pace. His eyes would always be darting around, in case there were any demonic beasts that would launch an attack on him. From the beginning, the youth had not slow down his running pace or change his direction. He simply continued blitzing forward.
Why? It was simply faster and also, he thought that everyone thought like him and would prefer to cover a shorter distance by traversing the inner regions of the forest. With that assumption, Wang Li Tian continued forward, assuming that he would eventually reach the other martial cultivators at the front. Yet, it was to no avail and he was just continuing his run forwards by himself.
Eventually, he reached the warning array. Being in the Artificing School, Wang Li Tian could obviously see and realise that there was an array placed in front of him. The detection array had a width of 2 meters wide. When a cultivator steps within it, the array would make a noise.
What Wang Li Tian thought that was a trap set up by the other martial cultivators to trap demonic beasts. As he was running forward at a quick pace, he did not have time to stop in his tracks to examine the properties of the array. And so, he simply leaped over it and continued running forward. The warning array did not sound at all.
"What the fuck!?!?!"
"There was really a retard that ran through the array?!?!"
"Not only that, he did not even activate the warning array?!?! How unlucky could he be?!?!" What the pair of inner disciples did not know was that Wang Li Tian had simply ignored the array that was placed in front of him.
"Um, senior brother, what do we do now?" The inner disciple with thick eyebrows asked worriedly.
"Obviously we chase after him! You know the consequences that would happen to us if a disciple dies on our watch!" The senior brother with small eyes got worried too. If any disciple dies in the forest as a result of them, they would have to receive a punishment.
"Okay, I will drop a signal to the prime elder to let them know that we are giving chase." The thick eyebrows disciple suggested.
"Are you stupid too? If we did that, isn't it simply suggesting to the Prime elder that we had let him pass through to the center regions?"
"Oh, that is true."
"That is why we should just leave our post now and look for that outer disciple, before it is too late." The small eyes inner disciple decided for the both of them. "Anyways, I'm certain that no other disciples would past by this area. I have been stationed here for a 2 decades and that moron was the very first person to run through here."
"Okay. Let us go then."
The pair then started their adventure, in search of Wang Li Tian who had not clue that he had already entered the most dangerous region in Shadow Grove Forest.
Nightfall, Wang Li Tian realised that his constant chase for Jiang Rou Xuan had been fruitless for a while. Ever since he had passed by some of the outer disciples from the School of Pole Arts, he not seen a single trace of humans. On the way, he had even seen a Grade two demonic beast taking a piss by a tree. To save time, he did not strike it down. He also felt it was rude to interrupt someone while they are doing their business.
"I guess I should rest for the night." Wang Li Tian stretched his body. He had ran the entire morning and afternoon, draining quite a bit of his energy.
He had only stopped for a bit to have some rations prepared for the martial cultivators. The academy had given everyone some compressed biscuits for survival purposes. If they wanted more food, they would have to hunt demonic beasts themselves. For Wang Li Tian, as he had been running throughout the day, the youth was basically on to his last bit of ration.
"I will have to hunt for demonic beast meat tomorrow." Commented Li Tian.
With a powerful jump, the youth ascended the tall trees in Shadow Grove Forest. He was able to make it three quarters of the way before he climbed upwards by himself. The bushy tall trees were perfect to use as cover from Demonic Beasts. Not only that, it provided Wang Li Tian from the cold night winds. Tired, he drifted off into his sleep without a care of the world.
On the other hand, the pair of inner disciples had been trying their best to look for clues for where the outer disciple had went.
"Senior brother, do you think th..that outer disciple has already di..died?" The inner disciple with thick eyebrows stammered.
"Pui! Pui!" Spitting out some saliva, the disciple with small eyes smacked the back of his junior's head. He reprimanded, "Why are you thinking so negatively? If he was really in danger, we would have received a signal already."
"But, how come after a whole day of chasing, we have yet to see a single trace of him?"
"Ah, that is a good question." The pair finally stopped in their tracks.
"He could not have been in front of us after all this time right? How much stamina could an outer disciple even have?" That was the assumption that the inner disciple with thick eyebrows was going by. It was true that most outer disciples would not be able to run at high speeds for the whole day.
"You are saying that he may have already left the center region?" The disciple with small eyes thought about what his junior had suggested.
"Yes, he must have!"
"Alright, you make sense. Let us head back then."
What the pair did not know was that Wang Li Tian had been sleeping several trees away from the pair of inner disciples. The chase was unsuccessful for both parties!