After spending a few days with Asura's family, Su Lin took her leave. Asura stayed at home for about a week during this period of time, He lectured Xie Ling about how to cultivate in the spiritual realm.
As for the control of spiritual power, he didn't think that Xie Ling needed it because as a crafter, her ability to control spiritual power was no worse than his, and in the future, her control would only increase.
Asura then left his home on his way to the Xiao Sect. He thought, "Why don't I go to the dark forest to train? It's been a long time since I trained there." One could tell that the outskirts of the dark forest were Asura's favorite place to train when Kallu wasn't his sparring partner. But now, Kallu was gone on his journey and wouldn't return for one month. Asura thought of going deeper into the Dark Forest to train.
When Asura arrived at the periphery of the Dark Forest, he fought with magical beasts, but the beasts were not that strong and posed no threat to Asura. It wasn't that the beasts were weak; Asura had simply become much stronger. So, he decided to venture deeper into the Dark Forest.
As Asura went a little deeper inside the Dark Forest, he couldn't help but remember his previous encounters in the deep parts of the forest, where he had to fight rank 4 magical beasts with his life on the line. But now, the situation was different. He could easily defeat a rank 4 magical beast, and even if a rank 5 magical beast appeared, he had a chance to win if he used his hidden strength.
He encountered many rank 4 magical beasts on his way, but as he had guessed, his present self found them easy to deal with. He didn't encounter any rank 5 magical beasts; surely, they resided in the deeper part of the Dark Forest. There were even rumors of a rank 6 magical beast residing at the core of the Dark Forest, and no one dared to go there.
Who would venture into that place? Even the strongest person in the Xiao Sect was only at the peak of the Sky Realm, which was equal to the peak of a rank 5 magical beast. They could defeat a peak rank 5 magical beast, but they were no match for a rank 6 magical beast because the strength gap between rank 5 and rank 6 magical beasts was too vast to compare.
So, Asura decided that he would venture deep into the dark forest but not into the core region. He knew he was no match for a rank 6 magical beast, even with his hidden strength.
While he was on his way to find some rank 5 magical beasts to train with, he heard voices and footsteps. He decided to hide his figure in the bushes. After some time, Asura realized to whom these voices and footsteps belonged. There were two people, but judging from their clothes, they were not from their kingdom. They must be from another kingdom.
There was one man and one woman. The woman said, "Why aren't we flying?" The man replied, "If we fly, we could be spotted." The woman complained, "It's a remote area of the dark forest. How would anyone find us?" The man said, "I'm just being cautious. Besides, wasn't it your idea to visit the Xiao Kingdom before our Kingdom invade it?"
The woman replied, "Yes, it was my idea to visit the Xiao Kingdom before our kingdom invades it because when we come to the Xiao Kingdom after a month, we'll destroy this place. We won't have a chance to appreciate this kingdom's beauty fully, and I want to pick out some beautiful places that I want to destroy." As she spoke these words, an evil smile appeared on the woman's face.
Asura remained hidden in the bushes, eavesdropping on the conversation between the two strangers from a foreign kingdom. Their sinister intentions to invade the Xiao Kingdom and destroy its beauty deeply troubled him. Asura had a strong sense of loyalty to his kingdom and couldn't stand the thought of it being harmed by these outsiders.
He decided that he needed to gather more information about their plans and, if possible, destroy their nefarious scheme. Quietly, he crept closer to where the man and woman were talking, making sure to stay concealed.
The man continued, "Remember, we must gather as much intelligence as we can during this visit. The more we know about their defenses and weaknesses, the easier it will be for our forces to conquer the Xiao Kingdom when we return."
The woman nodded with a wicked grin, "Of course. And when we return, we'll unleash our kingdom's full might upon them. Their precious kingdom will crumble before us."
Asura's mind raced with thoughts of how to stop them. He was not able to decide what to do. He knew he couldn't confront them directly. They seemed well-prepared and Asura had the feeling that they were more dangerous than the leader of the Crimson Cobra Syndicate.
So, he ultimately decided to shadow them and report their activities to Princess Moon or the Xiao Sect when he returned. The safety of his kingdom and its people was his top priority.
But as he turned to leave, a small dry branch under Asura's foot made a sound. The man quickly spun around to locate the source of the noise, but all he found was a fleeting shadow moving away. He asked, 'Who is it?'
The woman replied, 'Perhaps it was a magical beast that got frightened by you and ran away.'
The man shook his head and said, 'I didn't sense the presence of any magical beast.' Without waiting for the woman's response, he chased after the elusive shadow.
When Asura felt someone chasing him, the only thought that came to his mind was, 'I am busted.'