'That robe, where have I seen it before?'
Xue Yang, who was hiding in the nearby bushes, wondered. He has seen that robe before. However, he can't remember where he saw it.
'Anyway, I should go.'
Xue Yang needs to finish his quest. He also does not have any reason to keep watching the couple. However, just as he was about to leave, he heard another footstep approaching the couple.
Another man, who is wearing the same robe, is walking in the direction of the couple. He is walking with a sword that is stained with the blood of the magical beast that he has just slain.
In that young man's left hand is a small rabbit-like creature. Its white fur is slightly colored with red that comes from its blood.
"Deng Jianhua, stop flirting and come back to the group," said the man with the sword. He glanced at the girl next to Deng Jianhua. A complicated expression appeared on his face.
"Luoyang, you are here. Is it already time for us to regroup?" asked Deng Jianhua. "I thought there was an hour left?"
"Some senior brother said they found a group of magical beasts. They want to let us junior to train," explained Zhang Luoyang.
"Ah, too bad..." said the girl, Cao Guanting, a little sadly, "I want to play more with Senior Brother."
She didn't forget to pout and show her disappointment with her facial expression.
"There will be another time. Besides, have you forgotten to call me 'Brother Hua'? Tingting?"
Cao Guanting blushed when she heard this. She tried to cover her face with her small hands. Then she said, "Brother... Brother Hua..."
"Good. Tingting," Deng Jianhua said. He said it slowly with a gentle smile toward Cao Guanting. Making her blush even more.
On the side, Zhang Luoyang's face had turned as black as a pot of water. He didn't have any mental courage left to look at the two of them anymore. He decided to go back first without saying anything.
The two of them, Deng Jianhua and Cao Guanting, stayed in their place for a little while longer before they went back to their group. But before they go back, they don't forget to bring their hunted magical beast.
***
Xue Yang did not expect to witness such a thing. He came to the forest to hunt some deer, and what he got was a pair of lovebirds, and well... a lose bird.
While observing the group, Xue Yang didn't forget to check their cultivation realm. He did this so that in case he was noticed by the group, he would at least know their strength.
Both Deng Jianhua and Zhang Luoyang are in the lower realm of the Second Stage. They are still at the beginning of the Qi Condensing stage.
Meanwhile, the girl, Cao Guanting, is still in the First Stage of cultivation. Xue Yang can tell that she has the aura of someone who has opened the third acupoint.
Only after confirming this does Xue Yang feel reassured. He knows that he can run away from the group of three if something goes south.
After the group leaves the place, Xue Yang rearranges his mind and started moving again. He changed his course so that he will not meet with that group again.
…
One hour later
The place where Xue Yang arrived is a small pond. The pond is covered with certain aquatic plants. Xue Yang can also see a couple of small fish that are swimming around in the pond as well.
He decided to rest for a while before continuing. His body is still not tired, but he feels that he needs to sit down for a while.
Xue Yang looked around to see if there were any medicinal plants or some kind of precious magical beasts nearby. But Xue Yang is not familiar with many kinds of spiritual plants or magical beasts.
He didn't know what kinds of beasts were precious and what wasn't. He only knows the common ones like the Iron Antler Deer.
"I wonder if they live in this place?" muttered Xue Yang. "How far did I go back then, before I met the deer? I thought I had gone deep enough into the forest?"
Xue Yang ran around the forest, but there was no sign of the Iron Anker Deer. He wondered if he hadn't gone deep enough.
"I'm pretty sure I met them at the outer part of the forest back then."
Sitting at the edge of the pond, Xue Yang looked at the fish. "Ah, there is a catfish here. But it has golden whiskers. Huh? Some of its scales are golden."
Ping
[Mandatory Quest]
[Golden Scaled Catfish (Quest Active)
Objective: Catch 30 Golden Scaled Catfish
Time limit: 1 hour
Reward: 200 system points
Penalty: A magical beast with the strength of a level 4 Cultivator will be summoned to this location]
"Huh?" Xue Yang was surprised to hear the sound of the system. "Mandatory quest? There is such a thing?"
He looked at the quest window.
"Damn it! I can't dawdle around. I can't fight against such a strong magical beast."
Xue Yang jumped into the pond without hesitation. The pond is not that deep. When Xue Yang stood up in the pond, only the part below his knees was completely submerged.
Xue Yang supplied his eyes with Spiritual Energy to search for the fish. Then he skillfully scooped a Golden Scaled Catfish out of the pond. The fish then flew to the side before fluttering around.
[Golden Scaled Catfish (1/30)]
Seeing the system's prompt, Xue Yang is relieved. He didn't catch the wrong fish.
He then catches more catfish without using any tools. One, two, three.... One by one, the number in the quest window increases.
[Golden Scaled Catfish (13/30)
After a few minutes, all the fish in the pond knows that they are being targeted and are now hiding from Xue Yang.
There are only a few Golden Scaled Catfish left. Not only that but they are all hidden. This means that Xue Yang will need more time to catch each fish.
And after Xue Yang caught his 28th Golden Scaled Catfish.
"There are no more!"
Xue Yang looked around the place more closely. He also went to the other side of the pond. But to no avail, he didn't see any more Golden Scaled Catfish.
"Time. What time is it?"
[0 Hour 22 Minutes]
"There is still plenty of time. I can take a closer look at this part. There should be something left."
At that moment, Xue Yang noticed something coming from the forest. He could hear the sound of dry leaves being stepped on. And in less than a minute, the owner of the footsteps appeared in front of Xue Yang.
'Come on! Not now!' Xue Yang shouted in his heart.
He could only look at the furry beast in front of him.
'Jadeclaw Black Bear!? Are you kidding me?'