At the other end.
"Yao, the lad from the He family, are you not satisfied?"
In the tent, Ning Yuanshan lowered his voice purposely, frowning and said, "He's the one the family has chosen for you. We've thoroughly verified his talents and confirmed that they are quite good. Like you, he also has the prospect of cultivating at the Star River Alliance, and our Ning Family has been on good terms with the He family for generations..."
"He was chosen by my family, not by myself," Ning Yao interrupted Ning Yuanshan impatiently.
Ning Yuanshan shook his head and sighed, "As a woman of the Ning Family, when do you have so many choices of your own?"
"Once I arrive at the Third Realm, prove myself at the Star River Alliance, I'll have choices," Ning Yao said coldly.
"It's not so easy."
As someone who's been through it all, Ning Yuanshan gave a bitter smile and patiently explained, "In our realm, your and the He family lad's cultivation talents may be considered outstanding."
"But in the Third Realm, nature's spiritual energy is richer and nearly free of impurities. Among your peers, there are who knows how many with more talent than the two of you."
What he meant was that even if she and He Ziren were recommended to the Star River Alliance, they would not be the most outstanding ones there.
"Talent is not the only criterion, success is also about human effort," Ning Yao's bright eyes sparkled.
"True, I am comforted by your confidence and mindset."
Seeing the light in her eyes, Ning Yuanshan was reminded of his own youthful vigor, so he said, "He lad came from thousands of miles away to see you, and he is extremely satisfied with you. He is highly favored in the He family, and the elders of both families have agreed upon it. If he insists..."
"You also know that there are two more people in the family, competing with you for the quota to enter the Star River Alliance."
Ning Yao was silent for a moment, a coldness gradually forming at the corners of her mouth, and suddenly said, "He shouldn't have come to the Solitude Mountain Range."
Ning Yuanshan was taken aback, gave her a deep look, and said worriedly, "You must not act recklessly."
"Star River Alliance, Blood Moon, the people from Yin Spirit Temple, so many have died in the Solitude Mountain Range, what then of He Ziren?" as if she had already made a decision, Ning Yao said coldly, "Yao Qi also just died. Even I, or you, Uncle Yuanshan, might not be able to leave alive. What's so strange about him dying in the Solitude Mountain Range?"
Ning Yuanshan massaged his temples and sighed, "It seems that you have grown up without me noticing."
"All right, Uncle Yuanshan, you better go outside and keep watch. I always feel like there's something odd about those piles of rocks," Ning Yao urged him to leave.
Just at that moment, the two heard an ear-piercing whistling sound coming from outside, and without the slightest hesitation, they burst out of the tent.
In the profound darkness of the night, their first sight was of several blurry, faint grey beast shadows, accompanied by the screeching winds from the rocks, rushing toward Pang Jian who was sitting quietly in a corner.
The beast shadows were vague, lacking real flesh and blood, seemingly formed of grey mist, filled with a sense of manic violence.
Pang Jian, who was in meditation, seemed to have also sensed the anomaly and was on guard with a cautious expression.
"Made from the souls of wild beasts in the mountains, the lowest class of Beast Evil!" Ning Yuanshan shouted.
At this time, He Ziren, Zhang Heng, and several others who were cultivating quietly in their tents, also rushed out one after another.
"Beast Evil!"
He Ziren hissed.
Like Ning Yao and Ning Yuanshan, he was at the Meridians Channeling Realm and could see those murky grey beast shadows as well.
His tent was, in fact, the closest to Pang Jian. However, seeing one by one the "Beast Evil" shaped from the souls of wild beasts drifting toward Pang Jian, he showed no intention of helping.
Moreover, he wore a mocking cold smile, clearly planning to watch Pang Jian meet misfortune.
"Uncle Yuanshan, we need Pang Jian alive," Ning Yao called out.
Ning Yuanshan suddenly darted out.
After a few swift moves, he appeared in front of Pang Jian, extracting a silver-white stone pillar engraved with a Flame Dragon pattern from behind him and placing it on the ground.
"Flame of the Scorching Sun!"
A fierce blaze suddenly erupted from the top of the pillar planted in the ground.
The Flame Dragon pattern encircling the pillar seemed to come alive under the blazing fire, assuming a ferocious posture with bared fangs and claws.
The flames, stretching out for several meters and bolstered by the Divine Power of the "Flame Dragon," formed a turbulent sea of fire above his and Pang Jian's heads.
Several newly formed "Beast Evils" of the lowest class, the moment they neared that sea of fire, dissipated rapidly like vapor, failing to touch Pang Jian's body.
"What's going on?"
After doing all this, Ning Yuanshan, holding the Flame Dragon Stone Pillar, finally lowered his head to scrutinize Pang Jian, who was sitting still.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he said coldly, "When we first met, there was not the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Energy within you; I took you for a mere hunter. Only now having entered this mountain range, there's a faint Spiritual Energy in your dantian. Can you tell me how this came to be?"
"Just felt the existence of qi and absorbed a bit of Spiritual Energy into my body," Pang Jian said calmly.
Glancing at the still-burning sea of fire overhead, with a single hand wielding the Flame Dragon Stone Pillar, Ning Yuanshan, sensing the extreme heat and masculinity around him, added, "Believe it or not, that's up to you."
"Such a coincidence? You just stumbled upon the entrance?" Ning Yuanshan sneered.
Pang Jian didn't bother to explain further.
"How long have you been cultivating?"
Ning Yao's graceful figure swayed slightly as she walked slowly towards him, calling out from a distance.
Gazing at her graceful figure and her lively spirit, Pang Jian replied, "Three years."
"Three years, only just grasped the presence of qi, and absorbed a bit of Spiritual Energy into your dantian?" Ning Yao's dense eyebrows furrowed, her attractive face showing bemusement.