Three days ago, three uninvited guests arrived at the Mountain God Temple, hollowed out the statues of the mountain gods, and hid themselves inside.
The statues were much larger than ordinary people, providing ample space for someone to hide comfortably within.
"Are you sure this plan will work?" Nie Zhengyu and Xiang Dun both doubted Yuan Liang's idea.
"All we need to do is wait. The black bear will come here for food, and we need to use our brains," Yuan Liang replied confidently.
Xiang Dun considered this and found Yuan Liang's reasoning sound.
Once inside the statues, the three only left their eyes visible.
"Hey, hey, can you hear me?" Yuan Liang used the Sound Transmission Technique.
The Sound Transmission Technique was a skill they'd learned on the journey.
At such close range, it didn't require spirit energy and was easy to use.
"Yes, we can hear you," Nie Zhengyu and Xiang Dun replied.
"It's all your fault for jumping from the airship too quickly—my hat got blown off," Nie Zhengyu grumbled.
To avoid alerting the black bear, they had jumped directly from the airship in midair.
In doing so, both lost their hats, revealing the newly grown stubble on their heads.
"We know too little about this black bear. All we're sure of is…" Yuan Liang ignored Nie Zhengyu's complaint and continued analyzing.
"This black bear is likely between early Bronze and early Silver ranks. It's cunning and cautious."
"It's careful to avoid hurting cultivators to avoid trouble, preying only on mortals and steering clear of any conflicts with cultivators."
"In other words, it avoids conflict with cultivators whenever possible. It'll dodge and hide if it can."
The black bear had survived in the mountains undetected for so long by staying out of trouble.
"So, we need to hide in advance and ambush it when it arrives!"
"Bears are sensitive to spirit energy, so we mustn't use any spirit power while we wait."
For that reason, they chose the Sound Transmission Technique, which didn't require spirit energy.
After three days…
"Finally, someone's coming."
"There's an old hunter?"
They had investigated the mountain thoroughly, and locals told them that all the hunters had left long ago.
It had been a while since anyone had come down the mountain to sell leather.
It's a puppet controlled by the black bear!
The three of them immediately reached the same conclusion: this wasn't just some guide—it was a puppet meant to lure people here!
Though skeptical about the rumors surrounding the black bear, seeing the puppet confirmed that there must indeed be a black bear in these mountains.
"Should we take care of the puppet now?" Xiang Dun was eager to act.
Yuan Liang. "Once the black bear appears, Nie Zhengyu, you'll be the first to act. Make sure to get these regular people away from here."
"Got it."
Hearing the old hunter try to send away the woman in the green dress, Nie Zhengyu couldn't help muttering, "Did you notice the jade pendant on her waist?"
"What's the deal with the jade pendant?"
Yuan Liang and Xiang Dun recognized jade pendants as symbols of status, but they didn't know much else.
"That's the jade token of Frost Palace."
Frost Palace, like the Great Love Sect, was one of the five major righteous sects.
The Myriad Spirits Continent and the extreme north were separated by a range of snow-capped mountains that stretched from east to west.
Covered in snow all year round, with rare clear days, the range was reputedly the highest on the continent, closest to the moon.
Amid these mountains was a breathtaking palace complex—the Frost Palace.
"She's likely at the Bronze stage. When we start fighting the black bear, we should try to make a big enough commotion to get her attention and see if she's willing to lend a hand."
She definitely wasn't at the Silver stage, as a Silver cultivator could tell at a glance that the old hunter was a puppet.
After a while, the three watched the group settle into sleep, sleeping soundly.
Watching this, the three of them felt sleepy too.
Xiang Dun murmured a key principle of formations: "Formations need balance; for every loss, there is a gain…"
He kept repeating this phrase, as he had forgotten the rest.
"Enough already. My head is going to explode," Nie Zhengyu complained, telling Xiang Dun to stop his mumbling.
"Quiet! Listen closely!" Yuan Liang ignored their banter, staying alert and focusing on the sounds outside.
"The black bear is here!"
Hearing Yuan Liang's alert, Nie Zhengyu and Xiang Dun instantly perked up, ready for battle.
"Finally, this beast has shown up!"
Nie Zhengyu stopped suppressing his aura, shattered the Mountain God statue, and announced, "There's a door at the back! Run, now!"
The group scrambled to their feet and fled toward the back door, terrified to linger for even a moment.
"Thank you for saving us, Great Monk!" a young man said solemnly, expressing gratitude to Nie Zhengyu as they escaped.
Nie Zhengyu wanted to correct him, but the black bear's presence weighed heavily on him.
"I'll lend you a hand!"
The other two statues of the mountain gods spoke up.
One figure, robed like a scholar, held a thick book in one hand and a crystal in the other.
The other was bald, emitting a radiant glow like an enlightened monk, with a single-horned caterpillar on his shoulder.
"Knowledge is power!"
Xiang Dun held the formation book as if wielding a brick and swung it toward the black bear's head.
The black bear hesitated, unaccustomed to seeing such an unconventional weapon, and quickly retreated.
Yuan Liang commanded the caterpillar to spin its silk rapidly, sealing off both the front and rear exits.
The old hunter immediately reverted to a pile of wood, falling to the ground with a thud.
The black bear was more furious than it had ever been.
Just because it avoided conflict with cultivators didn't mean it feared them.
It could tear these ignorant novices to shreds and then disappear to another part of the mountains, beyond anyone's reach.
The black bear's claw swept horizontally toward Nie Zhengyu with a deafening roar.
Nie Zhengyu immediately leaped back to evade.
The bear's claw slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, causing the entire temple to tremble.
The three of them grew serious. "Silver-level spirit power!"
Seeing their grave expressions, the black bear laughed mockingly, "I'm a powerhouse at the threshold of Silver rank. A bunch of Iron-ranked brats dare challenge me?"
"Half-step Silver?" Yuan Liang looked at Nie Zhengyu, puzzled, as he'd never heard Elder Huo mention this rank.
Nie Zhengyu, who was more knowledgeable, explained, "It means it's not quite Silver yet but thinks highly of itself, pathetically deluding itself into grandeur."
Xiang Dun added, "Our seniors consider this term laughable, saying only the uncultivated use it."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Liang looked at the black bear with pity. "Truly pathetic."
The black bear's eyes filled with rage, its pride shattered by these young cultivators.
But they weren't wrong.
The black bear crouched low, eyes fixed on the three, muscles tensed.
It suddenly lunged toward them, its hind legs launching it with tremendous force.
The bear collided with the bread-shaped weapon with a loud bang.
The impact left the bear dizzy, stumbling back in a daze.
"Who knew a weapon from the sect's canteen would be this effective?" Nie Zhengyu was pleasantly surprised.
At first, he had despised the weapon Yuan Liang had given him.
But now, it had saved their lives at a crucial moment.