24 Mistakes Were Made (1/2)

'Alright. Alright. Relax. Take it easy.'

'All I need to do is to slowly descend on the general direction and keep looking. I have frickin' elf eyes. So long as I keep it slow and steady I'll eventually be able to spot the spiritual boat. That thing really is huge in the first place, right?!'

Han De started descending after giving himself a pep talk. He had looked at the landscape occasionally when he was on the spiritual boat and knew the general traveling direction was towards the north-west.

As time went by, Han De's heart was getting tighter and tighter. He went towards a valley that he thought was familiar but after getting close to it, he realized he had no memory of this place.

'Let's just land here, calm down, and think this through. I've only been searching for a few hours! As long as I keep looking I'll eventually find them! Eventually. Yes, definitely...'

Han De landed on a slope near the mountain. He took deep breaths while trying to calm down.

'What a peaceful looking valley. The river, the trees, the faint breeze. Such a nice location.'

As Han De was admiring the view, he felt a slight movement near him. He was quite alarmed at first but relaxed quickly as he spotted a gorgeous fox with orange fur.

Han De grew up with cats and dogs, so he loved animals, especially the fluffy ones. Such a gorgeous looking fox came near him without any reservation! Of course, he had to pet this fox!

”You think you can escape me? You are just a normal fox, you dare to run away?!”

After forcing his affection on the poor fox for some time and enjoying the look of resignation and resentment it had, Han De released it. This was a wild animal, after all. It had to live in its natural environment. However, once he released the fox, this orange fur ball ran a few meters then stopped and kept looking back at Han De.

”Hmm? You want me to follow you?”

Han De slowly followed the fox. It was clearly leading him somewhere. Foxes were naturally smart animals on Earth, perhaps the ones here were even smarter even if they weren't cultivating creatures. Still, Han De put up his guard up even though this fox was just a normal animal.

'Perhaps its mate is wounded or something? Could it be smart enough to seek help from humans? It didn't run away from me, it probably had contact with humans before.'

Fox eventually led Han De into a large cave entrance. Han De used his spiritual sense but couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary. It really was just a cave. He entered it and kept following the fox. A few minutes later both of them arrived at a clearing. Sunlight was coming from a hole in the ceiling. In the middle of everything, Han De saw a single bright red flower.

-

[Crimson Terror]

A mutant Fire Chrysanthemum plant that matures after a thousand years. It refines and stores large quantities of flawless Fire Qi during the growth period. Its roots can absorb and convert life essence into flawless Fire Qi and store it in its flowers to accelerate its maturation.

Maturation Progress: 99.99901%

-

'Flawless Fire Qi?!'

Reading the description, Han De immediately got excited. This thing would be very useful for Ning Bi! Even if it wasn't completely mature it could still last a long time. He wanted to gauge how much Fire Qi this thing was storing, but he was puzzled that he couldn't sense any spiritual energy. Han De immediately entered high alert mode.

'Wait, a flower with an ominous name just happened to grow in this cave that a fox led me to?'

Han De narrowed his eyes. The fox was standing near the plant, alternating its gaze between Han De and the flower itself.

'Nope, nope, nope. I'm not touching that thing.'

Han De broke into a sprint started running back to the cave entrance. He wasn't getting a good feeling from this situation at all. He went out of the cave in seconds, just as he was getting his sword out from the storage ring he felt a suffocating presence and heard a thundering voice behind him.

”YOU! You dare to touch this Dragon's spiritual herb?!”

Han De's heart dropped when he had heard the word 'Dragon' but after slowly turning towards the voice, he was puzzled. The so-called 'dragon' in front of him looked more like a dark blue snake! It was fairly large, sure, but it looked more like a snake than a dragon.

'Aaah, it is a Chinese dragon. Right. I shouldn't expect to see a Hollywood dragon in this world. A pity.'

Regaining his senses after a momentary lapse, Han De assumed the Amiable Junior A mode he had prepared for occasions like this. The 'dragon' in front of him was at the late stages of the Nascent Soul realm. Being an intelligent creature Han De first thought of reasoning with it. This was just a misunderstanding! He hadn't even touched the flower after all. Han De patted himself on the back for his foresight.

”Greetings senior. Although my curiosity did lead me inside this cave, I did not take the flower inside it. I have not even touched it.”

”Hmph! Good! Very Good! You expect m-”

Dragon abruptly stopped and furrowed its long brows. What was going on? The flower was really untouched, the formation around it was also intact.

A fox slowly came out of the cave. Its face had a look of bafflement all over it. The dragon and the fox looked at each other, then turned their heads to the human beside them.

*cough* ”Ah, yes. It seems you haven't touched the flower. Good!”

An awkward silence ensued. Han De watched the fox's familiar behavior with the dragon with worry. He remembered information about the flower's roots, how it could absorb the life essence. At this point, a stupid MC would think 'They are so powerful, they wouldn't bother with small tricks like this.'

However, Han De knew better. He was now certain these two were going to feed him to the flower. He wasn't stupid, neither was he an MC. He couldn't just let things sort themselves out. As he was forming a plan, the dragon talked.

”Blame your luck for seeing something you shouldn't have. Now. Obediently go inside the cave. Don't you dare refuse. Otherwise...”

Seeing the dangerous glint in the dragon's eyes, Han De started executing his plan.

The dragon and the fox saw the young cultivator's demeanor change. In an instant his eyes became profound, and his posture became aloof. He looked at them both and a faint smile appeared on his mouth. It was as if his previous modesty and cautiousness was just a mirage, discarded after their usefulness was over. The dragon and the fox narrowed their eyes. The human spoke.

”It seems you are going to force my hand, after all. On the account of the difference in our cultivations, I hope you'll allow me the first strike...”

The dragon looked at the human in astonishment. A wide smile broke in its face. Dragons were proud and arrogant because they considered themselves to be existences above others. They were arrogant, and the best way to talk to them was to be arrogant.

The difference in their cultivation was too high. Whatever this human would do, it wouldn't matter. However, the dragon decided to allow it. This human had character, he even managed to deceive them both. While the dragon waited in anticipation, the fox rolled its eyes but didn't say anything.

'Hmmm. His aura contains traces of essence. He grasped his own concept too. Astonishing! How pitiful, if only he was one realm higher, this might've been a fun fight.'

In front of them, the human gathered spiritual energy. Sun dimmed and stars shined brightly. For a moment it seemed as if time itself had stopped. Then a massive release of energy struck the entire area around the dragon.

'Hmm, weaker than I expected, but he is only at mid-stage of the Core Form-'

Noticing the rapidly leaving mass of spiritual energy, the dragon's thoughts were disrupted. It took a moment but then the realization hit them both.

”Did he just ran away?!”

Both the fox and the dragon had slack jaws. Dragon couldn't help but continue.