The teachers would not pamper them as if they were young masters who couldn't do anything but rely on them. Besides, the best way to nurture geniuses was by putting them in danger and let them rely on themselves to survive. If they were smart enough and knew how to use their strength well, this forest would be nothing much.
Of course, they also have to learn how to gauge their opponent's strength so that they would not try to court their own death by challenging more powerful opponent in front of them.
"True enough. Let me fight in the next one, then."
"Sure."
Lin Xiao led the others to roam around again. He was using his sense to find any traces of water but there were only little traces of it. When it was in the forest, his survival skill would not lose against veterans.
"There's traces of horde at the front. Based on the footsteps, there are two species." Lin Xiao stopped and looked at the ground. He hated horde because their sheer number was more than enough to trample them all.
Princess Lan Yi Hua also stopped. "Then…?"
"We'll turn around. The footsteps are fairly new, so they shouldn't be that far. If we took different direction, we shouldn't run into them."
"Ok."
From the back, Sui Wenyan listened to Lin Xiao with admiration. At first, she thought that Lin Xiao was nothing more than a country bumpkin who was lucky enough to encounter the Emperor's Inheritance. Because of that inheritance, he would have to become the Emperor if he didn't want to die midway.
However, she could see that the young man was not that bad. He might be lacking in many general knowledge, but he also had a lot of skills that were vital for survivals. To be able to recognize the marks in the forest without batting an eyelids showed his familiarity to the environment.
Something like this would boost their vital survival.
Afterwards, Lin Xiao found marks of powerful beasts. Since it was more powerful than rank 3 beasts, they tacitly agreed to avoid it. When it came to fighting against beast rank 4, neither one had the confidence to do it. After all, the difference between Body Training and Golden Core Stage was so far away that it was scary.
Thankfully, they managed to find Beast rank 3 after traveling for some more time.
"Can you defeat Beast Rank 3?" Sui Wenyan asked.
Princess Lan Yi Hua tilted her head slightly and then smiled faintly. Her usually wooden face brightened almost instantly. "Should be."
"Hmm?"
In the princess' hand, two small swords appeared. Both of them are double edged swords and looked like it was already used a lot. The stench of blood was still lingering despite none of them left on the blade.
Sui Wenyan's eyes narrowed when she saw that. For whatever reason, she felt that the one in front of her was not like a princess but more like an assassin.
Swish!
Princess Lan Yi Hua's movement speed didn't lose against Lin Xiao. She swiftly appeared before the large boar, who couldn't even detect her presence. By the time she attacked, the beast finally found out something was wrong and tried to move but he couldn't.
Slash!
A clean cut to the beast's neck sliced it cleanly. The boar couldn't speak anymore as its eyes looked in Princess Lan Yi Hua's direction. Before it could flee, the princess had moved and formed a large gash on its stomach, blood pouring out in large volume, creating small pool of blood under the beast.
"Done." Princess Lan Yi Hua used her small swords and cracked the skull to obtain the beast core. She kept it away then looked at the boar's body. "Shall we have a meal first?"
Lin Xiao smiled happily. "Sure. Let me show you my cooking skill!"
"How about cooking together?"
"Yes!"
Seeing how excited Lin Xiao was, Sui Wenyan was speechless. She voluntary keep guard so as to not watch the two of them skinning the beast then took the meat. There was no need for her to harm her eyes by watching these two being like this.
'How I wish time passed faster.'
Using herbs they carried with them, the roasted meat tasted even better. The three of them enjoyed their meal and kept the rest of the meat and bones in the Spatial Ring. They could eat again later when they were hungry.
Or they could also trade it with some others.
No hurry.
"Let's go again."
The three of them continued to travel in the forest. They encountered several weaker beast on the way and Lin Xiao kept the beats' carcass. While they were less valuable than beast core, they could eat the meat of some beasts. Besides, they might be able to sell some parts of the beasts that was deemed valuable.
He had already learned how to identity those valuable parts and noticed that the beasts they hunted so far had those, so it was beneficial.
When the sky darkened, Lin Xiao finally found traces of river. After traveling a bit more, they finally found the river they have been searching.
Splash!
"It feels good to wash your face like this." Lin Xiao grinned. He looked at the river's direction and frowned. "Where should we go to search for the other two groups?"
"Fan Ling said that she's near a waterfall right now, so we should try to search for waterfall."
Waterfall?
Lin Xiao looked at the river before him and furrowed his brows. Waterfall could be located at both sides. There was no clear clue for them to find it.
"We could try our luck?" Princess Lan Yi Hua asked with uncertainty.
"Maybe. There's no way we could know the location with such bizarre information given to us." Lin Xiao sighed. "Let's rest for the night and travel again tomorrow."
"Yes."
"Shall I make fire?"
"No need. It might attract people to come here."
"Ok."