Lize happily stoked Luo San Pao's bulky head as he turned towards the children stopping at Yu Hua. "My spirit San Pao is mutated; I will never exceed level thirty. But it does not mean all is lost. There are always several ways to reach a goal."
Tang Yin felt the Grandmaster's words hit home. He was a persistent person, he was in that regard, like Tang San and his passion for hidden weapons, Ning Feng and Yu Hua in their goal of becoming spirit masters, Gale who pursued his path as a spirit engineer or Damian whose dream was owning his own company and overshadowing his father and stepmother. Maybe that was why they had to accept the Grandmaster faster than anyone else. This single-minded persistence.
"Thundering Cliffs, where we are heading to, is southeast from here on; on the way, we will search for spirit Rings for Tang San and Ning Fengs since they are easier to find." The Grandmaster also said for the benefit of our escorts, "We follow San Pao, he has a keen sense of smell, and since it only takes little energy to summon and maintain him, I can keep him with us fairly long."
"Thundering Cliffs is an unusual place to go." Lize noted, "The only thing worth hunting there are Blade Trees and the wolves that call the place their home a hazardous zone."
"Our goal is precisely a Blade Tree for Yu Hua, Ning Feng is searching for a speed-orientated spirit Best in the same age category, and Tang San, a Spirit Beast of the Snake variety for their poison and binding abilities." he glanced at Tang Yin, "Tang Yin is a special case, we need a suitable spirit beast of the same type as her brother and slightly above the upper age limit."
"Take this. You need to kill a spirit beast yourself." he took a short sword and handed it to Ning Feng.
"I a-am f-fine." Ning Feng said, nimbly taking a small knife out of her Teddy Bag and holding it up.
"I see, are the rest of you prepared as well?" He asked, and Tang Yin took her Hairpin blade out of its sheat before putting it back in; Yu Hua showed off a small throwing knife from his sleeve. Tang san raised his arm and had the sleeve fall downwards revealing an entire arsenal of weapons. "Then this is not necessary." The Grandmaster put his knife back and continued following San Pao.
San Pao erupted loudly, and everyone's gaze went up to the tree, where a cat-like animal appeared and hissed at them.
"A multicolor cat." next to them, Ari said and pointed at it, "Not very old."
"Indeed, let us continue; it will not attack us without provocation.", he said, and the group bypassed the Cat heading deeper into the forest, where it gradually became thicker and thicker. Their walk became a lot more exhausting.
"You can tell the age of a spirit beast by their bulk and appearance; killing a spirit beast that is not suitable harms the environment, so always think twice before killing and do not under any circumstance kill thoughtlessly." He reminded them as they continued to give them a field class telling them about the attributes and abilities of the bests they encountered.
"It seems we will have to start securing a place to spend the night," Yule said, looking into the green roof of the forests. The others nodded as they continued walking, and Ning Fengs stumbled over her feet.
"S-sorry.", she whispered and got up heavily, panting and sweating. Ning Feng was having the most difficult time; as a natural supporter, she was physically the weakest and had little to no training that included the stamina to march an entire day through a forest.
"It's fine; get up." Yu Hua said and went to his knees, so she could climb up and take her along by piggyback. "Tell us when it gets too much, then we will take over.", Tang San said, and Yu Hua nodded in agreement, but he was not genuinely exhausted. He could continue.
Luo San Pao suddenly called out, and everyone sprang into action. Ari moved close to Yu Hua and Ning Feng, that was back standing on her own, while Lize and Yule stood to guard, distributing themselves to make the battle easier.
"Hell wolves.", the Grandmaster said to them, "Children remain close to Ari and be careful."
Tang Yin touched her belt and injected spirit energy from her hand into it, drawing out the thin blade while taking the second one from her hairpin and standing there with two sharpened blades ready. One in each hand. It felt the most comfortable.
Ning Feng touched her bracelets, and Yu Hua switched the chains he used as decorative belt to his right hand; the carvings on the weapons started to pulsate, covered in a faint sheen of spirit power.
Ari, Lize, and Yule called out their Soul Weapons as tension cut through the air and the sound of approaching Hell wolves came closer and closer.