Chains Of Heaven

Knowing that he was in a potentially dangerous situation, Enkidu scanned the surroundings, and his gaze eventually fell on a narrow valley. Deciding in that direction, he went in that direction.

This 'mountain' was actually relatively large in size. Putting aside the sharp cliffs, there was actually a lot of space to maneuver around. It was filled with innumerable gorges, boulders, and trees… Even an army of fifty thousand seemed insignificant against the entire peak and this place could probably hold an army of up to 70000 without much of a problem.

The route which Enkidu had chosen was one with very few people.

While he was only normal when it comes to the cultivation he is at when compared to others Enkidu had long since thoroughly studied the Heaven's Path Movement Art that mixed movement techniques of many schools and even some comprehensions on speed-related to Wind and Thunder, thus he traveled at an extremely fast speed that could likely match easily even someone three realms higher than him. In just ten mere minutes he was already deep within the mountain forest.

Perhaps it was due to the lush greenery filtering out the rays of the sun, but cold air seemed to permeate the entire mountain.

In the tranquil forest, there wasn't the slightest sound to be heard. Perhaps it was due to the earlier group driving away from the beasts and birds, or perhaps the profound beasts had gone into hiding knowing that master teachers were marching up the mountain to eliminate them, but the entire place seemed to be devoid of life except for the plants.

By now, Enkidu has been traveling for quite some time already. However, putting aside seeing a whole Profound beast, he hadn't even seen a single strand of spirit beast hair yet.

Most would be worried about this, after all, they need at least 10 points to be able to truly participate in the exam, but-

Enkidu smiled.

Putting aside his identity as the disciple of Yun GU, he was also a capable beast tamer as he tried to learn it the more possible so as to better treat and help Da Ming and Ji Ji. Not to mention, his Eye of Insight also allowed him to easily spot the slightest trails left behind by profound beasts.

If Enkidu were to seek them out seriously, it would be impossible for the profound beasts who passed by this place to hide from him.

After advancing for a moment longer, Enkidu suddenly came to an abrupt halt. He entered a stance and dashed at a rock that seemed completely normal.

BOOM

With a swift movement, an oppressive might flashed before Enkidu as his fist made contact with the stone, crushing it. He did not get any weapon from his master and what little he got whenever he treats others is used either on Ji Ji and Da Ming or in buying food for the poor, thus for combat, he focused on just a few things, they being movement, kick, and punches.

In game terms, he was mostly a brawler by this point, not for an option but for lack of money.

He waited for a moment and when he was wondering if there would be anything or not a shadow ran away, it was a green wolf with a cultivation of 1st level of the Spirit Profound Realm.

He clicked his tongue at this as he saw the beast getting away, but had no option but leaving it be.

After all.

"I really am unlucky, not only was that a poison type forest wolf, a rare breed of a wolf with highly toxic power, but it also is with babes inside making killing her just not right. I would not take the lives of puppies who did no wrong. Had it not been pregnant then I would try again, but not like this."

Reaching this conclusion Enkidu moved forward. he felt an itch at his c.h.e.s.t since both his profound beasts had buried themselves in this bosom as they would be 'delicious' targets for the profound beasts as both Da Ming and Ji Ji are extremely rare beasts with great blood in them. That had the effect of them rubbing on him too much to his likings but he could bear with it nonetheless.

Enkidu chose to not think about this anymore and just proceed ahead to search for the profound beasts.

The route ahead was tilted upward. Even though the route rather steep, it was fortunate that there were many plants around to serve as a stepping stone. Soon, Enkidu had already covered a distance of four to six kilometers uphill.

Hu!

Suddenly, Enkidu came to a halt as a slight frown appeared on his forehead.

"These marks indicate that a group of profound beasts has passed through this place not too long ago…"

Even though there were no clear marks on the field before him, Enkidu was still able to easily tell that a group of beasts had just passed the area not too long ago through his Eye of Insight and the understanding he had of Profound Beasts thanks to the Heaven's Path Beast Tamer Art.

"Metalic Back Bear, Steelclaw lion, Eastern Blue Snake, Metal-arm Ape… Those are Profound beasts that specialize in speed! Furthermore, all of them have reached Spirit Profound Realm at the very least if their markings are any indication!" Enkidu deduced, after a moment of observation.

Different spirit beasts would leave behind different trails and the Profound Beasts would further have different formats and weight depending on their cultivation realm so it was possible for Enkidu to notice it. Of the beast horde that had passed through this area, he was able to identify at least eight of them.

These profound beasts were usually the nemeses of one another as they shared the same habitat and eating habits, many times even hunting one another for sustenance, and yet they were actually traveling together.

Of the possibilities, one that Enkidu imagined but did not want to think about, was that they might actually be being coordinated by some other Profound Beast. This thought alone was terrifying for him, but also made him reach the conclusion that he should find this Profound Beast and make sure it cannot do the others any true harm.

Coming to this decision he moved to where this horde was going, it should give him some clues as to where the true treat was.

Having come to a decision, Enkidu immediately went down the trail the Profound beast horde had gone through.

About 5 minutes later, he suddenly stopped.

"Something is wrong…" As he said that he looked at the place attentively. "There are signs of a formation being set up just ahead, but there are no signs of battle at all…"

Enkidu frowned seeing this, what he was looking made no sense.

"If there are signs of a formation being set up, it can only mean that… someone has prepared an ambush ahead! However, if there are no signs of battle, it can only mean that the profound beasts noticed the trap and avoided it. It is true that profound beasts possess an innate sensitivity to the disturbances in the energy in their environment and strong instincts. They might have sensed the presence of the formation in advance and avoided it if it was some other formation at least.

"This is a grade 3 Smokey Fragrance Illusion Formation. This formation is the type that is very inconspicuousness when inactive. Even a sky profound realm master would find it hard to notice this formation even when passing through this area…"

Even though the other party had already removed the formation, with his eye of discernment, Enkidu was still able to tell what kind of formation it was.

Enkidu wasn't able to understand what was going on, but considering that the profound beasts hadn't left too long ago as judged from the fresh trails, he was certain he'd be able to figure out what was going on by following them.

He was just about to leave when he stopped once again this time with a perplexed expression.

"Someone tried to use a 'Pure Blood Pill' as a bait for the spirit beasts earlier on, but… the spirit beasts ignored the bait completely? How could this even possibly work?"

Enkidu wouldn't have been surprised if the spirit beasts could hold themselves back from any other bait, but this was the Pure Blood Pill! Once consumed, it could induce a Bloodline Evolution in a profound beast or someone with a unique bloodline. This was a rare opportunity for them to further raise the cultivation of anyone with a unique bloodline, either beast or human, and yet the profound beasts still managed to hold themselves back.

Fat chance that this was natural.

Profound beasts possessed intellect, and the stronger and higher quality the bloodline the higher the intellect at that, but they were still primarily governed by their primal instincts. If they were capable of accurately discerning and avoiding traps, the number of tamed beasts in the world would surely be several times lower than it currently was.

Seeing this he decides that he should follow the trail, the other participants could have followed the profound beasts and if the profound beasts really were being organized this might be a trap.

However, before leaving he moved to the formation, a slight frown on Enkidu's face at how incompetent the one who set it up was.

"The one who set this formation, could you even do a worse job at it? In this way there are so many flaws it is not even funny and the formation here only can show about 40 to 50% of its efficiency at that. I will collect it for now and give it back to the owner when I can and tell him how to actually set up a formation for once." Enkidu ranted a bit, when it comes to professions he was extremely exigent and hardly the type to forgive a 'sloppy job'.

Enkidu then proceeded to disarm the formation by just poking at it at the right place, interrupting the flow of energy and stopping it, before collecting the formation flags that set up the formation and put them in his space ring. To finish it he also took out the Pure Blood Pill and for an instance wondered if he should himself take it before wanting to throw up at the ere thought.

'If I take this, wouldn't my Heaven Smithing Devil bloodline become purer? I would rather it be buried and forgotten before associating myself in any way, shape, or form with those bastards, even if only by improving my bloodline.' Enkidu thought but kept the pill to give it back to the owner of the pill or, in case he didn't find the owner, give it to Ji Ji or Da Ming.