After several consecutive Teleports, Shen Han had escaped to the edge of the Shadowed Forest. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly sensed a formidable tracking aura rapidly approaching behind him.
Shen Han circled the edge of the Shadowed Forest for a long time, but to his surprise, he still couldn't shake off his pursuer.
"What's going on? Could someone have marked me?"
Using the Sniff function to examine himself, Shen Han was shocked. There was a very hidden butterfly mark on his hair, which would have been impossible to see with the naked eye without the aid of the Sniff function.
This wasn't even the most astonishing part. Even more exaggerated was that his yoga pants were covered from top to bottom with dense tracking marks, essentially turning him into a mobile "prey marker."
"Oh, how many factions have marked me? Do you really think I'm someone you can toy with?" Shen Han sneered, a wave of displeasure rising in his Heart-Nature. These people were tracking him at all costs, clearly treating him as prey.
"Since you all like to play, then let's have a good game."
At this moment, Shen Han knew that returning to school or home was meaningless. If he didn't shake off these trackers, he would only bring trouble to those around him.
With a thought, he decisively turned and rushed towards the depths of the Shadowed Forest—
Many powerful exotic beasts resided there, and perhaps he could use the environment to shake off these trackers. He knew there were many very powerful exotic beasts in the depths of the Shadowed Forest. He also didn't know if the people chasing him would be able to handle them.
Shen Han assessed his own strength. His current Cultivation was Martial Spirit First Level. After absorbing a portion of the Mental Energy pressure from The Elder of the Lu Family, his Mental Energy had increased somewhat, and he was close to reaching the Late Stage of Martial Spirit First Level.
Currently, the most he could handle were Tier 3 Mid to Late Stage exotic beasts. If he encountered anything above Tier 4, even with the assistance of his Space Element, successfully escaping would be quite difficult.
"Among the people chasing me, the highest Cultivation is already Martial Emperor. These Tier 3 exotic beasts can at most cause some trouble; it's unrealistic to expect them to eliminate these people."
Suddenly, the Sniff skill discovered an exotic beast's den, containing only a few cubs of Earth-Cracking Demon Bears. Interestingly, the mother of these cubs was guarding them from under a tree about two hundred meters away.
Earth-Cracking Demon Bears possess immense strength and defense, excelling in the "Earth-Shattering Shock" skill, which allows them to forcefully strike the ground with their front paws, cracking the surface. This mother Earth-Cracking Demon Bear had roughly Tier 4 strength, and when her cubs were threatened, her combat power was estimated to be even stronger.
Shen Han already had a plan. He took off the clothes with tracking marks, quickly cut off the hair with tracking marks, packaged these "gifts," Teleported next to the cub's den, quietly placed the package down, and then Teleported away without a sound.
"Thankfully, I prepared another set of women's clothes. One must commit to the act, or else I'd really have to run out naked," Shen Han chuckled self-deprecatingly, secretly grateful for his thorough preparation.
A few minutes later, Shen Han, who was already hiding in the distance, heard the roar of the Earth-Cracking Demon Bear. The mother Earth-Cracking Demon Bear, noticing the anomaly at the cub's den, let out an angry roar that shook the surroundings.
Immediately afterward, roars and fierce fighting sounds rose and fell, attracting the commotion of many surrounding exotic beasts, trapping many of the trackers in the sudden situation.
Shen Han watched the distant chaos with a cold smile, feeling relieved, "I wonder if these pursuers can escape."
It's time to leave. I'll go back and refine the heaven marrow fruit first. Shen Han had previously planned to snatch two, so that his B-Rank Space Element could also be upgraded by one level, but that was just a thought. Now, those remaining in the Shadowed Forest to contend for the heaven marrow fruit were not easy to deal with.
Shadowed Forest heaven marrow fruit Contention Battlefield
A group of Martial Artists who had gone to track Shen Han returned to their respective Family camps, covered in blood, and the atmosphere was heavy. Some Families had even suffered significant losses, clearly having been through an extremely fierce battle.
"How was it, Sixth Elder? Did the ambush not go smoothly?" The Elder of the Lu Family asked when he saw this.
Sixth Elder of the Lu Family shook his head with a frustrated expression, "Don't even mention it. That little girl was extremely cunning. She threw the clothes and hair with tracking marks into the den of a powerful exotic beast. Our people were chased and attacked by the mother bear as soon as they entered the den, and we even lost several people."
The Elder of the Lu Family smiled slightly, with a hint of admiration, "Interesting. It seems even small cities are not lacking in meticulous Geniuses. To be able to do this indicates that this person not only has potential but also an excellent Heart-Nature. Unfortunately, she is unwilling to be on good terms with our Lu Family... Continue to investigate her origins."
At the same time, the battle for the heaven marrow fruit had concluded. In the end, the Lu Family, the Luo Family, and the Assassin Hall each obtained one. The Martial Artist from the small city who initially snatched the first heaven marrow fruit chose to sell it to the Assassin Hall in exchange for a large amount of Cultivation resources.
After all, for him, while the Lu Family and the Luo Family were powerful, they had no prior dealings with him, so their deterrent was insufficient; the Assassin Hall's reputation, however, spread throughout the entire Nanjiang Province, making him more wary.
The most frustrated was Lu Yanlin, the Genius of the Lu Family, who returned empty-handed. As the Lu Family's top Genius, he had been ambitious, but his cousin, Lu Jingheng, had snatched a heaven marrow fruit.
If Lu Jingheng successfully refined it, the two would be equally matched in talent, and Lu Yanlin's years of advantage would be completely lost, introducing more variables into the future struggle for the Family Head position.
After this upheaval over the heaven marrow fruit, it was foreseeable that Lu Jingheng and Luo Tingyun would both possess SS-Rank Special Abilities, and Lu Yanlin's lead over others had been erased.
"Wang Gang, don't let me run into you," Lu Yanlin gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment towards Shen Han.
"What? That Wang Gang actually has an S-Rank Dark Element and an unknown Rank Space Element?" Hearing this, Lu Yanlin was quite excited. It seems he's not an unknown, we'll have fun in the future.
"Senior Lu, Sixth Elder, two Young Masters, we just mobilized all of the Lu Family's resources to investigate Wang Gang, and the result is that she does not belong to any city in our Nanjiang Province," the investigating personnel respectfully reported.
"What?" The Lu Family members were all startled, looking at each other.
"Could she be from another province?" The Lu Family members were all surprised.
"Or perhaps, Wang Gang is a fake name, and this person simply doesn't exist. You all continue to keep an eye out. Those who can Awaken a Space Element are as rare as Phoenix feathers and Qilin horns. Once discovered, if they have no background, you can try to recruit them. If they refuse, you know what to do. A Genius who cannot be used by our Lu Family is itself a huge threat," The Elder of the Lu Family snorted, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.