Jason was aware that it wouldn't be best if he were to approach the small group of young prodigies right now because the tension around them was enormous. 

They had to pay attention to the golden-horned lion after all!

Not only were they supposed to prevent injuring it too seriously but it was also important that it wasn't allowed to injure their own soulbonds or comrades! 

Other than that, the surrounding area was dangerous and stronger beasts could arrive at any moment too.

Yet, until now, nothing happened and everything went according to their plan. 

But who could reassure them that it would stay like this? 

Even after Jason was aware of all of that, he did not bother to hide his existence and the fact that he approached them. 

He was still wearing the pitch-black mask and his mana core was concealed which were alarming factors to the person in charge of paying attention to the surroundings. 

The young man In charge of that task issued a warning to their group whose tension intensified visibly. 

However, before anyone in their group could do something, Jason had already halted in his tracks.

He was around 100 meters away from the group of young prodigies and would wait until they finished their current hunt before doing anything else.

This worsened the group's tension further as they assumed Jason was going to attack them once they were off-guard or finished their hunt, which would allow the unknown, mysterious masked prodigy which they assumed Jason to be, to attack them.

Their group might be large but their combat prowess was not the highest if one were to compare them to real prodigies from big clans.

In the end, their family owed the Jual clan a big favor to give them the opportunity to enter the Mythic Garden.

They entered the Mythic Garden overconfident only to notice that their strength was shallow which was devastating.

From their dream to contract Mid-Magical ranked beasts with strong blessings, the only beast they caught was the golden-horned lion they were currently surrounding.

After more than four months, this was the first and probably also the last blessed beast they were to catch.

It was embarrassing, considering that they were a group of 10 young prodigies that wanted to get one blessed beast for each of them, but there was nothing they could do about it.

This was also one reason which caused their tension to increase by a large margin!

They wanted to increase their talents and combat prowess during their whole six-month-long journey through the Mythic Garden, which was even more devastating than they had been told.

Jason's strength was unknown to them and their vigilance was the cause for the entire catching process to be postponed by more than two hours.

The whole process looked like a charade to Jason but on the other side, he was able to perceive the small group's tension.

'Aren't they too much? They have several beasts that entered the Lowest Lique stage not long ago! Shouldn't they be more confident? How could I be able to fight against more than 20 opponents with a higher mana core rank than me..at once at that? Did they forget the rift's age restriction?'

Considering that someone above the age of 20 was unable to venture through the rift, there shouldn't be such tension because of a single individual.

Under normal circumstances, someone at this age should have 2 soulbonds at most! Adding the fact that beasts at a certain cultivation rank are prevented from being inside the Mythic Garden, they shouldn't be too afraid.

The strongest beast Jason could have was a Low Lique stage beast.

However, even he hadn't seen such a soulbond from any of the young prodigies he fought next to.

Maybe some descendants of influential clans were hiding their soulbonds but that was not something Jason could say for sure!

Because Jason was aware of the group's tension, he decided to wait until one of them contracted the golden-horned lion that laid unconscious and tied up next to them.

From the beginning, he couldn't help but expect a large discussion to break out when the group caught the golden-horned lion to decide who the blessed beast should belong to.

However, on the contrary, Jason witnessed how everyone stepped back to give a young woman some space.

Approaching the unconscious golden-horned lion she led a tread of her soul towards her hand which she had cut.

Around 20 minutes later the golden-horned lion was bound by the young woman as a magic circle appeared below it.

The lion entered the woman's soul world which was the signal Jason waited for.

Walking towards the group that was still tensed up, Jason couldn't help but suppress laughing out.

It was fortunate that he wore a mask, otherwise, he would enrage the group of young prodigies.

Nevertheless, in order to prevent a misunderstanding or accident to occur, Jason said out loud

"Don't bother too much about me, I just wanted to ask one or two questions, if that's fine with all of you! The golden-horned lion is not a beast I'm interested in either!"

The tension substituted by a small margin after the small group heard what Jason said.

They were unsure whether his words were trustworthy or not.

However, that was not something that concerned Jason when one young man in their group stepped forward to speak for his group.

"Hello, I apologize if this sounds rude but we wouldn't feel comfortable if you were to come closer. You are a stranger and we have seen many betrayals during the last few months. We will listen to your questions but I hope that you can understand our cautiousness!"

Jason nodded his head, fully understanding why the young men and women were so vigilant against him.

He was a stranger with a concealed mana core and wore a mask to disguise his identity too.

As such he just asked straightforwardly

"I ventured through the flatlands and noticed that there were only a few beasts. According to my information, the flatlands should be the most populated area within the Mythic Garden. Do any of you know why that is the case?"

'You waited several hours to ask us that?' Was what everyone in the small group of young men and women asked themselves.

Yet, they didn't voice out their question as to the young man who spoke to Jason earlier

"We are not sure about the reason for that, but it should have had something to do with the amount of mana in the adjacent areas that is slowly but consistently increasing. Furthermore, we heard lots of loud sounds of different beasts during the last few days...That means there could be a few stronger beasts slaughtering a few groups of beasts!"

Nodding his head, Jason already estimated that to be the case before he asked the second question

"Ok, thanks. How about one-eyed rats? Did you guys encounter such beasts in the surrounding areas?" 

This question caused the young prodigies to tense up as the young man hesitantly said

"Yeah...we encountered them...but they were pursued by the Demonic Three-eyed wolf not long ago...Its destructive curse killed three friends of ours…"

"The Demonic Three-eyed Wolf hunted the one-eyed rats too?" Jason mumbled subconsciously which caused the young man to unintentionally blurt out as he had a bad premonition

"What does that mean...too?" 

Lifting his head to look at the young man, Jason couldn't help but sigh as he said

"I encountered the Demonic Three-eyed Wolf today...probably a few hours before I found you guys...It hunted the Debilitation Centaur horde"

"Doesn't that mean it is close to us???" Everyone exclaimed loudly as thunderous roars echoed through the surrounding landscapes.

"Looks like it…"

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