If Akata had known that he had just dispelled one of the tests in the exam he would have thought it was okay. But what he didn’t know was that it wasn’t only a test, but it wasn’t even meant to be seen in the first place. Basik Bufmann was meant to turn traitor midway and Akata would’ve had to kill him. This was set up by the Sect Leader and each group had one such person in the midst. Who would’ve thought Akata would actually notice this before it even went off.

Sect Leader Fu watched the whole thing happen and stood up from her throne. ‘How could he have possibly noticed that seal that I placed on him?! It’s impossible for anyone that’s not an immortal to even suspect anything yet he actually found it. Just how was he able to do it?’ Sect Leader Fu was extremely skeptical of what had just happened. It was too direct for it to be a mere coincidence.

‘Akata… just what kind of secrets did you keep for this body of yours?’ Sect Leader Fu sat back down and sighed to herself. Her eyes looked lost, clearly she was reminiscing about that past. After a brief moment she let out another sigh as her face became normal again. She looked calm and refocused her attention on the exam.

***

“... And that’s the plan.” Akata let out a long breath as he finished talking. The other disciples nodded their head in understanding and appreciation. It was a superb plan and would definitely get them to the Center Circle.

A weird droning sound could suddenly be heard all around them. It wasn’t in just their location but from a distance too. Clearly, it was happening all over Misty Forest. A voice resounded throughout the forest and entered everyone’s ears.

“The time for planning is up. We shall start now.” The red barriers surrounding the disciples started to disappear from the top. Once it was fully gone then they would be able to rush out and begin the exam.

“Like I said guys. We should complete as many objectives as we can as we move forward. Bur Gers and Laim Oh will flank from the right while Fou Rest and Ran Bow will flank from the left. Basik Bufmann and Sumting Wong will be in the middle while the rest of you all will be in the back supporting. Eliminate all beasts in the area and capture the ones that I mentioned. If they are too strong and capture is not possible immediately aim to kill.”

Whoosh! The barrier completely disappeared as a huge wind swept up. Akata spread his nature sense out to encompass all of his groupmates. He took the first step out of the barrier and looked through the forest. He would be leading the team so it was only right that he was the frontrunner. The rest of the team would be behind him.

Almost as soon as he stepped out, growls and roars could be heard all around them. A smile pulled at Akata’s lips. “And most of all team… Let’s have some fun!” He laughed as a Fanged Monkey jumped toward him from atop a tree. He looked at it as his nature energy ferociously bombarded the beast. The Fanged Monkey became still as it tried to protect its body from the huge amount of nature energy present. This stillness made it easy for Akata to grab it mid air and throw it into the bag meant to collect the beasts.

Without stopping he took more steps forward and began his march toward the center of the forest. All of the groups were teleported to the Outer Ring to begin their exam. Thus, even the weakest of the group was able to kill these beasts without even looking at them, to say nothing of the others. To the group it seemed like a walk in the park as they strode along easily.

They even started to have normal conversations as they went along. The beasts in the Outer Rings were too easy to deal with after all. Akata had decided that they would capture the beasts they encountered in the Outer Rings. Capturing beasts from the 1st to the 4th Grade would award 5 points each. So there was no need to go all out and kill them if this part was so easy. Once the beasts passed the 4th Grade and entered the 5th things would get trickier. From the 5th to the 8th Grade captured beasts were worth 10 points. From the 9th to the 10th they were worth 25 points. Any higher than the 10th Grade, say from the Great Circle to the Half-step were worth 50 points. And if they were in the Beast Rank then the points would be higher than 100.

Killing the beasts awarded lower points since it was easier to kill than to capture. 1st to 4th Grade awarded 1 point, 5th to 8th Grade awarded 5, 9th to 10th awarded 15, Great Circle and Half-step awarded 30, while Beast Rank would be more than 75 points. The huge displacement on points obviously showed that capturing was more favorable than killing. Therefore, if they could, capturing would be the top priority over killing.

“Hmm?” Akata stopped and held up his hand. “There’s a Pixy Harbringer around here.” Akata kneeled down and touched the ground with his golden arm. Closing his eyes and spreading his nature sense further he tried to pinpoint the location of the plant. After a brief moment he opened them and pointed off in a direction. “Laim Oh, two steps back, turn to your right, three steps forward, and looked down at a 60 degree angle.” He gave the direction and Laim Oh followed them to a tee.

In his sights could be seen a mulit-colored plant with five leaves on it. It looked like the cross between a venus flytrap and a sunflower. It was extremely beautiful and emitted a soft aroma.

“Ah! Here it is!” Laim Oh carefully picked the plant up and gave it over to Akata. Everyone was astounded by his capabilities of locating various items that were asked for in the objectives. ‘This must be divine sense! My divine sense is weak, but his… it must be outstandingly strong.’

Laim Oh was right to think that Akata’s divine sense was strong but he would’ve been shocked to find out that Akata didn’t even like to use his divine sense. His nature sense was much more easier to use and it was more powerful. Coupled with him being in an environment like this, it could be said that Akata had the best sensing capabilities out of all of the leaders.

“Let’s keep going.” Akata led the way through the forest at a moderate speed. He was leisurely taking his time. He knew that if he rushed things, his group would get tired out. It was better to pace yourself than to rush. They did have to last a whole day in here after all.

Even at their moderate speed however, they quickly made it through the Outer Ring and made it to the mist that separated the Middle Ring. They all took deep breaths. Some of the disciples in this group had never even made it to the Middle Ring before. Some of the other, more powerful disciples, however had anxious faces. They had made it to the Middle Ring before, but had never fully crossed it. Now would be the time.

Akata still had a calm look on his face. Even two months ago the Middle Ring was pretty much nothing to him. But that was because he had only really reached the outer portions of the Middle Ring. The outer portion of the Middle Ring was considered really weak compared to the other portions. Once one reached the middle portions things would get really tough. Only the true elite disciples had ever made it to the inner portions of the Middle Ring and out of all the disciples, only Huihe Ji made it to the Inner Ring.

Akata guided his group through the mist. In the mist it was fairly calm and beasts would barely reside within it. Therefore, this could be used as a resting place for the group. Most of the group sat down and recovered their strength. Even though it was easy for them to go through the Outer Ring, they still had fairly low cultivation levels.

Akata stood off to the side looking out into the forest. As time went on, he slowly figured out how he should go about leading people. It wasn’t good to completely order people around and it wasn’t a great idea to be a pushover either. Then again it wasn’t exactly fine to be in the middle as well.

‘My way of leading isn’t to have them run all over me or isn’t to give out commands all of the time. It’s simply to guide them to do what must be done. I’ll show them right from wrong through my actions. That is why I’m leading, that’s why I’m in the front.’ Akata felt pleased with himself.

‘Eh?’ Akata turned his body to look off in a certain direction. He frowned slightly as he raised his hand into the air. “We’re moving out right now.” He called out. The resting disciples sulked but they didn’t utter a word of defiance. Not only was Akata’s will a driving factor for them to follow him, but his strength, senses, and skills were extraordinary. Almost immediately the group got up and headed out on Akata’s command.

Akata’s face remained frowning. He didn’t know what it was that made him want to move right away but he knew that it was the right thing to do. It was just a feeling that he had.

Deep in the mist there could be seen a figure leaning against a tree. It was looking at Akata as he left with his group. “Interesting. Could he have sensed my intentions?” The voice of the figure sounded ancient as if it had come from thousands of years ago. The figure chuckled and then disappeared.

Akata all of a sudden felt that bad feeling disappear as if it were never there. He heaved a sigh of relief as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings. After confirming that there was nothing around he fully relaxed. ‘I don’t know what that was but it should be gone now. Judging by how intense I felt, it should’ve been a strong beast or something. By how strong it was, it obviously didn’t care about hiding itself, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to sense it.’

He didn’t stop to rest, however, as he continued on through the mist. The group came into contact with a few beasts but they were merely at the 3rd Grade of the First Rank. After about half an hour of walking they made it out of the mist and finally stepped into the Middle Ring. It looked the same as the Outer Ring but the atmosphere felt completely different.

“Like I said before. If you’re able to catch the beast then do so. But if it turns out to be too strong to quickly capture then don’t hesitate to kill it. I don’t want any casualties in my group. We’ll make it to the end together as a whole.” Akata spoke some encouraging words to his group before leading them in deeper through the Middle Ring.