Gu An contacted the members, and after a few days, the time and location were decided.
They agreed to meet in the Wall City.
"Hey, over here! Luna!" Nayla waved at her friend, who had been searching for the group.
Luna soon spotted Nayla with the others. The moment she noticed Gu An among them, she felt both shy and happy.
"Alright, since everyone is here, let's get moving. Remember, if you encounter a powerful beast, retreat immediately—do not engage. This team is meant for scouting, not fighting. Don't forget how dangerous the beasts of this forest are to you."
Just as Gu An said, they were a scouting team. He was the only one with real combat capabilities.
The others excelled at tracking and reconnaissance.
Most of the combat units were stationed in the northwest, holding off beasts that had strayed from the main herd heading north.
"We'll split into pairs."
"Leo and Luke, you're together."
"Luna and Nayla."
"Seth and I will be a team."
"Let's move. We'll meet back here in three days."
The team headed into the depths of the forest.
…
Meanwhile
Lucian stared at his reflection in shock.
'Damn, I look good.'
The ethereal body physique was no joke.
But what surprised him the most was his talent.
It was an ability of immense potential:
The Seven Emotions and the Six Desires.
The seven emotions were:
1. Joy
2. Anger
3. Anxiety or Sorrow
4. Overthinking or Contemplation
5. Deep Sadness
6. Fear
7. Panic or Shock
And the six desires were:
1. Desire to see
2. Desire to hear
3. Desire to smell
4. Desire to taste
5. Desire to touch
6. Desire to think
The emotions allowed Lucian to influence his opponent's feelings—but only if he was significantly stronger than them.
As for the six desires, they enhanced Lucian's senses.
His vision had vastly improved. He could now see farther, detect smaller objects, and notice details imperceptible to the naked eye.
His hearing also grew sharper—he could detect distant sounds and distinguish overlapping voices with incredible precision.
The same enhancement applied to his sense of smell.
And when combined with taste, Lucian realized he had the potential to excel as an alchemist, identifying herbs and potions by scent and flavor alone.
Unfortunately, Lucian had never studied alchemy in his past life. His interests had been in formations and treasure crafting.
His sense of touch became hypersensitive. He could feel every part of his clothing against his skin, which was more annoying than useful.
Finally, there was the desire to think. Lucian didn't fully understand how it worked, but he guessed it had something to do with thoughts. He found it odd, since thoughts weren't technically a sense.
Still, the name referred to "desires," not "senses," so he didn't dwell on it. He would understand it better in time.
Lucian also believed that, like most skills, the Seven Emotions and Six Desires would grow stronger as his cultivation advanced.
Most cultivators had only one talent that grew with them.
Lucian had five known talents, but he didn't know how to unlock the remaining ones, or whether his current skill would remain weak because of them.
In the end, he decided to leave that to the future.
His immediate concern was martial arts.
Lucian had lost all the martial techniques he had mastered in his previous life.
Like cultivation, martial arts required strict conditions.
Many techniques needed special resources, intense training, and deep understanding.
It wasn't easy—and it was costly.
If he could retrieve his old techniques, he could skip the training and understanding part. He'd only need to gather the resources to refine them.
He also needed special treasures to create formations. Without them, he couldn't craft anything—and now that he'd resumed cultivating, he was desperate for money.
"Sigh… Starting over is such a pain. Still, I've been given many chances—I should be grateful. I just hope this isn't some illusion array and that I've really gone back in time. And even if it is… I hope no one wakes me up before I kill as many members of the Ten Families as I can."
…
Dozens of miles away, Luna and Nayla were scouting the forest for signs of beasts.
"Looks like Gu An isn't interested in you. Otherwise, he would've taken you with him, hehe."
"Shut up!" Luna snapped angrily.
"Maybe he finds Seth more attractive than you. Who knows—maybe the captain likes men? His taste is weird. If it were me, I'd have picked someone more handsome than Seth—"
"Enough!" Luna's eyes welled up with tears.
She had been feeling down ever since Gu An ignored her message a few days ago. He didn't even bother to reply.
The only thing she was thankful for was that she had sent a casual message asking about the mission. She had almost sent a confession, but luckily, she asked Nayla for advice first and chose a safer message to start a conversation.
Still, Gu An's silence hurt her deeply.
"Alright, alright—I'll stop. It's not like I was the one who ignored your message."
Nayla hadn't stopped cracking jokes since they separated from the group. It was their only form of entertainment in the forest, since the network didn't reach here.
Woosh—
A sudden noise nearby made both girls crouch and prepare for combat.
A few minutes later, a massive creature appeared.
It had many legs—spider-like in shape—and disturbingly, two of them were on its face.
Despite the limbs, it wasn't an insect.
Its body was covered in thick, hairless skin, and it had a long neck with a mane like a horse.
It was grotesque—especially its mouth beneath the neck and the human-like eyes that appeared whenever it raised one of its face-legs.
Luna nearly vomited at the sight.
Nayla, filled with fear, tried to keep Luna calm so she wouldn't make a sound.
Suddenly, the monster turned toward them.
…
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