n

n

n

n

"Sam are you sure, you want to deal with this guy with only four us?

"

nPhilip asked as all four of them are walking in a forest.

nIt is very dense and they are walking a certain direction vigilantly. It has been a while since they were this vigilant.

nThey are currently within a plan that is part of grey circle.

nWithin Grey circle, there are very few territories. Some planets are complete wild zones without any signs of civilization or establishments and some planets barely have a couple of cities.

nEven those cities are not exactly proper establishments where people aim to reside permanently, they are just there to act as group headquarters of some small organizations and as exchange and trading points for people within the grey circle.

nNow they are searching for one such place. The only clear coordinates Sam got are for the planet and there are only three such cities or trade points on this planet where their first target might appear.

nSo, they are currently travelling there.

nAs for Philip's question…

n

"I think we are enough. And this will be fun. Just the four of us, like at the start of our journey in Desolate.

"

n

"I am really glad about all of that, but still don't you think not using your team is a bit of a shame. I mean, Night Ghost got really stronger. Saber Monarch, Vidyut and Paras are also very close. They will be really useful in such a powerful place.

"

n

"Nope, let them help with the organization. I think their journey with me might just be done. At least when dealing with the Divine Formation Mountain, they are not going to be involved as much even if they are involved in the first place.

"

n

"Why?

"

n

"It is because of their presence beside me that I got too complacent about things and I fell in the hands of Sivan.

nOf course, I am not blaming them, but I was relying on them too much. Since we were going to desert city at that time and there was supposed to be no one stronger than Night Ghost, I was pretty lax with my preparations.

nI didn't disguise, I didn't hide my steps, I didn't even take measures to have some contingencies.

nSo, I learned the consequences hard way and I want to stay on the edge for a while.

"

n

"But to this extent? Even the beasts that are roam around in these forests are either same level as you or stronger.

nWe are even weaker than you. We could barely be considered anything in these realms and you are bringing us to take down one of the powerhouses in this realm. I don't think this is an appropriate plan.

"

n

"Well, it is too late, you should have thought of that before you decided to dive headfirst into this as soon as I asked.

nYou should have asked all of these questions and considered all of these before you just tagged us along in the Dimensional Drifter.

"

n

"I didn't think this through at that time.

"

n

"Whatever, just tag along and do your part. You won't be doing much anyway. Treat this as a vacation. Most of the time we are going to hunt some stronger beasts and have some fun.

nAs for destroying these targets, we at least don't need anyone's help when dealing with this guy. So, don't worry about it at all.

"

n

"If you say so. But still how far is the city exactly? Do you have any idea?

"

n

"I don't know. We need to reach the mountain in that direction first and from there we can find something that leads to the city.

"

nThey walked in the forest a few hours before they reached the mountain. On their way, they acted extremely vigilantly. Sam actually used crystal table in his every step to avoid the beasts and some times even people that are roaming around.

nThey used all kinds of things to hide their presence from their basic senses including the spiritual sense to move as stealthily as possible.

nIt is working and the most important advantage they have is that even if they are accidentally under someone's senses, the other party wouldn't believe it.

nThere is no way people like them, particularly the trio would be roaming around in the forests of this planet this freely.

nSam carefully avoided every possible confrontation with people and beasts before reaching the mountain successfully.

nWhile doing so, he managed to observe what kind of creatures are living in this wilderness, both the flora and fauna and got an understanding of what kind of resources could be available in the surroundings.

nResources that could be used for both his short term goals like dealing with the Divine Formation Mountain and the long term goals like growth of his organization.

nHe was as thorough as possible and got some important data.

nAfter visiting the mountain, Sam just directly estimated the coordinates to the top and used the dimensional drifter to transfer all of them.

nFrom that spot, they looked in all the directions and Sam finally pointed at one spot.

n

"See that river stream far away? That leads us to one of the cities. Gail told me that there are three major river streams three continents of this small planet and every single stream passes by one of the three cities.

nWe can just follow it and we will get there.

"

n

"But how do you know to follow this upstream or downstream?

"

n

"Simple, we camp here for a while and let our water creatures decide where the city is.

"

n

"Water creatures?

"

n

"Yeah, the creatures you guys unleashed on a bunch of Mari clan territories. One of the batches even took up a whole planet that was used as farming ground by the clan.

nI let the subordinates get a few for me.

nIf it was a normal time, we could have explored the place ourselves, but we won't be able to do that now. We need to make sure that we stay safe only battle tactically when necessary. So, for now let's rest here and wait for them to come back.

" Sam replied.

nSam estimated the location of the river and used the dimensional drifter again. He dropped over two dozen water creatures in the stream. Half of them swam upstream and other half swam downstream.

nThe water creatures can disguise themselves very well in the water, so not many people will notice them and even the other water animals that are staying won't normally attack them. They can pretty much survive on their own when they are in water, so he is not worried.

nSam felt that it is better to camp within a hollow cavity of the mountain and took them back immediately.

nThey waited for a few days before some of the creatures returned. They swam the stream up to the sea and they didn't see any other establishments and there is not even much of cultivator activity.

nSo there is only one other route. The upstream.

nThe team came out and started moving along the river path carefully. Of course they didn't stay too close for that. They just made sure that the stream is within Sam's crystal table's range and moved carefully.

nAfter two days, they are still nowhere near the city. But they came to their first proper halt. Sam saw some traces of a beast and decided to stop there. He checked all of the surroundings and smiled.

n

"Boys, we have our first prey ready. We are going hunting.

"

n

"Hunting? What kind of beast is it?

"

n

"A Boar. But an Astral plane consummate stage boar. Of course it is in its Initiation, so you don't have to worry too much.

"

n

"Sam, tell me you have gone nuts.

" Philip directly retorted.

nSam looked at him with a frown.

n

"We are barely at the late stage of transcendent realm. You know how hard it is to fight an Astral Plane Consummate stage beast. It will be a **ing nightmare.

nAnd even you are peak stage of transcendence only.

"

n

"Since when did you become such a weak ass bum? I thought you were the more daring one.

"

nSam said with a frown as if he is talking with utmost seriousness.

nPhilip looked at him coldly and asked.

n

"How dare you say that?

"

n

"We literally grew together Philip. We have been constantly punching above our level all this while. We always fought people stronger than me.

nFuck, Watt was kidnapped by a Nascent stage cultivator when we were barely at Great realm stage. Don't tell me you forgot all of that. Is the power difference more dangerous at that time than now?

nWhat are you being constantly afraid of? It is almost like you have softened. What happened to you? Why are you being like this?

"

nSam asked with all the seriousness.

nPhilip who stood there coldly and was about to retort suddenly stopped.

nWatt and Jack also looked at Philip waiting for him to answer.

nThey also noticed this change, but they didn't want to call it out. In their minds, they are equals, at least the trio, they will be there for each other and try to understand each other, but they cannot put each other down, just because of a hunch.

nBut with Sam, it's different.

n

n