119 Jue Yu Clan 1

A 16-year-old young man was following a group of five young adults. They were at least 18 to 19 years old and were stealthily walking in a dense part of the forest. Their purpose was to scout the area before they attacked the Moonlight Mountain Frog.

The Moonlight Mountain Frog is the current predicament of their village. It was huge, the size of a small hill, green and glowing with white slippery skin.

But, one would ask, why were they scouting the area, and why was it a predicament for their village? 

The Jue Yu Village is a small clan that lives in the Great Mao Mountains. They were the fifth-ranking clan in the mountain, but they had the strongest backer, the Heavenly Demon Sect of the Northern Region Great Cliff.

And so, going back, why are they scouting the area? It is because the Moonlight Mountain Frog is blocking the light path, and so they were planning on how to get rid of it.

This monster is such a pain in the head, not just because of its size, but also because of its ability to absorb spiritual energy. That is why they cannot perform internal martial arts but only external.

Good for them that they were a small clan and the location of their clan wasn't that open to the mainland, so they were not suppressed by any of those who sought land.

And so, every predicament they have is only about those things that affect their environment. This Moonlight Mountain Frog needs to be chased away for the safety of their clan, as they really need the light for their everyday life.

For sure, even some sacrifice would suffice for the security of the clan.

"This huge frog just goes snoring all around. Despite its beautiful name, it is how gruesome its appearance and smell are." One of the seniors remarked with dissatisfaction as they were getting close to the monster.

The young man just remained collected. He didn't react at all to the words of his master and just observed the area.

As the monster kept on snoring into the deep night, these clansmen were stealthily observing every possible entrance of their force.

The leader of the group slowly approached the monster. It has short-trimmed hair with grey strands appearing. Although he was still a young adult, his appearance was undescribably not appropriate for his age.

"Hm... Should we go to the other side? My intuition tells me that there must be something to be discovered in that location." The leader mumbled to his group, and as they went to the other side with light steps, they saw something that could make them gasp.

***

"So what is the result of the expedition to the valley? Does that monster have some problems? We can chase it away, right?" One clan elder, who was assigned to the operation, asked.

"We still don't know its actual cultivation, but we believe that it is at least Level Two in the Warrior Spirit Realm." The leader reported with his other five group members at the back.

The clan elder was in deep thought. They were inside a bamboo building, assigned to them as the headquarters for the operation. As the clan elder continued thinking, the other group members were talking to each other.

"What the heck? I thought that it would only be a Level One Warrior Spirit Realm. But to assume it was Level Two, we will be having a hard time here." 

"Right, even with how strong the clan elders are, one or two could only be mobilized since it is not the only matter the clan should focus on. There is still a scarcity of agricultural products. It would need the assistance of the elders as they were the strongest in the clan."

"I can understand what you feel. I might even think that this predicament would be difficult to overcome."

"Sighs... I hope everyone survives this..."

Meanwhile, the young man at the back was all silent. He didn't join the conversation for the reason that it would be useless to talk about it. Their conversation won't even improve their solutions. Instead of talking about it, at least think about saving others first.

But of course, his feelings were only locked in his mind as he was just silent every day. He keenly eyes anything, just to be sure that, even with slight mistakes, he can learn from it.

The clan elder sighed as he assessed the judgment his junior made. If it is true, it means that they at least need more people to help with chasing away such monsters. It would also be impossible to kill it as their force wasn't that great.

The cultivators in the clan are set into different positions. As there is a hierarchy in the clan, it is what is commonly known in other countries as well.

There were servants in a clan, but they were only servants because they had no place or ability to survive on the mainland, where many cultivators flocked.

First, the lowest were servants. Next were the clansmen, or the members of the clan in the lowest rank. Before their names, they have to stick with their clan's name, "Jue Yu." 

The second highest in the clan is the hunter master. They were those clansmen who had the ability to cultivate, those who had finished the one-year academy lessons to become fighters. But, in this academy, not everyone becomes a hunter.

This position's equivalence is logistical. They were those who had the ability to cultivate but not enough to compete with the standards of the wilderness.

The clan elders were those who had political power within the clan and could control a small portion of the clan at their leisure, but they still had to follow some rules.

And lastly, the highest position is that of a clan leader. As their position indicates, they are the leaders of the clan.

Every position also has qualifications. Only blood is required to be a member. And, aside from being a logistic or a hunter master, they must have cultivation.

But to be a clan elder, they must at least be a Warrior Spirit Realm Cultivator.

And this is the target cultivation of this young man, Gabriel Fang, the current genius of the clan, who has a unique physique that everyone doesn't know about. He had a physique that defies the logic of cultivation, as on his first try of cultivating, he started showing some abilities for casting a mystical art.

But, because the clan was afraid of revealing it to the world, they were feeding him secretly with the best they could do.

They train him with the best hunter master clan elders. They let him observe with the top hunter master group and also receive the most resources from the clan.

But even still, with how the clan puts the hope of the rise of their clan, he doesn't show any promising attitude. He does not let them know the progress of his practices, just keeps on being silent.

There were even rumors that he was just lazy and arrogant from being a genius. And so, even knowing how genius he was, not everyone looks at him with admiration.

Throughout the village, there was envy, disdain, loathing, and a wide range of emotions. As he walks down a street, everyone will look at him. They would call him by plenty of names.

"Genius Cold Guy..."

"Stupid..."

"Lucky Bastard..."

And etc. There were still more, but they were just average name-calling and none of those had any effect on him. They were mere words of unnecessary recognition.

"I trust your assessment, Junior Brother Fred Lim. Then, we will prepare for the operation. With the other existing information, we will take on that monster within this week. Take a rest first." With a worried tone, the clan elder said. Although not everyone could take a rest well enough, they just bowed at him and left the building.

The members of the group went their different ways. It is time to rest, but not for one member of the group. He was the most diligent of them, and despite his cold gazes, showed affection towards the clan.

Everything for him is the clan. And so, every leisure time he had, he used it to cultivate more. For the past few years since he learned to cultivate, he has always had this predicament.

This problem has been his hindrance. Every time he cultivated, he had an eerie feeling. And this vibe is what was the problem, as he couldn't progress to a higher stage because of this. It was also impossible at higher levels of his realm.

He is still at the 6th level of the Apprentice Spirit Realm. Even if he came from a small clan, he should be at least at the Warrior Stage with his talents. However, it didn't give him much advantage as his talent was only good at the beginning of his cultivation.

As he continued to cultivate at night, he hissed out of nowhere, cursing a few words before he opened his eyes.

"Why every time? Why?! Why?!"

"I can not cultivate properly and only stocked at the 6th level. Even with the good result, I had in the past, I still can't call this as a bottleneck as..."

"I can cultivate because... every time I cultivate, the spiritual energy is redirected to someplace in my body..."