To the outer court disciples, the recent encounter had been their first real taste of death lurking nearby.
They'd seen blood before sure... They had fought beasts, their seniors and more... but not this kind—not from Dao Shell realm elders, not from a true battle where one's strength alone determined whether they lived or died.
Even the so-called "geniuses" in the group, those outer court disciples who had broken into higher cultivation stages ahead of their peers, were younger in age. Their comprehension of cultivation was outstanding, yes—but life experience could not be cultivated in seclusion.
You had to live through death to understand it.
So they marched.
Quiet.
Focused.
Obedient.
The formation, which had been loosely followed in the first days of the expedition, was now near-perfect. No one strayed. No one joked. No one dozed off or slacked.
Han Yu noticed it all.
