After leaving the forge, Wu Han finally had everything he needed for the next step. The Wu Clan's arsenal had always been lacking in proper weapons, but since he'd planned to visit a blacksmith sooner or later, restocking along the way was a welcome bonus.
And the tungsten, that was an extra reward.
It was the hardest naturally forming material in the universe, as far as he knew. There might be stronger metals somewhere out there, but none he had ever encountered. Even the Wu Clan's best swords were made from inferior steel compared to tungsten.
Sadly, he needed fire affinity before he could work with any of it. But when that time came…
Oh, he remembered his first fully hand-crafted lich body, made entirely from tungsten.
How time flies.
Lost in thought, he arrived at the martial boards.
Each board was covered in requests, some weathered and torn, others carved into leather for durability.
The missions ranged from simple errands like finding lost items in the forest to exterminating bandits with high cultivation.
Some considerate cultivators returned to remove completed missions, but many didn't, leaving layers of old notices buried beneath new ones.
Wu Han scanned the boards, searching for something recent, something still available.
One posting caught his eye: a hunting notice, but not for an ordinary beast.
A spirit beast? A flying type, no less.
"A village destroyed by an Emerald Cloud Eagle."
It wasn't even a formal mission, it was more of a warning, a plea for help. No reward listed.
"Daoist brother, please reconsider," a voice said behind him.
He turned to find a female cultivator in a flame-patterned robe watching him with concern. "Flying beasts are dangerous. I suggest you avoid them."
"And what do you recommend instead?" Wu Han asked, amused.
"If you're looking for a mission, we could take this one together," she said, pointing at another posting. "Bandit extermination. Easier to handle, and it comes with a reward."
The bounty listed ten spirit stones—generous for a single task—since the bandit leader was rumored to have reached the seventh stage of cultivation.
Wu Han glanced around.
The same mission appeared on other boards, yet no one seemed interested.
"I'll have to decline," he said, bowing politely. "But thank you for your concern, Daoist sister."
He took the Emerald Cloud Eagle notice from the board, his expression calm but resolute.
"Then I shall accompany you," she said quickly. "My group was hoping to work with one of the Luo Clan's esteemed disciples."
She bowed, calling over four followers.
Whispers rippled through the crowd. A public request like that was social pressure, but Wu Han was completely immune to such things.
"No," he said flatly, turning away.
Without another word, he followed the directions written on the notice, heading north of the city for the first time.
When he first arrived in Luo territory, he had landed from the south.
The mountain range stretched so far that even from the sky he could still recall its vastness.
The dirt path showed faint wheel marks but little sign of travel.
Beyond the city walls stood watchtowers and guard posts, the most heavily fortified area since beasts often roamed the northern forests and mountains.
From Wu Zhen's memories, he knew this was the most barren side of the range.
Far to the west lay another city, a fortress that handled the tide of beasts every year.
This mountain range's true name was BloodBeast Mountain.
After walking for a while, seeing no one around, Wu Han summoned his silver spear and mounted it.
"Been a while since I did this," he muttered. Once, he'd flown on a broom before learning proper flight, now it was a spear.
How amusing.
He whispered a spell, and the weapon shone faintly before lifting off the ground and shooting into the air.
Wu Han closed his eyes, extending his divine sense outward.
The world unfolded below him, animals, insects, spirit beasts, plants, each one clear in his perception.
He circled the forest for some time before spotting a corpse below, one marked by an unusual wound.
"This should be a talon wound."
The dead creature was a mountain tiger. It had fought hard, judging by the deep gashes across its hide, but the wounds weren't clean like a sword cut.
They were too rough.
The work of a massive claw...
Wu Han landed beside the corpse and examined the area.
There was more blood nearby, he noticed.
The mountain tiger's body lay torn open, but there were also other patches of blood close by, yet no carcass remained.
Even if something had eaten it, there should have been bones or scraps left behind. The only explanation was that something had taken the entire thing away.
And not on foot.
Wu Han saw no trail leading away, only one coming in.
The blood stopped at the tiger and went no further.
The tiger had been killed, and its prey had been stolen by a thief from the sky.
"Let's make sure," he murmured, turning to the tiger's corpse.
He dragged the soul out of its body. The tiger's spirit roared briefly before being pulled into Wu Han's mind, where it was crushed into nothing.
Even after death, a creature's soul lingers for three days if left undisturbed. Luckily for him, this one had only died yesterday.
Through the tiger's memory, he saw it: a majestic eagle, its body nearly a meter tall, its wings spanning across several trees. It dove from the clouds, snatching a deer in one clean motion.
Swift and proud, the tiger lunged and seized the eagle's leg, taking back its kill.
If it had let go, it would have survived to hunt another day.
But instead, it fought back, and that single act of defiance enraged the eagle.
With one swing of its talon, the bird tore the tiger's abdomen open and left it bleeding out on the dirt. Then it flew away.
"Nice," Wu Han said softly. He didn't yet know where the creature had gone, but at least its identity was confirmed. "Now, time to get a witness statement, shall we?"
He began casting another spell.
Rank 1 Magic: Speak with Plants.
The spell array bloomed beneath him, glowing faintly green as his eyes took on the same hue. Around him, the trees stirred. Leaves rustled and twisted, branches bent as if waking from a dream. Eyes, mouths, and ears began to take form from bark and leaf. The whispering of the forest slowly turned into speech.
But before Wu Han could even ask his first question, the tree spoke.
"We know what you are."