Shen Tian walked around the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. No Demon beast dared to near him, since he was unleashing his aura of the Gold Rank- nearing the peak of it. They were smart enough to ignore his presence.
Any who dared were exterminated by his Soul Force pressure. He was adding Spiritual Energy and Chakra to it so it was about twenty times harder for any demon beast to walk in his 'domain' if they so wanted.
Shen Tian walked for several minutes but he did not see any signs of human steps, until finally, he heard a scream.It was familiar, it was Xiao Ning'er, she probably had been separated from the rest of the group earlier.Worried about her well-being, he suddenly increased his speed, dashing forward.
Upon looking at the scene, Shen Tian frowned. Xiao Ning'er was being chased by several Demon Beasts of the Silver Rank and the only reason she had yet to be caught was because they were playing with her.
Shen Tian took a deep breath and calmly walked into the scene, sending his pressure to intimidate the Demon Beasts into leaving They did with a growl, as they knew they were no match for Shen Tian.
"You okay Ning'er? I rushed as fast as I could when I heard your voice." Shen Tian yawned as he extended his arm to Xiao Ning'er, who was on the ground, still looking shaken from the roars of the demon beasts.
"I'm okay...Shen Tian, do you have any pill for healing? My pills reserves were exhausted a while ago. I didn't think I would need so many." Xiao Ning'er touched a wound she had on her tender legs and winced.
Shen Tian nodded and waved his hand. Several pills appeared from his Interspatial Ring. He handed them to Xiao Ning'er, who despite the pain she was in, thanked him and ate the pill very quickly.
Xiao Ning'er quickly remembered who was in front of her and pouted angrily,"You left the main group for no reason,I-*cough*- I mean we were very worried about you and Feng Hao." She coughed heavily in the end and a blush entered her face.
Shen Tian quickly rolled his eyes,"I and Feng Hao were separated, but I'm not worried about him, he's at the Silver Rank. He can run away from any demon beast here in this ruin." He said as Xiao Ning'er went silent. She even forgot to ask where he was.
"He is at the Silver Rank? He broke through so quickly… I have yet to enter the first rank of the Bronze Rank." Xiao Ning'er bit her lower lips despondently. There were so many people more talented than her. Despite her working so hard, she was being left behind.
Shen Tian knew what she was thinking about, after all in his first life as a mortal, he too felt stress. He studied for several hours daily. He might've been smart, but even that was not enough. It was quite a complicated feeling .
He felt jealousy when others managed to achieve higher points than him. It was not that he was mad at them, but it was simply the fact that his efforts was not enough to achieve the highest points possible,even though he always strived for perfection.
So he did something, which was certainly out of his character. He looked at Xiao Ning'er eyes, and smiled,"Don't worry that you will be left behind, with your talent and hard work, you'll catch up to us immediately, do not strive for that, strive for something higher!"
Xiao Ning'er froze, her eyes looking at Shen Tian's in disbelief, then a small smile entered her face,"You are right… I am Xiao Ning, of the Winged Dragon Family, I won't allow things like jealousy to hind my path!"
Shen Tian chuckled. He really thought it was amusing how she could gain confidence so quickly. That was a good thing ,particularly in situations where most people fell in despair, this kind of quality was required to survive.
If one was not confident in their power, then they would never achieve something in life. Their achievements would be very limited just like most Demon Spiritualists or Fighters of the city. Knowing your limits and confidence were two different things.
"Now, do you know where the rest of the group are? I want to join them for now, and we can wait for Feng Hao together with them, or… Were you separated from them without specifying a place you want to meet up again?" Shen Tian asked, Xiao Ning'er nodded,"The Stone Fort, that's where we wanted to gather again."
Shen Tian nodded in return,"Then we can rest a bit here, and then we can go there, the Stone Fort isn't that far away from here, in fact we can reach it in less than ten minutes of walking." He pointed at a massive building.
"It's quite weird, despite being so old, it still has a majestic aura, even after being destroyed by the several demon beasts. Is that the effects of the ancient Sacred Empire Era construction style?" Shen Tian faked a bit of amazement.
Xiao Ning'er started to apply some ointment she got from Shen Tian on her skin, and just noticed that she was practically naked right now. Barely any cloth was covering her body. A blush entered her face as she used her Interspatial Ring to pull out some clothes, the last pair she had left.
Shen Tian just played it off as if he never noticed it, and with a chuckle sat on the ground, and looked at the sky. It was getting dark, it seems they had to spend the night here, not like he was complaining, he was used to this.
Xiao Ning'er slowly calmed down, and decided to sit next to Shen Tian, and similarly look at the sky, her face showing a bit of sadness as she said,"You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were a very bad person, just like your cousin."
Shen Tian looked at her with the corner of his eyes,"I do realize why you would thinks something like that, I mean, my cousin is pervert, he has taken so many girls to his bed, as if they were toys." His eyes shone as he comprehended the reason of her coldness towards him earlier, even after he had helped her.