Long Tian suddenly appeared at the public teleporter in the shelter.
This was a massive teleporter close to the center of the shelter that anyone could use.
Things were very different with the shelter and the whole region that it was in.
Long Tian had been informed by the clan and had seen the news of what happened in the first sanctuary after the attempt on his life.
Every single shelter in this region was taken control of by the Long Clan.
And the meaning of region is a broad one, consisting of ten entire biomes, all comparable to the great plains his shelter was in. This went even beyond the sea that was east of the plains.
Basically, his almost death affected the life of billions of people. But he knew, from now on, every action he took would affect a similar or even larger number of people.
Due to the Long Clan taking such actions, every single person in this region suddenly knew everything there was to know about the Long Clan.
Although the ones taking ownership of the shelters were not direct descendants from the Long Clan, they were agents or subordinates. All representing the Long Clan in their actions.
So, if anyone saw the red eyes on his face, the entire shelter would know that he was from the Long Clan.
This could easily lead to him failing the test of the clan. So he had been advised to hide his identity.
When he asked his father if he could simply wear something to change his eye's color, he was told he would be beaten by all generations of the Long Clan, from the ancestor to his father, if he did such a thing.
Clan policy, apparently. Something related to the pride and fear of nothing that one should have when they have the Dragon blood running in their veins.
And this was enforced by the ancestor himself.
So yeah, he would not be caught dead changing his eye color.
He just entered with a hoodie, that he was allowed to bring, and covered his face, rapidly returning to his room.
Back in his room, Long Tian decided to take inventory of what he had in the beast soul and status department, now that he was alone and not under constant supervision by machines he did not know the capabilities of.
'Status.', Long Tian had missed saying this.
*Ding*
[Status]
Name: Long Tian (Victor Smith)
Rank: Non-Evolver (First Sanctuary)
Age: 16(20)
Fitness: 26.5
Gene Points -
Ordinary: 100/100
Primitive: 100/100
Mutant: 100/100
Sacred Blood: 0/100
Super: 0/100
Beast Souls: [Super Forest Deer - Weapon: Staff];
[Sacred-Blood Mountain Goat – Armor];
[Sacred-Blood Bloodthirsty Rabbit – Weapon: Axe];
[Sacred-Blood Wood Python – Weapon: Javelin] x5;
[Sacred-Blood Forest Deer - Weapon: Staff] x25;
[Mutant White Lion – Weapon: Sword] x33;
…
[Primitive Small Jackal - Weapon: Saber] x5.
Gene Arts: [Supreme Space Sword Gene Art – Supreme Grade (1/3 Levels)];
[Dragon Foundation Cultivation Art - S Grade Basic Rank (9/20 Levels)];
[Martial Arts Essentials Martial Art - S Grade Low Rank (3/3 Levels)];
[Draconic Sword Martial Art - S Grade Intermediate Rank (0/7 Levels)]
Supreme Evolution Points: 3.2]
'Alright, I most definitely could have fought better that night. Just using the sacred-blood armor would have bought me enough time to not almost die.'
Long Tian, finally having moved past the guilt, now started reviewing the fight against the assassins.
He repeated the entire fight in his head multiple times, trying and failing to find anything that he should have done differently from what he did.
The only real change he could find to change anything was that he could have run and stayed close to that woman. Using her as a shield.
But he knew, even now, if presented with this opportunity again, he would still try and save them. He would run towards Bian Mei, just to try and save her, no matter what happened.
In the end, he realized what had caused him to almost die. It was the group.
As much as it pained him to think like that, he was done being emotional.
They were too weak. A liability.
He had been almost stronger than the group as soon as he entered it, and after eating the mutant flesh, he had completely outgrown the group.
He should have gone straight to hunting alone, rapidly accumulating beast souls from mutant beasts and then moving on to Sacred-Blood beasts.
Instead, he kept playing house with those people for a month.
He almost fell in love. Something that would cause problems later down the line, as his wife was already decided from the moment he was born.
Maybe if he had just hunted alone, he might not have found a Super beast, but he most definitely would be full of Super Beast Souls, enough for those assassins to not be able to touch him before his protector, whom he still did not know the identity of, could kill them all.
So, while trying to make new friends and treating things casually, he had instead caused the deaths of all his group of friends and almost caused his own as well.
'Very well, from now on, no more useless groups and no more attachments. I will only stay with someone if they are strong, otherwise, they are not fit to be by my side.'
Long Tian decided and left his room, now a lone wolf, at least during his stay in the first sanctuary.
It was still morning in the sanctuary, a perfect time to start a hunt.
...
After Long Tian entered the sanctuary.
In the Long Hall, the elder that had escorted Long Tian to the teleporter appeared.
There were 15 people present, with 11 of them being holograms. Clearly, the council had been very busy after the Feng Clan's destruction.
"Let's start today's meeting. I assume all of you have read Long Tian's medical report?"
The patriarch spoke.
Receiving a nod from every one of them, he continued.
"Then, I want suggestions on how we should deal with this information. Not having completed even his mutant points and already having 26.5 fitness. This is not unprecedented, but achieving all of this in the first month of entering the sanctuary is."
"Not to mention the talent test, I had to alter the entire medical department's memories after that."
There was a sudden flurry of voices, discussing a myriad of things.
From trying to discover how Long Tian did it to cancel the test and rapidly support him to ascend with maximum fitness.
The patriarch stayed silent, though his face did darken a little when he heard the talk of experimenting on Long Tian. But his face became strange when he realized who said that and what that implied.
After everyone gave their opinions, Long Han spoke again.
"Enough. Long Tian is the Young Master of the clan. No 'experimenting' shall be done, Lixue."
The patriarch started, looking at the female elder that had spoken. Her skin was extremely white, her figure voluptuous and her height a little below average.
But everyone knew that this seemingly stunning woman was one of the strongest here besides the patriarch and also the one to follow a Gene Art that their ancestor had created in a moment of... heated feelings.
So it was not just the patriarch that had caught the underlying meaning when she said about 'experimenting' on Long Tian.
"Also, the test will not be canceled. Long Tian will need the validation it will give him in the future."
"We can't offer any more resources right now, but we definitely can when he ascends to the second sanctuary. But I think that would be counterproductive."
"Everyone here knows from experience. Resources and grooming can only take someone up to a certain point. Real challenges are what produce true powerhouses."
"Just remember the other Tian."
At the mention of a certain someone also named Tian, the elder's faces became contemplative.
"Patriarch, do you think our Tian can follow in that Tian's footsteps?"
Another female elder, one that clearly had the ice element, as the ground was frozen at her feet, asked.
She was the youngest elder and was not much older than that person, so she was the most affected by his name, having seen his rise from a closer generational perspective.
"While I can't say for sure that Long Tian can reach that person. I know that even his potential was not as strong as what we are seeing here."
"That Tian has a defined talent, Rank Millennial. Ours just broke the machine. Which we still don't know the meaning of."
The patriarch responded, before continuing.
"What I do think we should do is to motivate Long Tian. He obviously deserves more attention and resources from the clan. But he should have to work for them."
"We shall create a list of milestones that Long Tian will have to reach before he is given more benefits."
"Let's discuss this system and what should each milestone and reward be. The first one should be winning the Sanctuary Tournament in the first sanctuary before he turns 18."
There was a sudden pause, as the elders thought about the proposal of the patriarch before they all agreed and started proposing their own ideas as well.
After a few hours of discussion, with three elders in the holograms having had to leave, the patriarch finished the meeting.
"Okay, that is enough. With this system in place, I think Long Tian will have enough motivation and challenges to continue forward. I will have Long Rue inform him when she returns."
"Meeting adjourned."
…
Back in the first sanctuary, in the depths of the Ten Rings Mountains, there was a zone devoid of beasts.
The zone that should have the most abundant number of beasts in the entire mountain rings was completely empty.
This zone was an extremely dense forest, with trees that were more than 100 meters tall and tens of meters thick.
In a corner of this region, in a cave on a mountainside, there was a group of people.
The majority were either dead or passed out. Only one was awaken.
"Damn it! There were three of them, how the fuck did this nest generate three Super beasts at once?"
She muttered under her breath. Regretting her impatience, entering these mountains without sending a scout first.
Now, she had almost caused the elimination of her entire group.
She was clutching her abdomen, where a very ugly gash could be seen, almost reaching the lungs.
"Roar!"
There was a massive roar outside the cave at that moment, and she felt even more despair, knowing those things were getting near her position.
'How the hell are we going to survive this?'
She thought grimly.
…
Long Tian had just reached the top of the mountains separating the tenth ring from the plains outside when he heard something in the distance.
It sounded like a roar, but it sounded very distant.
'For something so deep inside these mountains to make a noise that reaches even here. I can only think of one type of beast that is capable of that.'
He thought with a smirk, descending the mountain with a dash. Prepared for his first hunt alone after almost two months.