Immortal Martial Saint, something's wrong with my entry.

"Could it really have been artificially induced? That would be...!"

A terrifying thought popped into Li Youan's mind, but before he could think about it in detail, he was interrupted by Luo Jingshan.

"We can think about these things when we get back." Luo Jingshan looked at his team members. "What we need to do most right now is get out of here."

By this time, everyone had finished cleaning up the battlefield, and the fox demon's corpse definitely needed to be taken back.

Monster corpses are important resources for alchemy and weapon crafting; their fur, bones, and blood are all of great value.

The rabbit demon's corpse had already been stored in Li Youan's Tian Shu Ring. At this moment, he was standing on a treetop, looking in the direction the tiger demon had fled.

The area in that direction was overgrown with trees, their branches and leaves overlapping, making it impossible to see very far.

A gentle breeze rustled through the treetops, making the leaves whisper as if something were moving among them.

Li Youan took out a relatively intact array plate from the Tian Shu Ring, held it in his right hand, and slowly circulated his vital energy on the array plate.

Suddenly he sensed something unusual, not the aura of a demon or a human, but the feeling of being watched by some kind of creature.

It was as if several pairs of eyes were coldly watching their entire squad from the shadows.

Li Youan pretended not to care at first, then suddenly turned his head and looked at a clump of bushes not far to his right.

However, with the wind blowing, there was only the sound of leaves rubbing together; there were no other unusual noises in the entire bush.

Or is it just my imagination?

No, that can't be!

Since becoming a formation master, Li Youan has had unwavering faith in his intuition. He was certain that something had been there just now, and that it might still be there now.

"Captain," Li Youan transmitted to Luo Jingshan, "there's something in those bushes that's been watching us."

Upon receiving Li Youan's telepathic message, Luo Jingshan acted without hesitation, but became wary.

Without disturbing the surrounding team members, they quietly followed his suggestion and looked towards the bushes.

A few breaths later, Luo Jingshan shook his head.

"I didn't sense anything, but since you're a formation master, your intuition is likely accurate. Given our current situation, we need to retreat quickly."

Luo Jingshan neither chose to believe nor disbelieve, but instead reminded everyone to act faster.

The battlefield was quickly cleaned up, and the group, carrying the wounded and spoils, swiftly withdrew from the scene.

The afterglow filtered through the treetops, casting slowly shifting shadows on the ground.

The woods fell completely silent, with only the remnants of the battle and large patches of dark red blood proving that an extremely fierce fight had taken place there.

About ten minutes after Li Youan and the others left, the bushes swayed.

Then, the tiger demon emerged from the bushes.

Although its wounds had stopped bleeding, they hadn't healed much because the aftereffects of its berserk state still lingered.

The tiger demon walked to the spot where the fox demon had finally fallen, sniffed it gently, and let out a low whimper.

Then, it raised its left forepaw, and a peculiar mark could be seen glowing faintly on the back of the paw.

It still features those three overlapping rings and the twisted symbol in the middle.

It's exactly the same as the mark on the fox demon's abdomen, only slightly different in size.

The mark flickered a few times before dimming and disappearing completely into the fur, never to be seen again.

The tiger demon looked in the direction Li Youan and the others had left, its eyes flashing with a variety of complex emotions—sadness, hatred, and a certain resolute determination.

"Humans, we will meet again."

Although the tiger demon's voice was somewhat hoarse, it was exceptionally clear.

After leaving those words, the tiger demon turned and limped into the depths of the Ten Thousand Demon Forest, disappearing completely from sight.

The wind continued to blow, and leaves fell intermittently until they completely covered the bloodstains on the ground, as if nothing had happened.

Unless the parties involved return to the site, it would be difficult to discover that a fierce battle had taken place.

-----------------

Meanwhile, on a mountaintop somewhere in the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons.

Monkey Two had already been taken by the eagle demon to a cave on a cliff.

Monkey Two was sitting on a bearskin chair, glancing at Eagle Soaring opposite him from time to time.

Yes, this eagle demon even gave itself a name: Eagle Soaring.

Generally, these demonic beasts only give themselves names when they reach the Spirit Core Realm; the rest, like Monkey Two, just pick any name to get by.

Yingxiang did not sit in the innermost seat, but stood at the cave entrance enjoying the mountain breeze.

Its entire body was covered in jet-black feathers, except for a small tuft of white fur on the very top of its head. Its golden eyes were fixed on Monkey Two without uttering a word.

"Brother Eagle, I've already given you all the intelligence and conditions from the past two days."

Monkey Two spoke, his words somewhat hurried.

"That human squad just went through a big battle with me and Monkey Three. Their injuries must not have fully healed yet. Now is the perfect time to go over there."

Yingxiang remained silent for a moment, just as he was about to speak, when a cry came from outside the cave. Yingxiang looked at the eagle in the sky.

After a few minutes, Yingxiang spoke.

"My little imp just reported some very interesting news."

Seeing that Eagle Soar had changed the subject, Monkey Two scratched his head in frustration.

"Brother Eagle, just give me a straight answer, is it okay or not?"

Eagle Soaring didn't rush to speak despite Monkey Two's urging, but instead considered his words carefully.

"This news might be related to the squad you just mentioned."

"What?!"

Monkey Two was very surprised.

"Little Demon just reported that an enhanced squad fought a human squad on the patrol line over there."

Monkey Two became very anxious upon hearing Eagle Soar's unhurried tone.

"Although their numbers are somewhat small, judging from the weapons they use and their fighting style, especially the fact that they have a formation master, that's the squad you mentioned."

Just as Monkey Two was about to say something, he heard Eagle Soar's words.

"Oh, they even used that sand array you mentioned. But only one tiger demon survived from the enhanced team; the rabbit demon and fox demon both died, and their bodies were taken away."

Monkey Two didn't care about the situation of the enhanced team at all, but asked a question.

"How are the humans' injuries?"

Seeing that Monkey Two did not understand his meaning, Eagle Soar was not in a hurry.

"They were able to inflict such damage on the enhanced squad, so there must be an alchemist in the team to allow their injuries to heal so quickly."

"I want to increase the previous terms by another 30%."

Seeing that Yingxiang was taking the opportunity to make an exorbitant demand, Monkey Two, eager for revenge, had no choice but to agree.

"Let's go then!"

Yingxiang gestured for Monkey Two, who had already gotten up, to sit back down, and said.

"Our underlings lost track of them and only know their general whereabouts. We need to plan carefully so we don't end up like them."

"Listen to me, let's first..."

-----------------

By the time everyone returned to the outpost, it was completely dark.

"We can only rest here for one more day at most. On the way back, the eagle demon we saw gave me a very bad feeling."

After gathering everyone at the outpost and briefly explaining the day's events, Luo Jingshan concluded.

"Moreover, now that we have the heads of two demonic beasts, we can return to the outpost for the time being."

After picking up Bai Ze from Dongfang Jinghong, Li Youan didn't talk to her much.

Saying that he needed to go back to his room to recuperate, Li Youan returned to his room to prepare for the lottery draw.

After adjusting his own state, Li Youan sat on the bed and silently recited in his heart.

"Panel, come out."