Side Quests were always fun to do, especially when they had a boring few days of just traveling ahead of them, but Damien knew they couldn't take too much time on this.
Even if they had time before the event began, they still had to get there as soon as possible so they could accurately blend in with the crowd and perhaps even gain some useful information.
At the moment, even if their identities allowed them entry into the event, they wouldn't be able to gain anything substantial.
They were just average sect disciples at the end of the day.
For them to achieve something worthwhile during this mission, they needed to properly infiltrate and earn trust. They only had 9 months until the secret realm opening, and the conference was supposed to last 3 months at most.
Their schedule for the coming year or so was absolutely packed. Even a short excursion like this one would be problematic.
He was sure Ruyue knew this as well since she seemed better at the whole planning thing than he was, but she still decided to do something like this.
"Say, do you perhaps have a soft spot for kids?" He suddenly mentioned, trying to find a reason for her actions.
"No, not particularly. Why do you ask?"
"I mean, why are you going out of your way to help strangers like this when we have much more important tasks to fulfill?"
"Ah, that…"
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"Besides, aren't you the senior sister who's always cold and lofty towards everyone else? Is there something about this situation that's different?"
"…"
Ruyue's brow furrowed once more. Even if she was slightly offended by how he perceived her, she knew he was right. Even she found it odd that she was acting in such a way.
And it wasn't just the village situation. The first time her cold front had been derailed was by the man standing in front of her, though he didn't seem to realize it.
Since that first day they had a lesson together, her world had become more colorful. It almost made her forget about the problems she had before he arrived.
But every time she left his and her master's presence and went about her normal day, she was forced to remember it all by the people around her. She was forced back into that cold front that she always put up.
The way they looked at her like a chess piece to be moved as they pleased, the way people tried to fawn on her so they could gain connection to her clan, she hated it all.
She never liked the spotlight, and if there was one thing she was thankful for, it was that she was born a woman and wouldn't be forced to inherit rulership over the clan.
If she was placed in that sort of position as well, she would have long since fled to somewhere unknown, perhaps even leaving the world entirely.
That was just the kind of person she was. She despised the political schemes and society that she was born into.
But it was different now. She was no longer Xue Ruyue, she no longer had status. She was simply Xiao Li, a rogue cultivator that nobody knew or cared for.
Perhaps, her inner desires were taking precedence due to her change in identity. Maybe it was that she didn't want to be cold anymore.
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Seeing the complicated look in Ruyue's eyes that was coupled with a hint of yearning, Damien sighed lightly. It wasn't like he didn't understand where she was coming from, especially after spending so much time with her, but he didn't see this change as something natural.
He didn't want to ruin her mood nor did he want to sour their relationship by being too blunt. And so, he decided that if things were truly the way he thought they were, he'd just let her find out for herself.
His only hope was that she didn't return to being an icy wall in the aftermath.
"Well, it doesn't really matter," Damien said, snapping Ruyue out of her thoughts. "In the end, we don't have much time to complete this little request you've taken, so we should split up and search the forest.
"I remember the leader of that beast pack muttering to himself about some man that forced him to submit, so make sure to keep your eyes out for humans or humanoid races."
"Yeah, the Elder also mentioned something similar," Ruyue added. "Not just a lone man, but a suspicious group has been lurking around this forest recently.
"She was only able to find out through the scouts of the village, but we should be fine; since our strengths far outweigh theirs."
"Don't drop your guard either way." Damien reminded her. "No matter what, you can't just blindly trust the information you were given. Be sure to find something concrete before engaging in combat.
"Also, be sure to contact me when that happens so we can be safe."
Ruyue nodded her head, albeit reluctant that they had to rush, and ran off eastward. Watching her back fade into the distance, Damien once again sighed.
"Let's just get this over with."
The forest they were currently in wasn't actually that large. At most, it was the size of a small state. For those villagers who hadn't taken the time to level up properly, perhaps this distance was immense, but to Damien, it was nothing.
The more he leveled up, the larger his scale of reach was. His destruction prowess had already reached the level where if he put all his mana into it, this whole forest could be razed to the ground.
But that was both inefficient and unnecessary. The only reason he thought about it was so he could get a true grasp of how big his range was now.
Still standing in the same spot he was before Ruyue left, Damien spread his awareness to its utmost.
The entire layout of the forest became clear to him. From the spread of vegetation to the location of every beast pack, it was all within his eyes. And in a particular secluded cave in the forest, he found the human he was looking for.
It was a man about 6 feet 5 inches in height with an incredibly burly build. He was like a tank in human skin. He sat within the cave and chewed on a stalk of grass with a wide grin on his face, seemingly celebrating something.
And while Damien was prepared to teleport over there and deal with the problem immediately, he noticed he did not need to. The man's aura clearly indicated that he was still within the mid-levels of 3rd class, probably at the Core Expansion realm.
And Damien wasn't the only one who had found his location.
Only a few kilometers away from the hidden cave, the lithe and graceful figure of Ruyue could be seen speeding in that direction.
'If she has that taken care of, I guess I can act on that hunch I've been having since we got here.'
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Taking one last glance at the Ruyue and the burly man, Damien turned and ran in the opposite direction.