Xie Jun leaned close until his mouth was practically touching Chen Yu's ear, his voice barely a whisper that wouldn't carry. "Qi Sensing Herb."
Chen Yu glanced at him, waiting for more explanation.
"Extremely rare," Xie Jun continued, eyes never leaving the scene playing out in the clearing. "Can be refined into a Qi Sensing Pill by an alchemist if you can find one skilled enough. Helps breakthrough from ninth layer Body Tempering to Qi Refining stage, increases success rate by about thirty percent which is massive."
Chen Yu's eyebrows rose slightly at that. That explained the standoff and why no one was backing down.
"Worth at least a hundred spirit stones on the market if you sold it," Xie Jun added, his voice tight. "But using it yourself is worth far more than that. Both clans need resources like this desperately for their younger generation to advance."
He paused, eyes scanning the cultivators. "They're all sixth or seventh layer from the look of them. How they move, their muscle development, weapon quality. The Feng disciples are probably slightly stronger individually but outnumbered."
In the clearing ahead, the standoff continued with neither side willing to give ground. No one moved toward the herb directly, but all five cultivators watched each other with barely controlled aggression that made the air feel thick and dangerous.
"We found it first!" The Liu Clan member with the spear took a step forward, his weapon angled threateningly toward the Feng disciples. "This is our discovery, we have rights to it!"
"These are neutral hunting grounds," one of the Feng disciples shot back, adjusting his grip on his sword. "First to harvest gets it, that's always been the rule everyone agrees to."
"Convenient how you Feng Clan bastards always twist rules in your favor when it suits you!" Another Liu disciple spat on the ground in disgust.
"Says the clan that ambushes merchants on the mountain roads and calls it 'tax collection.'"
The accusations flew back and forth like arrows, voices rising with each exchange. Chen Yu could see old grudges surfacing with every insult, each one landing like a physical blow that made shoulders tense and jaws clench. This wasn't just about the herb anymore—it was every slight, every perceived injustice between their clans over the years bubbling to the surface all at once.
The Liu disciples started circling slowly, spreading out to flank the Feng cultivators in a coordinated movement they'd probably practiced. Hands tightened on weapons until knuckles went white. Muscles tensed as they shifted into combat stances, weight settling low and balanced.
Chen Yu found his heart rate picking up despite being safely hidden thirty meters away. This was real, actually real. People were about to kill each other over a plant, and from the look in their eyes—hard and determined and full of clan pride—none of them had any intention of backing down or compromising.
"Could you take them?" Chen Yu whispered, keeping his voice as quiet as Xie Jun's had been.
Xie Jun's jaw clenched, muscles working under his skin. "In straight combat, probably. I'm eighth layer, they're all sixth or seventh from what I can tell. But five against one even with a cultivation advantage and better technique..." He shook his head slightly, the movement barely perceptible. "And swooping in to steal it would make enemies of both clans at once. My father would kill me himself. Not worth the risk."
One of the Liu disciples made a sudden move toward the herb, his patience apparently breaking.
Steel rang out as both Feng cultivators drew their swords in perfect unison, the sound sharp and clear in the morning air.
That was all it took to shatter the fragile standoff. Every weapon came free of its sheath within a heartbeat, the sound of sliding metal echoing through the clearing like a death knell. Bodies tensed, ready to spring into the kind of brutal close combat that Body Tempering cultivators specialized in—enhanced strength, hardened bones, muscles that could tear through normal flesh like paper.
The ground cracked slightly under their feet as they shifted positions. Leaves fell from nearby trees as if shaken loose by wind even though the air was still. Chen Yu's breath caught in his throat as he prepared to witness an actual cultivator battle, something he'd only read about in manuals and heard stories about in town.
Then a roar split the morning air and everything changed.
The sound was massive, primal, shaking the trees hard enough to send birds fleeing in every direction with panicked cries. All five cultivators froze mid-motion like someone had stopped time, weapons still raised but completely forgotten as their heads snapped toward the source of that terrible sound.
Heavy footsteps approached through the forest, each one making the ground tremble in a way that had nothing to do with technique and everything to do with sheer mass. The crashing of breaking branches and splintering wood announced something huge forcing its way through the forest without caring what got in its path.
The bear emerged into the clearing and Chen Yu's stomach dropped like he'd been punched.
It stood at least ten feet tall on all fours, easily fifteen if it reared up on its hind legs, with a body so massive it made the cultivators look like children by comparison. Black fur rippled with faint blue lines of spiritual energy that pulsed in rhythm with its breathing, patterns that marked it as far more than a normal beast. Amber eyes glowed with intelligence and hunger in equal measure, the kind of predator that knew exactly what it was doing. Each paw ended in claws as long as swords, and its aura of power pressed down on the clearing like a physical weight that made the air feel thick and hard to breathe.
Mid-Tier 1 Spirit Bear, Chen Yu's mind supplied with the clinical detachment of someone too shocked to properly panic yet. Equivalent to a cultivator at the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refining stage, which meant it could kill everyone here.
All five disciples went pale, the color draining from their faces in an instant. The Liu Clan member with the spear actually took a step backward, his earlier bravado evaporating like morning dew under the bear's amber gaze.
Xie Jun's entire body tensed beside Chen Yu, every muscle going rigid. Even he would struggle against something like this alone, and Chen Yu could see the calculations running behind his eyes.
The bear's head swung slowly across the clearing in a deliberate scan, amber eyes taking in the gathered cultivators, the glowing herb, the blood and spiritual energy that had drawn it here from wherever it had been. Its lips pulled back to reveal teeth designed for tearing, each one as long as Chen Yu's finger.
It roared again, louder this time, a sound that vibrated in Chen Yu's chest like thunder and made his ears ring with pain.
The bear charged.