"As I have nothing to do anyway, it’s better to scout the area around and see if there are new risks I didn’t spot earlier..." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

William settled on taking a stroll outside, but before that, he left instructions for Fang about what to do and the change in the overall plan.

"I’d suggest we don’t hastily change leaders every time," Fang paused, "for me, for others, having this experience in fighting monsters in the upper realm is as precious as training our spirits. So perhaps we can leave those who aspire to train more in killing monsters until they get satisfied with it."

William didn’t dislike the idea, yet he stressed the need for this to be volunteer work. He also stressed that training one’s spirit power was as important as training in killing monsters. And Fang knew what he was referring to and nodded in understatement.

"Why do I have the feeling that more masters will choose to stay awake and not train?" As he walked outside the safe zone borders, William couldn’t help but think about this point.

It felt like the allure of testing one’s strength against new realm’s monsters was irresistible. For a moment, he had a feeling that masters like Ro and Fang wouldn’t pick training over fighting. And he could only inwardly sigh.

William didn’t walk for a few minutes before meeting the first group of shadow monsters. Seeing the ones who unlocked the door for him and other masters to become true spirit masters in the upper realm made him feel a little appreciation towards them.

"The main problem is that with their presence around, I can’t fight freely against any monster." William got over his feelings and pondered this problem.

He went outside to look for any hidden risks and dangers, mainly new breeds of monsters. He knew if he spotted any, a fight might happen, and that would place him in danger.

He still didn’t get why these shadow monsters didn’t come and attack him or other masters, and didn’t come to attack the worms back there. Yet he was sure that the moment a fight would erupt between him and any monster, they would barge and foil his plans.

"I need to get prepared." he knew the solution wasn’t by evading fighting, but by setting the right stage for fighting any monster. That required him to check the materials he gained from this forbidden zone and consider his options.

"I can set a grand array or even a formation around any area filled with monsters I want to fight," he thought, "even if the monsters proactively attacked me, I can lay down a hasty array to seal my spirit powers and attack from within it."

The solution was crude, but it was what he got. And he didn’t dislike it.

Settling on this point, he walked with more confidence than ever. Yet soon enough, he was destined to regret such confidence.

As he walked, he didn’t just look for monsters. He scanned the area for any potential good harvest. Be it an ore mine, a rare herb, or even trees, he looked for all and memorised their locations, marking them with his safe zone at the centre of his mental map.

He didn’t have time to properly draw a map here. Not in the open. Not like this.

If he tried to do it, it was like inviting danger to hit him. So he kept his vigilance and walked steadily, moving in circles around the safe zone with each circle wider than the previous one by a few kilometres.

As he expected, this zone was a treasure trove. He even suspected the very ground he was walking upon was a treasure in itself. He spotted at least twenty potential resource locations in the past seven hours, walking alone. And these resources didn’t just include the ones he desperately needed, but they were also very close to his safe zone.

"My masters can easily go outside and collect these resources, and run back in case a great danger arrives... Speaking of danger, why do I feel unsettled for the past half an hour?"

He kept walking, but slowly, he felt like danger was getting closer to him with every passing minute. William tried to see through any danger hidden around, but found nothing.

He checked the sky, checked the ground for vibrations, and even stopped now and then to try to see anything moving in the distance. Unluckily, he didn’t spot anything out of normal. And yet that feeling didn’t dwindle; it grew stronger with every step he took, with every pause he made.

At some point, he couldn’t take it anymore.

"Fine! If you don’t want to show yourself, I’ll prepare the area for a big fight and wait for you to show yourself." he instantly dashed around, laying down lots of materials and setting a grand array to seal spirit powers.

Once he started doing this, he felt a weird ripple in the air at a distance. He wasn’t fazed, didn’t even stop in his tracks. If any, he knew his feeling was right, and there was something dangerous coming towards him.

Yet what really surprised him was the fact that this thing, whatever it was, had some intelligence to realise what he was doing. Adding to this mystery was the fact that what he was doing was something unique only to spirit masters.

Monsters couldn’t detect what he was doing, couldn’t grasp the full implications if he laid down this array.

As the hidden enemy was approaching fast, William moved faster and focused only and solely on finishing the job. Luckily, laying down this array didn’t require much effort, just placing the right materials at the right spots. It didn’t even require digging the ground and burying the materials in specific order like the majority of arrays and formations.

Thanks to that, he finished laying the array a couple of minutes before the enemy approached.

"Oh, it’s moving a bit slower than the monsters I fought so far."