Slowly, the figures watching Qingyi revealed themselves.

They were just like ordinary humans, the only real difference being the presence of sharp claws, a pair of feline ears and a fluffy tail, as well as eyes not different from those of an ordinary cat.

They wore clothes made from different types of animal skins and held spears, bows and throwing knives.

"They look like catfolk, they come from the same land as Xueyao's people."

Ruxue's voice echoed in Qingyi's mind, who nodded, still not letting his guard down.

There were around twenty opponents. Most of them were in the False Immortal realm, with only one whose cultivation was so deep that Qingyi could barely sense him.

Strangely, he wasn't among the group that surrounded Qingyi, just watching silently from afar.

His eyes showed surprise when he saw Qingyi's gaze focused on him.

"This one looks strong..."

"Would he be good prey for the great hunt?"

"I don't know... he looks like a human, isn't the great hunt only for beasts?"

Murmurs echoed among the cat people surrounding Qingyi.

They were all young boys, the eldest appearing to be no more than seventeen, despite his profound cultivation.

"Brats..." Qingyi lost his temper when he heard those words, taking a Qi recovery pill while calling on the little bit of bloodline Qi that had already recovered.

"One more word, and you'll be the prey!" He roared.

The figure of an enormous dragon appeared on his back, its bestial roar echoing for miles, shaking the forest.

The young men backed away in fright and the expert watching the scene shook his head, sighing before leaping towards them, landing in front of Qingyi.

He was a middle-aged man in the True Immortal realm, clearly at the limit of his talent, unlike those young cat men.

"Young dragon, I beg your pardon for the disrespect of the younger ones, but I ask you to control your aura. After all, you're on our tribe's territory."

The expert spoke, his feline eyes scanning Qingyi curiously as his tail moved gently across his back.

The handsome young man hesitated for a brief moment before retracting his bloodline Qi. This was no time for that kind of fight, not in his current state.

Besides, unlike the young men, that man didn't seem to have any hostile intent towards Qingyi, treating him with a strange respect.

"Junior Long Qingyi salutes senior," Qingyi clenched his fists, but didn't bow. "May I ask what you mean by 'young dragon'? I am a human."

"A human?" The True Immortal sniffed the air, his feline ears rising slightly before he shook his head.

"You don't smell like a human... no, there are traces of human scent on you, but it's almost gone."

"I..." Qingyi thought for a brief moment, looking at his own hands.

He remembered Xueyao saying something similar after he improved his lineage and, honestly, he was confused.

Lineages shouldn't change this kind of thing, not naturally and without using specific lineage techniques that allowed them to take on forms linked to their ancestors.

Qingyi had one of these techniques, the black dragon scales, but this technique should only affect him while he had it active.

The rest of the time, he was supposed to be like any other human, only with a much more powerful body and senses.

"Ah... it doesn't matter." The true immortal spoke, turning to the youngsters. "What are you waiting for, brats? Let's go back to the tribe! We have a guest."

"Yes, elder!" The young men shouted before disappearing into the forest, leaping through the trees with surprising agility.

After everyone had left, the True Immortal turned to Qingyi.

"Our tribe isn't generally hostile to visitors, quite the opposite, but you still smell of human blood. I need to know the reason for that."

"Of course, senior, this junior was in a battle before he ended up here after falling into a space trap, but I can assure you that I have no bad intentions. In fact, I intend to leave as soon as possible."

Qingyi spoke, drawing a gentle smile from the True Immortal.

"I believe you. It's rare that we have young dragons among us, so please accompany me. At least stay to watch the great hunt."

"Great hunt?" Qingyi asked, searching for that term in his mind.

"It's nothing anyone outside the lands of the, as you call us, 'beast men', should know." The True Immortal chuckled.

"In short, the youngest princess of our tribe has reached maturity and, as a great huntress, has asked for her husband to be chosen in a great hunt involving any young man who has the courage to try his luck and catch the best game."

"Ah... I understand..." Qingyi scratched his chin, walking alongside the immortal on the same trail that the other cat men had followed.

In the end, this was, or at least appeared to be, an extremely primitive civilization, although powerful enough to have so many young people in the realm of the false immortal.

Qingyi could only imagine how powerful the cultivation of the leader of this tribe would be. Perhaps an immortal emperor? Or something even more powerful than that?

Naturally, Qingyi was excited to meet such a powerful being.

"Won't you join in too?" The true immortal turned his face, his white feline ears twitching slightly as he sensed Qingyi's emotions.

His hearing was sensitive enough to sense Qingyi's heart racing slightly, his senses being sharper than Qingyi was even capable of imagining.

In the end, that was the cat people's main strength: incomparable reaction time and senses, barely inferior to those Qingyi gained from using his draconic eyes.

"Can outsiders join in too?" Qingyi asked.

"Yes, in fact, anyone whose cultivation is below the False Immortal realm and age is under 25 can join, regardless of their origin.

This is a competition to choose the most capable of the younger generation, after all."

"Well... I'll think about it..." Qingyi said, scratching his chin.

He couldn't make a decision without seeing this woman, could he? What if she was like the princess of the Blue Sea Kingdom?

Qingyi could even imagine having to run away from a crazy whale in the shape of a cat woman.

He didn't want that kind of headache in his life.

After a few more minutes of walking, the true immortal stopped his steps, as did Qingyi.

They already seemed to have reached their destination.

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