REINCARNATION OF THE STRONGEST WAR HERO-Chapter 287: A SUDDEN CHANGE

While the young man was asking them questions, Gazel and Sirus appeared from within the forest. But upon seeing the scene ahead, they immediately stopped and concealed themselves behind the thick bushes and trees. They focused their hearing to catch every word of the ongoing conversation.

Meanwhile, Charles and Robert lay sprawled on the ground, their eyes wide with disbelief as they stared at the girl and the young man.

"Y... You’re both cultivators?!" Robert stammered, barely able to form the words. Inside, his mind was in chaos. ’They are both cultivators! And judging by the power they just displayed... they’re even stronger than Logan! But how is that even possible?’

"Yes," the girl replied calmly, not bothering to hide the truth.

"But how can you be this strong? Didn’t you only start learning about cultivation recently?" Charles asked, his voice trembling in confusion.

Hearing that, the girl and the young man exchanged glances.

"How did you learn about cultivation?" the young man then asked, looking at them instead of answering Charles’s question. "Who taught you?"

Charles and Robert looked at each other, speechless. They didn’t know how to respond. From the young man’s words, it was clear that they hadn’t learned cultivation from Logan’s initiative to let everyone learn it. And judging from their power, it seemed they might have known about cultivation even before Logan did. So now the question was, should they tell them about Logan? But what if doing so put Logan in danger?

In the end, both chose to remain silent. They knew they were no match for the girl and the young man, but no matter what, they wouldn’t betray Logan.

The young man waited for a while, assuming they only needed time to answer. But when the silence dragged on and neither of them spoke a single word, realization dawned on him. He clenched his teeth, frustration flashing across his face, and prepared to deliver another round of punishment.

Just then, the girl raised her hand, stopping him. She stepped forward and spoke softly but firmly.

"Listen. Maybe our behavior seemed rude and unreasonable. However, we’re in a hurry to find out who among you knew about cultivation and taught it to you. If you just tell us, we will let you go. We want to know because we really need to talk with that person. The sooner the better."

The girl didn’t want to cause too much of a commotion. Since both she and the young man were completely new here, they knew nothing about the current situation. So, she thought it would be better to get their answers without resorting to violence or bloodshed if possible. If Charles and Robert hadn’t called her and the young man ’monsters,’ perhaps she wouldn’t have even started the fight in the first place.

But Charles and Robert sneered inwardly. ’Yeah, as if we’re that stupid. No matter what they say, we’ll never put Logan’s life in danger.’

The young man was about to say something when, suddenly, Gazel and Sirus emerged from their hiding spot.

"Looks like we’ve found our targets, Sirus," Gazel said with a wide grin.

"Yes. Those two lying on the ground may be weak, but they clearly know about body-strengthening techniques. And the other two standing there aren’t just aware of cultivation — they’re cultivators themselves, and strong ones at that. Just the kind we were looking for," Sirus added.

The girl and the young man had already noticed their presence.

"Who are those two?" the girl asked cautiously.

"Probably their helpers," the young man replied. They hadn’t heard what Gazel and Sirus had just said, so they assumed the two were allies of Charles and Robert.

Both Gazel and Sirus, brimming with confidence, began walking toward them.

The girl and the young man also stood firm, equally confident — after all, they didn’t believe anyone from the outside world could possibly be their match.

Gazel and Sirus came to a halt about fifteen meters away.

"Who are you? If you don’t want a beating, then scram," the man said, glaring at Gazel and Sirus. But the two remained silent.

"Wait, isn’t that..." Robert began, but he didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. In the next instant, both Gazel and Sirus lunged toward the girl and the young man, and a chaotic battle erupted.

At first, the fight seemed evenly matched. But soon, Gazel and Sirus began to lose ground. Their spells were powerful and destructive, yet their speed couldn’t keep up. Most of their attacks missed or barely grazed their opponents.

On the other hand, the girl’s and the young man’s punches and kicks came down like a meteor shower — fast, fierce, and relentless. Each strike carried enough force to make bones feel as if they would shatter at any moment.

Suddenly, Gazel slammed his palm against the ground, and a massive explosion burst forth.

The girl and the young man reacted instantly, leaping back to avoid the blast. By the time the smoke cleared, Gazel and Sirus were already gone.

When the girl and the young man saw the scene before them, they turned their attention back to Charles and Robert.

"What now? Your helpers just tucked their tails and ran away. Are you going to open your mouths now, or do you want to suffer a little first?" the young man said, his tone firm and impatient. Though the girl preferred a calm, tactical approach to extract information, he clearly had no patience left to deal with what he considered nonsense.

While the group continued their questioning, Gazel and Sirus were already sprinting away at full speed.

"Fu*k! How the hell are they that strong? And that girl?! She’s so young, but even her punches felt bone-crushing!" Gazel spat out as he ran.

"Yeah, lucky for us, we managed to escape alive. Next time, we can’t just go around attacking random people like that. Before anything else, we should inform the boss that we’ve found people who know about cultivation," Sirus said.

Hearing that, Gazel suddenly came to a halt. Seeing him stop, Sirus skidded to a stop as well. "What?! Why did you stop?!" he asked, puzzled.

"We need to follow them," Gazel said firmly. "We don’t know who else might know about cultivation. They’re our best lead. And I don’t think they’ve started chasing us after we escaped."

"So what?! Don’t tell me you actually want to go back and tail them!" Sirus snapped.

"Do you have a better plan? I’m all ears," Gazel shot back.

Sirus opened his mouth as if to argue, but closed it again without saying a word.

A moment later, both of them turned toward the direction they had just fled from.

Back at the Smith Villa...

After taking a short rest, Logan and the others resumed their training session. Daliah, brimming with excitement from her earlier breakthrough, pushed herself even further. Rowan, meanwhile, was desperately cultivating, determined not to fall behind his younger sister.

Logan was also cultivating, though from time to time, he would open his eyes, his thoughts wandering elsewhere.

The image of the man descending from the sky and giving him that mysterious core still lingered in his mind, making it difficult to focus.

Other than that, the day passed without any significant incidents.

As night fell, they finished dinner and went to rest in their separate rooms after a full day of cultivation.

Logan lay on his bed, holding the dragon core in his hand, staring at it quietly.

"He said it’s really valuable and that he only had one of these... What should I do with it? Should I use it to absorb spiritual energy like Nolan’s orb, or should I swallow it like a monster core?" he wondered to himself.

While he was engrossed in those thoughts, something unexpected happened.

The dragon core suddenly began to glow, and as if pulled by an invisible force from within Logan, it flew straight toward his mouth and entered effortlessly. Before he could react, he accidentally swallowed it.

In the next instant, a violent surge of spiritual energy exploded inside his body, flooding his insides like a dam bursting open.

Logan’s eyes widened in shock. Panic struck him as he shot up from his bed.

Without a second thought, he rushed outside in haste.

In the corridor, he nearly ran into Alice. She was startled and about to ask where he was going so late at night and in such a hurry, but Logan only said, "Later, Mom," before darting away.

He ran out through the gates and dashed across the villa grounds, heading in a specific direction at full speed.

Before long, he reached a forest that was away from his home and far from the locality as well. Without hesitation, he entered its depths, found a tall rock, and quickly climbed on top of it.

After that, he quickly sat down in a lotus position and began his breathing technique. He hadn’t even properly started yet when dark clouds began to gather above his head, spreading widely across the sky as if a violent storm was about to strike.