Chapter 854: Enter The Forest
An insignificant small room was located on the fourth floor in the Beyond Heaven Pavilion. It was an extremely old room, such that spider webs could be seen, but it was filled with rare stones and precious treasures. An old man with hazy eyes sat inside while he looked down with a pondering look on his face. He thought, ‘That light from before is probably from a formation board. It’s simple yet vigorous, messy but not confusing. Looks like that young fella isn’t as simple as he looks.
‘The Li family…’ He shook his head in the end as he did not want to interfere in other people’s business.
With that, he looked away and sat on a wooden stool, then he picked up a peculiar stone and carved it slowly. He looked like an old man in a secular world and did not have spiritual power fluctuations, but the hollow look in his eyes from time to time proved that he was not a simple person.
Below the pavilion, Xue Xuanle kept moving her thumbs in circles in front of her tummy while looking like she had done something wrong.
She puffed up her cheeks and said softly, “Big Brother Yu, I’m sorry for having caused you trouble.”
Ou Yanming shook his head. “It’s fine, so don’t think about it already.” He turned his wrist and was about to keep his Tianyuan Stone.
Xue Xuanle gritted her teeth and snatched his Tianyuan Stone to imprint his information inside as well. “Big Brother Yu, it happened because of me, so I can’t just sit by idly.” Nonetheless, she immediately regretted what she did. After all, they were up against the Li family, which was the greatest aristocratic family in Huixun City. It was worth noting that Li Tianyu was even the only grandson of Venerable One Li Shaoyuan. ‘Am I not bringing disaster upon my clan by offending someone like him?’
As for the crowd around them, they had complicated expressions on their faces. Some people gloated over their misfortune, some looked regretful, some were scornful, and some ridiculed them… All in all, there were all kinds of reactions from the crowd.
Ou Yangming did not take this matter to heart. He chuckled and said, “Let’s go. We’ll be entering the Forest of Death tomorrow, so we should prepare for it.”
He thought, ‘The explosive arrows will be useful again this time. Based on my current level in smithing art, if I smith more explosive arrows now, how powerful will they be?’ He grinned as he was looking forward to it.
Indeed, his smithing art at the moment could not be mentioned on equal terms with that when he was still in the lower realm. Using a bright moon and a firefly as an example, the young fellow had become the former while he was the latter when he was in the lower realm.
For the next half of the day, Ou Yangming kept running around in Huixun City to purchase many items. He had prepared 50 explosive arrows and was armed to the teeth.
The Hunting Meet began after several days.
Early in the morning, as soon as the morning light shone, Huixun City was already bustling. There were many people on the streets as everyone hurried toward the Forest of Death.
Ou Yangming and Xue Xuanle walked side by side to a giant stone tablet outside the forest. The tablet was about 33 meters tall and shone brightly. Numerous names could be seen on it, and they were names of the people that would participate in this Hunting Meet.
Xue Boren’s eyes flickered as he said with an amiable smile, “Younger Brother Tianrui, you’re here.”
Ou Yangming nodded, then he looked curiously at the stone tablet.
Xue Boren was smart and thoughtful. He rolled his eyes and instantly explained with a smile, “Brother Tianrui, this stone tablet’s known as the Water Suspension Tablet, and it has been towering here for 10,000 years. Nobody knows its origin, but it’s said to be able to guide lost people.” Following that, he lifted his hand and pointed at a name—Wu Xuning—on the stone table as he sighed. “Look, this is the candidate from the Wu family this time.”
When Ou Yangming looked, he noticed that the name was at the bottom of the stone tablet. It looked like it was carved in one go, and it looked incredibly sharp. Moreover, an empty space was left after the name. However, the young fellow could not find his name anywhere.
Xue Boren stated with a smile, “Brother Tianrui, you’ll be able to leave your name on the tablet if you brush your Tianyuan Stone across it.”
Ou Yangming retrieved his Tianyuan Stone curiously and gently touched the Water Suspension Tablet with it. Sure enough, ripples seemed to have appeared on the tablet, then the name “Yu Tianrui” could be seen.
Nevertheless, only a single name was carved on the stone tablet. Xue XUanle had also left her name in the same Tianyuan Stone, but it was not shown on the tablet.
Xue Boren later pointed at the space behind Ou Yangming’s name and explained, “When you hunt ferocious beasts and use the Tianyuan Stone to record their blood crystals, your result will be displayed in this space.”
Ou Yangming nodded. “Thank you for your pointers.”
Xue Boren’s eyes flickered as he asked embarrassedly, “Brother Tianrui, why don’t we form a team this time?” He had witnessed Ou Yangming’s formation, hence he naturally knew how mighty the Rudimentary Spiritualist’s formations would be.
He was an Advanced Spiritualist and invited a Rudimentary Spiritualist to form a team with him, but he was actually afraid of being rejected. If other people were to hear about this, not many people would believe it.
Ou Yangming was slightly dumbfounded, but he pondered for a while then agreed to it.
Xue Xuanle smiled without saying a word, but a meaningful look could be seen in her eyes.
All of a sudden, a muffled roar was heard coming from afar. The ground shook, cold mists surged in the air, and snow flew everywhere. A Devil Ape was seen running over at lightning speed, and every step it took stirred up wind while its killing intent alerted everyone. It was followed by over 10 people, 2 of which were Advanced Spiritualists. This was considered a rare line-up in Huixun City.
Once they were close, Li Tianyu looked coldly at Ou Yangming and said, “I didn’t think that you’d have the guts to come. Now, you should really pray that you won’t meet me in the Forest of Death.” He smiled sinisterly, which made him look hideous.
Subsequently, he looked covetously at Xue Xuanle with a flickering red light in his eyes.
Xue Xuanle felt her body turn cold, to the extent that she was having goosebumps. She could not help but take 2 steps back and hid behind Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming kept a straight face and rolled his eyes before he uttered, “Okay.”
His indifference made Li Tianyu furious. It made him feel like he had exerted all his force but ended up hitting a bunch of cotton. The man was frustrated, but he could only scoff coldly.
Xue Boren gasped internally, and he looked deeply at Ou Yangming.
At the spur of the moment, the crowd clamored.
“Wow, Young Master Wang Haobin is here!”
“The Wang family will always be at least one of the top three in every Hunting Meet.”
Countless rogue cultivators made way at that instant. A red-clothed man was standing on a roughly 33-meters-long flying serpent as he slowly made his way to the stone tablet. The flying serpent’s scales were as black as charcoal, and its patterns were complicated. If one must describe them, they looked like cauliflowers that were squashed by enormous power. While carrying a cold intent, the serpent opened its mouth and revealed its 4 sickle-like fangs while sticking out its tongue.
Behind the serpent, there were roughly 20 people that rode a peculiar beast each, and they carried notable auras.
The red-clothed man chuckled and remarked, “Brother Tianyu, I didn’t think that the Li family would be so early this time.”
Li Tianyu looked fearful, which was rare, as he answered, “It’s good to be early!”
Wang Haobin simply sat with his legs crossed on the flying serpent’s head and laughed. “In any case, the outcome’s going to be the same. The unique material provided by the Beyond Heaven Pavilion this year is definitely going to be the Wang family’s.”
Li Tianyu shook his head coldly. “That might not be the case!” As the spiritual power inside his dantian gushed into the Devil Ape’s body through his legs, the ape’s eyes lit up, and it roared. Consequently, gravel flew in the sky while the mountains shook. Some Rudimentary Spiritualists even lost balance and staggered backward, whereas the flying serpent even shrunk its neck out of fear.
“Looked like your flying serpent’s scared?” Li Tianyu laughed out loud.
Wang Haobin still smiled calmly. He brushed his right hand across the patterns on the flying serpent’s head and responded, “It’s fine if it’s afraid, but as long as I’m not.”
Ou Yangming thought to himself while he listened to their conversation, ‘Why are you fighting against each other? In any case, I’ll surely finish first.’ Given that he had the help of 3 beasts, one of which was even a Venerable One, it would not make sense if he did not finish first.
At this moment, a snow-white flying carpet arrived and caused many people to exclaim.
Before long, an elder jumped down from the carpet.
The elder’s beard was white, but he was in high spirits and had an uninterrupted Qi momentum. He cupped his hands and introduced himself, “I’m Xu Heran from the Beyond Heaven Pavilion, and I’ll be hosting this Hunting Meet.” When he pushed his hand down, his robe fluttered in the wind.
Over 10 delicate maidens appeared with trays on their hands. The lady that was at the front carried a tray with a copper pot, whereas the ones carried by the other ladies were covered with white cloths.
Everyone else looked stern.
Subsequently, Xu Heran brushed his right hand in the air, causing a suction force to burst out from his palm, and blood to splash out from the copper pot. The elder later leaped forward with his right leg, then his thin body became burly, and his momentum increased. “The Reincarnation Blood has been sprinkled outside the Forest of Death, so the demons and monsters won’t come!”
At the same time, the elder flicked his fingers, then the blood from the copper pot flew out like a red ribbon and formed a gorgeous plum flower on the ground.
The plum flower shone in a blood light and burned in a black flame.
Afterward, when Xue Heran rolled his sleeves, the white cloths on the other trays flew into the sky. It turned out that the items on those trays were sacrificial offerings.
He breathed out and shouted, “Worship the mountain!” The sacrificial items were instantly drawn by a certain force, and they flew into the Forest of Death.
Ou Yangming watched with bright eyes but had a strange look in his eyes.
Xue Boren explained with a smile, “We must worship the mountain before the Hunting Meet; it’s a tradition that has been passed down for centuries, so it must be done.”
While looking at Xu Heran, Ou Yangming lowered his voice and asked, “Is the worship ceremony always done by the Beyond Heaven Pavilion?”
Xue Boren nodded. “Of course. The Hunting Meet has always been promoted by the Beyond Heaven Pavilion. Thanks to this grand event, Huixun City has indeed flourished much more.”
Ou Yangming gasped as he gained an even more intuitive understanding of the Beyond Heaven Pavilion’s strength.
Without warning, a luster was released from Xu Heran’s eyes as he yelled, “When are you going to enter the mountain if not now?”
As soon as he finished, numerous disciples from aristocratic families and rogue cultivators swarmed into the Forest of Death. The person at the front was Wang Haobin, who stomped his foot to order his flying serpent to carry him into the forest. On the other hand, Li Tianyu scoffed, then his Devil Ape jumped and left an afterimage in the sky before it charged forward as well.
Xue Boren glanced at Xue Xuanle through the corner of his eye, then he said, “Brother Tianrui, let’s go too!”
Ou Yangming looked at the Forest of Death. The forest felt eerie during the day, where black mists that drifted above it even prevented sunlight from entering. On top of that, one’s mental power was also blocked by a queer power.
He breathed in some cold air and replied to the elder, “Let’s go!”