Chapter 439 - 275: Eternal Night Forest (2)

Chapter 439: Chapter 275: Eternal Night Forest (2)

Yu Fei went through the motions with a longsword. When the number of direbeasts became too great, he would use Soul Capturing in advance to drive them away. He would not expose his true strength to Di Kui and the others.

When the group finally scrambled their way to the last rest stop, Feng Xi immediately collapsed onto the ground.

This rest stop was deserted—a cave hollowed out of the mountainside.

Yu Fei judged that this was likely a public rest stop, for Martial Artists who frequented the area to use for temporary shelter.

They recuperated there for two days. No matter how much Yu Fei urged him, Di Kui refused to depart. He stated bluntly that the team was in poor condition and needed to wait longer—wait until that unknown high-rank direbeast had left before they continued their journey.

Yu Fei was helpless. ’I can’t exactly tell them I went out in the middle of the night to clear out the direbeasts, can I?’ He had a gut feeling that if he were to say that, the team would likely turn on him, unless he resorted to suppressing them with brute force.

They had been traveling as if chased by wolves. And though they hadn’t encountered much actual danger, the psychological pressure was immense.

"Mr. Gao, we only have the last leg of the journey left. As per your request, we will escort you to the outskirts of the Eternal Night Forest, and then we will begin our return trip!"

"Understood. Thank you for your hard work."

Di Kui had no intention of prying. He didn’t care about Yu Fei’s plans; whatever this man wanted to do in the Eternal Night Forest was none of his business.

The others felt the same. As an elite team from Celestial Guidance, they knew one thing very well: if you want to live a long life, don’t ask questions you shouldn’t. Some secrets carry a heavy price.

On this final leg of the journey, Yu Fei didn’t further provoke Di Kui’s frayed nerves. In truth, even Martial Artists who spent their years making a living in the vast, beast-infested forests rarely ventured deep into the Mist Sea, let alone the Eternal Night Forest.

In terms of resources, the middle regions of the Mist Sea were actually the most abundant, with the highest overall yield.

Although the Eternal Night Forest contained some high-grade resources, they were primarily Spirit Plants. Harvesting them was a scattered and dangerous affair, treacherous even for Grandmaster Martial Artists. Over time, the place had become akin to a forbidden land.

"Mr. Gao, the Eternal Night Forest is just ahead!"

Yu Fei looked over and saw a forest completely shrouded in darkness.

The trees here towered hundreds of meters high, blocking out the sun entirely. Combined with the incredibly dense fog and the powerful, piercing roars that occasionally echoed from within, the forest resembled a gaping abyss waiting to devour any who entered.

"Mr. Gao..."

As Di Kui spoke, the others turned their gaze to him. In the dim light and omnipresent fog, their faces were indistinct, even though they stood close together.

Yu Fei’s vision was largely unaffected, and he could sense their tension, anxiety, and a hint of do-or-die resolve.

For this escort mission, Wang Yu hadn’t given them much information. He had only warned Di Kui that Yu Fei was powerful and must not be offended at any cost.

They had discussed it amongst themselves many times while camping on the road, and even during their rest breaks.

Although they wouldn’t pry into a client’s secrets, the situation was suspicious no matter how they looked at it. A chubby, fifth-realm young master spending over a hundred million merit points just to be guided to the outskirts of the Eternal Night Forest? Something was definitely off.

Their worst-case speculation was that Wang Yu had sold them out to Gao Yunxiang. They feared that upon reaching the destination, or perhaps even halfway there, they would be captured and used as sacrificial offerings, or for some other nefarious purpose.

Another possibility was that Gao Yunxiang himself harbored a great secret and planned to eliminate them once the job was done.

Regardless, it never occurred to them that this might just be a perfectly normal transaction.

Seeing their tense expressions, Yu Fei just smiled.

"Thank you all for accompanying me. This is far enough."

He then took a camping tent from Shi Qiang’s case, leaving the rest of the supplies untouched.

"I just need the tent; I don’t need anything else. If fate decrees, may our paths cross again!"

"Finally, I wish you all a safe journey back!"

With that, Yu Fei shouldered the tent and walked into the pitch-black Eternal Night Forest.

He left the small group standing there in silence.

...

"He just... left like that?"

Feng Xi swallowed, his emotions in turmoil.

As Martial Artists who had been single-handedly raised by the Iron Banner Gang, each of them had weaknesses that the gang used to control them completely.

They had been prepared for a violent falling-out, but it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary now!

Di Kui said with a deadpan expression, "It’s too early to celebrate. Let’s talk once we’re safely back in the city. If there are no further complications with this job, we can afford to rest for half a year!"

The group began their return journey under Di Kui’s lead, only now they moved a little faster. It was clear that while traveling with Yu Fei, they had always been holding some strength in reserve.

Yu Fei was actually aware of this, but he didn’t care. His true purpose was to use the perilous environment of the Eternal Night Forest to temper his divine will, fusing a myriad of concepts into a single blade, and forging a sword strike that contained a world of its own.

As soon as he entered the Eternal Night Forest, the last vestiges of faint light disappeared, and Yu Fei felt as if he had stepped into a bizarre, new world.

The dense fog here was almost solid. His perception range was continuously compressed until it was reduced to a mere ten kilometers.

Even after activating his Pupil Skill, his range of observation was still less than a thousand meters.

For Yu Fei, this was an epic-level debuff.

In fact, after his discussion with Ye Shuping, they had concluded that in order to quickly temper his divine will, Yu Fei needed to place himself in a dangerous environment and learn to survive under the constant threat of death.

There is great terror in the space between life and death, but it is in such extreme battles that life often blooms with dazzling power.

Ye Shuping had set a few restrictions for him on this trip.

First, he was not to use his teleportation ability to return until he achieved his goal.

Second, he was not to use his teleportation ability to escape the Eternal Night Forest during battle.

He had to enforce these two rules on himself. With his abilities, Yu Fei could escape from a Tier-7 direbeast whenever he pleased. If he didn’t force himself, there would be no challenge.

Thus, this was an extreme test of Yu Fei’s self-discipline.

He didn’t know how far he had traveled, but Yu Fei was already lost. He could only roughly determine his direction by relying on the Fog Pine Stone markers he occasionally dropped.

Suddenly, Yu Fei felt a bone-chilling sting of pain—a warning from his profound perception, signaling an imminent attack.

Yu Fei was puzzled. His sensory Secret Technique hadn’t detected anything abnormal. ’Where is the attack coming from?’

He tightened his grip on the longsword, focusing his perception.

In an instant, he found it.

A faint tremor in the ground revealed the attacker’s location.

’It’s underground!’

He leaped into the air just as the damp, rotted earth beneath him exploded. A direbeast shot out—it resembled a pangolin but was covered in bone spikes and had a long, whip-like tail. Its sharp claws, glowing with a thick, ink-black light, swiped at Yu Fei’s legs.

In his haste, he slashed downward with his sword but was overpowered, knocked high into the air.

Before he could stabilize himself, the direbeast curled into a ball, spikes pointing outward, and shot toward him in a high-speed spin.

Its tough tail whipped around like a spinning scythe, turning the beast into a wheel of blades that hurtled toward him.

It moved with the speed of lightning. In that split second, the headband on Yu Fei’s forehead burst apart as a sinister Sword Qi shot out. The instant the wheel of blades was upon him, Yu Fei teleported, reappearing to its side.

His longsword, imbued with a powerful Sword Intent, slashed down at the center of the spinning beast.

CLANG! GRIND—

Sparks flew in the pitch-black forest. Yu Fei’s pupils contracted sharply.

A tremendous force surged through the blade. His longsword, considered high-quality even among those in the Gang Qi Realm, abruptly shattered. If the Celestial Star Travel Body hadn’t lifted him at the critical moment, he feared he would have plunged headfirst into the spinning wheel of death.

Even with his Melt Gold Jade Body Skill cultivated to such a high degree, he would have been instantly torn to shreds.

At the critical moment, Yu Fei used the force of the Sword Qi to retreat a hundred meters. He hadn’t expected the spinning beast to change direction so fluidly. It came after him again with a piercing shriek.

However, the distance bought him just enough time. Yu Fei successfully gripped Zhanming in his hand.

With the greatsword in his hand, Yu Fei’s courage surged. He actually took the offensive, charging toward the spinning direbeast.

At the same time, hundreds of streams of Sword Qi shot out, but their target wasn’t the beast itself. Instead, they peppered the ground in a thirty-foot radius around it.

The attack power of his Immeasurable Sword Qi, limited by his currently insufficient Sword Intent, was ineffective against the Tier-7 direbeast.

But Yu Fei didn’t need them to do damage; he valued them for their ability to serve as beacons for his teleportation.