Chapter 63: Into the Forest

Translator: Cenniwdyl  Editor: Caron_

When the Transporting Formation emitted a bright white light, Mo Tiange unhesitatingly pasted a defensive talisman onto her body.

This place was different with Miwu Valley. Good or bad, Miwu Valley had been taken care of by seniors from the three cultivation groups. Although there were indeed some demonic beasts, there weren’t many. Furthermore, the valley was covered by some restrictions. As long as their identity tablets were separated from their bodies, the disciples wouldn’t end up dead.

In this mountain forest, however, their fates were hard to predict. After they were transported, if they happened to appear in front of a demonic beast and got bitten, their survival wouldn’t be guaranteed. Besides, right now, there was a turbulent undercurrent among the disciples of the three groups. Adding the fact that some people act unscrupulously for the sake of gaining profits, they might really have to surrender their lives here.

Because she had long guessed that this trip would be dangerous, she intentionally took out some of her things and exchanged them for some talismans from Qin Xi. Qin Xi had been practicing his skills in drawing talismans for some time. Although there were lots of failed ones, there were also lots of finished products. He didn’t really care about these talismans, claiming that he still had a lot, so the other three exchanged their things for a lot of his talismans.

Mo Tiange didn’t have many spirit stones left, so she used some materials in her exchange with him. He didn’t mind because he also dabbled in concocting medicinal pills and refining tools, so he indiscriminately accepted her stuff.

She was rather anxious when she made preparations for this trip. She wasn’t a rich cultivator – the spirit stones she used during her cultivation were either rewarded or were profits she made from selling formations. Because her natural endowments weren’t good, she had to spend a lot of stones for cultivation. Originally, for the joint minor competition of the three groups, Second Uncle was the one who prepared talismans and medicinal pills for her by selling his belongings. As for herself, she really didn’t have any valuable belongings.

She only had about 100 spirit stones left which she kept because they would be needed to lay formations. She also had some spiritual plants and spiritual objects, but most of them had been exchanged for spirit stones; the remaining ones weren’t valuable enough to be sold. She had even fewer talismans and they definitely shouldn’t be exchanged for spirit stones. Aside from these things was a pile of things she didn’t know the intended uses of. Qin Xi managed to identify some of them and exchanged his talismans for them, while the others were things he also didn’t know about.

There was also the pearl she obtained from the man from An Clan. It was roughly the size of a child’s fist and she could sense that there was a surge of spiritual aura inside it. However, no one could identify what the pearl was.

Hence, from her remaining belongings, only a few spirit tools could be considered valuable. Most of these she obtained from the man from An Clan three years ago, and she still didn’t dare to put them on the market. However, these weren’t the matter she should be concerned about now. At the very least, her preparations for this trip were already more than enough.

After she was transported into the forest, Mo Tiange immediately scanned her surroundings. Fortunately, there weren’t any demonic beasts and the like here. With a relieved sigh, she stepped forward. The next second, however, she found that her feet landed on nothing and her body plunged straight towards the ground below. She hastily used the Light Body Technique, looked for a foothold and leaped until she reached the ground above.

This was actually a very steep slope. Because there were too many vines, the space in front of her seemed like solid ground when in fact it only appeared so because of the numerous hanging and attached vines.

Mo Tiange smacked her forehead. It really was a false alarm. She observed her surroundings, but she forgot to observe the ground. It seemed that she had to be more careful in the future.

She was surrounded by dense trees. Above her were countless overhanging vines while the ground below was completely covered by a thick layer of dried leaves. It was really difficult to find a walking path here.

She took out a Jade Slip engraved with the map of this place from her robe. Nevertheless, she found that the map was too rough. With no distinct features of this place, she simply couldn’t find her position on the map. She could only give up, cautiously hide her breath, take out her Green-Wood Sword and make her way through this forest.

For her, who was practicing wood element techniques, being here was advantageous. The wood element spiritual aura in this forest was dense – if she had to use it, her power would become even stronger.

All of a sudden, she felt a fluctuation of spiritual aura behind her back. She, who had been completely focused on observing her surroundings, promptly dodged out of the way. Using Green-Wood Sword to support her body, she turned around to see her opponent.

It was actually a multi-colored, flat-headed demonic snake!

Goosebumps instantly appeared on her body. She considered herself to be courageous, but when she was confronted face-to-face with this kind of snake, she really had a slight urge to vomit. Nonetheless, it wasn’t the appropriate time for this. This demonic snake had a strong momentum; if she didn’t concentrate and died in its jaws, it would be even more disgusting!

This snake was more than ten-feet-long, had thin, coarse-rimmed jaws and a flat head. Its tongue was darting in and out of its mouth rapidly. Its cold, gloomy gaze was fixed on her body. Based on the momentum it emitted, it was a first rank demonic beast.

Suddenly, this snake leaped, spewing black-colored venom towards her.

At this moment, the defensive talisman on her body played its role. The venom fell to the ground before it reached her body. After this attack, however, the protective barrier on her body shook as if it was going to shatter at any moment. She took no chances and pasted another defensive talisman on her body. After she did that, she manipulated her Green-Wood Sword, rushing it towards the snake, trying to strike a vital spot.

The snake was very agile. It moved at lightning speed, sometimes stretching and sometimes shrinking its body to take on her Green-Wood Sword.

As Mo Tiange cautiously swished her Green-Wood Sword, she also took out some seeds from her Qiankun Bag. Taking advantage of the moment the snake was busy fighting the Green-Wood Sword, she hurled those seeds forward. The moment those seeds landed on the snake’s body, they suddenly grew into Fire Thorns that coiled around this demonic snake. This scene made her feel a bit calmer.

Nevertheless, in the next second, she was completely shocked that she almost shouted out loud.

The snake was wriggling, but those Fire Thorns simply couldn’t pierce through its skin. On the contrary, with a swing of its tail, all of them went flying into the air.

Mo Tiange’s expression turned grave. To her surprise, the scales on this snake’s skin were so hard that the Fire Thorns couldn’t pierce through them.

After dodging Green-Wood Sword, the demonic beast suddenly turned its head towards her. It spat out something from the tip of its tongue, but instead of spitting out venom, it spat out a dense fog.

A sudden dizziness shocked her.  This must be a poisonous fog!  She instantly increased her cautiousness. Then, while holding her breath, she took out a pill from her Qiankun Bag and threw it into her mouth. Once Refreshing Pill started to work its magic, her mind immediately became clear.

Afraid to let this fight drag on much longer, she took out a talisman and threw it towards the snake’s body.

A huge towering water column fell on the demonic snake’s body and instantly froze into ice, causing its body to become sluggish in an instant. Green-Wood Sword powerfully rushed forward and ‘pu!’ – it pierced through its scales, thoroughly striking its core.

The demonic snake twisted its body, but it couldn’t get free from either the ice or Green-Wood Sword. Eventually, its breath ceased to exist as it lay there motionlessly.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Mo Tiange retrieved her Green-Wood Sword and carefully wiped it clean. She then stared at the ice on the demonic beast’s body with regret. After all, this Freezing Talisman wasn’t cheap.

Danger indeed lurked in every corner of this forest. This was only a snake, yet it actually made her felt so threatened and even caused her to use a Freezing Talisman!

Regarding the snake’s carcass lying on the ground, Mo Tiange actually felt troubled. The elders in the sect explicitly told them that during this trip, the demonic beasts’ remains were to be brought back. However, this snake looked very disgusting; she really couldn’t muster up the courage to touch it.

After hesitating for a while, she took out a leather bag from her Qiankun Bag, used Green-Wood Sword to hold the carcass up, and stuffed the carcass into the leather bag. She then fastened the bag’s opening and threw the bag into her Qiankun bag.

Having completed the matter, she cautiously determined her direction and started to make her way out of this mountainous forest.

Inside this dense forest, a clear brook meandered through a glade. Moistened by the water of this brook, the glade was very lush with numerous splendid wildflowers. It was a truly beautiful scene in the wilderness.

Nevertheless, this beautiful scenery had been damaged by the presence of two men.

One man was wearing a purple robe while the other was wearing a yellow robe, but their cuffs were embroidered with the same symbol. The two of them were fiercely glaring at each other.

The youth in the purple robe “hmphed” and said furiously, “Jindao School disciple! You actually dared to ambush this young master!?”

The middle-aged cultivator seemed unperturbed and his tone was also dull as he said, “Ignorant brat, so what if I ambush you?”

The youth’s face contorted in anger because of the cultivator’s reckless manner. “You!!! I’m a disciple from Zixia Sect’s headquarters while you’re only a cultivator from an exterminated school – aren’t you afraid of being reprimanded by the division?”

The middle-aged cultivator chuckled. “If I do everything cleanly, who can trace it back to me?”

“You!!!” The youth was seething with anger. Presumably, since he didn’t have enough experience and had never experienced a setback throughout his cultivation, he was easily provoked. At that moment, he controlled the spirit tool in his hand and rushed towards the middle-aged cultivator.

The middle-aged cultivator retreated cautiously. While utilizing his spirit tool, he secretly took out a talisman.

Both of them were tenth layer cultivators. For a moment, they kept exchanging attacks and were evenly matched.

At this moment, someone came out of the woods. That man, however, was wearing a black robe.

Seeing the two fighting men, the expression on that man’s face changed. After a long time, he finally took out something from his Qiankun Bag and threw it towards one of the men.

Mo Tiange had been walking, following the sound of the flowing water. When the fluctuation of several spiritual auras attracted her attention, she cautiously hid her presence before walking towards the area of the fight.

On the space beside the brook, disciples of Zixia Sect and Jindao School were engaged in a fight of magical powers. Meanwhile, in the corner of the woods, a fierce looking Yunwu Sect disciple hurled the spirit tools in his hand forward.

“AH!!!” With a blood-curdling scream, the disciple of Zixia Sect fell lying in a pool of blood. His breath already vanished.

Both the Jindao School and Yunwu Sect disciples sighed. They didn’t fight each other, but they also didn’t talk to each other. After dividing up the Zixia Sect disciple’s belongings and burning his body clean, they split up, each going their respective ways.

Mo Tiange, who was hiding in the forest, was drenched with a cold sweat. What Xu Jingzhi was worried about finally happened. The hatred-filled disciples of Jindao School and Yunwu Sect were killing any lone disciples of Zixia Sect to vent their hatred.

She could already imagine what would happen in the future. Those who had killed Zixia Sect disciples would definitely repeat their actions. Once it occurred too often, Zixia Sect disciples would realize their fellow disciples were harmed. In their anger, they would retaliate against the two other groups, thereupon sending the three groups into a melee. The casualties would be countless.

Sure enough, this trip was a perilous one. Not only did they have to protect themselves against the demonic beasts inside the forest, they also had to be cautious of other cultivators.