Translator: AnubisTL
The Giant Tree Forest was a realm of colossal trees, each towering skyward. Saplings were virtually nonexistent here; every ancient giant required more than a dozen adults to encircle its trunk.
The term "lush" fell far short of capturing the forest's true essence. It was primordial, untamed, and savage—only such words could begin to describe its awe-inspiring grandeur.
Boom!
A deafening explosion suddenly shattered the primeval silence of the forest.
Flocks of birds erupted into panicked flight, while the surrounding giants trembled violently. Leaves rained down from the canopy, drifting slowly through the air long after the tremors subsided.
Cough! Hack!
At the epicenter of the blast, a disheveled young man crawled out of a pitch-black furnace.
Clad in silver battle armor, his body was streaked with dried blood.
It was none other than Li Qing, who had just escaped the void rift!
Clinging to the furnace's rim, he coughed violently, looking like a beggar on the verge of death.
"Good thing," he rasped. "Just a few broken bones, some internal bruising, and a slight drain on my vital energy."
"If I hadn't pulled out the Black Furnace at the critical moment, the consequences of this spatial traversal would have been unimaginable."
As he spoke, Li Qing couldn't help but shudder, immediately turning to check on Shen Ningbing, who lay unconscious inside the Black Furnace.
They had successfully entered the void rift using the Void-Piercing Talisman, but halfway through their journey, the talisman's spiritual light—which protected them from the void turbulence—rapidly faded.
Just as the void turbulence threatened to tear their fleshly bodies to shreds, Li Qing instinctively retrieved the sturdy Black Furnace from his storage pouch.
The Black Furnace didn't disappoint, displaying its astonishing defensive capabilities. Even the violently colliding void turbulence failed to damage its surface!
In that perilous moment, even attempting to traverse to the World of Eternal Night would have been too late. It was only this pitch-black furnace that saved both his and Shen Ningbing's lives.
"This Void-Piercing Talisman is utterly unreliable. It must be an ancient inheritance, its effectiveness greatly diminished by age. It clearly wasn't strong enough to support two people's spatial traversal."
"Fucking hell, that was close!"
As Li Qing grumbled, he grimaced and began setting his own broken bone.
Having endured countless hardships, he was confident he wouldn't cry out in pain from this simple bone-setting. Yeah, right!
"Ssss! Ugh! Aaaah!!!"
Crack!
With a crisp snap, Li Qing, his eyes bloodshot, finally realigned the tibia in his left leg.
His eyes still slightly red, Li Qing immediately activated the abundant vital energy within his body, channeling his fleshly body's vigorous life force to nourish the fractured bone and accelerate healing.
Yet even with his formidable physique, repairing a broken bone would still take considerable time.
"Looks like I'll be limping around for a while. The Great War drained too much of my vital energy."
"Still, it's a relief my cultivation remains intact. Just depleted a lot of mana. Recovering that will take time, especially in this spiritually barren—"
He trailed off, realizing the spiritual energy in the surrounding environment wasn't as meager as he'd initially thought.
While not as dense as a Spirit Vein Land, it was quite decent, even comparable to the spiritual energy in the Liu Clan's courtyard back when he was there.
"Where exactly are we?" Li Qing murmured to himself, glancing again at the still-unconscious Shen Ningbing.
Ultimately, Li Qing decided to wake Shen Ningbing first and ask her where the Void-Piercing Talisman was supposed to lead.
He also considered that since the spiritual energy in this place was so abundant, the cultivation civilization here must be quite advanced.
Yet this area seemed sparsely populated, with few traces of cultivators.
The scarcity of cultivators despite the dense spiritual energy suggested potential dangers nearby, such as Demon beasts.
"Junior sister, wake up! Junior sister, wake up!"
Li Qing gently shook Shen Ningbing's delicate frame while stimulating her forehead with spiritual energy, trying to rouse her quickly.
In this unknown place, having another foundation establishment realm cultivator would significantly enhance their safety.
However, Shen Ningbing wasn't a body cultivator like Li Qing, with his thick skin and resilience. Unlike him, she had succumbed to unconsciousness after enduring multiple impacts.
If Li Qing hadn't shielded Shen Ningbing with his own fleshly body during their time hiding inside the Black Furnace, her body would have suffered severe, potentially fatal injuries from the repeated impacts.
After calling out to her for a long time, Li Qing still couldn't wake Shen Ningbing.
"There's no choice but to wait it out here," he muttered. "But the commotion from our fall was too loud. To avoid attracting unwanted attention, we should move away first."
With that, Li Qing wrapped one arm around Shen Ningbing's slender waist and hopped out of the Black Furnace on one foot.
After retrieving the furnace, he patted his spirit beast pouch.
In the next instant, a massive, striped tiger materialized in the forest.
Fan Tong, newly released, gazed at the lush, primeval scenery around them and immediately opened his tiger's mouth, unable to resist letting out a roar.
But Li Qing quickly clamped his hand over Fan Tong's open jaws, sighing helplessly. "Shut up. I didn't summon you to show off your tiger's might."
"Shrink your size, suppress your aura, and carry me away from here."
Heeding Li Qing's warning, Fan Tong shook his head and let out a soft growl.
Since becoming a Second-Tier Demonic Beast, Fan Tong had mastered the ability to freely control its size.
At its smallest, it could shrink to the size of a kitten. However, this form felt too restrictive and was impractical for combat. Its true form remained the most comfortable and effective.
But Li Qing had given the order, so Fan Tong had no choice but to obey. It began to shrink its massive tiger body to a more manageable size.
Once Fan Tong was only slightly larger than a normal water buffalo, Li Qing helped the unconscious Shen Ningbing onto its back. They quickly departed from the area, riding atop the beast.
The Giant Tree Forest at night was pitch-black. The dense canopy completely blocked out the starlight and moonlight, leaving no trace of illumination.
In this impenetrable darkness, Fan Tong maintained a breakneck pace. Li Qing hadn't bothered to calculate how far they had traveled.
They had covered a considerable distance, yet the forest's edge remained elusive.
Just as Li Qing was about to call for a rest, his extended divine sense suddenly transmitted an image.
Ahead in the forest clearing, a temporary camp had been set up. Beside each tent, dying campfires still radiated faint warmth.
Noticing the scene, Li Qing gently patted Fan Tong's head, signaling it to stop.
Immediately afterward, Li Qing slowly extended his powerful divine sense, enveloping the entire temporary camp ahead.
"Grandpa, do you think the Water Moon Merchant Guild would be in such a dire situation if Brother Gu Feng hadn't joined the Ghost Sword Sect?" a young girl's soft voice drifted from beside the campfire.
An aged sigh soon answered her:
"Alas, without Gu Feng's status as an outer disciple of the Ghost Sword Sect, the Water Moon Merchant Guild would likely have been wiped out long ago."
"But... but the Ghost Sword Sect commits countless atrocities and uses such cruel methods. Can Brother Gu Feng really endure staying there?" the girl's voice persisted.
The old man sternly warned, "Shh! You mustn't speak such things carelessly. If the Ghost Sword Sect hears you, the consequences would be unimaginable!"
"Enough. Focus on your night watch and stop discussing these matters."
"..."
Quietly eavesdropping, Li Qing silently processed the names "Ghost Sword Sect" and "Water Moon Merchant Guild" in his mind.
He quickly concluded that this place was likely no longer within the Azure Ridge Domain.
(End of the Chapter)
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