Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 351

Chapter 351: The Treasure Pavilion

ver since that fight, Rui Bing’s popularity reached throughout the entire village. The villagers gossiped intensely, about news of a godlike girl came and defeated the brightest star of the village, without even letting him to wield his sword! “She is also very fair! Like the angel they said!”

“Really?” It all happened within a day.

Ye Chong, likewise to his fellow teammates, was fully unaware of the attention they had attracted in the village. They were staying at Wang family mansion for the moment. Old Jalopy would love to be the tour guide but the last time he came here was 30 years ago, literally a window period of 3 decades, in which things could have changed drastically into something unrecognizable by him. And that was true, Old Jalopy was finding the place as foreign as the others, so they grew cautious.

That night.

“Yi Yu, how do you view our fellow strange guests?” The mistress looked at her trustworthy assistant, with fine fingers over her chin in grim. That frail mesmerized look of hers during the meal was nowhere to be seen.

Yi Yu was the middle-aged woman who served the guests at noon today. She pondered and she spoke, “They are indeed strange. But how… I can’t really describe their strangeness.”

The mistress nodded in approval. Part of her gorgeous face was engulfed by the darkness of the room, as gravely her brows furrowed in the dimness, “Keep an eye on them for the moment. It’ll be a chore to settle that girl. Probably even Uncle Yun would have to spend a few turns with her in a fight. But we aren’t letting an elite go like this.”

“Understood, mistress,” nodded Yi Yu.

The second early morning, Ye Chong was informed by the mistress, claiming that she was occupied by administrative works at the moment and they had been given permission to tour the village as they wished.

That would be great. The entire group was very much intrigued by the happening village, including both Ye Chong and Rui bing – the pair usually indifferent to the world – who were highly interested on the ancient establishment. Ye Chong however, also sensed a danger in this village. That was reasonable as he was in an utterly foreign environment filled with people bearing a total different mindset than any other galaxy he had visited before.

Nonetheless it felt bitter in his heart when he thought of how he was getting farther and farther away from Mu Shang the more he tried to reach them. He thought by now he was exactly a few galaxies away from them, but in reality Mu Shang had already arrived by He Yue galaxy.

The village was huge, only when you were traveling by foot. The village would become a small garden to stroll once you boarded a mech. Ye Chong was calculating how many mechs it would take to raid the entire village. The strength demonstrated by the troops of Wang was already triggering red light in his mind. Wang Zishi was technically a pretty decent fighter, he lost merely because the lack of experience. And there were a population of 8 hundred thousands in the village. Imagine the number of fighters as competent as Wang Zishi in that.

Ye Chong would never buy the statement that Wang Zishi was the best fighter in the village.

There must be tons of better fighters.

And if any conflict were to happen, Ye Chong and Rui Bing might be safe but the others would be toasted. That would be an undesired situation since they would have insufficient members to operate the entire spaceship. Cornerstone would be a real stone in the corner instead of a significant foundation to his journey. It would be a major challenge to ensure safety of everybody but it did not seem like he had other main mission to attempt on his list to proceed with his game.

The space zone was as natural as it was introduced. The village was primeval as one could imagine, not even the slightest bit of technological interference could be seen here. Every building was made out of clays and woods. It felt like a magical theme park with ridings of peculiar-looking animals.

There was this riding animal called Umen. Its limbs were strong, befitting to its gigantic size. Its paws were thick but it was docile in nature while being a steady ride lasting in journeys. There was also an animal in the pen called Hurryclaw, its action was dexterous and speedy, perfect for short, quick travel, while its front paws were armed with metallic shoes which provided it some offensive aspects.

The street was wide, flooded with crowd. Almost everyone in the strange costume of theirs was riding Umen and Hurryclaw around. There were rows of shops at both sides of the road, with strange items and fascinating scenery.

“So this is the market,” said Wang Meng, “As mentioned this is the largest trading space within proximity of 300 kilometers. Merchants all around the area would run their business here, so choices are fine I guess, even though still incompetent to Village of Hundred Tribes. Do not worry, you could pick whatever you want. The mistress had just handed me a large amount of money. Keep your wallet and keep shopping.” The last sentence ran dramatically.

It certainly feels great to shop all you want, especially when someone is going to pay the bill for you.

Fei Si’s eyes twitched, even Rui Bing’s expression melted a little as she did intend to have few new garbs in her wardrobe. Unlike men like Ye Chong, she could not stand wearing the same garb for months.

And that was when the men learned the painful experience of going shopping with women, as the underlings of Wang Meng carrying mountains and mountains of things. Wang Meng showed his sympathy through the constant glances, pronouncing that he would never ever go shopping with women again. He could not accept the fact that Rui Bing was not monstrous only in her skills but also when she got her shopping list. Ye Chong remained expressionless however, seemed to be unaware of the weight in his hands. His stamina and patience were something impressive.

And that was when he suddenly held his steps and headed into one shop.

It was rather surprising as everybody else except Ye Chong had made their purchase of the day throughout the travel, even that scarred man bought a new dagger for himself. It was as if nothing in the market could capture Ye Chong’s interests, till he stopped by that one shop.

What is there?

Wang Meng lifted his head and saw the name, “The Treasure Pavilion”.

Oh he sure has some good taste.

He gave a bitter smile and followed the folks.

The Treasure Pavilion was somehow… one-of-a-kind, very much different than the other shops the folks had visited before. The pavilion was not the one with the fanciest furnishings but it just felt different. The items offered in the shop were measly, only few tens of them, pathetically measly compared to other shops, except they were given exceptional care as being kept inside a single wooden cabinet each.

There were no other customers than Ye Chong and the folks. The owner of the shop was a middle-aged man who stood expressionlessly at the counter. The norm of friendly business courtesy seemed to be non-existent on that unsmiling face of his.

Ye Chong gave a glance around and he found what he wanted.

“How much is this?” Pointed Ye Chong at one brownish nut which had the appearance of an ostrich egg, with wavy stripes over it while exuding a particular kind of aroma.

Nobody knew what kind of nut it was.

“Not for sale.” The owner looked at Ye Chong and flatly he stated, “We only do exchanges. Get something of a similar value and we’ll talk.”

Only exchanges? That’s new…

That was new indeed. Wang Meng had once heard of this fairly odd shop with odd rules and an odd-tempered owner yet having an array of oddly good stuffs. The owner’s odd temper and regulations had offended quite a number of customers when the shop first opened. Moreover the number of goodies inside the shop was envy-inducing that a handful of people coveted but all of them somehow vanished by the time things were supposed to happen.

The owner might be odd-tempered, but he seemed to be highly respected by the mistress so not many villagers would want to cause havoc in his shop.

“Exchange?” Ye Chong frowned with his head tilted.

“Yeah, yeah, only exchanges, we don’t want your money,” the owner emphasized.

“Well, guess I can’t help you with that,” shrugged Wang Meng.

“What do you want in exchange for that?” asked Ye Chong.

The owner got up and gave a close look at Ye Chong whose expression seemed convincingly determined, “Regardless of what the thing is, the deal is on as long as it’s something I’ve never seen before.”

Something he had never seen before?

Ye Chong pondered, as he took out some red strands from his bag. The red strands about breadth of a thumb were glossing in brilliant scarlet. Those were the loot from Ye Chong’s adventure in the Red Sea back then, the remnants after the living strands disappeared, the very essence of their entity. The strands were highly durable, uncuttable using normal knife, only Ye Chong’s modified dagger so far could leave a mark on it.

“How about this?” asked Ye Chong.

The owner jumped from his seat and took the red strands, gave a few looks, astonishment then filled his quivering cheeks. “Very strange.”

And he gave a pull, a violent pull, a more violent pull. Thump~ the red strand was stretched, yet it never broke no matter how violently the owner pulled.

“This is good stuff! Very resilient being! And it’s so elastic! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!” The owner was very fascinated as he kept stretching the strand playfully. Wang Meng was astounded though… as he realized the owner was truly not an ordinary folk, judging by how the strand was pulled, the owner was clearly very powerful of his strength. No wonder the mistress once warned them to not mess with his shop.

“Deal?” asked Ye Chong.

“Deal! I’m a fool if I don’t accept this deal!” He rose his brows, the owner quickly replied and happily gave Ye Chong the brown nut with both hands.

“Okay.” Ye Chong took the brown nut and left the shop right away.

“Hold it right there,,” shouted the owner.

“Yes?” Ye Chong seemed bewildered.

“What do you call this?” he asked Ye Chong curiously.

“I dunno. You could give it a name yourself,” Ye Chong said and walked out of the Treasure Pavilion right after.

Chapter 352: Brown Mistletoe Nut

fter leaving the Pavilion of Treasures, Ye Chong went on a full shopping spree, which was very unlike himself. Everyone’s hands were full of things he bought. In just a relatively short time, Ye Chong had bought more than Rui Bing and Fei Si combined. However, Wang Meng could see that he was buying tools for alchemy.

Was he an alchemist? Wang Meng looked at Ye Chong’s slender physique, and believed that it must be so.

“Do you have any alchemy apparatus here?” Ye Chong turned to Wang Meng and asked. “As I thought,” Wang Meng thought to himself. The guy was really an alchemist. That seemed to explain why he was the leader of this group.

He considered the examined information for a moment, but replied the man quickly, “Yes, I’ll bring you to them when we get back.”

Alchemists might not be as popular as combat experts or mentalists here, but it was still a respected occupation. Almost all medicine were produced by them. A group with an alchemist would have better odds surviving.

In the free space zone, alchemists were much scarcer than combat experts and mentalists. Knowledge succession in alchemy was also more stringently conducted compared to combat experts and mentalists. An established alchemist would never take more than five students in their life. Only the longstanding aristocratic families of alchemy would have special education programs, which led to a larger number of alchemists. This was why all powerful tribes would try to recruit capable alchemists.

“What are you trying to synthesize?” Fei Si was curious. This was the first time she had spoken after so many days. Unlike Ye Chong, she was a professional alchemist with years of experience. She had wanted to stay in the starship to continue her research on the H virus. After all, the chips that Ye Chong brought from the underground base had enough content to keep her occupied for a long while. However, under Old Jalopy’s insistence, she had followed the group to the shore. She took a glance at the item that Ye Chong had bought. While she was not familiar with the Guan Family’s alchemy, the basic principles of alchemy remained the same.

Fei Si realized then, “Are you going to do thermal contraction?” The principle of thermal contraction was relatively obscure in modern alchemy. If she was not as knowledgeable as she was in all matters of alchemy, she would not have been able to come to this conclusion. The field of alchemy in He Yue galaxy was in many ways more similar to that of the Five Galaxies.

Ye Chong nodded, “Yes.”

Their conversation made Wang Meng’s heart leap in surprise. Who were these people? How could they have two alchemists with them? He could not tell how good these two alchemists were, but it was still rare to find two alchemists in the same group, much less from different schools.

Wang Meng led the group, turning left and right, before finally reaching a straw hut. The hut looked simple, but it had a refreshing scent. Ye Chong was surprised when he recognized it as the smell of whitegrass, as recorded in Lunatic Guan’s chip. The smell of whitegrass had a refreshing effect. Alchemists preferred to have some in their laboratories. However, he scoured through his memories and found that whether it was the laboratories in the Five Galaxies or the He Yue galaxy, he had never seen this whitegrass that Lunatic Guan had described as commonly found.

Now, he had finally found them here.

Wang Meng knocked on the wooden door of the hut for a few times.

The wooden door creaked open, revealing a very ordinary face of a man.

Wang Mang bowed to the man. “Master Yan, I’m so sorry to disturb you. These friends are guests who just arrived yesterday. This friend here hopes to borrow some alchemy apparatus, so I had brought them here. I hope you won’t mind, Master Yan.”

This Master Yan studied Ye Chong, and Ye Chong did the same to him. The man looked simply ordinary. A face like that would be hard to notice in the crowd. However, Ye Chong was not fooled by the facade. He could see that his face was also treated, just like his own. This face he saw was only a disguise. However, it was a much more cunning one compared to his own crude treatment.

The other party seemed to realize that Ye Chong’s face was also treated. He smiled and said, “Oh, I didn’t expect to meet someone with similar interests. Please come in.” It was impossible to tell his age, and his body looked weak, wrapped in plain clothing. However, an indescribable aura emanated from him. His words also had double meaning, referring both to their profession as alchemists and Ye Chong’s intention of staying hidden.

“Thank you!” Ye Chong nodded in reply and stepped inside, leading the group. Ye Chong knew from his days studying under Lunatic Guan of the many taboos and unwritten rules for alchemists. However, before they entered the free space zone, the relationship between alchemists was nothing like what Lunatic Guan had said, as they were all quite easy to get along with.

Here, however, Ye Chong noticed that those weird things about alchemists that Lunatic Guan had spoken about were actually quite fitting.

Was Lunatic Guan actually from this place? Ye Chong was struck with this thought.

However, he quickly dismissed it. Now was not the time to think about these things.

The straw hut was larger than it seemed from outside, housing all kinds of equipment and apparatus. The brightly colored chemicals in the test tubes had a unique smell, hinting at their strange powers. The field of alchemy seemed shrouded in mystery.

Fei Si stared with a gaping mouth. This was the first time she had seen such primitive alchemy apparatus. There were no photon processors, no fine control devices, no vacuum seal incubators; there was only the simplest of glassware. The ingredients here were also unlike any she was familiar with. There were no purified chemicals, only plants and minerals.

“This is impossible!” She thought to herself, speechless. She knew the history of alchemy like the back of her hand. Alchemy was long separated from alchemy, and had become a field in its own right. But this? This was alchemy in its earliest stages, still fused with botany!

“Feel free to peruse the apparatus here. As for the ingredients,” Master Yan glanced at the things that they had bought earlier and continued, laughing, “I believe you’ve brought them yourselves.”

The apparatus here were too outdated. Fei Si thought that Ye Chong would definitely reject him, since she cannot imagine doing any real alchemy here.

It was a surprised to her when Ye Chong said, “Thank you!”

He must be crazy! Fei Si stared at Ye Chong in astonishment.

Ye Chong took out the brown nut from his bag. Master Yan was excited to see it. “The brown mistletoe nut, a wonderful thing. Haha, this must be from the Pavilion of Treasures. I’ve had my eyes on it for a long time, but I never had anything the owner’s interested in to exchange for it. He’d rather keep it for himself forever, but I see that you have it now.” He sighed a little, envious of Ye Chong.

Wang Meng interrupted, “Master Yan, what’s this brown mistletoe nut used for?” This question was shared by everyone else in the hut. They all knew that the nut was something good, but not what it was good for.

“The brown mistletoe nut is an extremely rare kind of ingredient to produce medicine. One as large as this is even harder to find. It is used to produce top class medication for wounds,” Master Yan explained succinctly.

Top grade medication for wounds was highly valuable in the free space zone, where fights often occurred. Here, one could not find the technologically advanced medical treatments available in the Five Galaxies or He Yue galaxy. Having first grade medication would often mean saving one’s life. This was something that every combat expert wished to have with them.

Master Yan noticed that Ye Chong had not began working yet, and was reminded of his own insensitivity. There was an unspoken rule between alchemists, dictating that no alchemist should observe another alchemist working without explicit permission. After all, every school of alchemists had different specializations, and many secret formulae were considered highly valuable.

Master Yan smiled self-consciously and said, “Let’s all wait outside then, so that we do not disturb him.” With Ye Chong’s signal of approval, Rui Bing brought everyone else outside. Fei Si was actually very interested in seeing how Ye Chong could do alchemy with the primitive apparatus available, but she never did speak up about it as she quietly followed the rest of the group out of the straw hut.

The brown mistletoe nut was indeed a good ingredient to make medicine for healing wounds, but this was not its only use. Another potential of the nut was to make a strong knockout agent. Once, Ye Chong was on the receiving end of this weapon, as Lunatic Guan had used it to make Ye Chong unconscious in a matter of seconds. The short time for its effects to kick in made it an extremely powerful weapon, and an alchemist’s tool of defense. However, Ye Chong was thinking of something else. If the amount of knockout agent was enough, it could make anyone within a large effective radius unconscious.

The brown mistletoe nut had a unique scent. Ye Chong had a sharp sense of smell. That was why he could smell it from the streets, and entered the Pavilion of Treasures to obtain the brown mistletoe nut. However, he never expected it to be so hue.

Ye Chong stared at the brown mistletoe nut, thinking through everything he knew about the ingredients and steps to synthesize this knockout agent.

Chapter 353: Storm I

e Chong mixed in all kinds of chemicals into the alchemy test tube. The chemicals in the test tube changed colors from brown to purple, from purple to red, red to yellow, then to green, and finally to a very faint blue. When Ye Chong added the final ingredient into the test tube, the liquid inside became clear as water.

He heated the chemical slowly, evaporating the liquid until a small amount of powder was left in the test tube. Ye Chong carefully collected the powder, chewing a cloverfall leave that he bought specially for the work he did. However, work was not finished yet. Ye Chong went to another alchemy test tube. This one was filled with a black, sticky fluid that was bubbling.

When the black, sticky fluid was no longer bubbling, Ye Chong carefully poured out the black liquid inside. Once it was out, the black liquid looked like a rubbery solid.

Ye Chong was highly focused by now. His slender fingers moved deftly, applying just enough force for everything he did.

Soon, he produced nine similarly sized black spheres. These were the strong knockout agents that Lunatic Guan had used. They had a pretty name – Night Enchantment.

Ye Chong did not use all of the brown mistletoe nut to make Night Enchantment. He used a small amount of it to make medicine for injuries. While Rock had medical facilities, he knew from his experience on the trash planet of the importance of having first aid medication nearby. After all, it was often that immediate assistance was needed in the face of danger.

When Ye Chong walked out of the straw hut, it was already getting dark. Everyone was waiting for him outside.

Everyone was relieved to see him out. Ye Chong had worked from morning till evening, and they had waited for almost a day outside. Wang Meng had arranged for someone to bring them lunch, while Fei Si and Master Yan discussed alchemy. Fei Si did not understand the taboos between alchemists in this area, while Master Yan was interested in Fei Si’s very different principles of alchemy. They had an enjoyable conversation together.

“Looks like the young man’s succeeded! Congratulations!” Master Yan’s voice was always so soothing.

“Thank you very much!” Ye Chong bowed in gratitude. The man had lent his apparatus for him, a very generous gesture. Ye Chong produced a medicinal pill and offered it to Master Yan, “Please take it.” Wang Meng watched with jealousy. After all, this was high quality medicine, a highly coveted item for many.

Master Yan did not expect Ye Chong to actually gift him with a medicinal pill. He quickly declined, “Now, this is too precious for me to accept!”

Ye Chong could not help but frowned. He did not retract his hands, still holding them out in front of Master Yan. Master Yan noticed Ye Chong’s expression and smiled gently. He did not insist further and accepted the gift. “Then I’ll help myself to it. Haha, thank you for your wonderful gift, young man.”

When they were back, it was time for dinner. The banquet was prepared by Chief Wang herself. Master Yan attended the banquet as well. It was apparent that Master Yan enjoyed a high reputation in the Wang Family. Ye Chong had went without food for almost a whole day and was dreadfully hungry, so he did not speak much, but wolfed down his food without care. Both Chief Wang and Master Yan smiled when they saw how Ye Chong was eating.

From then on, Ye Chong and his group were treated even better. Chief Wang had found out that Ye Chong’s group had two alchemists. She had even asked Master Yan about it. Master Yan confirmed their abilities, which further assured Chief Wang.

Thus, Ye Chong and his group settled down at Chief Wang’s place. They had not decided what to do next, so staying there in the meantime was not a bad idea. Besides, they were very close to Rock from here. If anything happened, they could quickly return to their ship.

Ye Chong found himself enjoying a relatively easy life here. He visited Master Yan every day. Master Yan had the qualities of a teacher, and was, like Ye Chong, serious and focused about his work. Master Yan was incredibly knowledgeable in alchemy, much more than Ye Chong anticipated. Both of them frequently discussed topics in alchemy. Whenever this happened, Fei Si would listen quietly from the side, since the branch of alchemy they were discussing was completely different from what she was taught and practiced. However, she was still keen to learn, a necessary quality for professional alchemists.

Master Yan admired Fei Si’s attitude, and would often teach her new things. Fei Si benefited from their exchange, and she gradually come to understand more about the discussion between those two men. After all, she was also well learned in alchemy, and could pick up different principles easily.

Master Yan was surprised at Ye Chong’s knowledge. The young man had good memory, and a vast amount of knowledge on his fingertips. The only thing he regretted from a professional alchemist’s perspective was Ye Chong’s lack of application skills. He felt that Ye Chong did not seem to use alchemy to solve problems often. This was perplexing to him. Why would an alchemist not use alchemy to solve problems?

Unlike Ye Chong, Rui Bing continued training hard every day. While simple physical training was no longer enough to make her improve, she did not relax on her training. Her harsh training was enough to make beginners in combat ashamed of themselves. They would never have imagined that a Jie expert like her would still go through the most basic training routines. Outside of her usual training, Rui Bing would practice meditation, since Ye Chong had given her everything he had on mentalists.

Of all the newcomers, the young boy blended in best with the locals. He spent his time with the local girls everyday. All the women thought him cute, and the young boy’s affected adorable looks were indeed quite impressive. Even Chief Wang found herself fond of the young boy.

Wang Zishi walked to Rui Bing’s room. He lost his usual energetic ways, looking haggard and unlike himself. His defeat last time had struck him hard.

He stood there like a puppet for more than half an hour, his expression unreadable. Gradually, his face hardened into his usual determination.

“Wang Zishi humbly asked for my Lady to accept me as your disciple!” His resounding voice now sounded hoarse and low, but still clear as day.

Inside the room, Rui Bing sat with her eyes closed, as though she did not hear a thing.

Seeing no reaction from her part, Wang Zishi did not give up, but raised his voice slightly, “Wang Zishi humbly asked for my Lady to accept me as your disciple!”

No one could have imagined the outrage that this request would bring to the Wang Family. Wang Zishi too could not have known the consequences of his words.

The room was still silent.

Wang Zishi went down heavily to his knees, and put his head to the door. His expression was hard and resolute as he spoke again with his hoarse voice, “My Lady, please accept me as your disciple!”

Everyone panicked. The nearest Wang Family villager quickly reported this to the Chief.

Wang Zishi had always been the pride of the entire Wang Family Village. He was the idol of many young people. To think that a man like him would ask to be a disciple of an outsider! Tutelage in combat may not be as strict as for alchemists, but for a family with its own combat history, learning under a different school was extreme taboo.

The news spread like wildfire to other members of the Wang Family Village.

All the villagers stopped what they were doing and ran towards Wang Zishi. They came in numbers, as if the place was a huge magnet, drawing the crowd in.

The people around there were silent, however. They all felt a heavy pressure on their hearts. All of them knew that something big was about to happen. They all knew that Wang Zishi was having doubts about the Wang Family’s combat style. Every member of the Wang Family could feel the sharp pain of betrayal. However, they did not say a word, for this was their pride, their model, the best combat expert of the younger generation in Wang Family Village – Wang Zishi. A strong sense of humiliation permeated through them. The air was filled with tension, thick enough to cut through.

Wang Zishi was not afraid, kneeling as he was. He had thought through his decision, having had a deep struggle with himself. He knew that he would be cast aside by the Wang Family. Still he decided to do this. For him, the pursuit of mastery in combat was an ideal that he would do anything for.

Ye Chong did not know that a scandal was about to begin. At the moment, he was still discussing alchemy with Master Yan.

“You b*stard!” A middle-aged couple rushed towards Wang Zishi. The man saw Wang Zishi kneeling there, and his heart ached! This was once his most beloved student, the one he had high hopes for, but now he was kneeling before someone else’s door to ask for tuition. His heart was wrecked, and his expression turned furious.

The surrounding crowd gave way to the couple. The middle-aged man was Wang Zishi’s teacher, Wang Lu. Wang Lu was not famous in public, but he had a good reputation in the village. He was strong, but rarely showed it. His wife was also an expert of the village.

Wang Lu had a square face, with a seriousness that came naturally. His expression was even scarier now. His wife stood beside him, looking at Wang Zishi kneeling on the floor, her tears flowing down her cheeks. She knew how much effort his husband had spent on this student. They had no children, and Wang Zishi was just like their child.

“Tell me, why are you doing this?” Wang Lu did not sound angry, his voice was unusually calm. However, Mrs Wang knew that he was actually extremely furious inside.

Chapter 354: Storm II

ang bang bang! Wang Zishi knocked his forehead hard on the floor for nine times. Every knock was like a hammer on Wang Lu’s heart, and Wang Lu’s face twitched with every knock.

“Your disciple is disloyal. Your disciple has thought long and hard after the defeat that day. After 10 days of consideration, your disciple realized that, while not an expert myself, the Wang Family’s combat style has many innate flaws. Your disciple has come to this decision after much consideration,” Wang Zishi spoke every word clearly, but the pain in his eyes were apparent, betraying how much he had suffered to come to his decision, and the determination that he had within him.

Wang Lu’s heart ached at the sight of his beloved disciple’s haggard look, but was immediately angered when he heard him said that the Wang Family’s combat style was flawed.

Everyone around them was silent. All the villagers looked to Wang Zishi with anger, but none of them said a word.

“Well, well, well,” Wang Lu spoke staring straight at Wang Zishi. His voice was so low and strained to the limit, so near the breaking point. “Who’d have thought that the Wang Family combat style would be looked down upon by one of our own.”

With that, his eyes left Wang Zishi and went for Rui Bing, still sitting straight in her room.

He breathed in deeply and raised his voice, “Wang Family’s Wang Lu would like a match with my Lady, please do me the honor!”

Rui Bing opened her eyes, but she sighed inside.

From the moment Wang Zishi kneeled, she knew that this fight was inevitable. No combat school could accept his behavior, much less letting it happen in their own backyard. Ye Chong might not understand these subtleties, but as someone who was well versed with all the rules in the world of combat since she was young, Rui Bing knew the consequences of Wang Zishi’s actions.

She had no way of backing out. They would not let her. Even if she admitted openly that the Wang Family’s style was better, it was too late now.

Every school had their own reputation and pride that should never be stepped on.

Knowing that words would do no good now, Rui Bing stood up and came out. She said plainly, “Please go easy on me, Mr Wang.”

At that moment, Ye Chong was still discussing alchemy with Master Yan. While they frequently discussed things, they never tried to pry into each other’s lives. Since they had both disguised themselves, it was clear that neither wished to share their own histories.

At first, Master Yan did not mind the problem of Ye Chong’s background. Unless it was some very obscure school, he could usually quickly tell which school an alchemist belonged to. However, to his surprise, he could not say the same for Ye Chong. As they discussed more and more subjects, he found himself unable to come to a conclusion.

“The cottonia grass, for example, is a good neutral reagent, but its dosage is a bit troublesome, requiring a supplanting technique. You can use the tristellar rock in powder form instead, using an alternating hot and cold treatment process, but the result is more inferior. There are 31 kinds of neutral reagents that are so sensitive to temperature, and I’ve never seen many of them,” Ye Chong said this with regret.

Master Yan was surprised, shocked even. Use of the cottonia grass was a secret amongst the Qian system, and he himself had known about it due to some connections with members of the Qian system. This man here was aware of even the supplanting technique! Could he be a member of Qian system?

What Ye Chong said after that surprised him even more.

Using tristellar rock powder in place of cottonia grass was an idea that came from one of the ancestors of Master Yan’s own school of alchemy.

Who was this man? Master Yan’s face was unreadable. His facial disguise was the only reason he did showed a wild range of expressions right then. That he was able to sit calmly as someone else spoke of a secret technique of his own school, which also spoke volumes of his mental fortitude. Moreover, he was chilled by the thought of there being 31 kinds of reagents – he himself could only think of 17 kinds, where the other 14 kinds were unknown to him.

Ye Chong was quickly becoming an enigma to Master Yan.

---

Wang Lu was a respectable person in the Wang Family Village, not because of his expertise in combat, but his honorable and down to earth nature. Many of the people present had never seen Wang Lu fight before. It was only now that the Wang Family villagers realize that this inconspicuous and honest elder was actually a master of combat.

The Wang Family’s combat style specialized in sword techniques, and Wang Lu was able to demonstrate the full power of this technique. Wang Lu struck again and again with his sword in a seemingly leisurely pace, but the long sword was like a cocoon, trapping Rui Bing’s movements.

Rui Bing wore a calm expression, stepping lightly and quickly as she returned an occasional blow, always enough to interfere with Wang Lu’s attack. She seemed to be in a tight spot, but the reality was the exact opposite. There were not many people in this world who could fight on the same level as Ye Chong in close combat. Rui Bing and Ye Chong sparred frequently, never going easy on each other. Hence, Rui Bing did not panic while facing her current opponent.

She observed coldly, and slowly began to understand the Wang Family’s sword technique.

Ye Chong and Master Yan were still deep in discussion. Master Yan’s knowledge in alchemy was a lot deeper than Ye Chong’s, and he was much more experienced as well. Ye Chong often learned something new when Master Yan recounted some of his past experiences. As for Fei Si, she could only listen to them, barely keeping up.

---

Wang Family’s sword techniques were slowly revealed to Rui Bing. Wang Lu’s expression turned grim, and the people around began to look worried. Everyone could tell that the longer the fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for Wang Lu.

A woman in white danced easily between the raining sword attacks.

Wang Lu understood where this was going. He was about to speed up his attack when Rui Bing made her move. Rui Bing darted forward, grazing past Wang Lu’s longsword by mere millimeters and went for his body.

Wang Lu was caught off guard. He flicked his wrist, and the sword hilt was driven towards Rui Bing. Rui Bing blocked it off with one hand, her eyes shining brightly, and swept her leg up silently into a kick.

Rui Bing’s sudden approach surprised Wang Lu, but he kept his calm. He let go of the sword in his right hand and tried to fight Rui Bing with his bare hands. He lifted his left leg up, blocking the kick from Rui Bing. Wham! A wave of energy came from the attack, driving Wang Lu backwards as he stumbled a few steps behind. Wang Lu was surprised by her strength. No one could imagine so much raw energy in a woman like her!

Rui Bing’s eyes flashed, her bent left leg straightened as she swept towards Wang Lu like a white swan, staying close to the ground. That suffocating beauty harboured a cold killing intent. Rui Bing’s long hair trailed behind her, her eyes glaring sharp as a knife. She drew her right elbow back, her palm fisted, ready to deliver the killer blow.

This was the moment of truth!

Wang Lu looked deadly pale, watching Rui Bing coming closer and closer to him. He knew that he had lost.

Perhaps she would kill him! Everything around him slowed down, his senses turning sharp than ever close to his death. Being the challenger himself, there was no reason for her to leave him alive. Besides, he had attacked with his sword earlier with the intent to kill, and she would definitely have noticed it!

Wang Lu was right. Rui Bing did feel his killing intent. In challenges similar to this, Rui Bing would not usually fight to kill. However, Wang Lu’s strong killing intent had finally angered her. She could clearly sense his wish to kill her. As a true combat expert, she too had her own pride! Besides, she was no longer the naive young woman she once was.

She decided to teach Wang Lu a lesson.

Just then, a strong sense of danger striked her.

Rui Bing quickly angled her body as a flash of light drew across her sleeve. Rip! A long gash was left on the sleeve of her snow white training garb.

Mrs Wang held her sword, standing before Wang Lu. It was she who ambushed her. She was feeling very conflicted inside, since ambushing like this was a huge taboo. However, she also noticed Rui Bing’s intent to kill. She could not just stand by and watch her husband killed.

The Wang Family villagers who were watching all showed embarrassed expressions, but one of them said a word. Even Wang Zishi looked conflicted. He knew that his master, Wang Lu and his wife had gone against the rules of the world of combat, but he also found himself unable to speak out. After all, he could not just stand by and watch his master die too. After all these years of benefiting from their generosity, they were like parents to him.

A few spectators laughed, barely suppressing themselves. This was like a slap to the face of every Wang Family member. The people were reminded then that it was not only the Wang Family villagers that were watching, but many other outsiders. However, these outsiders were also smart enough to come out and offer a few words of wisdom. That would have been equivalent to suicide.

The Wang husband and wife stood side by side with their swords in their hands, their expressions unreadable.

Rui Bing’s face was expressionless. Her sharp glare made Wang Lu and his wife felt guilty. Rui Bing knew that was nothing she could say now to change the situation. With her left hand, she tore away the broken sleeve on her right hand, revealing the white smooth skin beneath.

Now this was just plain offensive. She never imagined that anyone would forcefully break an unbreakable rule of the world of combat. As a conservative, she was deeply offended.

She decided to fight with all she got.

---

Ye Chong stood up and bid farewell to Master Yan. He had learned much from their discussion today, just like the days before this. Master Yan, however, was feeling a little dazed. Ye Chong found it curious, but knew better than to comment on it. He never would have guessed that he was the source of Master Yan’s predicament.

Ye Chong headed off, along with Fei Si.

Chapter 355: Storm III

s they walked along the street, they found it completely empty. Many of the shops were not even closed properly, the goods still on display outside.

Ye Chong was surprised. Such an unusual circumstance made him wary immediately. He quickly dragged Fei Si along as he ran forward. Fei Si gasped in surprise, and was greeted by a strong headwind before she could react.

As expected, something had happened! Ye Chong looked at the huge crowd in front, his heart missing a beat. Without a saying word, he half carried Fei Si through the crowd.

Everyone was focused on the fight between Rui Bing and the Wang Lu couple, and no one noticed Ye Chong’s movements. Besides, Ye Chong moved deftly with Fei Si, sliding easily between the people.

Ye Chong and Fei Si reached the inner part of the crowd without drawing any attention.

Victor Tower was the tallest building in the Wang Village. Here, one could see the entire Wang Family Village. It was also home to the Chief. By the window on the topmost level of the tower, stood a very old man and an attractive young woman.

“What do you think?” The young woman asked with a tired voice. This was the current Chief of the Wang Family Village.

“That woman in white is a Jie expert,” an ancient voice replied, sounding like an autumn’s breeze. Deep wrinkles covered the old man’s face, though it did not move much when he spoke.

Chief Wang was surprised. “A Jie expert? Impossible! She’s so young!” The chief was caught off guard. While she knew that the old man was never wrong, she still found it hard to believe. Rui Bing was too young, and she had never heard of a Jie expert of her age. Besides, she was deeply unwilling to make enemies with a Jie expert, but it seemed that she was left with no choice.

The old man flicked a quick glance at the young woman and shook his head. “Age? Age has got nothing to do with being a Jie expert.”

“Then aren’t Wang Lu and his wife in danger?” Chief Wang was worried for the couple. She did not want to village to lose two capable combat experts in one go. After all, combat experts on their level were difficult to find, much less a pair of them who could work well together.

After a long pause, the old man said, “The woman is the one in danger. She has no weapons, and it’s a terrible disadvantage.” He was reluctant to admit the unfair advantage offered by the swords.

The old man was right. Rui Bing was now in a dangerous situation. She never anticipated that Wang Lu and wife could be so powerful once they worked together. Besides, she had no weapon of her own to defend herself. Wang Lu and his wife had recognized this opportunity, and chose not to attack Rui Bing directly, but sought to trap her into an indefensible position.

The swords glared menacingly. Rui Bing barely avoided their attacks more than a few times. Her movements became more restricted, and Rui Bing could do nothing about it. She was not at the point where she could block sword attacks with her bare hands yet. Besides, the couple had executed their sword techniques perfectly, leaving no openings.

As sweat began to form on her forehead, Rui Bing’s face remain composed.

The weapons in the building were less than five meters away from Rui Bing, but both Wang Lu and his wife had positioned themselves between them. If she could get her hands on any of the weapons, Rui Bing believed that she could create an opening herself. She only needed a chance, however small it was. Alas, the weapons were so near, yet so far away.

Her movements were restricted more and more.

Ye Chong was also aware of the dangerous situation Rui Bing was in now. However, he also knew that Rui Bing still stood a chance. The Rui Family’s unique attacking skills were similar to that of the mentalists’. However, by his assessment, the best case scenario was both sides sustaining heavy injuries.

He did a quick examination of the situation. Wang Lu and his wife were steadily pushing forward, but this steady advance gave Ye Chong time. He led Fei Si quietly around the spectating crowd and into their dwellings. Everyone was focused on the ongoing battle that no one noticed Ye Chong and Fei Si slipping past them.

However, even if they noticed, they would probably pay it no mind. After all, it was a well known assumption that the only person in this strange group who could fight was Rui Bing.

Inside the building was Old Jalopy and the young boy. They were watching the battle outside anxiously. The outcome of the battle would determine their futures as well. Only Scarface seemed unperturbed.

When they saw Ye Chong returned, everyone was overjoyed. Ye Chong quickly hushed them, and they quieted down. Ye Chong took out three Night Enchantment pills, and handed them over to Scarface. He explained with a whisper, “This is a strong knockout agent. Throw it outside with force, they will explode upon impact. The effective radius is about 15 to 25 meters, takes half a second to activate.” Ye Chong explained the Night Enchantment’s usage briefly.

Scarface accepted the three Night Enchanment pills without a word. Ye Chong took out a bunch of small, beige colored leaves, and gave one to each of them. “This is the bufferleaf, keep one in your mouth to stay awake.”

Everyone quickly put one of the beige coloured leaves into their mouths.

“Get ready to move. Rui Bing will bring you to the starship,” Ye Chong gave his orders succinctly.

In that short moment, Ye Chong had done his calculations. If it was just him and Rui Bing, they could escape unscathed without issue, with a success rate of 95 percent. The problem was bringing the rest of the group with them. If they did not escape with Ye Chong and Rui Bing, then the final result would be him and Rui Bing being unable to leave the free space zone, since they would not have enough people to man the starship.

Ye Chong decided to stay back to cover them. This was, in fact, the only workable solution, if he still wanted to leave the free space zone.

Everyone understood Ye Chong’s intention immediately, and were moved by his offer. They respected his sacrifice. Regardless of the situation, the decision to stay back alone and cover them was not an easy one to make.

After explaining the plan, the battle outside was also reaching a decisive point.

Rui Bing was forced into a tight space. If she did not fight back soon, there would be no hope left. Rui Bing’s eyes glowed brightly as she prepared to make her move!

Just then, a figure crept up behind Wang Lu.

Up on Victory Tower, the old man’s eyes widened.

Wham! Wang Lu was thrown aside like a sandbag. The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard.

Ye Chong always attacked to kill!

He did not hold back with this punch. A huge wave of power was transferred from his fist to Wang Lu’s back. It was like Wang Lu was hit by a mech head on, his body now bloody all over.

Wang Lu never expected to be ambushed. The spectators around him were mostly the Wang Family villagers. Just who would dare to ambush him in this fight? He was focused entirely on Rui Bing, having nearly being killed by her. He treaded carefully, afraid to leave an opening for Rui Bing.

Wang Lu received the full blow from Ye Chong, and died instantly. Ye Chong looked skinny and all, but the strength that belied his physique was extraordinary. Even the Sang Tribe members, strong as they were, were no match for Ye Chong. Moreover, with the September Lan Family’s unique energy amplification techniques, Ye Chong could increase the power he released by a few times over. Ye Chong had also directed his punch at a vulnerable spot on Wang Lu’s body.

Everyone was shocked, but quickly recovered.

Ye Chong’s actions were like throwing a bomb into a boiling pot of oil. After all, there were more than a few tens of thousands of people watching the battle, and most of them were members of the Wang Family.

They all cried for blood, closing in on him, eager to shred him into pieces!

Ye Chong did not panic, his eyes exuding an unusual calmness. At the same time, his hands were already flinging out the Night Enchantment pills he had prepared!

Puff! Puff! The two pills hit the ground with a soft sound, unnoticed amidst the chaos. However, a defense tool of Lunatic Guan’s choice was nothing but powerful!

Without a sound or a flash of light, the entire crowd abruptly blacked out, lying unconscious on the ground. This resulted in a huge, empty space around Ye Chong, who was holding Rui Bing in his arms. They were the only ones standing.

The spectating crowd was so dense that if a random shoe fell from the sky, it would hit more than one of them. The Night Enchantment did its work perfectly.

Rui Bing was unconscious as well, since the Night Enchantment worked on her too. However, Ye Chong was prepared for this. He brought Rui Bing closer to him, and did something that shocked everyone who was watching.

Ye Chong suddenly lowered his head, and kissed on an unconscious Rui Bing’s lips.

Was he crazy, doing something like that at this time?!

They were further surprised to see Rui Bing awaken in Ye Chong’s arms next. Both the crowd’s sudden loss of consciousness and Rui Bing’s awakening was astonishing to everyone who was watching.

The entire place fell silent for a moment.

Up until now, Ye Chong’s plan went smoothly. The ambush and the Night Enchantment pills worked perfectly. He was holding two bufferleaves in his mouth, and had given one to Rui Bing just now. That was why she had awakened.

Just when everyone was frozen in surprise, Ye Chong hooked his bag to Rui Bing’s waist, which had the starship’s signkey in it.

“Take them to the starship,” Ye Chong whispered into Rui Bing’s ear.

Ye Chong pushed his hand that was around Rui Bing’s waist outwards, and Rui Bing was flung out quickly like a white cloud towards his group.

“So far so good,” Ye Chong thought to himself and relaxed a little.

Now, all he had to do was hold on until Rui Bing and the rest bring their starship over here to rescue him. His eyes swept across the awakening Wang Family villagers with a cold glare. He stepped past their bodies on the ground towards the weapons rack, and picked a lance.

Bring it on!

Surrounded by a large, dense crowd, Ye Chong stood by himself with the lance in his hand, his eyes burning with eagerness for battle.

Chapter 356: Battle I

ui Bing felt tears welling up in her eyes as she watched Ye Chong getting further and further away from her. She held back her tears, gathered herself, and darted towards Old Jalopy and others like a swooping white bird. She knew exactly what she had to do. On her lips were a faint taste of bufferleaf and a scent unique to Ye Chong.

“Please help us,” Chief Wang pleaded. The old man shook his head grimly and said, “I will not. Wang Lu and his wife had acted dishonorably. Humph, since when has the Wang Family become too afraid to acknowledge their own flaws?” The old man’s tone of disdain made Chief Wang’s pale face flushed in embarrassment.

She spoke no more. From up here, she could see everything that was happening down there. She could not deny the old man’s words. On the other hand, she was also unwilling to criticize the actions of Wang Lu and wife, since she understood that, should things happened in according to the rules, then many ambitious members of the younger generation would choose to leave. These people were the backbone of the Wang Family’s strength. If they left, the Wang Family would lose their power in the next few decades.

She could not allow that to happen, and so she had quietly condoned the actions of Wang Lu and his wife. Ye Chong would never understand this extreme form of tribal spirit, but perhaps Rui Bing could.

Nonetheless, no one expected an alchemist, a weak fragile person like Ye Chong could be so strong!

The old man watched everything that was happening below and could not help but gasped, “What a strong killing aura!”

In fact, much blood was shed down below. Melees and close range combat were Ye Chong’s preferred ways of combat, and he excelled in them.

His lance moved unpredictably, the dark tip of the lance shining as bright as a star in outer space. The lance weaved an erratic trajectory in the air, ending the lives of people who never expected to die today. It was not dazzling or magnificent, but the flickering shine of the tip of the lance brought a chill to one’s heart.

Ye Chong understood Rui Bing’s nature. There was also no time to ask about the details of what happened earlier. He had wanted to use Han Jia, but quickly dismissed the idea.

He knew exactly what Han Jia meant to the people here. If he deployed Han Jia, Ye Chong was certain that no one could stop him, even if he could not wipe out the entire Wang Village. Of course, if he could escape this place, then so could Rui Bing. Ye Chong could even carry a few people with him as they escaped. However, since they were already labelled as outsiders since the beginning, showing the mechs would only invite an extreme and violent reaction from the locals.

Ye Chong was wary not only of the Wang Family members, but also of other strong fighters who took a neutral stance in this skirmish.

These include the shopkeeper of the Pavilion of Treasures and Master Yan. These days, Ye Chong came to realize that there were more strong characters in the free space zone than anywhere he had been. These people might not be a threat to him and Rui Bing, but they would be for the rest of his group. The threat could be fatal.

Better for him alone to be in danger than risking the entire group. He was confident of his own abilities, and there was always the option of retreating. However, if a few of the bodyguards died here, then they would never be able to leave the free space zone.

That was an outcome that Ye Chong must avoid at all costs.

This was why he had arrived at this seemingly dangerous plan that may not be perfect, or even the best option. However, in that short amount of time given to him, it was the best he could come up with.

In fact, Ye Chong’s decision was right. Up until now, those who attacked him were all Wang Family members. He stole a glance at the neutral bystanders, seeing their look of disdain towards the Wang Family Village, and knew that he had made the right choice.

This allowed him to focus entirely on the battle before him.

He did not have the leisure of contemplating if this was the most dangerous situation he was ever caught up in. The waves of enemies were suppressed quickly. Compared to the battle against the mutants in Ze Xi Academy, this was a piece of cake.

Everyone here would have been considered highly skilled in the He Yue Galaxy, and the creme of the crop in the Five Galaxies. Ye Chong was completed surrounded by weapons of all kinds, and his clothing was nearly torn to shreds.

Ye Chong moved his hands as fast as he could.

His movements were a blur. The sound of weapons clanging against each other as he blocked them did not cease since the beginning of the mass attack. Everyone was waiting for the climax of the attack to be over, but it never happened. The battle grew fiercer, and silence never came. The horrifying sound of clashing weapons was stressing for the observers.

45 seconds!

Ye Chong had held back against the attack for a solid 45 seconds! He feet never left the ground. He was like an unyielding rock against the crashing waves of the sea.

“What strong determination,” the old man at the tip of Victory Tower commented with approval.

Ye Chong was in a sorry state. His clothes were almost gone. His shirt was full of long gashes from the weapons. Shreds of cloth were scattered in the air like butterflies.

Though Ye Chong was fast, and had keen eyesight and minimalistic combat moves, injury was still unavoidable. His nearly naked upper body was covered with many lacerations, and these bloody cuts were increasing by the second. The cuts bled, but the blood was quickly diluted by the sweat on his body.

Even though Ye Chong was now in a tight corner, no one treated him lightly. On the contrary, they were surprised and deeply impressed by him.

Just how in the world could someone fend against these attacks for 45 seconds? It would require incredible reflexes and rapid moves. More importantly, he must remain absolutely calm!

The spectators also noticed with fear that, given his tight spot, Ye Chong still managed to kill 36 villagers. This many kills, in just 45 seconds!

Ye Chong could feel his stamina depleting rapidly. The overwhelming attacks did not allow him to think. He was fighting only with his instincts. He still had three Night Enchantment pills with him, but there was no time for him to even reach for them.

“Everyone stand back!” An ancient but thundering voice exploded from the back. Everyone looked up to see three figures leaping across roofs, coming towards them.

“The Ancestral Hall Guards!” Someone in the crowd cried out. The neutral observers turned grim. If a young man like Wang Zishi was the backbone and strength of the Wang Family tribe, then the Ancestral Guards were the tribe’s last and strongest line of defense. The Ancestral Guards were responsible of protecting the tribe’s ancestral hall, and were usually not involved in matters of the village.

Every tribe’s Ancestral Hall Guards were the the tribe’s most secretive power. It was rare for them to appear at all.

“Wonderful, Uncle Yun and the others are finally here,” Chief Wang clapped her hands as she declared, happy as a child.

Just then, Ye Chong felt a the attack force from around him slacking. He immediately reacted without thinking, grasping the opportunity. Like a spring unwinded, he began to attack back madly as the restrictive force around him was gone.

The lance shone in all its glory!

With the blue lines and dots all over his vision, Ye Chong could no longer tell one person from another. He could only see a simple mosaic of blue lines and blue dots.

The lance struck without hesitation, aiming at all the blue dots he could see.

The bloodshed reached its climax.

The victims howled in pain, as dozens of people fell under his attacks, blood spraying from their wounds. Blood rained for nearly 10 meters around Ye Chong.

Everyone was shocked!

Ye Chong’s head finally cleared up. He cursed his own confusion and switched to a more evasive stance. Mobile warfare [1] was a better strategy for his current situation.

“How dare you!” The three people charging towards him all looked furious, staring at him with bulging eyes. Usually, they would not get themselves involved with matters of the village, but their loyalty to the Wang Family was exceptional. Now that something so terrible was happening before them, how could they just stand by and watch?

Ye Chong ignored their raging voices as he made his next move, slipping easily between his enemies as he attacked them all like the God of Death. Wherever he passed, blood sprayed onto the ground, and painful howls were heard. The dimly shining tip of his lance belied its sharpness.

The average lance turned into a living being in Ye Chong’s deft hands. Everyone was vulnerable against it. Ye Chong had aimed at all the blue points he could see, and killed with every strike.

All the spectators paled as they watched. Ye Chong could feel some of his stamina returning. His sudden change in strategy had caught everyone off guard.

They paid the ultimate price for this.

Just then, Ye Chong heard an almost imperceivable breeze from behind him.

Chapter 357: Battle II

n expert!?

That was the first word flashed in Ye Chong’s mind. He dodged the attack and made a giant swing. The lance knocked the back aggressively.

Crash.

The part of lance shattered as the specks scratched Ye Chong’s body. Ye Chong could feel the ending of his lance being chomped away. He was swinging a wooden lance after all.

The technique of the foe sent chills to his back. That was quite the strongest foe he ever fought since the Battle Royale. But he did not have that grace to give compliments, the assassin was clearly striving to slow him down!

The reason why Ye Chong could travel in the crowd seamlessly was because of his speed and unpredictable steps. But if he ever got bogged down by something, like an assassin for example, he would be sieged at any moment, conflict would happen, a crowd fight would occur, he could not be confident enough to presume he would survive from another wave of that.

Ye Chong exerted forces on the ground and backed away speedily, with his lance directly impaled with his greatest strength!

The lance vibrated vigorously as it transformed into a stack of afterimages which frightened the assassin who was unable to react in time and took his dagger to block.

Clash.

The wooden lance broke, as specks showered the surrounding. Wails were heard everywhere. Ye Chong also was wounded by the broken pieces, he felt the aches with few pieces stabbing in his back. The flowing blood was chilling his back. And he began charging forward.

The assassin was… pretty much done for. Ye Chong’s attack came in like a wrecking ball that whammed right not his face. Blood was spilled and he was sent flying, crashing down a few people.

Ye Chong was able to take grasp of that assassin’s appearance for one second. It was a young man, of age about Wang Zishi’s, with a plain appearance.

“Get him!” He instructed and let off a few painful coughs.

The villagers then realized what that line meant. That line also inevitably put Ye Chong into danger. The villagers had been attacking brutally, though their flow of attacks was highly disorganized, that was why Ye Chong survived. But thanks to this combat order from the assassin, the situation changed as the villagers nearby all aimed at Ye Chong, not an attack but a constant clinging.

Ye Chong was stuck.

Above the Victor Tower, the elderly looked down. He seemed confused, “Who’s that young man just now? He does not seem too bad compared to Wang Zishi, while being fairly intelligent.”

The village owner, the mistress pondered, “Odd. I don’t think I have met this person before. Very odd, how could no one be aware of such a great fighter?”

“Hah! Mistress, my fair mistress.” Chuckled the elderly, “You too have that moment of blindness being unable to see talents.” The mistress was embarrassed as it would be her mistake on her job if she missed a talent like the boy down there.

“Well, sometimes I-” She was going to cook up some excuses but the elderly’s enlarged eyes stopped her, “Wait.”

“Why? What’s wrong? Did you see something?” asked the mistress.

“He’s not from the Wang family!” he stated gravely.

“No?” The mistress obviously was still out of the situation, “But he’s wearing a cloud robe?” The cloud robe was the apparel exclusive to the Wang family, specially for combats.

The elderly denied her reasoning with a shake of his head, “The sword technique he used was not of Wang family.” The elderly was the authority at this so his statement could not be wrong.

The mistress was astonished, as realizing the oddity – a person not from her family, wearing the robe of her family in the crowd of her village – what exactly would that person want?

The place had gone chaotic. The assassin had vanished. The mistress’s worry intensified.

Rui Bing sprinted, with one hand holding the little boy, the other lifting Fei Si, striving to get back to the spaceship with the folks before anything happened. She got to slow down however, not because of the weight she had to carry, but the speed of the other folks. At least they were still a little competent in combats even though they were trained to do ranged attacks, that included the scarred man who possessed the richest experience in combats. His sense of timing was the most accurate that he utilized well the 3 pieces of Night Enchantment Ye Chong gave. The timing he tossed the pill, the spot he aimed to toss the pill, both were impeccable, that the chasing villagers were getting cautious the more they were bombarded with a massive stunning spell. Rui Bing had also demonstrated her skills that convinced the villagers to not blindly bump ahead.

They were fortunate because Ye Chong was the main target in the village so the flock after Rui Bing and the folks was small to begin with. Plus the scarred man shrunk the crowd further using the Night Enchantment to keep the crowd always at a distance with the group. Well, the villagers did expect aids to come joining them soon to pin down the target.

Unlike Rui Bing’s fun runaway, Ye Chong was having an epic fight. He was in a dangerous situation. The villagers grew more intelligible n their moves after the reminder of that assassin – to not attack but to hold Ye Chong up! He started slowing down and he had lost his only weapon ever since that speck attack.

On several occasions he almost used the last 3 Night Enchantments in his possession. Those were his trump card, the last resort to his survival. He held the pills inside the muscle of his right arms. The technique of Lan of the September had given him masterly control over his muscle, that he could always launch one pill from his right arm to his palm right away on demand.

The 3 guards chased Ye Chong at a horrendous speed. Ye Chong felt puzzled. He was already troubled enough with those villagers and now 3 obviously experts came after him.

So he launched his first pill and flicked it to the crowd.

Then, as if a scene of a horror movie, the villagers, hundreds of them within the proximity of 45 meters, passed out to the ground. And Ye Chong ran through the smokescreen caused by his pill.

He panted… Ye Chong was wetted by his own blood and sweat. The moisture passed by his scratches and openings, it felt like a torture that was going to dissemble him in any second.

His lips were clipping the bufferleaf, so he was unaffected by the effects of Night Enchantment, unlike those rash villagers who charged through the smokescreen and joined the fainted crowd.

The others who just arrived by the scene held their steps, as they realized the other identity of this terrifying person – he was an alchemist, an alchemist who did not need to do a thing to stop the entire crowd. They hesitated and stood by the proximity of Night Enchantment.

They were waiting for the moment to break in, and swore that would be the last moment of Ye Chong. The weather was fine however, so the duration of Night Enchantment could be very much maximized.

Ye Chong was feeling drained, hoping that Rui Bing and the folks would come and pick him up in the spaceship right away. A spaceship could have shown these primitives a taste of the avant-garde. It was such a shame that he forgot to bring the dimensional keystone of Han Jia or the twist would have been fun.

Everything just happened so quickly that he did not have the time to get things right.

The fatigue was real. It was shocking for him to be still able standing there.

The guards were getting more aggressive the longer they waited by the smokescreen, as curses were heard along with the sound of weapons brandishing. Ye Chong prayed his break could last till the spaceship came back. His tired eyes fell upon one of the collapsed villagers. He picked a lance, just to calm his nerves.

He lifted his head again, to see the empty sky.

Time felt extremely slow for him at the moment.

“They are not from here!” The leading villager’s face tightened the moment he saw the sinking spaceship to the sea. An outsider? Outsiders were the biggest taboo in the entire natural space zone, including Dankwood planet!

Well? Good. The villagers seemed very much relieved by the conclusion. They no longer had that slight guilty on their faces. That would be the perfect reason for their committed murders to the authority of the village.

Outsiders would deserve none of their mercy.

“Few of you, head back and report to the mistress,” said the one leading. “The rest of you, stay here and guard the sot with me.”

The leading villager’s expression seemed complicated as he saw the few villagers running away.

Chapter 358: Battle III

nce the folks got into the spaceship, they carried on running. No time to waste. They were well-aware of the situation – if Ye Chong got into anything, they would be that part of it too. Even though most of them came only under Ye Chong’s threat, they worked hard, striving to help out their fallen ally, including the little boy who was biting his lips stonily.

“Everyone. Get ready in your positions,” commanded the little boy. “Sister Bing, the main processor.” And she ran to the processor with her maximum speed, as the stack of afterimages traced her sprint. She then placed little boy in front of the main processor.

The little boy then quickly booted the system, while the remaining folks got to their steerings.

“Check-ups.”

“All air ventilation system: normal.”

“Engine system: operational.”

“Detection system: operational.”

He received the few notifications on the screen, as his fingers clumsily fiddled the program.

“Spaceship Pre-departure Program: Activated.”

“Calculating energy remained. Performing optimized calculation. System is ready to take off.”

The last task before taking off had been completed promptly. Everyone was concentrated in holding their steerings, as taking off could get as complicated as one could imagine a plane would do. It required coordination across the ship. The tasks had been completed flawlessly thus far. So it would be fine to take off.

“Next-”

Beep

Beep

“Warning.”

That was not a good word to hear.

“Warning. Remaining Energy Level is less than 8%. Remaining Energy: Insufficient. Remaining Energy: Insufficient. Request unable to be completed,” said the angelic-voiced system.

Rui Bing’s face was drained.

…

Pant

Pant Pant…

Ye Chong was catching his breath. The air filled with Night Enchantment was slightly sweet, yet it scorched his throat every time he breathed. Sweat rolled over his bloody body. He was breathing heavily. His expression was still, yet there was blood at corner of his lips, along with scratches over his body. People were amazed by his vitality – that was the only they could do anyway as they were blocked off by the mist of Night Enchantment.

“I have an idea!” Right when they felt helpless of the situation, a genius gave an idea, “Throw your weapons at him!”

Oh no.

Ye Chong recognized the voice of that mastermind! The voice was the assassin’s. He quickly reacted with a tumble on the ground right after the statement was shouted.

He got to run, he got to run fast.

But his stamina was below the safe level and he was surrounded by a swarm of attackers. He suspected if he could last even a minute if they launched their attacks again…

The villagers started lobbing their weapons at Ye Chong. Sharp clinks could be heard all over the place as the weapons showered upon the ground.

Ye Chong pressed the ground with both his hands and knees, rolled and bounced off like a pinball.

Weapons penetrated the sandy ground.

Ye Chong was glad he acted fast or he would have been turned into a dead porcupine.

Ye Chong made another tumble to reposition himself and discerned that one blank spot, he tossed his weapon that flew through the very gap.

Ye Chong’s arms were pumping dramatically in rhythm, then an indiscernible wave flew along. The handle of the lance suddenly shuddered!

The crowd enveloping the flying lance felt a force slammed upon them, as they fell onto the ground.

“What the hell!” Curses were heard again.

And Ye Chong had made an opening for himself. He then flew into the angry crowd, grabbed the lance and zapped away to the other side of the street – the direction opposite to where the guards were.

Ye Chong knew the right moves in a crowd fight. The more complicated the environment, the better he could act. His brain and body allowed him for the best survival. He picked the most crowded area and moved unpredictably to make sure that he would not be stuck again.

The blue lines appeared in his eyes again, they danced as his eyes moved.

His potential was rose again as the situation pressured.

His eyes were soulless. He looked at the targets expressionlessly. The blue lines were forming the best angle to attack for him. He had already lost his humanity, it was all for survival or nothing. The complicating geometrical visual of strategy, the crude yet impeccable attack, the overly logical calculation, these had made Ye Chong a killing machine as the wildness and inhumanity engulfed him. Logical yet illogical.

…

“Are you sure you aren’t making a move?” asked the mistress in a shaky voice, as her strained eyes looked upon the dying villagers. Her heart was aching, she had never experienced a massacre like this. She thought Ye Chong would still be a human, that he would fall at some point but he had just lost control.

The elderly was indifferent, “Keep your sanity there and not spend your time here with me. You do not have much time. You should be heading down and try regaining control of the situation, not negotiating with me.”

The mistress bit her lips, as her eyes were then filled with disappointment. Few seconds lapsed in silence and she stormed out of the building.

The elderly then stared at Ye Chong. His eyes were somehow burning with an indescribable passion.

Ye Chong was fast, while he was agile. He would only need that little space to perform a surprise burst attack. His speed made him more unforeseeable, uncontrollable. With a lance Ye Chong was typically a bull in a Wang shop, that people would probably shatter upon contact.

He was strong and merciless. His moves were painful and homicidal. The crowd was no longer as maniac and bloodthirsty as before, their body tightened as they started holding back.

How many men had he killed? Ye Chong had already lost count. He only felt the growing weight in his arms along with his hastening breath. His body was getting worse and he was not seeing a spaceship coming to him anytime soon. It felt so hopeless that he might have lost hope at some point if he had not experienced the dead-or-alive before.

Ye Chong did not give up. He would not give up till the very last moment, so he would raise the chance of his survivability to the maximum! The ship was not coming, but it did not mean the ship would never come, probably Rui Bing and the folks had encountered some problem…

That would be the worst case scenario, undesirable yet the most possible. Rui Bing would still come for him anyhow… a mech could have been good enough.

Then, should there be an accident!?

Ye Chong started calculating the remaining time he could stand up.

No time, he would have to get out of here!

In 0.1 second, a decision had been made.

His lance impaled throat of one villager, whose eyeballs popped in pain with hushes of his dying struggle as he waved his weak limbs.

Splash.

His throat exploded.

Ye Chong disappeared.

The blood splattered upon the frightened expression of the people.

Ye Chong sped up to the maximum and overcame the crowd. He ran, towards the street of houses, leaving the few tens corpses on the ground behind.

Another runaway, another dead-or-alive. He was that greenhorn who did not know how to run away at first, and now he had become the adept of runaway.

It seemed like he would be running away forever. The talented could never go unnoticed huh?

Once he got to this street, he could escape the fate of being sieged from time to time. Well, at least, a siege consisted of smaller amount of people, that was more manageable. He had stayed long enough to know the geographical layout of the place.

And that was when a roar was heard behind, “Where do you think you’re going?”

The piercing voice impaled his soul.

Chapter 359: Battle IV

e Chong lifted his head and looked afar, his expression changed drastically. The three swords were coming, in A-formation. They zapped towards him so quick and so forcefully that the hushes by friction in air had engulfed the screams of people around.

In the air, the faces of the three guardsmen were dead red , apparently they had consumed every last ounce of their strength on that powerful attack.

Ye Chong could not make it if he were to dodge, but somehow he was calm, as he gripped the pole of his lance and stared upon the incoming swords, ignoring the other attacks surrounding him.

Emotionless, expressionless, toneless and passionless.

No emotion would disrupt his schemata.

His eyes were then wide open, his waist sank, tilting his lance.

HMPH!

MORTAL ROAR!

Wavelengths were slammed through the air as they began reaching the surrounding. The villagers nearest to Ye Chong suffered the most brutal death, as their eardrums felt hammered inside their blanked head, with blood dripping from some of their noses.

The people afar only felt they were overwhelmed by an unseeable force, as their uproar went settled by the waves.

Ye Chong’s sharp eyes discerned the three swords slowing down because of his sound wave. It’s working!

Almost simultaneously, Ye Chong’s body seemed to have mutated… It was a rather creepy sight, as his muscular cells seemed to be wriggling like countless snakes all over his body from waist to the abdomen to the chest and to his shoulder, lastly his arms. It felt like a seasonal migration of his muscles, as his arms began pumping and grew into lumps and lumps of bulkiness.

It sounded complicated but it all only happened in a few seconds.

Ye Chong had never felt such strength in his arms before! But he was losing his balance as his feet felt light.

The lance felt like nothing in his grip as he aimed and impaled, accurately struck the three longswords.

Klink. The three longswords cried as collusion occurred.

Ye Chong could feel a pressure on his lance. Crack! The lance blew up due to the overwhelming strength, as countless specks it had transformed into. The muscular cells accumulated on Ye Chong’s arms seemed to have receive a reorganize-order, as they retreated back to their former positions.

Spat! Splash of blood escaped from Ye Chong’s mouth. His legs felt lighter than ever as he fell to his back.

The guardsmen were not having an easier time either as not only the final attack consumed every bit of them, but also the fact that they were sending the swords in the air and took every pitch of Ye Chong’s roar. The forces their swords exerted might have warded them, but that would only be a damage reduction at most and it became the last straw to their vitality. They were hurt, both inside and outside.

Ye Chong had been wounded, potentially at a worse state than the guardsmen. The muscular cells did not retreat on his will, but they were actually forced back as their formation shattered by the collision of two attacks. Ye Chong would have lost his arms if it was not for the fine build of his body. He could still breathe but that did not mean he could last longer in the field, as he started to feel his breath getting out of pace, lungs apparently received a considerable amount of damage as well.

When was the last time he had this? The foreign sense of danger was sending shudders to his body, out of fear yet also out of a kind of excitement.

His body felt scorched by the pain. Ye Chong tried relaxing his body.

Breath in… out…

The attack had disintegrated so they were falling to the ground. Ye Chong got to relax his body as in a few seconds he would have been that sandbag crashing the arena. He suddenly made a twist on his waist, repositioned himself and tipped the ground with his legs, as he launched himself into the houses dexterously.

The guardsmen were shocked by the sudden disappearance of Ye Chong.

“Such horrible monstrosity!” said the leading elderly, as seemingly he was worried. The Wang family had offended an inhumanity, that had got to be the worst case scenario to the village. The steps of Ye Chong were unpredictable, the attacks of Ye Chong were precise, the lance skills were ever-changing, and he knew a sound wave attack while being colder than any merciless beast.

“Right, we had failed the entire family, literally.” The second guardsman was angry, very much eager to slice Ye Chong into million pieces.

The third guardsman was silent as he set his eyes upon the tall Victor Tower.

…

Pant…

Pant pant…

Hah…. Hah…

Ye Chong ran. Ye Chong dashed. Ye Chong sprinted, over one slope and another, launching himself over one ground to another. Like a wounded beast, he forced his way out, fearing to even spend a split second more at one place. He was running in a primitive village area without any technology, there was no communicator, there was no mech, yet he feared that very trained efficiency of the mighty Wang family force. He was still fighting as one on hundred thousands, his outcome of doing that was clearer than the water he stamped on, it was obvious, blatantly obvious, no deduction and no rebuttal needed.

Most of his wounds had been cured. To be honest, he was not expecting to be given a potion from that person. He did not see the need of the person providing the assistance in the first place. And of all potion, he got the one with greatest effect.

A potion of the village felt redundant, obsolete in the galaxies out there, as the medical technology had expanded to whole different horizon. With an advanced pre-programmed medical machine, nobody would want to use a bottle of suspicious looking fluid, yet that bottle would come falling like an angel to everyone’s salvation in the village. It was what everyone dreamed for, since hell knows when you would be skewed by countless specks of wood, where the potion would be a savior.

Salvation it was indeed. The potion made out of Brown Mistletoe Nut was healing Ye Chong at an astonishing rate.

He would remember that favor for the rest of his life.

He had reached his maximum, as he ran on. At least he was starting to see the woods growing denser, that should hinder the chasing Wangs a little.

The frail twigs whipped his body as he ran intensely fast, yet the slight pain was ineffective against his shooting adrenaline. Through the forest, he traveled like an agile jaguar. The shades of the woods should have provided him the perfect camouflage, yet the Wangs seemed to be not losing him anytime soon…

There were 12 guardsmen hunting him down. And the Wang family had only trained 15 best guardsmen in the house. His fate was clear if he were to stop while being chased by 12 superbly trained fighters.

Ye Chong sometimes would grab the vines and swing himself further to preserve his draining stamina.

And he landed, with a stomp that caused the branches to deform, and he jumped once more to the ground ahead.

10 meters ahead there was a broad branch.

That would be a good launcher! And he accelerated.

Klink!

A few projectiles flashed by.

That was the fifth time he got attacked… He withdrew his dagger and blocked them away.

Klink! Klink! Klink! Klink!

His wrists felt numb as he struck them back. The force was very strong to overcome.

Ye Chong started distancing himself from the raiders again. Apparently this was the fifth wave of assassins awaiting him in the dark. They were extremely skillful in blending themselves in the woods, while the way they treated their prey was brutal. They were highly alert as they would hide themselves again once they had missed. To pursue they would do things slow and steadily.

The first wave gave the biggest shock. If it was not Ye Chong’s quick reaction he would have died just there. The following raids were stronger and more sudden than before but Ye Chong had already anticipated them himself, so he faced them not as clumsy as before.

His dagger was his savior. Thanks to the Do-Kun stone enhancement, it was sharp enough to break the incoming weapon at one slice. The assassins noticed the successful counterattack as they fled the scene, back into the woods.

Ye Chong could do nothing else than running.

At first he thought those were from the Wang family, but it just felt different the more he fought. The Wangs would never fight such way. They were not the kind who would finish their foe without a fair fight. If they would, Ye Chong would not be alive by then.

Although in reality the assassins were feeling more helpless than Ye Chong, they believed their attack – whether on timing, the coverage, the way they did it – was flawless and perfectly demonstrated their skills, yet this ugly-looking boy had blocked everything successfully. How depressing.

Most importantly, they were attacking from the dark, which supposedly had given themselves a headstart, yet Ye Chong lived like an annoying cockroach.

That dagger! Dammit! Someone break that dagger! Curses!

The assassins were probably thinking so…

Ye Chong did not decelerate, as being chased by the Wangs and the assassins from nowhere. He just hoped his speed could last him long enough to lose these people, as he sprinted in straight line.

The woods had gotten denser, as the path got engulfed by the darkened leaves The air felt humid while exuding a faint rotten smell.

The light was starting to be engulfed by the trees.

The place got quieter, that sometimes he could hear the insect cries.

And it became dead silent, where breeze could hardly be felt.

Too quiet. Ye Chong was not feeling good on this. But he lacked the experience necessary to judge the forest just yet.

He slowed down at first, as hesitated. Then he made up his mind and kept running.

At far end behind , the bush started rustling out of sudden, with 3 men popped out. Their faces were painted in green stripes, hardly recognizable, while their outfits were strange – stripes of green and yellow, a blend to the forest’s color scheme.

“He had entered the woods.” The leading one commented, as seeing the shrinking silhouette. His tone sounded relieved somehow.

The other two was also gasping in relief.

“Phew! Finally, we don’t have to face that horror.”

The third person nodded, “Right? He was such horror, scarier than the specter, faster than the specter too. The leader of Team T almost died in his brutality. And he has that ridiculous dagger, at least we don’t have to face him. So does this mean mission accomplished?”

The leading one halted, “…Yes… I guess? No one had ever come out of the deeper woods alive. So we don’t have to worry on this. We just have to report as what we saw. Let the authority figure this out themselves, though what a waste of a good dagger.” The tone was filled with a great desire towards Ye Chong’s overpowered dagger.

A voice rang behind them, “The Wangs have arrived! Retreat.” And the shadows vanished into the forest.

Within half a minute, a large group of Wangs appeared right next to the bush, with Furry the fair white creature popping its cherry nose to the ground.

It rose its tiny body, as began roaring madly to the deeper woods, refusing to take a step further, as if something was convincing it to stop moving.

“He had entered the deeper woods, apparently. It looks like our job is done. We should be working on the other outsiders instead.” The speaker sounded very much relaxed, this was their most desirable scenario.

Everyone recognized the forces of Ye Chong, that they felt nothing could stop him, other than the greater Mother Nature that is. The deeper woods…

“Hah…” It sounded as if they had broken free form their greatest fear.

The group was wordless.

…

“Shall we go?” One wave and the group left the fearsome depth of the woods.

The deeper woods, silent as it acted, quiet as it was supposed to be, only had the whispers of the insects ringing in the silence.

Chapter 360: Dangerous Forest I

e Chong’s heart grew colder the farther he walked. The place was quiet, too quiet… He was able to discern the soft chirp in the woods at first, but now he heard nothing. It was so quiet that even the rustling he made upon stepping on the rotten leaves sounded ear-piercing.

His nerve was tensed, as alarmingly he looked around constantly.

The humidity of air chilled his chest. The forest grew denser as he walked on.

There were all sorts of plants, peculiarly disturbing, that it felt like a nightmarish visit to a botanical garden. The sun could never reach the place, yet the plants grew so well it was creepy.

The greenish leaves, the colorful flowers, alluring yet soul-taking.

Ye Chong’s heart was racing. He took a look at the plants. His alchemy knowledge had convinced him to take a deep cold breath in fear.

Glitterbloom, Haemovine… Dartelion?

Where am I, what is this, is it hell?

Ye Chong froze. His muscle tightened, feared to make even the slightest move. His glance eventually reached that grayish brown tree ahead of him. There was a sprout, with a body of blue stripes and countless silvery tubes all over it, that made it looked like a handle of wind chimes. Ye Chong’s heart skipped a beat again, he knew he should never make one step further.

He recognized that plant.

Scientific name – Argentubus Arecales, people call it “Pines of Spider Web”, with a sensory proximity about 7 to 10 meters, carnivorous. Once an animal approaches the plant, the tubes would fire projectile like spider webs that contain spikes which give off deadly poison to paralyze the prey.

In Lunatic Guan’s encyclopedia entry, Argentubus Arecales is typically rated as a Level 4 hazard. Those tubes were horrifying enough to Ye Chong that he would give a Level 4.5 for it instead. Not because of its effect but its appearance, the illustration in the entry had only a few tubes over the body, while this particular sprout… had tons, so many that he lost count.

Gulp.

He grew cautious and thanked Lunatic Guan in his mind. If it was not her knowledge, he probably would have been buried along with the beautiful flowers, enjoying a premature death. He took a careful observation at every single spot in the woods while his mind kept exclaiming how fortunate he was to avoid that one plant trap ahead. If he mindlessly walked just one step to the front, he would have been dead.

But luck would never be always by his side. He would not gamble his life on this.

No wonder there was no animal here. No way any animal would have survived in a place like this. The place was literally a dangerous-plant-go-round where 80% of Lunatic Guan’s registered hazardous plants could be seen here.

Even Ye Chong began to suspect if Lunatic Guan was once here and was scared to death like him.

These plants had simply made the forest a typical deadly forest.

He looked behind and checked out how many ways he could die based on the types of plants there. He got afraid that it already felt like a miracle when he remained in one piece after walking mindlessly for so long.

So how do I leave this hell? Ye Chong was puzzled. The only relief was the fact that he needed not to worry those snipers and chasers. Since this place was obviously a hazardous deadly zone, only outsiders like he himself would foolishly enter. The locals probably never would even consider to come here.

It would be impossible for him to back away now. Practically he had already lost his sense of direction. The woods were so dense that every trace he made as he advanced was gone. Without experience or assistance of any apparatus, people would simply lose their way here. And Ye Chong was sure that he did not come all the way here in one straight line.

There was no longer the concept of “backing away” and “advancing forward”, either of those felt literally the same to him. Maybe he would end up circulating the place as he walked.

When the situation had gotten to its worst, somehow it would become calming at the same time.

The first thing was not to find a way out. That would sound a little far-fetched for the moment. So, instead, he should be figuring how he would survive in here.

Lunatic Guan’s microchip contained massive amount of information, along with the mechanism to help automatic analysis. It was so convenient that people could just carry it around, use it like a pocket dictionary that saved all the hassle figuring things out.

If one fails to prepare, one prepares to fail. The chip prepared Ye Chong. As advised by Lunatic Guan, he should remember everything so that he would truly harness the knowledge and not let her knowledge go to waste, which he did and these knowledge he remembered had become the sole key to his survival in this dangerous forest.

Ye Chong regained his calmness and began observing again.

His brain ran fast, soon realized his situation was not as terrible as he first imagined. Compared to those haunting troops and those assassins sniping him at any second, he was more willing to face the forest. The forest was dense and was filled with dangerous species, but there were also quite a handful of them being edible. The edible plants not only was succulent, but also highly nutritious, which could last him for quite sometimes – that would determine his basic necessity fulfilled and ultimately it meant he had already bought enough time for himself.

He would need the time to familiarize himself with the forest, to have a better understanding on the characteristics of these dangerous plants. He might have a massive encyclopedia in his head, but that did not mean he totally understood every single entry of it. He recognized the plants merely because he had seen their visuals as he skimmed the encyclopedia before. There was no in-depth investigation nor practical exposure. And this little gap between theory and practice could cost his life.

He had the patience to prepare himself.

He carefully avoided the Dartelions, the edges of the leaves were easily the blades of an actual dart as the cuticle was so hard and sharp that it could leave a cut by just sliding through it. Dartelion’s fatality was not known for its sharp leaves, the content of its tip however was the one to look out for as it was coated with a kind of enzyme that would prevent blood from clotting. You might be bleeding till you died at that one scratch you made on your careless mistake.

According to the description in the microchip, some alchemists would actually utilize the tip of Dartelion by coating their weapon with its secretion.

Avoided the Spider Web, Ye Chong proceed very, very sluggishly, with his eyes carefully looking out for the dangerous plants around and… below. There were sprouts of Haemovines hanging in the air, at where they spread their trochal disc, suction cup-like structure to entangle their preys. As much as its appearance suggested, once the prey was entangled, it would deflate as the vines enlarged dramatically. Much of a draining attack.

Ye Chong was finding the place much more intense than Trash Planet-12.

He held his steps again, as stumbled upon a giant Vinesack which visibly was about few hundred years old. Its leaves were dense, with peculiar appearance as if the two leaves were tightly stuck together from edge to edge, leaving the tip unstuck however, making them like a sack, a sack between the vines. Thus its name Vinesack.

Ye Chong first observed the trunk of the tree, making sure that there was nothing funny – especially plants like Haemovines – on it. And he advanced forward.

He was eyeing the sacks on the tree. As the tree aged, these sacks would darken, their toughness would increase, making them a natural container. He picked the darker leaves which seemed to be at least alive for already a few decades, the darkest among them all. Pretty close to fall, since most sacks would fall naturally after the age of 50.

Withdrew his dagger, he sliced and … realized the leaves remained firm on the tree despite his pull. He thought he could break almost everything by accident after snapping alloys like titanium yet the leaves remained in whole piece.

He gave few more cuts and successfully removed 6 to 7 pieces of them. These natural containers would be what he needed exactly at the moment. He then took a few fine vines to strap them over his waists.

The juices of the tree could be a perfect ingredient for growth-inducing component, sadly he lacked the necessary apparatus for extraction, so he got to let it go.

Now with the containers he could collect water and food, even some alchemy production for his daily life.

The forest might be dangerous, but it also was considerably a heaven for alchemist.

Sigh, if only he had the most primitive alchemy apparatus…