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Chapter 77 – The Forest of Million Beasts
Xuanyuan was pocketing all the valuables he could find from the dead bodies on the way. It was an easy action for someone who used to be a beggar. He was counting all the money he was earning as he stripped the corpses bare, “Wow, this is a lot. What family was this. The guards are all at least wild realm fighters. 300,000 king coins! 98 elixirs from the red spirit snakes, 10 elixirs from the five-coloured snakes and some more bottles with a multitude of medicines. Isn’t it wasteful to leave all of this behind?”
“But come to think of it, if this family is so wealthy. Wouldn’t it be better to hire a grandmaster to protect their young master? Wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to hire a grandmaster? There’s no need to sacrifice all these people and waste so much money.”
“Keeping the young master alive is the most important thing to them. Look at it this way. When it comes to a struggle of life and death, who is thinking about money?” Greed was impatient, “The forest surrounding the City of Fighting Dragons is nicknamed the Forest of a Million Beasts. Everyone must pass through the forest to reach the Sect. The Sect recommends that you don’t use anyone above a king fighter to protect you during the journey. There was once an imperial fighter guarding a rich young boy as he went through the forest, but his imperial Qi attracted a beast of similar strength to his own. Wild fighters and king fighters would only attract beasts at a similar level, which means there’s still a chance to defeat the beasts and escape alive. But when it’s a beast at the grandmaster level or above, the aura alone is enough to kill any young master. Do you still think it’s worthwhile?”
Xuanyuan took a deep breath. He thought this was only an ordinary forest but clearly, its size and the beasts dwelling inside it proved otherwise.
“The forest is that dangerous?”
“Of course, the three most powerful sects of the East have endured years of challenges. They are all extremely powerful. In fact, they are the ones who keep so many powerful beasts inside the forest.” Greed explained.
Xuanyuan was stunned into silence. He continued in silence. Who knew what might be inside the forest? It was not as easy as he thought to become a disciple of the Sect.
“Don’t worry. The beasts that are kept by the Sect won’t go out of their way to attack people who’re weaker than them. I’ve got to say, all of the disciples in the Sect are very talented. Each of them has passed through this challenge while risking their life. They are strong, both physically and mentally. You think those rich young masters weren’t afraid when they witnessed their guards being slaughtered? They are on a knife’s edge. None of those who made it to the other side are weak.”
Xuanyuan was astonished to hear that. There were many surprising things when it came to the recruitment of disciples. It looked like he was going to face many more challenges after he arrived.
“If you want to get through easier, you can take out the token Fung Lie gave you. It has the power to command all the beasts in the forest.”
“I won’t need that. I can only become stronger through a lesson taught with blood. I’ll get through this using my own power and you, old bugger, are so greedy that you probably want to suck the life essence from the beasts instead of commanding them, right?”
“I’m not old!” Greed screamed again.
“Hahaa, you old bugger…” Xuanyuan bantered with Greed on his way, while robbing all the wealth he laid his eyes upon.
“I’m not old! Have never seen money before? I wouldn’t say anything if you took money from dead people here and there. But you have stopped to rob every single corpse without fail. You’re the heir to the Devouring Emperor. You’re tarnishing the name of the Emperor!”
“So what? You’re not happy with me robbing? I don’t have other people to rely on, only myself! Why shouldn’t I take money when it is in front of me? Even the Devouring Emperor died in the end.”
“Do you understand what true devouring is? It’s taking everything, absorb everything, devour everything! That’s what it means to be truly powerful. Not robbing corpses like you.”
“I don’t give a shit. I’m not that powerful. The Emperor wasn’t born an emperor, right? He still needed to practice until he reached that point.”
“That’s right.”
“Old bugger. Do you reckon that one day I can be as powerful as the Devouring Emperor?”
“You wish! Do you know how many challenges he had to overcome? How many times he faced death? He devoured all those techniques through uncountable deadly situations. You’ve still got a lot to learn.”
“I’ll definitely be as powerful as he was. I’ll call myself Emperor Xuanyuan, how about that?”
“You’ll never be as powerful as he was. It’d be a miracle if you can manage to keep yourself alive. I reckon you won’t be able to live long.”
“If you let me die young, you won’t be much better. I guarantee that I will let people know about your existence before I die.” Xuanyuan said maliciously.
“What’s a vicious boy.” Greed yelled. “Stop being so annoying. There’s a huge disturbance of Qi in the front. Many people are gathered and there are at least a hundred!”
As Greed was regaining his power, he could sense Qi fluctuations at greater distances. Before Xuanyuan could see anything, Greed had already given his warning.
Xuanyuan didn’t encounter anyone over the next twenty miles, so he robbed every single corpse he came across. He pocketed another 420,000 king coins, 21 five-coloured snake elixirs. However, there wasn’t any medicine on the bodies. They probably used everything up already.
The scenery was growing more bloody. The ground was covered in bloody remains of the five-coloured snakes and the bodies of guards. The trees and the ground were littered with holes created by Qi attacks.
Xuanyuan finally came across living snakes. They were as wide as two thighs and ten metres in length, with their eyes as large as fists. The snakes were hissing and the sound was mind-numbing.
There were about a hundred people carrying varying weapons and wearing all different kinds of instruments. It was mostly wild fighters who were guarding their young masters. They were desperately fighting their way through the snakes.
As Xuanyuan approached, many people recognized him. Many people started to frown at the sight of him. Xuanyuan was definitely not a popular person.
But with the fight ahead, they couldn’t waste time caring about Xuanyuan. Also, Xuanyuan was only a spiritual fighter, they didn’t need to pay attention to a weakling like him.
One of the king fighters wielded his sword, and with a golden light, he chopped a snake in half. But a snake cut in half was still writhing and whipping its tail. Each strike contained at least forty dragons of strength, unearthing the ground below. The eyes of the snake were closed but its eyes suddenly opened and it quickly bit onto a wild fighter who was fighting with another snake. The fighter was overcome with poison in less than a minute.
The fight had reached the most crucial point.
Just when Xuanyuan was getting closer to the battlefield, a voice yelled at him,
“Who are you? Get out of the way. Or I’ll kill you!”