Chapter 113: The Withered Forest
Ye Cang then taught her his Qi method, easily replacing her old one. Ye Cang didn’t actually have Qi, instead he had a special energy which could do everything Qi could and even more. For example: he didn’t have to consciously control it yet it would follow his qi method precisely. It would move where he wanted it to extremely quickly. The power output was also high. Zhao XiangYu also felt it, just following his Qi method allowed her strength to raise by almost a whole level. Controller her Qi became much simpler and more effective. It also improved at a faster rate. She looked extremely gratefully at Ye Cang. He was really teaching her seriously.
“These are most of the Qi paths. You’ll have to depend on yourself from here, don’t be bound by my teachings. We’ll stop here for now, I’ll come find you here when I have time. I can’t give you a time…” Ye Cang saw that it was late, he still had a bunch of things to do in the game. After speaking, he quickly turned to leave.
“Master, what level have you reached?” Zhao XiangYu gave into her curiosity and asked.
“Secret…” Ye Cang shrugged.
“Could you allow me see you perform one move…” Zhao XiangYu saw that he was really leaving, and quickly continued to request. He had told her so many secret methods, yet she hadn’t seen him use a sword. She really wanted to see how he would look. According to the theory, the last few levels should be next to impossible to attain. Approaching Light would require that the sword be almost as fast as the speed of light, and Exceeding Light would mean it was even faster. As for Return to the Beginning, she had no idea what it meant, and she wasn’t going to ask. It was too distant. She was still fumbling to reach the first level, how to reduce the effects of air on her sword.
Ye Cang chuckled and slowly took her mimicry practice sword. He looked at it for a bit, then returned it to her. Zhao XiangYu looked doubtful. “What…”
Ye Cang turned and disappeared.
“He’s gone. He won’t even perform a move for me in the end? Or does he mean that I don’t have the qualifications to see it?” Zhao XiangYu said regretfully. She turned and looked at her hair hanging over her shoulders. She happened to look into the lake and saw her own reflection. She saw that her shoulder length hair, the right side had been cut into a neat short hairstyle. When did that happen! She thought back to when he had borrowed her sword, and had immediately returned it to her. He actually attacked during that time? But at that time, I didn’t see a thing! If he wanted to kill me… Her whole body began to shiver. Looking at her half short and half long hairstyle, her heart began to undulate. Why did he teach me so earnestly? Such a weird person…
Ye Cang left the Half-Moon Lake, and took off his heavenly fox mask. Thinking back, that girl had pretty good potential, she just didn’t receive the guidance she needed. The Spirit Snake Sword wasn’t for someone as serious as her.
Returning to the apartment, he washed up, and entered the game. He was immediately greeted by ThornyRose’s earth-shattering shout. “You useless lowlife! As a professional player, you’re actually skipping work! Did you know that in these 10 hours, you’ve fallen from 4th to 5th! The beginning is an especially important time! Once things become more stable, you can be as lazy as you want, but right now you should be more aware of your role as guild leader! God it!?”
“So that’s how it was. I understand, tell me who’s 4th. I’ll immediately go kill him. Then 4th will return to me…” Ye Cang replied.
ThornyRose was speechless. 4th place wasn’t even in Really New Village! She sighed. “Ok, ok. Those ranking aren’t important. Hurry and go get experience.” She said, not realizing she was showing concern for him.
“Bro, where do we go next? Lil’Dino is over with ThornyRose and is rushing over now.” Zhang ZhengXiong had also finished his big smelting project.
“Let’s go back to the mine. We can kill some wild animals on the way and get some experience.” Ye Cang said after thinking it over. They currently didn’t have any special missions. There were too many people at the fishman village, most of Really New Village had migrated over to earn scales to exchange for equipment and skillbooks.
They arrived at the town entrance, and waited till FrozenCloud rushed over. The 5 people once again set out towards the mine.
There wasn’t anything special in the mine, besides the last few Rock Lizard eggs that Yak was taking care of. The whole mine was crawling with soldiers. They decided to keep travelling past the hills and began climbing. At first, they could still see some small groups of players, but eventually, there weren’t any traces of civilization. The environment became more and more dangerous, and it was swarming in strong beast, which could beat back any other player. However, to Ye Cang’s group, who had healing and support from food, they weren’t a problem. Eventually, they arrived at an uninhabited jungle.
Ye Cang saw that this jungle was different from the others, it was similar to the foggy woods where the werewolves lived, but the fog here wasn’t as thick. The place had a frightening atmosphere, full of withering trees which looked like spirits. The trunk was the body, the roots were the legs and the branches the arms. The holes and knots in the trees looked just like faces.
“Team leader, I feel this place is a bit strange.” FrozenCloud warned as she looked at the jungle in front of them.
“You don’t say! It’s so gloomy, anyone can tell that it’s not normal.” Ye Cang said, giving her a dirty glance, which made her heart feel smothered. FrozenCloud could only sigh. I was just afraid you three didn’t even have that much sense!!
“Father, the ground here contains a sort of energy that is causing the trees to wither. If we explained it using the game system, it should be corrosive element. It’s likely that dark type creatures reside here such as: dark wizards, monsters, spirits, contaminated lifeforms, mutated beasts, cultists, homunculi, cursed creatures, etc.” Little Ye Tian had grabbed a handful of dirt and analyzed its composition. FrozenCloud looked at her stranger. She’s really the perfect little helper.
“So?” Ye Cang more or less understood her words, but what was the point of telling them?
“There’s will definitely be bosses. Given Really New Village’s history, they are likely one of spirits, cursed creatures, dark wizards, as well as contaminated lifeforms.” Little Ye Tian explained thoroughly in order to dispel his doubt.
“I think so too…” Lin Le stroked his chin and slowly nodded.
FrozenCloud rolled her eyes. Zhang ZhengXiong’s expression didn’t really change. Afterall, whatever comes, what would he do? Only 1 thing!! Beat them up!
Ye Cang nodded. “Let’s discuss after we see it.”
The five of them entered the jungle, lead by Ye Cang’s night vision. The other four of them remained alert. However, these trees were just too terrifying. It sounded as if they were speaking. Who knew if it was the wind, or really coming out of their ‘mouths’. The withered trunks also swayed, as if they were about to attack.
Everyone had to strengthen their hearts. In the night, the moonlight casted shadows, making things look even more terrifying. Little Ye Tian frowned. “Father, I’ve memorized every one of those speaking trees, and there have been 4 which keep popping up that look exactly the same. In other words, we’re being followed.”
