Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Edited by Aelryinth

Although it was very safe in the green land, Zhang Che didn't want to continue remaining there. He was afraid that he would lose his drive to improve if he slacked off for too long. In such a dangerous world, losing one's drive was something very dangerous.

Zhang Che still remembered the experience of when he was pulled into the endless tunnel vividly!

So, he wanted to work as hard as he could to raise his strength, to have the power to protect himself and his family when any problems occurred.

With so many benefits to be found in the secret plane, if he acted carefully, he would surely obtain many things!

Ignoring everything else, just those strange creatures provided Zhang Che with large amounts of mysterious energy, improving that tiny golden vortex in his spiritual sea bit by bit, increasing the range of his control over the swords.

Unbeknownst to Zhang Che, after he left on the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon, a team of beastmasters summoned their own flying beasts quietly somewhere near the camp, following behind him.

After leaving the green lands, Zhang Che let out a long sigh of relief.

That unknown black gale over his head was just like a Sword of Damocles, threatening his life at all times.

Although He Luotu, who he hadn't had the chance to meet yet, was overlooking the situation, he wasn't certain if anyone would suddenly go insane and launch a suicidal attack.

The little bit of fresh green in his surroundings soon vanished. Zhang Che had entered the desolate world outside once more.

The Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon was flying close to the ground. The Scarlet Flame Drake, Unicorn, and Purple Crystal Tortoise were lined up in that order behind Zhang Che, every one of them observing their surroundings cautiously. If they discovered any danger, they could react to the situation immediately.

After the events from yesterday, Zhang Che didn't dare let the Purple Jade Condor act as a sentry high up in the sky any more.

Even if he couldn't defeat the strange creatures on the ground, he could escape from them!

If he was targeted by another flying-type strange creature, Zhang Che didn't dare guarantee that his luck would be as good as yesterday. If he couldn't escape, he would really end up dying!

They flew for several dozen kilometers. Tracks of the strange creatures gradually appeared in the surroundings. Zhang Che was delighted at the sight, and he immediately had the Darkfiend Abyssal rush forth, working with the Scarlet Flame Drake, killing one with every attack, not letting even one of them go.

Of course, it was mainly due to this place being near the green lands that the powerful strange creatures wouldn't appear here, since they hated the odor there.

Zhang Che only found some weaklings. For him, there was no pressure at all.

Every time he slew a strange creature, Zhang Che would try to sense carefully to see how much that little bit of mysterious energy would benefit the tiny golden vortex in his spiritual sea.

However, the results were very disappointing.

Even though the Scarlet Flame Drake and the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon slew about a dozen strange creatures in one go, Zhang Che sensed almost no changes to the tiny golden vortex in his spiritual sea.

He had now come to realize that the amount of mysterious energy the golden vortex needed was unusually high. The amount obtained by killing only those low-level strange creatures wouldn't bring much improvement, even if he killed a hundred of them.

-Do I have to hunt those powerful ones?- Zhang Che was tempted. However, he decided to forget about it after thinking carefully.

It was better not to do those super dangerous things. What happened yesterday was still fresh in his mind.

At this moment, his eyelids suddenly twitched a few times, feeling a bad premonition!

-How is this possible? I'm so near to the green lands; will the powerful strange creatures be hiding here?- Zhang Che couldn't understand. Wasn't it said that the powerful strange creatures hated the air around the green land?

-No, it's not strange creatures!-

Zhang Che immediately shut his eyes, focusing on the golden vortex in his spiritual sea. In the next moment, that profound feeling appeared once more. It was as if he had a three hundred and sixty degree field of sight. With himself at the center, his vision quickly expanded outwards.

After that…

“What the heck, I'm only able to sense the surrounding hundred meters!?” Zhang Che opened his eyes again, his face colored with depression.

A moment later, he remembered that his range of control over the flying swords was only around a hundred meters, too.

-Could it be…-

He instantly understood the situation. It turned out that his control of the swords was through the golden vortex in his spiritual sea!

Didn't that mean that as the vortex in his spiritual sea grew, the range of his control would also increase?

Not only that, Zhang Che also realized how useful it was to enter that profound state of awareness. It might not be obvious now, but when he could sense several hundred meters, or even further, around him, he wouldn't have to worry about any problems regarding controlling the sword. It was unlike using his eyes to observe, where there would be a problem if there were any obstacles.

“All that are matters for the future. I better check who or what has set their eyes on me for now…” Zhang Che reminded himself, gathering his focus. He had the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon continue flying, and perked up his ears to listen, finally sensing a few subtle whistlings of the wind from behind.

“So I am being targeted by other people!”

The corners of Zhang Che's lips curled up into a faint smile. When the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon turned into a valley, the Purple Crystal Tortoise directly jumped off and disappeared into the ground.

The area ahead happened to be a little valley surrounded by cliffs on all sides. The few strange creatures hiding among the spa.r.s.e dark green plants noticed Zhang Che's appearance and immediately turned in his direction and pounced at him.

“Heh, this really is a case of hunting a rabbit while cutting gra.s.s. It's not bad to get rid of you guys as well while I'm at it!”

The Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon rushed forth and breathed out several streams of frozen air, turning the few weaklings into ice statues. Afterwards, his claws swung down and easily smashed them into bits, as if he was smas.h.i.+ng gla.s.s.

A few whistlings of the wind rapidly approached from different directions, thoroughly trapping Zhang Che inside the valley. Those people had summoned over twenty subdued beasts, sealing all paths of escape.

“Who are you people, what are you trying to do!?” Zhang Che cried out, his expression darkened.

“Haha, this brat is actually still thinking of hunting those creatures here!” a yellow-skinned young man ridiculed, looking at Zhang Che, his face filled with contempt. He extended his arm and pointed at Zhang Che, demanding, “Brat, recall all your subdued beasts now and hand over your beast cards after wiping away your spiritual imprint. We're only seeking wealth, and not trying to hurt anyone.”

Zhang Che looked around him, his face filled with horror. He discovered that this group of people numbered about a dozen, and had him fully surrounded with their subdued beasts. He couldn't even try to fly out.

What surprised him even more was that this group of people was actually comprised of people of all skin colors, and there were even a few female beastmasters among them. It was simply a large international syndicate!

“Then, how can I trust you?” Zhang Che asked in a shaky voice.