A moment later, the little red-clothed people raised their heads back and howled. As they howled, their white and adorable little faces darkened and their expressions turned savage.
They opened their mouths, revealing their sharp fangs. Innocent and cute children had instantly turned into monstrous and savage imps.
“Agh!” Zhang Chengyun shouted as he threw away the sprite and tried to run, but those countless child-like sprites jumped out of the trees, making red streaks in the air that gathered into a crimson beam extending toward the heavens.
A moment later, Zhang Chengyun was covered in little red men.
Zhang Chengyun’s body flashed with spiritual light as he used his barrier, but those little men didn’t care. They clambered over the barrier and gnawed at it, their sharp teeth leaving visible marks on the invisible barrier, and as it was scored all over, it soon dissipated into light.
Before Zhang Chengyun could activate a second barrier, the little sprites bit at his body. In pain, he desperately thrust out his palm, but there were so many sprites, and they didn’t let go once they bit down.
Bang! Bang! Bang! He knocked away several of the sprites, but each one came away with a large chunk of flesh. They greedily devoured it like it was the greatest delicacy in the world.
Sprites sucked blood!
And those empty spots created were instantly filled by new sprites, and they continued to tear chunks of flesh off Zhang Chengyun’s body. Zhang Chengyun desperately shouted, “Junior Sister, help me–”
He couldn’t go on, for when he opened his mouth, a sprite rushed into his mouth and bit off his tongue.
Even though Zhang Chengyun immediately closed his mouth and bit that sprite in two, he had still lost his tongue.
“Mrmm… mrmmm…” Zhang Chengyun ran out of the forest as quickly as he could, trying to get away from these terrifying sprites, but even more sprites rushed out like bees and crowded every inch of exposed flesh. There was even a little man hanging from his cock, munching away at it.
He moved slower and slower, blood gushing out from every part of his body. His bones had already been exposed in some places.
Tang Jie and that girl, Wan’er, were both horrified by the sight, but neither of them moved. They simply stared at Zhang Chengyun.
They had both recognized what these were.
Beefruit sprites!
A very special kind of sprite that lived in packs.
These sprites weren’t very powerful and had little growth potential. The greatest problem they presented was that there were tons of them, large groups becoming sprites in one go.
Moreover, these sprites had a special fighting style. So long as no one else attacked them, they wouldn’t attack anyone else, instead hurling all their strength into incessantly attacking a single target.
This was the wisdom that these weak lifeforms had evolved over tens of thousands of years. They were well aware that they didn’t have the strength to fight back against stronger existences. They could only rely on incessant battle to the death.
This was precisely why beefruit sprites had always been known for never letting their opponent go.
Even if there had been a group of students sweeping through this fruit forest, if any one of them got involved with the beefruit sprites, few would survive. This made it so that any cultivator who wanted to fight them had to weigh the pros and cons, and prepare for themselves for death while receiving little in return.
With this intimidating fighting style, the beefruit sprites had managed to survive until now.
It was precisely for this reason that Tang Jie and the female student were in no rush to escape. They knew that if they didn’t attack, the beefruit sprites wouldn’t attack them.
After walking ten-some steps, Zhang Chengyun finally collapsed and stopped moving.
The little men continued to madly brutalize his body, gnawing away at it until only a white skeleton was left. Only then did they withdraw into the forest, turning back into swaying little red fruits.
They never even glanced at that female student.
Once the red tide had receded, the girl coldly snorted, “An idiot who thought he was something else, with only strength and no wisdom! Who would die if not you?”
She gracefully walked over, picked up the Mustard Seed Bag from the skeleton, and put it away.
It appeared as if she had been after Zhang Chengyun’s Mustard Seed Bag from the start and had intentionally let him die.
Tang Jie’s heart trembled. Just when he was about to strike and end this sinister girl’s life, the girl suddenly retreated a few steps, looked around, and then sprinted off into the distance, extremely vigilant throughout.
After that girl ran off, Tang Jie shook his head and came out.
While he could have given chase, this adventure in the Valley of No Return had only just begun. There was no need to start killing each other so quickly. His most urgent task was to determine where he was and then find Wei Tianchong.
He made his way around the forest and continued on his way, coming upon a pond.
The pond was clear, and there were a few lotuses floating in the center. The surroundings were quiet and still.
Tang Jie was planning to observe the situation when the little tiger impatiently rushed out to the pond.
“Bao’er!” Tang Jie wasn’t able to stop him in time, and the little tiger began to thirstily drink from the pond. Tang Jie had been worried that the pond was poisoned, but seeing how much the tiger was drinking, he saw that it was fine and didn’t stop Bao’er. He was just about to drink some himself when he saw a shadowy figure flitting beneath the surface.
His caution levels soared, and he immediately grabbed the little tiger and rolled to the side.
A giant silhouette rushed out of the pond but encountered only empty space. It was clearly a giant crocodile.
The giant crocodile rolled, swinging its thick tail at the man and tiger.
Tang Jie thrust a palm on the ground and jumped to his feet, bringing the little tiger with him as he dodged the tail. At the same time, he kicked at the crocodile’s tail, but he found it to be like steel. The crocodile was unmoved, and even turned its head to bite at Tang Jie’s foot.
Fortunately, Tang Jie withdrew his foot quickly, or else he would have lost half of it.
Neither side could get the upper hand in the battle, the man and crocodile being in a stalemate. Tang Jie now had the time to look at his opponent. This crocodile was completely black, its body ten-some meters in length. The scales that entirely covered its body were like tough rocks, and its cold crocodile eyes coldly stared at him as if it was appreciating its dinner.
“Spirit Sensing… middle grade,” Tang Jie muttered as he massaged his foot.
That kick just now hadn’t only failed to injure the fiend crocodile, the backlash had made his foot ache. Although this was because he hadn’t used anything like the Formless Golden Body, he could determine that only a middle-grade fiend beast could possess scales of this toughness.
The little tiger seemed to know that he was responsible for this, and he buried his head in Tang Jie’s chest and refused to move. Tang Jie looked at the fiend crocodile and decided that he could deal with it. He put the little tiger to the side and pulled out the Heartbreak Saber. “Bao’er, be good and don’t run around. Watch as your big brother kills this foul crocodile and treats you to some roast crocodile meat.”
Fiend crocodiles were a weird sort of fiend beast, possessing the body of a warrior and the fighting style of an assassin. They possessed impressive strength, speed, defenses, and offenses, and considering that this was a middle-grade fiend beast, it was so strong that an average student would have to carefully consider their options when encountering one.
Tang Jie didn’t care. One year ago, he had only been able to run off when encountering a middle-grade fiend beast, but now, he no longer worried about such things.
When the fiend crocodile saw Tang Jie pulling out his saber, it roared, stepped back, and then charged out again with its massive body.
While its body was huge, when it charged, it truly wasn’t slow. Its giant maw opened to bite at Tang Jie, but Tang Jie twisted his body, the Heartbreak Saber flashing as it slashed at the crocodile’s scale armor, creating a resounding clang.
The giant crocodile tail swept out, and Tang Jie jumped to dodge. But as he dodged the tail, the crocodile twisted its head around, and three water arrows shot out of the pond.
Most fiend beasts knew spell arts, though the kinds they knew differed depending on their innate talents. As the water arrows flew out, Tang Jie activated the Aquagel Shroud to take the attack rather than dodging. His body slowed down, and the fiend crocodile jumped into the air, its massive body coming down on Tang Jie like a mountain.
“Raaa!” Man and crocodile furiously roared in unison. The Heartbreak Saber was raised to meet the fiend crocodile, the Windcleaver Saber unleashed. Boom! Tang Jie was sent flying back, blood spilling out from the area between his forefinger and thumb. The fiend crocodile rolled on the ground with a bloody line on its head.
Both of them had come away injured from this clash. The fiend crocodile was furious, and the moment it landed, it charged at Tang Jie again. With its body covered in tough scales, it did not fear Tang Jie’s attacks.
Tang Jie saw the fellow charging over at him again and mentally calculated. He knew that while he could kill this guy with the Heartbreak Saber, it would probably take more than a hundred swings of the blade. Putting aside how much physical and spiritual energy this would take, he would also damage many of the scales. Thus, to save time, he flipped his wrist, a golden blade appearing in his hand. It turned into a golden streak that was aimed straight at the crocodile’s head.
The fiend crocodile was confident in its peerless defense, so it didn’t dodge. Thud! The golden blade disappeared into the crocodile’s head, piercing right through it and into the ground.
The fiend crocodile hadn’t expected to be so severely wounded. It howled and jumped, twisting its body around in a whirlwind, its thick tail swatting at the surrounding rocks and crushing them like they were tofu, instantly creating a giant hole around itself.
No matter how strong it was, it was pointless if it didn’t hit anyone. Tang Jie simply watched from a distance as the crocodile flaunted its strength, not moving a muscle.
The crocodile was truly tenacious. Even after struggling around for a while, it still didn’t die. Tang Jie lost his patience and fired off several Energy Needles at the wound in the crocodile’s head. Only then did the fiend crocodile cease its flailing and lie twitching on the ground.
As he watched the crocodile die, Tang Jie casually said, “I love meatshield opponents.”
With one swipe of his blade, he sliced off the crocodile’s head and threw it at the little tiger. “Eat it. This is yours.”
Fiend beast flesh was very nourishing, and the little tiger immediately lunged at it and began to gnaw away. He couldn’t bite through the tough scales, so he started to eat from the neck cavity. He had soon burrowed halfway into the crocodile’s head, causing Tang Jie to laugh. Putting the tiger to the side, he began to remove the scales from the crocodile and slice off the meat attached to them.
This meat couldn’t be kept, and even if he stored it in his Mustard Seed Bag, the spiritual energy on it would gradually dissipate. Fortunately, the little tiger was here, so he didn’t have to worry about wasting it.
It took quite a while for him to dispose of the crocodile, but just when he was about to leave, he glanced over at the pond and saw several small black grasses swaying in the wind.
“Darkswamp grass?” Tang Jie called out in surprise.
Wasn’t this the darkswamp grass that Qi Shaoming was looking for?
This plant grew in ponds and was pitch-black, and it had the natural ability to divide itself by using the shadows it cast on the water. If it were used in a medicine, it would be extremely beneficial to the cultivation of illusionary shadow clone spell arts. He could see four darkswamp grasses, but there was actually only one. The rest were just created from the shadows it cast.
The fiend crocodile that Tang Jie had just killed had probably been guarding this darkswamp grass. With the crocodile dead, the darkswamp grass had revealed itself, so Tang Jie threw out his golden thread to grab the darkswamp grasses.
One darkswamp grass left the water while the other three disappeared. The shadows accompanied the main stalk, creating three blurry shadows around it.
Tang Jie took out a jade box and placed the grass inside.
This jade box was a necessary item for gathering herbs, and most of the students had brought these boxes with them.
After putting away the darkswamp grass, Tang Jie continued forward with the little tiger. But even by the time night fell, he still hadn’t been able to confirm his position. As for Wei Tianchong, with Yiyi around, he hadn’t run into danger. When they ran into one or two fiend beasts, if they couldn’t win, they would just flee.
What was truly noteworthy was that Wei Tianchong had run into two students. When they had seen Wei Tianchong, they had offered to work together, but then they had tried to backstab him. Fortunately, Yiyi was cautious and had been able to promptly use her illusion formation to hold them down, allowing Wei Tianchong to escape.
After that experience, Wei Tianchong was no longer able to so easily trust others, and he could only hope that Tang Jie would quickly find him.
About this, Tang Jie could only sigh.
The world of the Valley of No Return was completely different from the outside world. Without the binding of the sect, the academy, laws, and rules, some people would start to grow brash, unbridled, even insane.
They didn’t hunt just beasts, but people as well. The law of the jungle broke out from their inner nature and rose to the surface, and some people chose to discard even that final fig leaf.
There were thirty days of adventure, and this was only the first day. Tang Jie had no idea what would happen next. The trial of the Valley of No Return was a trial of bounty, but it was also a trial of blood.
From here, students would begin to truly experience the dangers of the cultivation world. The camaraderie of schoolmates and the beauty of life would gradually fade into the distance.
At this thought, Tang Jie couldn’t help but recall that scene in the restaurant back in Wanquan City, the students raising their cups and toasting to each other as they made heroic declarations.
“Young we were, schoolmates, at life’s full flowering… nothing more than a passing dream,” Tang Jie sighed as he leaned against a tree. He looked at the little tiger on the ground, his bulging little belly exposed as he snoozed away at Tang Jie’s feet.
Today, youthful ignorance would be replaced by cruel reality. And what would happen to this little guy when his bloodline awoke?
The little tiger didn’t know of Tang Jie’s worries, only felt something warmly and gently caressing him. With hazy eyes, he crawled into Tang Jie’s bosom and continued sleeping.
Tang Jie looked at the little tiger and smiled. Closing his eyes, he began to circulate Circuit Heavens and absorb energy, quickly entering a cultivation state.