Chapter 5: Chance Encounter with a Beautiful Girl
After three hasty hours, Ye Lan had arrived not far from the Monster Beast Forest, habitually hiding behind a large tree to first recover his stamina.
Looking out, the dark mountain forest stretched endlessly with rolling hills. Even the breeze blowing towards him made Ye Lan feel cheerful!
Adventurers who could reach this place already possessed a certain level of strength. What Ye Lan didn't know was that Zhao Ziqing behind him had long been left behind, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care. This place wasn't suitable for his revenge.
The area around twenty li outside the Monster Beast Forest was still relatively safe. Beyond twenty li, there was a possibility of encountering second-tier Demon Beasts. The further in one went, the more dangerous it became.
Ye Lan only wanted to hunt some valuable Demon Beasts, so naturally, he wouldn't go too deep. His personal safety wasn't a big issue.
On the way here, he also encountered two wild boars and a few red-eyed rabbits, but he wasn't interested. The only value of red-eyed rabbits was their meat, which only some ordinary restaurants would want, and the price was very low.
It was possible to find elemental energy crystals inside wild boars, but it wasn't suitable to fight here. It would be troublesome if someone saw him.
After resting for a while, Ye Lan was full of energy and directly rushed into the forest.
Half an hour later, Ye Lan, holding a steel knife, hid in a thicket of thorns, watching a wild boar not far away.
This wild boar was slightly larger than ordinary first-tier Demon Beasts outside. Its two front tusks curved upwards and were extremely sharp. Its black bristles were shiny and looked like it was about to advance.
Carefully lifting his knife, he approached from behind. When he was still five or six meters away, the wild boar suddenly raised its head.
Ye Lan knew he had been heard, so he didn't hesitate. He gripped the knife with both hands and fiercely swung forward.
His Power System ability had already been activated in advance. This strike was powerful and heavy, and it was also a sneak attack.
It was too late for the wild boar to turn around, and instantly a deep gash was left on its hind leg.
With a roar, the wild boar's ferocity was also stimulated. It lowered its head and charged towards Ye Lan with its tusks aimed at him.
This was the difference between humans and Demon Beasts. Although its hind leg was severely injured, it looked even more ferocious. If Gao Jun and Gao Jie had this kind of endurance, they wouldn't have been beaten up by Ye Lan like that.
Ye Lan wasn't flustered at all. Elemental Energy surged into his legs, and he quickly sidestepped to avoid the charge, while also slashing out with a diagonal cut.
Another wound was added to the wild boar's body, this time on its neck. However, the wound was shallow and didn't hit a vital spot.
While the wild boar hadn't turned back, he fiercely exerted force with his feet and chased after it again. This time, the wild boar also sensed the steel knife about to strike and darted out, avoiding the blow before turning around and charging again.
But its speed was clearly a bit slower. Ye Lan switched to holding the knife with one hand and fiercely stabbed towards the wild boar's eye.
"Thud"
The knife blade deeply penetrated a large section through the wild boar's eye. Without time to pull out the knife, Ye Lan urgently avoided the most dangerous tusks, but was still hit on half of his body.
With another deafening roar, the wild boar started to flee in panic.
"Its vitality is truly tenacious, it's still not dead." Ye Lan endured the pain and gritted his teeth as he chased after it.
At this point, the wild boar's running speed had slowed down significantly. It didn't run far before Ye Lan caught up. First, he slashed its hind leg again with a knife, causing the wild boar to roll over.
Before it could get up, it was cut on the neck again, finally letting out a mournful cry.
Using the knife to cut open the wild boar's head, there really was an elemental energy crystal.
Then he dug out the two huge tusks, threw them into the Storage Space along with the elemental energy crystal, and quickly left.
Although the previous battle was quick, Ye Lan was also injured. Since he hadn't prepared any healing medicine, he needed to find a place to recover as soon as possible.
He returned to the edge of the Monster Beast Forest, found a large tree, first scouted the surroundings, and then climbed up, finding a comfortable spot to sit down.
While cultivating, he also recovered from his physical injuries. The Power System's physical body was strong, and even without healing medicine, recovery was still very fast.
After a battle, Ye Lan felt that his Power System ability was not far from advancing to the second tier. If he absorbed the elemental energy crystal he just obtained, he would advance to the second tier in at most one day.
Thinking of it, he took out the elemental energy crystal, held it in his hand, and began to absorb it.
A full day passed. Ye Lan suddenly felt a warm sensation coming from his Qi Sea, slowly spreading throughout his body.
His Power System ability had reached the second tier. Feeling the strength that was several times greater than before, he clenched his fist and exerted force, and the muscles on his arm suddenly became thicker. This was the mark of the second tier of the Power System, Muscle Burst.
If he were to face that wild boar now, he was confident he could kill it with a single strike.
However, he still needed to improve as quickly as possible. Only after his Space System also advanced to the second tier would he truly have some strength.
Because at the second tier of the Space System, he could use Space Blink. Combined with his Power System's close-combat ability, it was simply perfect!
After eating some dried Demon Beast meat he brought, Ye Lan's condition returned to peak, and he set off again towards the interior of the Monster Beast Forest.
In half a day, he hunted two more wild boars and finally encountered a Blade-Horned Sheep. He killed them all easily, but didn't gain any elemental energy crystals.
The most valuable thing here was the horn of this Blade-Horned Sheep. It was like a natural dagger, even harder and sharper than Ye Lan's steel knife.
He kept one on his person as a spare and threw the rest into his Storage Space.
While walking cautiously, Ye Lan suddenly saw a flicker of firelight coming from the jungle and quickly stopped.
Anyone who dared to make a fire here was either an inexperienced rookie or a master with nothing to fear.
"Who's there!" A roar came from the direction of the firelight.
Instantly, Ye Lan felt his hairs stand on end and his body stiffen.
He saw two figures, a man and a woman, standing up beside the bonfire ahead. The man had an elegant demeanor, looked to be in his forties, and raised a heavy-looking bow and arrow, aiming it at Ye Lan.
The woman looked seventeen or eighteen, similar in age to Ye Lan. She was tall and exceptionally beautiful, not much inferior to the school beauty Fan Yueting. She wore a black combat suit, and although her pants were loose, they couldn't hide her perky buttocks.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm a student from Jinling No. 1 High School here for training."
Being pointed at by the man with a bow and arrow, Ye Lan instinctively felt extremely dangerous.
Hearing this, the other party carefully sized him up and slowly lowered the bow and arrow in his hand.
"I thought it was some Demon Beast, just a false alarm."
Ye Lan could only say he was sorry.
"You're quite bold, a high school student daring to go this deep into the Monster Beast Forest. Come and sit down."
The elegant man saw that Ye Lan only had a steel knife and didn't even bring a backpack, so he kindly invited him over.
During their chat, the man and woman didn't reveal any information, and the girl remained silent. Ye Lan guessed it was a father bringing his daughter for training, as they looked somewhat alike, but he had no intention of prying.
Learning that Ye Lan was a third-year high school student about to apply for the Dao Academy, the girl became a little curious, her large eyes scanning Ye Lan.
While they were talking, Ye Lan's stomach rumbled.
The girl was startled, then suddenly laughed. She took out a lunchbox, scooped a bowl of meat soup, and handed it over.
The enticing aroma drifted over, instantly making his mouth water, but he still waved his hand to refuse.
Although the two didn't look like bad people, it was their first encounter, so he still needed to be cautious.
The elegant man beside him seemed to notice his wariness and showed a hint of appreciation in his eyes.
He knew very well how rare it was for a young man in the prime of his youth to refuse the kindness of a beautiful girl while still maintaining such vigilance.
Then he also took out a lunchbox, filled it with meat soup, took two sips, and then turned to look over again.
"Go ahead and eat, it's not easy to have something hot to eat here."
Ye Lan thanked him and didn't decline further. He took the meat soup and began to eat and drink heartily.
After chatting with the elegant man for a while, he got up to say goodbye. They also extinguished the bonfire and prepared to set off.
Before leaving, the other party suggested that he should leave the Monster Beast Forest as soon as possible. However, Ye Lan said he could protect himself, which surprised the two of them a little.
In the jungle, Ye Lan's figure was like a nimble ape. As he ran, he only stirred up a slight breeze, not even startling a single leaf.