บท 20: Feeling a sense of crisis

All the way from the shore to about 100 meters away, it was clear, but from there onwards, the thick fog seemed to be gathering and Both Xu Jing and Mo Bing jumped onto the water's surface.

Some energy seemed to be applied to their feet, allowing them to balance on the water, without sinking, at the same time even the water's surface was not disturbed at all. Then under the shocked gazes of others, the couple kept spiriting on the water's surface, no, it was not spiriting as they barely landed their feet on the water's surface, it was like flying.

Halfway, a huge vine seemed to emerge from the water, and before it even approached the couple, a white light lit up, cutting it off, and only those with good eyesight Like Xu Jing close to Mu Bing Yue saw her draw her sword. It was so fast, that the others did not react and saw it fall back into the lake.

"So fast!" That was the reaction from Wu Ming, after having deceived himself, he finally realized the gap. But when everyone was marveling, the couple already entered the fog, and what could be heard was just intense collisions that lasted for less than three minutes.

This made many of the people gathered afraid, things were not supposed to be this hard from their thoughts. But not everyone was afraid, those ranked top ten in the pagoda had their own arrogance, but they seemed to understand what Xu Jing meant, they cannot take any burden on themselves. So, they nodded before sprinting into the water, each had unique abilities that allowed them to move on the water's surface.

Just that they made a lot of noise especially since they were more people at the same time, and thus the attacks came more frequently from underwater creatures. On their level, it was not hard to handle level 3 monsters, but they were on the water so they avoided being entangled with them long.

Seeing this some people had the courage while others were dejected, did not think they could reach the fog, and some were even doubtful about the situation in the fog.

In this way only close to 17 people reached inside the fog and could see Bing Yue and Xu Jing fighting in the furthest distance, against peak level 3 monsters and the numbers were not small. But after some time., with collaboration, they crushed them, before disappearing from their line of sight. It was like there had entered another space.

The four that managed to make it out of the fog, were shocked at what they saw, it was like they had indeed moved across some barrier, and the sky in this region seemed clear compared to the region they came from. They could feel that it was possible to improve and even the energy in the air was ten times that on the other side.

That was not all, before then was a fifty-meter boat, just looking at it, one could not help but be amazed. But this should be able to show how strong Bing Yue truly is, being capable of perceiving it. On the boat, Xu Jing and Bing Yue had already taken their space. Everyone reacted and jumped up onto the boat.

But looking at their numbers they seem to suddenly realize they were taking this situation too lightly in the beginning and those that manage to survive to the other side, would not be easy to mess with. After everyone boarded it took less than half a day, before the boat started off. That also marked the end of the legend of Mo Bing Yue that had reached the 15th floor of the pagoda with just one single slash. The journey ahead was what mattered to them, and seeing the opportunity for improvement, everyone got engrossed in practice.

****

Back at the shore, some people that were unwilling to believe it and attempted to enter the lake, seemed to have some serious injuries while others were unlucky not even leaving behind bones. Everyone had different thoughts when they seemed to realize that they were the strongest force left in Pagoda City. This alone was a recipe for disaster, as some thought of lording over the city, while others thought of improving their strength and others exploitation of those that come to the city.

Unfortunately, that would not work, considering there would always be a new genius entering the city each season, and offending such people is no different from seeking death, let alone Bing Yue level figure, even those at the level of Xu Jing can sweep around this group without much of a hustle. It thus would perhaps take them some time to realize this after all, how many times have people left the pagoda city via the sea, and this would not change even in the near future. Ambitions in a world such as this could only be supported with strength, without it, then one was just making some noises.

They started to retreat one by one until the entire shore was left without a single person, but then someone walked out from the forest, observing the deep sea lost in thought, when the hood was removed it seemed to be a woman, the same age as Xu Jing. "That woman sensed my existence and did not bother with me at all. She is indeed strong, I guess it would be important to try to improve my strength to that of the man beside her before thinking of leaving this place." She murmured to herself.

When it came to beauty this woman was top-notch, but she had a wild aura around her, and her hair seemed to resemble ropes, but the color also varied from red, to pink and brown. Surprisingly though, the hair seemed to fit her well. Putting the hood back on, she walked back towards the forest and disappeared from sight, but if one were to look closely, one would realize that sometime later, a huge bird seemed to be flying towards the distant skies with someone on top.

That was at least a mid-stage level 3 monster and moreover flying one, that was rare to acquire. But the scene did not seem to fall in the eyes of others at all.

******

Somewhere in the cave, deep in the forest, Musk and Xiaohe were hiding.

"Young master! What did you do to anger that monster out there? If it found out that we were hiding in this place, it will not leave at all." Xiaohe was still panting remembering how they almost died just now. Even so, hiding in this cave was not a smart move in the long term, but Musk was not bothered by that.

He had just met some people, and they almost schemed against him, had he not told Xiaohe to wait close to this cave, then the two of them would have found It hard to escape. So, to him, it was actually more favorable for the monster to wait outside that cave, and the size of that monster seemed to be too big, making it impossible to enter.

"Those four were probably rank 7 martial artists, had my inner Qi not been refined continuously to the peak of the 6th rank, perhaps I would have been left behind. Thinking back to that event, he seemed to shiver subconsciously, he had escaped death once and this was not going to happen again, in that case, it would be for the best to enter the seventh rank himself.

Looking at the head-sized egg in his hand, he had some hope. The resources, in this region he had entered were numerous but the beasts seemed stronger, considering the one on the outside, even though it was not a level 1 monster, it was above the level of beasts. What he did not know was that was a half-step level 1 monster.

It had sharper instincts and its physical body had almost reached level 1, having escaped with this egg, of course, it was not because he wanted to raise it, but for consumption. When he pulled it from the bag hanging around him, Xiaohe looked at him strangely. "What is with that look, it's not like we are going to starve ourselves. Besides, I noticed that the monster out there was probably among the weakest ones present, so you should understand the significance of improving our strength. Oh! Some people were also around when I took this egg, they almost caused me to lose my life. They are also strong; it seems like we have to go back to our business in the past. But you are very weak, better push yourself, or the beasts in this region would consume you before the people reach you."

As he spoke, he looked towards the fire that Xiaohe had already started, he did not ask questions, considering she had been at the cave all this time it was indeed smart to have collected wood. "Gathering some dust and sand all around the cave, he put it on the surface of the egg, before transferring the fire on top.

He then started to recite scripture in his mind, he was going to try and improve his cultivation, but the situation did not seem that favorable at all in this part of the forest. People in the late stages of martial rank seemed to be appearing from time to time.