Battle Frenzy

Although the entire journey wasn’t particularly long, it took them almost 3 days to arrive at their current location, with most of the time being spent traversing the cave structures. The thin air and the nose-piercing smells would make even the most resilient men shout out in unbearable agony. In fact, Sister Hong was basically cursing and swearing for this whole section of the journey.

Despite the feeling that the descent was about to end, they still had to traverse through the cave for the remaining portion of the journey. At this moment, the ground began to level out, while most of the unbearable smells had already dissipated. Clearly, these were indications that they were getting closer to the source of wind that connected them to the outside world.

Realising that they were finally about to complete another part of their journey, Sister Hong started to ask Gong Yi about the possible dangers present in the 3rd layer, the Dimensional life forms present, as well as their estimated ranks.

“There isn’t much information on the 3rd layer. With that guy’s strength, being able to make it this far was already very lucky of him.” Gong Yi replied with a shake of his head. “Even the armed forces have only breached the boundary of the 2nd layer during their expeditions, so they know nothing about the 3rd layer.”

“However, there’s one thing that I can confirm.” Gong Yi continued with a solemn voice. “During the expedition where the Evil Demon Legion had emerged from the 3rd layer, it mainly consisted of the Evil Demon War Ant Colony that lived here, with all of them at the peak of the 3rd rank. As for the rest, they are at least 4th rank and above, and that even includes some of the intelligent races.”

Solemn expressions surfaced on everyone’s face. In fact, there was no need for Gong Yi to explain how much more dangerous the 3rd layer was, compared to the 2nd layer; furthermore, they had already encountered the 2-headed Cerberi in the 2nd layer. As they headed deeper into the 3rd layer, the level of danger would only increase.

“It would be for the best if we don’t engage in any combat while in the 3rd layer. We’ll rely on Sister Hong’s danger sense. Regardless of how many detours and how much time we have to spend waiting, we have to avoid everything as much as possible.” Gong Yi concluded, pausing to look at everyone before continuing, “We have only one life, and one chance!”

Nearing the exit of the cave, everyone could see a dim and hazy glow around the exit, much lower in intensity than the light in the 2nd layer.

Not in a hurry to rush out, everyone waited as Sister Hong activated her ability, carefully scouting and feeling for any signs of danger lurking outside the cave entrance.

“What a strange feeling.” She said with a frown, clearly quite hesitant in making a judgement.

“There seems to be some danger, though it also feels quite safe at the same time. I don’t feel any offensive or hostile presence. This is really very contradictory… I’ve never encountered such a situation before.”

Everyone exchanged glances with each other. Sister Hong’s perception had helped them so many times in their journey, causing everyone to have confidence in her judgement. However, it didn’t seem to be working this time.

“Could it be because the level of danger is too high, so high that it caused a deviation in your perception?” Gong Yi attempted to provide an explanation for the situation. Even though Wang Zhong was able to maintain his calm before the Sovereign of Fire, he was still shocked into terror by Margaret in the 2nd layer. There were times when one’s innate perception of danger would become useless, especially when the disparity of strength was too big.

However, Sister Hong shook her head and replied: “My perception talent is somewhat unique, so situations like that shouldn’t happen.”

“Let me go out first to take a look.” Reynolds said, reluctant to continue wasting time waiting. Since there was already no path of retreat for them, they would definitely need a scout. Obviously, he didn’t know what it meant to be afraid of death.

“It’s better if we go together. Since we’re still going to bump into whatever’s there, we should still be careful.”

Carefully walking out of the cave, everyone saw a faintly lit world. Unlike the majestic valleys and rivers of lava in the 2nd layer, the 3rd layer appeared just like a forest from a fantasy. Around them, there were several gorgeous, multi-colored plants. Compared to the pictures of “hell” that filled everyone’s imagination, this was truly like a paradise.

“What beautiful flowers.” Sister Hong glanced at a beautiful flower not far away, blossoming within a turf of grass. It appeared as though countless stars were sparkling on its petals. Fluttering about, it seemed to be scattering its seeds in the wind.

Paying attention to this, Gong Yi’s eyes lit up with great interest. However, his attention was not focused on the beauty of the flower.

That flower was extremely unique and had numerous overlapping petals that formed multiple layers, something rarely seen in other flowers.

“How many petals does it have?” Gong Yi smiled. “Anyone care for a bet?”

“Watch out for poison!” Reynolds scanned the area, as his danger senses were tingling. Soul Power started to surge out from his body as he lowered his hands towards his runic blade, which was now in its half-drawn state.

By his side, Little Xin didn’t say anything as she stared at the mysterious flower with a somewhat strange gaze. Her forehead started to scrunch up before a sinister look suddenly appeared on her little face.

“Something’s wrong!” All of a sudden, Simba’s ears turned ramrod straight. When Wang Zhong didn’t consciously seal up his senses, Simba was able to feel and perceive everything that was happening around Wang Zhong. However, at this moment, the outer world had suddenly disappeared, as though Wang Zhong could no longer sense the outside world.

Simba raised his clown nose as he looked upwards, appearing to have realised something. “Wang Zhong? Wang Zhong!”

Wang Zhong, Wang Zhong…

“This child’s not going to make it.” The doctors and nurses shook their heads. “We’ve done everything that can be done. We’ve already tried our best.”

“We can test the latest Dimensional Magnetic Resonance on him.”

“He cannot endure it! His body is too weak! Furthermore, this technology is still in its testing phase…”

“Trying everything is better than giving up and not doing anything.” A male voice rang out by the side of the bed. “His injuries are caused by the large explosion of Dimensional energies. Using poison to counteract poison should produce some effect. Could anything be worse than this?”

“Even if that’s the case… you have to be prepared to pay for the procedure. You two have to know that most families aren’t able to afford this treatment. Exactly how is this child related to you two?” The doctor questioned the man; having a deep understanding of the man, the doctor clearly knew about some hidden rules and restrictions. With a sigh, the doctor continued, “Please think about this carefully, old Wang.”

“…” After a few seconds of silence, a female’s voice responded. “His name is Wang Zhong.”

“And he’s our son!” The man added with a firm and powerful voice.

The hazy feeling gradually disappeared, while the voices of the doctor and his parents grew distant. His entire surroundings descended into darkness, while the feelings of loneliness and death caused Wang Zhong to feel incomparably cold.

He was all too familiar with everything around him; this was his home of darkness.

Everything, seemed to have just started.

…

Unlike the strangeness of the cursed lands, the Federation was currently enjoying a period of prosperity.

The outstanding participants of the CHF were being gathered in Stuart City, before being sent to the blessed lands that countless people hoped and dreamed to enter.

The Dimensional Blessed Lands wasn’t a stable place, but an illusion-type Dimensional World. Although it was located in the Hyperdimension, it would “disconnect” from time to time. Everytime it reappeared, it would stay for approximately 3 to 5 months, before disappearing again. Upon reappearing, it would have already moved to a different spatial coordinate.