Chapter 434 - 273: Mist Sea

Chapter 434: Chapter 273: Mist Sea

Huang Shi’s warmth vanished, his face twisting into a ferocious scowl.

"Kid, I’m gonna teach you a lesson today. Cooperate, and you’ll save yourself a world of hurt. Otherwise..."

Dao stepped forward, blade in hand, unleashing a brutal aura that pressed down on Yu Fei.

"Surrender! I guarantee it’ll go easier on you."

Yu Fei was almost speechless. ’And here I was, wondering how many men this Huang Shi would bring,’ he thought. ’Is this it?’

With a flick of his finger, an invisible wave of Sword Qi swept past them, and the men dropped dead on the spot.

The ferocious look was still frozen on Huang Shi’s face. If you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned.

...

The next day, Yu Fei set out for the Eternal Night Forest with the elite team he had hired for one hundred million merit points.

The team had a clear division of labor. The two veteran rangers didn’t have particularly powerful auras, but they had both mastered a Stealth Secret Skill.

"Mr. Gao, the Eternal Night Forest lies in the deepest part of the realm. We will pass near three cities and four supply points. If all goes well, we expect the journey to take about a month."

He was using the alias Gao Yunxiang, which is what they called him.

The speaker was the older of the two rangers. Wang Yu had told him this man had been exploring the Sea of Desolate Beasts for over thirty years and was incredibly experienced.

His codename was Di Kui.

None of them went by their real names, using codenames instead. Over time, those codenames had become their names.

The other, younger ranger’s codename was Feng Xi. According to Wang Yu, he was also an experienced explorer. More importantly, he was said to be incredibly lucky, having once survived the Green Sea Qi Tide.

Yu Fei looked at the purple gemstone visible above the man’s head and felt a stir of interest. ’If he really has a talent for good luck, I have to find a way to test it.’

However, in case Wang Yu had been exaggerating, he decided he would find an opportunity to test this claim.

Often, luck was the most important thing of all.

"A month? Can we make it any faster?"

Di Kui shook his head firmly.

"Mr. Gao, one month is a relatively safe estimate. We’ll need to resupply along the way, so it’s best to stick to routes near cities or settlements in the beginning."

Yu Fei asked coolly, "Do you have a map?"

Di Kui hesitated for a moment, but then he remembered Wang Yu’s instructions and silently pulled a yellowed parchment from his robes.

For any ranger, a map they’d drawn themselves was like a family heirloom, not something to be shown to others lightly.

The unique nature of the Sea of Desolate Beasts meant its forests were in a constant state of flux. To avoid getting lost, rangers had to identify unchanging landmarks within the ever-shifting woods.

"Mr. Gao, look. The Eternal Night Forest is in the far north. The farther north we travel, the stronger the distorting power becomes, and the more difficult the desolate beasts we encounter will be..."

The map was entirely hand-drawn, its contents both detailed and crude. The topography was severely distorted, though one could vaguely make out the names of cities and the locations of a few landmarks. It was covered in a dense script of bizarre symbols.

Yu Fei understood. Every ranger recorded their findings in their own way, using personal shorthand and secret codes so that the map would be useless in anyone else’s hands.

Just then, Feng Xi took out his own map. It was just as abstract, though with fewer annotations.

If you put the two maps side-by-side, no one would believe they depicted the same place. They looked completely unrelated.

Di Kui and Feng Xi exchanged a subtle glance. They could each largely understand the other’s map; the differences weren’t significant.

Yu Fei listened to their explanations for a while. Their biggest concern was running into unexpected trouble and running low on supplies, which was why their proposed route was so conservative.

Yu Fei presented his own idea.

"We’ll depart from Mengchu City and head straight for Celestial Rock City with no stops. We can rest briefly once we arrive!"

"But..." Di Kui hesitated.

Yu Fei continued, "You were all recommended by Wang Yu as top-tier talent. In this team, all of you are at the Gang Qi Realm. You just said there wouldn’t be any overly powerful desolate beasts before we reach Celestial Rock City. I believe we can make the trip quickly."

"As for supplies, I’ll have to rely on you two. As long as you can find clean water, food shouldn’t be an issue. The forest is crawling with desolate beasts; we won’t go hungry."

"I spent over a hundred million merit points on this. You’d better show me you’re worth it."

"Well?"

As he spoke, Yu Fei’s gaze swept over them. He used his Soul Capturing ability at its lowest level, just enough to make them feel a sense of pressure.

Using the ability so subtly wasn’t an overt attack, but in a negotiation, it greatly enhanced his persuasiveness.

Sure enough, after meeting Yu Fei’s gaze, they couldn’t help but look away. They seemed to forget that the young man before them was only at the fifth realm, attributing their reaction to the logic of his words.

Di Kui was still hesitant. But then he recalled Wang Yu’s warning: this ridiculously young, slightly chubby kid was likely not just at the fifth realm. Anyone who could make Wang Yu feel threatened couldn’t possibly be weak.

"Alright, Mr. Gao! We’ll follow your lead. But after Celestial Rock City, we must be extremely careful and stick to the route we’ve planned."

As a veteran ranger, Di Kui had survived so long in the Sea of Desolate Beasts by relying on one thing: caution.

With the two guides on board and the route decided, the group prepared to depart.

Di Kui and Feng Xi made some minor adjustments to the route. Then, with one in the lead and the other bringing up the rear, they both activated their stealth skills to scout ahead.

Three combat-specialist guards took the flanks, while another covered the rear, forming a protective box around Yu Fei—their patron—and two porters in the center.