Chapter 682 - 422: Returning to the Peak

"Boom!"

With a loud crash, under the eerie light of the stream, a massive black shadow, three meters long and as thick as a person’s waist, fell heavily to the ground.

The giant serpent’s body bore several severe wounds with blood splattering and flesh torn. The most horrifying injury was on its head, where Wu Shidao’s Iron Ruler had nearly plunged handle-deep into the serpent’s burst eye.

As the serpent collapsed, Wu Shidao also fell to the ground, his face pale. When he drove the Iron Ruler into the serpent’s eye socket, one of the serpent’s claws had struck his back, injuring him.

At this moment, his back was a mess of torn clothes and bloody flesh, with the deepest gash at his shoulder blade, where the skin and flesh were lifted, and the white bone faintly visible.

Wu Shidao was drenched in cold sweat, grimacing in pain as he drew sharp breaths.

Not far away, Fan Hongjiao was also feeling weak, her legs wobbly. In the fierce battle just now, she too had exhausted herself. Fan Hongjiao exhaled a breath of turbid air, intending to check on Wu Shidao’s injuries, but after taking just two steps, everything went black before her eyes. Her body trembled, and she almost fell, but fortunately, a figure quickly rushed over to support her.

Fan Hongjiao steadied herself and turned her head to see Duan Rong standing beside her, looking at her with concern.

Over there, Lu Geng and Wang Yue had already hurried over to help treat Wu Shidao’s wounds.

At this moment, the grass not far away, standing half as tall as a person, suddenly shook violently. Judging by how the grass was being pushed aside, it was clear something big was about to burst out.

Those by the creek all wore grim expressions.

Both Wu Shidao and Fan Hongjiao were exhausted, and it could be said they had temporarily lost their combat effectiveness. Only Lu Geng and Wang Yue, two Primordial Qi Realm Martial Artists, and the newcomer to the trial, Duan Rong, remained standing. Encountering another fierce beast now could indeed lead to fatalities.

Surprisingly, Duan Rong did not retreat this time but instead drew the Frost Patterned Phosphor Crystal Saber, standing protectively in front of Fan Hongjiao.

Fan Hongjiao looked at Duan Rong’s back, momentarily stunned. Even though it was just a back view, she could feel Duan Rong’s nervousness and fear at this moment. After all, it was his first time in the Dark Forest, and he had only recently advanced to the Primordial Qi Realm. Moreover, the noise from the grass indicated that yet another large creature was about to emerge.

Almost the instant Duan Rong drew his saber and stood in front of Fan Hongjiao, something shot out from the grass.

Seeing the enormous black shadow, Fan Hongjiao felt relieved and rested her hand on Duan Rong’s shoulder, saying, "Don’t worry! It’s an Abdominal Deer. It’s harmless!"

Duan Rong also felt relieved and saw that although the creature was as big as a deer, it was covered in bloody wounds, with a deep gash on its back, continuously oozing fresh blood. Even though it had burst from the grass, its steps were trembling, and its breathing was labored, clearly unable to run any further.

Then, suddenly, a long spear shot out from the depths of the dark grass. With a flash of the spear’s shadow, the spearhead pierced through the head of the Abdominal Deer, pinning it to the ground at the edge of the grass.

Duan Rong’s eyes flickered, and he saw that the downed Abdominal Deer had a large mouth on its belly, which was wide open. Fresh blood was gushing out from the mouth.

As the grass shook, five or six figures flashed into view.

As these figures appeared, they immediately noticed Duan Rong and the others.

Their eyes quickly became tense and vigilant, especially when they saw the terrifyingly wounded giant serpent lying among the group, with an Iron Ruler embedded in one eye socket.

"Is that a Two-legged Frenzied Python?!"

The men looked at Fan Hongjiao and the others with terror in their eyes, with one already recognizing them as Direct Disciples from Yunfu Peak.

That person immediately clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "We were unaware the esteemed disciples were here. We stumbled in by coincidence, meaning no offense. We will leave at once!"

With those words, he quickly signaled his companions, and they lifted the Abdominal Deer’s corpse and disappeared back into the grass, quickly vanishing from sight.

Fan Hongjiao watched those people leave and turned to look at Lu Geng beside Wu Shidao, asking, "Those guys aren’t registered with the Internal History Department, are they? They look unfamiliar."

Lu Geng replied, "No! They must be from other peaks. This area by the stream is a convergence zone, so disciples from other peaks often come over here as well."

Fan Hongjiao nodded in understanding. The stone gate they entered, where they fell into the Dark Forest through the crevices, was the entry point from Yunfu Peak.

Not only could Direct Disciples use it, but any Inner Sect Disciple registered under the Internal History Department could also fall through that entry point.

Disciples from other peaks naturally came down from different entry points.

However, those registered Inner Sect Disciples generally had limited strength, and even if they came in groups, they wouldn’t dare to linger by the stream like them. It was evident that those people had chased the Abdominal Deer to this location.

Once those people left, Fan Hongjiao sat down cross-legged and began to adjust her breathing for healing, while Duan Rong stood beside her with his saber, acting as her protector.

After advancing to the Primordial Qi Realm, Duan Rong became very sensitive to the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. As Fan Hongjiao began her breathing exercises, Duan Rong could clearly sense the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi rushing crazily into Fan Hongjiao’s body, which she absorbed voraciously, just like a whale swallowing air.