Chapter 77: Flipping the Table

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Flipping the Table

"Zhao Yang, is *this* what you meant when you said you were better than me?"

Zhao Yang shot his girlfriend a baffled look. "What else?" he asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Lu Feifei rolled her eyes. "How can you be so shameless about riding someone’s coattails?"

Zhao Yang: "I latched onto this powerhouse with my own skill. Why shouldn’t I be proud of it?"

Lu Feifei: "..."

’Alright, you fool. You actually have a point. I’m speechless.’

"So, Feifei, you have to stick close to me. Don’t get lost."

Lu Feifei wiggled the hand Zhao Yang was holding tightly. "If you manage to lose me even like this, then you deserve to be single for the rest of your life, Zhao Yang."

"That’s enough, you two. There are other people here."

Their public display of affection was getting to be a bit much even for bystanders. The girl standing next to Lu Feifei protested helplessly.

Lu Feifei glanced at the girl beside her and sheepishly pulled her hand back from Zhao Yang’s.

"Liu, why don’t you come with us in the ruins? That way we can watch out for each other."

Zhao Yang nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the ruins are pretty dangerous. Why don’t you join us, Senior Sister Yang?"

Yang Liu shook her head. "No, thank you. I can protect myself."

In the time it took them to speak, ninety percent of the assembled crowd had already dispersed.

Yu Su faced the dozen or so disciples of the Celestial Demon Sect, their expression grave.

"These ruins are far larger than we could have imagined."

"While seeking your own fortunes individually might maximize your gains from this trip, I still advise you to travel in pairs at a minimum, so you can watch each other’s backs."

The dozen or so disciples all nodded in agreement. They didn’t need their Grandmaster to tell them; they already knew what to do.

They were here to find opportunities, not to get themselves killed. Those who weren’t confident in their own strength naturally wouldn’t go it alone.

Yu Su’s gaze swept over the faces of the Celestial Demon Sect disciples one by one before nodding. "Very well, let’s part ways here. You only have half a month. Make it count."

With that said, Yu Su’s figure rose into the air and flew off over the boundless forest ahead.

Watching Grandmaster Yu Su depart, Lu Feifei turned to the girl beside her again.

"Liu, are you sure you don’t want to come with us?"

Yang Liu smiled and shook her head. "You two will be fine together. I’ll see you in half a month."

With a wave, she also rose into the sky, flying toward the endless forest.

Lu Feifei watched her leave, her eyes fixed on the direction she’d flown. Only after the girl’s figure had completely vanished from sight did she turn back in astonishment to look at her foolish boyfriend.

"Zhao Yang, did you just see how Liu..."

"She can fly. So Senior Sister Yang has already reached the Immortal Platform Realm."

Her suspicion confirmed, Lu Feifei murmured to herself, "No wonder..."

No wonder she didn’t want to team up with them.

They were still languishing in the Divine Sea Realm, while she had already stepped onto the Immortal Platform. They were on different levels, seeking different opportunities.

Sticking with them would only hold her back.

Putting her hand in her boyfriend’s, Lu Feifei gazed at the forest ahead.

"Let’s go in, too."

Zhao Yang nodded. "These trees are hundreds of meters tall. They feel like they’ve been here for at least ten thousand years."

"Who knows what dangers lie in this forest? We should be careful."

Lu Feifei nodded. The two of them stepped into the woods, each watching a different direction on high alert.

After walking through the forest for the better part of a day, they hadn’t encountered any danger. In fact, they hadn’t seen a single ant or poisonous insect.

Lu Feifei secretly lowered her guard, a faint smile returning to her face.

"You fool, looks like we were overthinking it. This forest doesn’t seem dangerous at all."

However, contrary to Lu Feifei’s relief, Zhao Yang’s expression had grown increasingly grim over the past few hours.

"You think this forest isn’t dangerous?"

Lu Feifei shot him a look. "We’ve been in here for so long and haven’t even seen a single poisonous bug. It feels safer than the woods behind the sect’s mountain."

After saying that, she seemed to recall something, and a blush crept onto her face.

Zhao Yang glanced at her and retorted, "Have you ever considered... in a forest this huge, why isn’t there even a single poisonous bug?"

Lu Feifei looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Zhao Yang shook his head. "We’ve been in Lingzhou City for two months. I wonder if you’ve heard the saying: ’A big forest is home to all kinds of birds.’"

Lu Feifei nodded. "I’ve heard it."

Zhao Yang shot back, "Well, do you think this forest is big enough?"

Lu Feifei: "..."

"Then do you think it’s really normal for a forest to have nothing but trees? Not a single bird in the sky or beast on the ground?"

Lu Feifei: "..."

Zhao Yang gave her a strange look. "Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Lu Feifei pointed behind him. "Do... do you feel like the branches around us... are getting more numerous?"

Zhao Yang: "..."

He subconsciously turned his head. Seeing the scene behind him, Zhao Yang swung his sword and sliced through a branch that was less than half a meter away.

He stood back-to-back with Lu Feifei.

"There’s something wrong with these trees."

Lu Feifei grunted in agreement. If she still hadn’t figured it out by now, she’d truly be dumber than a fool.

’But... speaking of which, my fool actually noticed there was a problem with this forest even earlier than I did. That’s actually pretty rare.’

Just as she was thinking this, the tentacle-like branches seemed to realize they’d been exposed. They immediately stopped hiding and shot toward Zhao Yang and Lu Feifei from all directions, aiming to strangle them.

They were, after all, cultivators at the Divine Sea Realm and hailed from a Major Sect like the Celestial Demon Sect.

The two of them worked together to block a wave of attacks from the tentacles. Zhao Yang’s expression darkened as he watched the severed branches, which continued to writhe on the ground.

"We can’t stay in this forest. We have to break out."

Lu Feifei nodded, using Sword Control to lift both herself and Zhao Yang into the air. Zhao Yang held his Flying Sword, its light forming a barrier that slashed apart the branch-tentacles swarming them from all sides.

In the forest, the canopy could be over a thousand meters above the ground. Lu Feifei had flown less than three hundred meters up when the light before them suddenly dimmed.

Looking up, they saw that a dense net woven from branches had already formed above their heads.

The great net blotted out the sky, sealing off every possible escape route from the forest.

"We can’t get out!"

Lu Feifei’s voice was cold. They fought and retreated together, trying to escape the blockade of branches and break out of this endless forest.

But... although they managed to neutralize every attack, the situation they faced grew increasingly dire.

"Good thing it’s only the branches that can move. If the trees themselves could attack, we’d be..."

After fending off another wave of branches, Zhao Yang stood panting beside a large tree that had been stripped bare, trying to make light of their predicament for his girlfriend’s sake.

But before he could finish his sentence, Lu Feifei’s expression changed dramatically. Her pupils dilated as she drew her sword and thrust it at the large tree behind him.

"Watch out!"

SHWIIING

A flash of sword light, and another Immortal Platform Realm flying beast was cut down by Su Han’s blade.

Putting away the corpse, Su Han’s expression grew even darker.

"Thirty-three. In just half a day, there have been thirty-three of these aerial attacks alone."

Muttering, Su Han looked up at the empty sky. "I don’t care if someone is pulling the strings from the shadows, and I don’t care who it is.

"You’d better listen up.

"They say ’three strikes and you’re out,’ but this Crown Prince has already mercifully given you thirty-three chances.

"If you keep this up, don’t blame this Crown Prince for flipping the table!"