124 The Wu Ji Forest 1 (1/2)

The forest that served as the destination of the transference array located at the edge of the floating city Jiang'an was tenderheartedly named the Wu Ji Forest by its passersby.

The forest was an experience every single person either entering or leaving the capital of Great Yong partook in, and though the circumstances differed for each person, the general sentiment was the same.

Boundless and seemingly infinite, hence its affectionate title, the Wu Ji Forest.

It was a given that a significant helping of sarcasm was introduced whilst bestowing the forest a title on the maps of the empire, for not many people enjoyed the experience of wading through a sea of trees that soared dozens of meters into the air.

Furthermore, in its primal stages of exploration and experimentation, many had perished under the multitudes of creatures roaming around the impact areas.

The transference array of Jiang'an forcibly hurled the participants into a random region of the outskirts of the forest with great speed, traversing the several kilometer height within a manner of seconds.

A subsequent array had been installed at the central regions of the forest to decelerate the traveler's speed, thus making the means of travel horribly quick and efficient.

Be it an individual person, convoy, or even a division or regiment of the Imperial Army, the transference array hurled them towards the Wu Ji Forest without a single waste of resources.

With its supreme advantage of speed and efficiency, it was only natural that the Emperors of Great Yong declare the transference arrays as the primary means of transportation to enter and exit Jiang'an.

…for a great empire of cultivation to fondly cherish a catapult that hurled humans to their destination, the world of the Shattered Star Continent was truly odd indeed!

It was truly unfortunate that due to lacking a map of the forest, the poor young girl abandoned by her convoy was traveling towards the central region of the forest, instead of behaving as a proper traveler and departing from its outskirts.

In her defense, she was attempting her best, but simply didn't know where she was!

–

”Fifty-one, fifty-two…”

An Fei recited to herself, counting the number of oak trees on either side of her as she walked forward in the forest. The young girl's eyes narrowed, a bright gleam radiating from the cracked scarlet irises.

”I haven't lost my touch after such a long time, hm…”

An Fei was within an enormous sea of trees, the sun nearly blotted out by the dense canopy of leaves.

To the front, left, right, back, and even above her head, the young girl could only spot branch after branch of a tree, if not their main root.

The trees of the Wu Ji Forest appeared to be abnormally massive, for the shortest specimen she had discovered was a meagre forty meters in height.

Furthermore, that type of tree had only been seen once, whilst she was still reclining within the luxurious blackwood carriage.

Trees, trees, and more trees; the scenery that trapped and immersed An Fei was a mottled mix of colors.

Most of which, she couldn't even spot a single branch without having to crane her head skywards until her spine complained of misery.

The young girl took a deep breath, clearing her mind with a shake of her head.

Opening her eyes, An Fei began to scan her surroundings with increased vigilance, her experienced vision quickly beginning to differentiate each tree by their gender.

After oak trees, came holly.

”One… two…”

The young girl continued to walk through the wall-less maze of the Wu Ji Forest, her mind and body preoccupied by their respective tasks.

The dense mass of trees soon formed a blur of mottled color as she breached the depths of the forest, and the cries and songs of vitality of animals filtered into her ears.

…identifying and counting a specific type of object amongst many was an excellent method of training a person's eyesight.

As An Fei transitioned from counting holly trees to cypress, linden, then myrtle trees, the young girl could feel her visual acuity improving by the second.

A larger amount of details were captured with each blink of her eyes, and the young girl could discern between the type of trees by their bark, though her eyesight had not improved in its visual range, only in its processed resolution.

Even then, it was more than sufficient for An Fei to explore the forest with greater confidence.

She had neither survival tools nor sleeping bag to last a long time in a dense forest as this one.

Cosmetics were nice to appreciate, ointments were certainly useful for treating a wound, and yuebing were amazing desserts, but none of them were necessarily apt for surviving in a location that was not a city.

An Fei sighed, rubbing her stomach with a rueful grimace as she examined her surroundings. She could hear the rustling and chirping of animals, but couldn't spot a single one.

Birds, rabbits, squirrels… but all she could see were grass, more grass, weeds, and sparsely strewn flowers and herbs.