128 Vermillion Fores (1/2)
Xue Wei and Hei Gou continued to fly for two days straight. During this time, both of them were on constant alert, observing everything around them.
While flying, Xue Wei spread out his spiritual energy to help them avoid all the tribes, but they were still spotted by a few groups of tribe scouts and experts out hunting, that were traversing the Flowing Blood Prairie.
These people noticed a black blur that rushed past them in the sky, but they did not see what exactly it was.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou finally relaxed after two days. They had switched directions a few times and were now flying south.
Although there was no mistake that their pursuers knew that they were aiming for the center of the continent, they dared not travel the direct way.
Elder Zhang was aware of their destination, and his flying speed was bound to be swifter than Hei Gou's.
If they were to fly west, it was very likely that they would be captured rather fast, so they instead opted to move south.
The south was still a part of the Flowing Blood Prairie, but after two days they had almost reached the end of the prairie and were almost at the kingdom located beneath the prairie and west of the southern territory of the Heping Kingdom.
This kingdom was almost as unassuming as the Kingdom of Heping; its geniuses were just a bit better than the Kingdom of Heping's, and their structure was similar.
Children aged fifteen or sixteen were sent to the army where they would undergo training in preparation for the battles against Fierce and Primordial Beasts. The most outstanding amongst them would become Primordial Beast Hunters, while the rest would return to society after finishing their time in the army.
This kingdom was incredibly small. It was as wide as the Flowing Blood Prairie and only as long as the southern territory of the Kingdom of Heping.
This tiny kingdom was known as the Vermilion Forest Kingdom, and it had gotten its name from the vermilion-leaved trees that covered ninety percent of its available land in one massive, vast forest.
This Vermilion Forest was not counted as one of the danger zones, but it was still a place that demanded caution once ventured into, and many of those who entered would end up dying, leaving their corpses behind, hidden under the fallen vermilion leaves.
This Vermilion Forest was Xue Wei and Hei Gou's destination. ”We cannot head straight for the center of the continent since they will most likely try to cut us off midway by predicting our path. If that's so, why don't we just head to another weak country and stall for some time to strengthen ourselves?”
The Vermilion Forest was not as dangerous as the Northern Taiga, but it was still dangerous enough to produce some threats for the two friends, which could possibly force their potential out and arouse their talent and make them step onto an even higher stage.
They descended through the air and landed on the ground. Hei Gou once more took on his human form. The two of them smiled at each other, feeling much calmer due to their plan, and headed straight for the edges of the Flowing Blood Prairie.
They did not come across any humans or Fierce Beasts. All they came across were skeletons of beasts and humans alike, but none of these remains had any valuables on them. They had already been stripped of all treasure they might possess.
The two friends were chatting casually while walking forward through the vast expanse of barren land. Their moods had visibly improved, the tension seeping out of their previously stiff bodies. Having escaped the Chaos Vulture Tribe's confinement, they felt much more at ease.
”Do you think that the tribe can survive the calamity it was facing?” Hei Gou asked curiously. ”I don't know if I want them to be destroyed after treating us the way they did, or if I want them to flourish since they did not kill us.”
”Don't think about them any longer.” Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders, completely carefree and not paying any attention to the tribe at all. ”Although we were forced to stay with them for some time, we benefited greatly during our stay.”
”When we get strong enough, there is no reason to take revenge on this tribe because our karmic ties have already been broken. They helped us, but at the same time they held us captive.”
”Now that we have escaped, there is no reason for us to hurry anywhere and risk ourselves. We have nothing urgent to do in the center of the continent, and the geniuses there will be much more domineering and forceful than the ones from a small Chaos Vulture Tribe. If our strength is not sufficient to keep ourselves alive, then we will become some of the youths that lose their lives on their quest to become strong.”
Hei Gou sighed. He was naturally arrogant as a beast, but he knew that Xue Wei was correct. Although he was superior to human cultivators, there existed monsters out there who could easily put up a fight against Xue Wei and Hei Gou, especially at their current cultivation level.
As they wandered through the Flowing Blood Prairie, the landscape started to change. It changed from being dusty ground with sparse vegetation into fertile soil.
”We ought to use different aliases too,” Xue Wei muttered once they had formally moved into the land of the Vermilion Forest Kingdom. ”I never thought we would be caught because of our names in the Chaos Vulture Tribe, but that was because I was not careful enough.”
Xue Wei glanced at Hei Gou and looked at him up and down before nodding his head. ”We can act like brothers from the Flowing Blood Prairie that have come to the Vermilion Forest Kingdom to temper ourselves.” Xue Wei decided.