20 Chapter 19: Sen Lin Fores (2/2)

”That was fun!”

”Yeah! It felt like a game, didn't it?”

”I wonder if I actually leveled up?”

”Who knows? It would be great if we could make a breakthrough with this experience…”

After picking up the monster cores, we proceeded from there. We encountered a few more monsters as we descended, the species growing stronger according to the level we were in. Despite our success in the following battles, we still had to watch out for traps.

”Don't be too reckless. Sen Lin Forest is full of traps that were set up by Ancients eons ago, to catch unwary intruders off guard and kill them.”

Xiao Zhang warned us not to be too complacent. More than once, we were forced to stop when spears suddenly jutted out of the ground, or a boulder came rolling out of nowhere from a hill. With our bodies clad in defensive qi, the spears couldn't pierce us, and Zhu Jiao simply smashed the incoming boulder into smithereens with his gauntlets.

”Even though the traps so far aren't anything serious, there are certain traps that are lethal even against martial artists. The deeper we are within a forest, the more advanced and deadly the trap will be. That's why you shouldn't let your guard down.”

”Yes~”

”On the other hand, the more dangerous the traps, the chances of a ruin being nearby would be proportionately higher. The Ancients who built and left behind the ruins had especially concentrated on building dense clusters of sophisticated traps near their ruins to protect their treasure, after all.”

”I can't wait to see what kind of treasure we'll find in the ruins!” Feng Tian Yong exclaimed excitedly, followed by excited chatter from the rest of our classmates.

Xiao Zhang smiled indulgently, and left to check on the other classes. Even without him, class 1-4 advanced steadily under Teacher Jiao's guidance.

Before we knew it, we had reached the twentieth sector while fighting battle after battle. Xiao Zhang reappeared to compliment us.

”Not bad! To actually reach this far in Sen Lin Forest on your first try!”

When we stared at him blankly, he quickly explained.

”We've reached the twenty-kilometer mark. Normally middle school first year students would stop at the fifteen kilometer mark before reaching their limits, but your batch is so talented that you've crossed an additional five kilometers before I realized it!”

So exploring twenty kilometers deep into Sen Lin Forest was considered a big achievement. Yay. Should I be celebrating?

By the way, Sen Lin Forest stretched for hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers across the Middle Continent. I didn't know why Xiao Zhang was making such a big deal over us covering a mere twenty kilometers, an astronomically miniscule fraction of the total area.

”Even though you don't have much experience, and this is your first time exploring the forest, for you to actually reach twenty kilometers in one go…your talent is really remarkable! All of you! Once again, I am impressed!” Xiao Zhang chuckled as he stroked his long beard. ”It was really worth accepting all of you into my academy!”

For once, he no longer looked at me as if I was trash. I guessed I had finally proven myself in combat.

”It is all because Principal Xiao has been guiding us.”

Ban Zhang bowed respectfully. As always, he spoke as if he was representing the class. Well, he wasn't wrong.

All this while, Xiao Zhang had been leading all the students from every class, guiding us past the particularly dangerous traps and warning us of ambushes from demonic monsters. If he hadn't been around to chaperon us, we would never have been able to descend so far in such a short time.

”Let's finish clearing the twenty kilometer mark, and then we'll call it a day. But be careful…from this point on, not only will there be new species of magical beasts appearing, all these various species will be cooperating to attack us. Do not let your guard down and get complacent just because it had been easy so far! Let's do it!”

Xiao Zhang spoke with a vitality and enthusiasm of a man half his age. I had no idea how he still had so much energy.

We moved on, and encountered a few more monsters. This time, we encountered a pack of Silverback Wolves, working in conjunction with Bad Badgers.

Oh, I know these monsters!

It seemed that all that time spent reading in the library had paid off. I had been researching and reading up on the various species of magical beasts present in this timeline, glancing through an encyclopedia to increase my knowledge regarding this new world. Even though that took some time away from my martial arts training, all that reading was worth it.

”What the…?!”

I heard a classmate shout when his sword bounced off the armored fur of a Silverback Wolf. Nearby, Zhu Jiao cursed when his punch failed to pulverize one.

”These guys are tough!” he shouted. I pushed my glasses up as I offered an explanation.

”If I remember, the weakness of a Silverback Wolf is its stomach. Attacking its back would be ineffective because the fur there is armored, and thus impervious to most weapons unless you have massive amounts of qi and strength...”

”How do you know that?” Zhu Jiao demanded. Despite his doubt, he twisted around and punched a Silverback Wolf from below. The magical beast howled as it burst apart from the sheer force. Zhu Jiao's eyes widened. ”Hey! You're right!”

”I told you, didn't I? That knowledge is power. This is why I go to the library everyday to read!”

”Ha ha!” Zhu Jiao chuckled as he shook his head wryly. ”As expected of Fei Wu. This is why you're among the smartest people in class.”

”I wish.” I snorted, but wasn't able to come up with a better retort. For now, I should focus on the battle. I couldn't afford to get distracted.

Using my footwork, I managed to lead the Silverback Wolf on a wild goose chase. As it impatiently growled and pounced on me, I suddenly spun around and slid under it while swinging my sword up.

In a single movement, I eviscerated the Silverback Wolf's soft belly. Blood and guts spilled on me as I slid past, causing me to retch, but I swallowed, wiped the disgusting fluids off my face, and rose to my feet. Turning around, I finished off the fatally wounded Silverback Wolf.

”Phew…”

That was dangerous. Silverback Wolves were actually pretty strong creatures, possessing both raw power and cunning intellect. That I managed to provoke a Silverback Wolf into lunging at me and exposing its vulnerable underbelly was sheer luck. Or me being smarter than the cunning Silverback Wolf in this regard.

”Whoa!”

I turned around when I heard the cry. It seemed that Qing Xin Xia had been cornered and was trying to fight off a pack of Silverback Wolves. She had stayed behind to help heal the wounded. Despite our efforts, it wasn't as if the class was carrying out perfect kills and emerging from the battles totally unscathed. We always had casualties and wounded, and it fell to Qing Xin Xia and the other disciples of the Green Dragon Sect to heal the classmates who were injured.

The Silverback Wolves seemed to have notice this, for they were seizing the opening and attacking the class where it was most vulnerable.

”Tch…”

I clicked my tongue and got ready to use Advance to charge toward the Silverback Wolves. Before, I could, however, a golden blast of qi slammed into the Silverback Wolf I was aiming at, almost tearing it in half from sheer force.

”Get away from them!”

Zhu Jiao was shouting. With a stomp, he conjured a row of stalagmites that pierced the soft underbellies of the Silverback Wolves.

”T…thank you.”

Qing Xin Xia stared up at her savior gratefully, her eyes sparkling. Zhu Jiao seemed to notice her affection and he chuckled embarrassedly.

”No, it's nothing much…”

I had always suspected, but this confirmed my thoughts. Qing Xin Xia obviously had a crush on Zhu Jiao for a long time. The way she looked at him was…yeah, the way a woman looked at a man. Full of affection and longing.

”Ahem.”

”Whoa!”

”Ah?!”

Both Zhu Jiao and Qing Xin Xia jumped when Bai Ning Xue cleared her throat. I was also a little taken aback. When did she appear?

”Are you all right, Xin Xia?”

”Ah…yes. That's right. Thanks to Classmate Jiao…”

”Speaking of which, Jiao, let's go. We've to make sure there are no other magical beasts left in the area.”

Bai Ning Xue turned away and said without looking at him. Zhu Jiao looked a little startled, but he grinned sheepishly and hastily followed her.

”Uh…right.”

Meanwhile, from a distance, Qi Fu Ren was glaring in their direction, a murderous look in his eyes.

What the hell?!

I wanted to roll my eyes at the entire scene. What was this, some kind of romantic comedy? Were they seriously pulling this love rectangle crap in the middle of a monster-infested forest? There's a time and place for everything, you know?!

At that moment, Bai Ning Xue stopped and stared at an unusually large tree.

”What's that?”

All of us turned and looked in the direction she was facing. As she had pointed out, there was something embedded in the massive tree, but it wasn't a bug or one of the usual magical beasts carving a home into its huge trunk.

No, it was a diamond-like gem that glowed brilliantly and beautifully.

”Oh, that's a Glacial Gemstone.” Xiao Zhang nodded as he mused to himself. ”Fascinating. I rarely see one of that size. It will sell for a lot of money…but it's also very useful for cultivation and is extremely valuable as ingredients for Spirit weapons and armaments. It's also very often used to craft jewelry for the royalty and nobles.”

All the girls were going googly eyes over it.

”How pretty…”

”It's lovely…”

”Beautiful…”

While the girls chattered excitedly or whispered shyly amongst each other, Bai Ning Xue alone remained silent. She cast a surreptitious glance at Zhu Jiao, but I was probably the only one who noticed it. No, it seemed that Qing Xin Xia noticed it as well, but she merely turned away guiltily and focused her gaze on the Glacial Gemstone.

Qi Fu Ren, who had been watching Bai Ning Xue, also noticed it.

”In that case, I'll get it!”

He roughly declared and quickly moved toward the Glacial Gemstone. Xiao Zhang spun around, astounded by his abrupt behavior.

”Hey! Don't just grab the Glacial Gemstone like that! Check to make sure it's safe first!”

Qi Fu Ren pointedly ignored him and reached the Glacial Gemstone. Despite Xiao Zhang moving forward to stop him, he was too late. Qi Fu Ren had already stretched out his hand and touched the Glacial Gemstone.

At that moment, Teacher Jiao jolted and raced forward.

”Get away from that Glacial Gemstone! It's a trap!”

Unfortunately, he was too late. In the brief moment that Qi Fu Ren touched the Glacial Gemstone, there was already a massive formation circle of qi rapidly expanding from the crystal to envelope the entire clearing.

Oh boy…why do I have a strange sort of déjà vu?

That was because the formation circle looked very similar to the one that was used in many summoning stories. Such as one that involved a certain edgy synergist with a railgun and motorbike.

”Fall back!” Xiao Zhang sounded panicky. ”Leave this place immediately! Go!”

The class was already fleeing toward the edge of the forest, but they didn't make it in time. The light from the formation circle flashed blindingly across the clearing, drowning our vision in pure white. I blinked, but couldn't see anything no matter how much I tried. Not that there was anything to see…in fact, I felt as if I was floating, like there was nothing beneath my feet.

The next thing I knew, the white light disappeared and the class was rudely deposited upon yet another place.

”Whoa!”

”Ouch!”

”What the hell?!”

While I managed to land on my feet because of my footwork, the rest of my classmates weren't as lucky. Most of them had lost their balance and fell on their rump, hard. They were groaning and rubbing their bruised parts as they got up.

Pushing up my glasses, I looked around my new surroundings. It was no longer a forest but seemed to be a subterranean cavern. Clearly the formation circle was a transportation technique that brought us across space and brought us to a different place.

That different place was currently a bridge. The transportation technique had deposited us directly in the middle of a large stone bridge that stretched across a hundred meters in length. Below the bridge was nothing but a yawning chasm of sheer darkness so deep that we couldn't see the bottom. I shuddered when I stared down into it, feeling as if I was being watched by something, and suddenly remembered reading something similar.

If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze back into you. Friedrich Nietzsche was the one who said that, right?

Tearing my eyes away from the endless abyss below, I scanned through the bridge. Obviously there were no handrails for us to hold onto, which made it absolutely vital that we get off the damned bridge before we slip off and fall below. On either end of the bridge were cliffs that housed passageways into stairways that led above.

Xiao Zhang must have noticed the same thing, for he quickly instructed us in a grim tone.

”All of you, hurry up and get to the stairs immediately! Get out of here! Right now!”

The whole class moved without any hesitation. Even the usually rebellious Qi Fu Ren offered no snarky reply.

Unfortunately Sen Lin Forest wasn't kind enough to lure us into a trap, only to let us escape so easily. New formation circles materialized on both sides of the bridge, and monsters began emerging from within these circles. On one side was a gargantuan magical beast that reminded me of Fenrir from Norse mythology, with its massive wolf-like frame, spiky fur and gigantic fangs. On the other side was a massive pack of skeletal monsters that brayed hollowly as they galloped toward us, their exposed bones rattling.

Xiao Zhang could only stare at the massive magical beast, his eyes wide in fear. His mouth opened and closed for several moments, and only when I strained my ears could I hear what he was whispering.

Not that I needed him to tell me. I already had my suspicions about the monster's identity, having read about it in an encyclopedia in the library. Even so, Xiao Zhang's words served to confirm my worst fears and send chills down my spine.

”Impossible…that's…that's a Behemoth…”