Chapter 366: Huang Baiyi (2/2)

Huang Baiyi’s eyes lit up with surprised. ”Amazing! A Jie expert at such a young age, your future is full of potential! Hmm, your turn then.”

Ye Chong tilted his head and gave it a moment’s thought before saying, ”I’d like to know your true strength.” This was what Ye Chong needed to know right now, as it will guide him in making the right decisions.

Huang Baiyi was caught off guard, and smiled wryly. ”Now that’s a hard one. I don’t know how much you know about mentalists. Mentalists are not like your world of combat, where there are clear delineation of levels in strength and achievement. Mentalists have no such levels, so I don’t know how to describe my true strength.” He pondered for a moment before continuing, ”I began practising meditation when I was six, and it’s been 60 years since. I reached my first bottleneck at 30, my second at 45. As for my abilities, well, I’m not too bad compared to the other mentalists.”

He spoke his last sentence lightly, but it was tinged with absolute confidence.

Ye Chong was shocked. If this man had practised meditation since six years old, and it had been 60 years since, then he must be 66 years old now. He could not reconcile the image of this white-haired middle-aged man and an elderly.

Bottlenecks were something that anyone strong enough will have. Reaching a bottleneck meant that that person had achieved a significant level of proficiency. To the average person, reaching one bottleneck was already considered miraculous.

Ye Chong had only reached his first bottleneck so far. It was when he broke through this bottleneck that he attained Jie. His second bottleneck did not seem likely. This man must be quite powerful if he had broke through two bottlenecks! While he did not know if bottlenecks had the same meaning for mentalists as they were for combat experts, he was sure that this man must be very powerful.

”Err, if you’re not happy with my answer, you can ask another question. This one doesn’t count.” Huang Baiyi’s easy and open attitude was easily likeable.

Ye Chong shook his head. ”No need. You ask.” From the confident voice of Huang Baiyi, he already had his answer.

”Are you interested in learning the skills of mentalists?” Huang Baiyi looked straight into Ye Chong’s eyes, and quickly explained, ”Haha, you’ll know how dull life is here very soon. It’s better to find something to do to pass the time.”

”No,” Ye Chong answered with certainty. He had no talent in the realm of the mind. This he knew from a long history of experimentation. Besides, he was already studying a large mix of skills. What he had to do know was to consolidate them. Picking up too many skills would only leave him unaccomplished in all of them.

Ye Chong’s solid rejection surprised Huang Baiyi. However, he quickly recovered and nodded. ”Each to their own. Some things you can’t force.” He spoke with equanimity, suggesting a very open and tolerant personality.

It was Ye Chong’s turn. ”What is this place?”

Huang Baiyi took a curious glance at Ye Chong. ”You don’t know? How did you end up here? This is the Black Forest, the most dangerous place on Dankwood planet. You’re lucky, considering that you’ve survived so far.”

Huang Baiyi sat down as he continued, ”I know what you want to ask. However, I don’t know the way out. Guess how long I’ve been staying here.”

”How long?” Ye Chong could not help but asked.

”10 years!”

Ye Chong fell silent. For someone to live here alone for 10 years, it must be a maddening experience.

Huang Baiyi smiled, unperturbed. ”It’s not a bad place, actually. There’s no war, no fights. Once, I was lonely, but now you’ve arrived. I’m curious, though, how did you end up here? Even a Jie expert, it’s very unlikely for you to survive the Black Forest unscathed.”

”I know a little alchemy,” Ye Chong answered.

”I see! The Black Forest is an alchemist’s paradise, but also a place of death! He was spot on. Ye Chong agreed with him. Black Forest offered alchemy ingredients in abundance, and was definitely a paradise for alchemists. However, this also made the place dangerous. The average alchemist would not survive for long in the Black Forest.

Huang Baiyi looked at Ye Chong curiously, and said almost jokingly, ”To think that I’d meet a genius. A Jie expert skilled in alchemy. Haha, that’s a powerful combination of skills!” It seemed that he was familiar with all these different occupations.

Ye Chong no longer felt like killing him anymore. If Huang Baiyi was speaking the truth, then it would be important to have a comrade here. He knew from his experience on the trash planet that loneliness was a much harder fight to win against compared to physical battles.

However, Ye Chong did not give up. He would study this area himself.