Chapter 146- Double edged sword
The current situation continued on for two weeks. Most of the weaker competitors had already been killed by the beasts or other competitors. The test was getting increasingly challenging as stronger beasts began to emerge from the depths of the forest.
A few days ago, a spirit level beast actually appeared and slaughtered almost hundred juniors before retreating into the forest depths!
Long Feng and Hua Liuli were quite unlucky too. They mistakenly disturbed a resting blood snake crocodile at the peak yang level!
The enraged crocodile ended up chasing after them for three days before it finally gave up.
The duo rested for a day before continuing with their hunt. After going on a killing spree for the past two weeks, currently, the both of them were ranked among the top two hundred competitors!. Sadly, their progress had slowed down because the others ranked above them were not easy opponents. Each of them had also killed a considerable number of beasts and it wasn't easy to surpass them. Nevertheless, they were still progressing.
The both of them just finished off another horde and decided to settle down on a tree branch and rest.
"We should try heading deeper into the forest. We might be lucky enough to find a Yin ghost. Even the weakest Yin ghost give points comparable to killing a peak yang level beast." Long Feng suddenly proposed.
"it's too dangerous. You must know that the real overlords of the Yin ghost forest are not the beasts but the Yin ghosts. We can't afford to offend them. Besides, they can only be found deep in the forest. We won't even have our corpses left if we go that far in" Hua Liuli instantly declined.
Long Feng shrugged his shoulders. As he was about to speak again, he suddenly felt the surrounding Yin energy beginning to churn violently. Although it was almost undetectable to others, he was able sense this change using his demon energy.
Hua Liuli also seemed to have detected this change as she frowned slightly.
"Big brother Long Feng, what is happening?"
Long Feng shook his head
"I'm not sure. But the Yin energy seems to be gathering towards that direction" he pointed out a direction with his finger.
"Do we go then?" Hua Liuli asked.
"of course. We should find out what is going on. All those who can sense this change should be heading there too. We can't miss out on the fun." Long stood up and leapt onto another tree branch nearby.
Hua Liuli excitedly stood up and jumped after him.
On the way, Long Feng met a few other people who were headed in the same direction. The disturbance in the Yin energy was getting stronger and even the weaker people could sense it.
This piqued Long Feng's interest. Anything that could absorb such ambient Yin energy was obviously far from being ordinary.
Of course, the possibility of it being a wild beast was quite high. In that case, heading over was not a good idea. Still, few people could resist feeling curious even in the face of some danger.
As the disturbance became more and more obvious, Long Feng suddenly paused and looked into the sky. Many people were doing the same.
In the sky some distance away, a whirlpool appeared. The whirlpool was like a black hole, endlessly swallowing the Yin energy which showed no sign of decreasing in the face of such frightening absorption.
"What is going on?" Long Feng muttered as he gazed at the whirlpool in the sky.
A change soon occurred a few minutes later. The whirlpool in the sky ceased absorbing the Yin energy and slowly faded and the place became calm again.
This calm didn't last for long though.
A moment after the whirlpool vanished, a faint fragrance spread throughout the surroundings. Upon inhaling this fragrance, Long Feng was stunned to find his demon energy become a tiny bit purer.
Although this increase in purity was far too miniscule to be of much use, it was still there. Furthermore, his state of mind became calmer and his aura became slightly more refined.
"A spirit herb!" Beside him, Hua Liuli instantly shouted. Her voice was filled with shock and some excitement.
"Spirit herb?" Long Feng drew a deep breathe after hearing this. He had ever read of this term before from the study room of his father back at the Long clan.
A spirit herb was a kind of herb which absorbed the natural energy to grow. This was something normal herbs couldn't achieve.
Spirit herbs possessed miraculous abilities and it is said that a dozen spirit herbs could be refined into a spirit pill which would benefit even Imperial realm masters!
A spirit herb and was as priceless as a low ranked spirit armament!
Moreover, if the natural energy within the spirit herb was the same as your dao, it could greatly strengthen your dao comprehension!
Even spirit realm masters would set out upon learning of the appearance of a spirit herb.
This was why Long Feng and Hua Liuli were so shocked after guessing what might have caused such massive disturbance.
"Hua Liuli, are you sure that it is a spirit herb?" Long Feng asked dryly.
Hua Liuli nodded.
"I have seen some spirit herbs before. This fragrance is definitely that of a spirit herb! I can't believe that we ran into a priceless spirit herb in the outskirts of the forest!"
Hearing her confirmation, Long Feng smacked his lips with his tongue. He couldn't help but wonder what was in the depth of the forest if a spirit herb could appear here.
"Let's hurry up. We must get that spirit herb at any cost!" Long Feng didn't waste anymore time and immediately shot off like an arrow leaving the bow. An equally excited Hua Liuli immediately followed behind at an even faster pace.
***
At a certain part of the Yin ghost forest, a few people began to gather staring at the area in front of them with heated eyes, though no one stepped forward after seeing the few corpses littered beside the pond.
In front of them was a pond a few meters wide. In the center of the pond was an ordinary looking grayish flower. This flower had five petals and a drop of dew was condensed on the tip of each of the petals. Anyone with a discerning eye though, could tell that this flower was far from ordinary. That was because this gray flower was the cause of the previous disturbance and the origin of the refreshing fragrance.
This was the spirit herb!
The area around the pond was strangely quiet while a pensive mood slowly filled the place. Everyone stared at the others with icy caution.
Long Feng and Hua Liuli both arrived and met this strange atmosphere. Therefore, they decided to remain low-key and they joined the crowd.
This strange silence was soon broken though. A rank nine Yin level cultivator finally couldn't contain his greed as his eyes became scarlet red. With a slight yell, he shot towards the pond.
The strange thing was that no one stepped out to intercept him and they all watched him mockingly. Some even shook their heads while muttering;
"Another fool courting death. Is it so easy to obtain such a priceless treasure?"
As the man neared the pond, Long Feng's pupils suddenly shrank as he suddenly had a feeling of danger in his heart.
*Pu!
A streak of light appeared out of nowhere and pierced right through the forehead of the unfortunate peak Yin level cultivator who instantly froze. Blood splattered out of the hole on his forehead as an unwilling light flashed past his eyes before they lost all lustre and his body collapsed near the few corpses already there.
The man was dead!
But Long Feng's attention wasn't on the person. Instead, his expression was solemn as he gazed at a certain direction at the other side of the pond. The earlier streak of light had come from that place and he had sensed a powerful aura for a split second from that direction.
"A wild beast?" Long Feng asked softly.
Beside him, Hua Liuli nodded with a grave expression.
"A peak Yang level at least. That is my estimation. It could be at the spirit level."
Long Feng nodded and let out a soft sigh.
[naturally. How can such a treasure be easy to obtain?]
It seemed like many people would lose their lives here today. And whoever obtained the herb at the end of this confrontation was in for a lot of trouble afterwards from the other competitors.
Anyway one looked at it, this spirit herb was a double edged sword. Yet, that alone wasn't enough to deter the juniors gathered here whose mind was already shadowed by greed.