Demon Claw Forest

Fan Lang pulled the Butcher Girl and found Dou Bin, demanding the money that was owed to him, and stating that he didn't want to fight anymore today.

Dou Bin felt guilty, but he couldn't say it. In order to maintain the reputation that the Underground Arena had accumulated over the years, he could only obediently pay the money.

Before leaving, Dou Bin said to Fan Lang, "The Underground Arena welcomes you at any time. Come whenever you want to make money."

"Hehe." Fan Lang sneered, not saying much.

He really couldn't feel any goodwill towards a place that secretly poisoned him. Even if he came again next time, it would definitely be to cause trouble, not to be a Gladiator!

Fan Lang and the Butcher Girl walked out of the Underground Arena. Looking up, it was still early, and on a whim, he decided not to return to the City Lord's Mansion yet, but to go to another place to level up.

"Butcher Girl, I plan to go outside to hunt Demon Beasts and the Demon Race. You have to come with me and help me." Fan Lang's tone had a hint of command.

"Okay," the Butcher Girl agreed readily.

Fan Lang liked this straightforwardness.

Before setting off, he had to make some preparations. Fan Lang went to the store to buy some necessities, and also bought two Storage Cards to pack his luggage. The small cards had their own space inside, and it wouldn't be a problem to stuff a house into them.

A man and a woman working together, leveling up isn't tiring.

The two of them traveled light, hiring a carriage to run out of the East City Gate. The reason for taking a carriage instead of directly buying a horse was because ordinary horses had no ability to protect themselves, and riding one would only result in being eaten.

The carriage galloped eastward for forty miles. The journey was peaceful. The coachman suddenly pulled the reins and stopped.

"Esteemed guests, the 'Demon Claw Forest' is ahead. It's too dangerous there. We runners don't dare to go in. If you two want to continue forward, please get off the carriage and walk." The coachman said.

"It's fine to be sent here. This is the agreed fare, here you go." Fan Lang jumped out of the carriage, took out a Currency Card, and gently swiped it in his hand. Several silver ingots appeared out of thin air in his palm, and he paid the money to the coachman.

The coachman smiled happily as he took the money, said a few auspicious words, and turned the carriage around to leave.

Fan Lang and the Butcher Girl switched to walking. The further they went, the more desolate it became. The road was overgrown with weeds, and the surrounding woods were dense. From time to time, they could see some shadows flashing past.

The place they were going to next was called "Demon Claw Forest". Not only were Demon Beasts rampant there, but the Demon Race also lived there, making it very dangerous. Even a Mystic Spirit might not return.

In the world of the Magic Martial Era, there were demons, monsters, and ghosts. "Demons" referred to Demon Beasts, and "devils" referred to the Demon Race, and there was a certain difference between the two.

Demon Beasts generally had low intelligence, similar to wild beasts, while the Demon Race was much smarter, with intelligence no less than that of the human race. In addition to intelligence, there were also differences between the two in terms of special abilities, attack methods, and reproduction.

Sometimes, the Demon Race was more dangerous than Demon Beasts.

After walking forward for about ten miles, they finally entered the Demon Claw Forest. This forest was gloomy, and many trees had withered, like grimacing ghosts. Black air currents lingered in the air, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow over the forest.

There were many broken places on the ground, which seemed very abnormal. The reason for this was because a dangerous plant called the "Earth Demon Claw" lived here.

The Earth Demon Claw was a companion plant of the Demon Race, and only grew where the Demon Race appeared. Usually, the Earth Demon Claw hid underground, and when a creature passed by, it would suddenly break out of the ground and eat the creature in one bite with its claw-shaped flower head. This hunting characteristic was very similar to that of a man-eating flower.

The Demon Claw Forest was named after this.

There were many Earth Demon Claws, posing a deadly danger, but they were not the greatest danger here.

"Butcher Girl, you have Spirit Eyes, your eyesight is better than mine, and you can see more carefully. Pay more attention to the ground. It would be very painful to be bitten by an Earth Demon Claw." Fan Lang instructed.

"Okay, leave it to me." The Butcher Girl agreed, perking up and staring around, her sharp eyes glowing slightly.

She had been living a dark life before, and today she came to such a distant place, and her mood was inexplicably excited, even more excited than Fan Lang.

Walking for a while, one foot deep and one foot shallow, the Butcher Girl suddenly stopped and said sharply, "There is something moving on the ground ahead, there may be Earth Demon Claws hidden."

"I'll poke it to test it out." Fan Lang's eyes sharpened, and he raised his hand to hurl the Flame Blaze Sword, stabbing it fiercely into the ground ahead. The fiery red sword energy broke through the air and blasted open the ground.

"Hiss!"

A strange cry came from underground, and a bizarre flower about two meters in diameter emerged. The petals were made of hard keratin and divided into five sections, with sharp teeth growing along the edges. Viscous liquid was drawn out as the petals opened and closed.

A child would be scared to tears if they saw this flower.

Stepping on an Earth Demon Claw was no different than stepping into a trap.

Fan Lang attacked with his sword, slashing twice in quick succession, merely using the Flame Blaze Sword's own fire-releasing ability to chop the Earth Demon Claw into burning fragments.

[Congratulations to player for killing 1 Earth Demon Claw, gaining 600 experience points.]
[Earth Demon Claw dropped 2 Sharp Tooth Petals and 10 Magic Essence.]
[Player is fighting alongside a companion, and their friendship level is above 10, meeting the team requirements. Do you want to team up?]
[The other party is an NPC character. After teaming up, all experience points will belong to the player.]

A series of system prompts popped up.

The first two prompts were ordinary, just normal monster-killing prompts, but the latter two were different, related to teaming up.

Fan Lang was first stunned, then overjoyed. He could team up with the Butcher Girl! And all the experience after teaming up would belong to him!

Killing monsters and grinding experience together would definitely be more efficient, which would make leveling up faster.

The Butcher Girl was a level six Mystic Spirit, with considerable strength, and could help him earn a lot of experience.

"Haha, it was worth saving this girl!"

Fan Lang felt incredibly pleased, and he was even more motivated to grind monsters.

The two continued to move forward, slaughtering everything in their path, killing not only Earth Demon Claws but also some Demon Beasts.

The Butcher Girl used a pair of dual blades as weapons, and she was extremely ruthless and fierce in battle, attacking vital points with every move.

Experience points continued to increase, and Fan Lang quickly leveled up, reaching Mystic General level six.

As time passed, the sky gradually darkened. Fan Lang was prepared to fight in the Demon Claw Forest for a few days and had no intention of returning to the City Lord's Mansion.

He continued fighting until nightfall, when Fan Lang reluctantly stopped, cleared a space in the forest, set up a tent, and ate and rested.

There was ready-made food in the Storage Card, the staple food being rou jia mo (meat sandwiches). Fan Lang was already hungry and ate with relish.

The Butcher Girl was very bold when fighting, and she was also very bold when eating, taking off her demon mask and eating large mouthfuls.

After eating half full, Fan Lang suddenly remembered something and asked, "What's your real name? Butcher Girl is your nickname as a Gladiator. Now that you're no longer a Gladiator, it's not appropriate to call you that anymore, and it seems distant."