Forest Patrol Clan

Forest Patrol Clan

The latter half of the night.

Ji Xinghuo woke up on time. He glanced at his mechanical watch; he had slept for six hours.

The Star Realm had entered "Middle Moon," the fifth month of the Hot Season and the middle month of the season. On the eighteenth day of Middle Moon, starlight and darkness would be equal in length, both lasting 12.4 hours. After that day, starlight would outlast darkness, and the weather would grow hotter and hotter.

Ren Mian sat at the tent entrance with her eyes half-closed, seeming not to have moved for hours.

Ji Xinghuo sat up. The slightest movement immediately alerted her, and she opened her eyes to look over.

Their gazes met in the darkness.

Ren Mian got up and moved aside. Ji Xinghuo went over to take her place, sitting on the still-warm grass mat. He watched her crawl into her sleeping bag beside Jiangnan Caiyi and fall asleep in less than half a minute.

Ji Xinghuo withdrew his gaze.

He half-closed his eyes as well, but he was not sleepy in the slightest, utterly alert. Magnetic Field Induction instantly spread outward, and every movement within a radius of 350 meters was reflected in his mind.

The mountain hollow was quiet.

The occasional chirp of insects made the pitch-black surroundings seem even more profound and secluded.

Wild beasts occasionally passed by, but none discovered the tent hidden among thorny bushes. Even if they inadvertently came close, the scent of the beast-repelling grass drove them away.

Out of boredom, Ji Xinghuo opened the interface of the Myriad Stellar Eye. After some thought, he put all fifteen points of Spirit Source Energy he had gained today into "Rotating Magnetic Field."

The upgrade progress became 117/359.

He was still far from raising it to Level Two, and its physical enhancement effect was not particularly obvious, but the range of Magnetic Field Induction expanded by nearly another ten meters.

Given his current role in the team, the stronger his perception was, the safer everyone would be.

Ji Xinghuo calculated.

When the Level One progress of Rotating Magnetic Field was filled, the range of Magnetic Field Induction should reach around 500 meters.

That was a sufficiently safe distance. Even a legendary Ranger would find it difficult to launch a fatal attack against a target 500 meters away.

As for enemies above legendary rank, if they truly encountered one, it would not matter whether he could sense them or not.

Keeping watch was the hardest part.

However, Ji Xinghuo had plenty of patience and maintained a relatively high level of focus. During those six hours, monsters had entered the range of Magnetic Field Induction, but none approached the tent, so he did not disturb his companions and simply let them leave.

At daybreak, his companions all woke up.

Jiangnan Caiyi reheated the leftover spider leg meat from last night for breakfast. After they replenished their water, the team set out again.

Before leaving camp, Ren Mian removed the plant defenses outside the tent, collected the seeds and samples, and restored the place to its original state.

They headed west.

By noon, the team had traveled more than seventy kilometers.

The few battles they encountered were not particularly intense. They obtained two Ability Seeds, but only one was of fine quality, worth around a hundred thousand Asia Yuan.

They traveled a long distance again in the afternoon. Ji Xinghuo found it a little strange: they had not encountered any monsters, and even wild beasts had become scarce.

"Ren-jie, could we have entered the territory of some powerful monster?" he asked quietly.

"Probably not."

Ren Mian took out a crudely drawn map. Several locations were marked with conspicuous red crosses, indicating dangerous forbidden zones.

"We aren't in a dangerous zone, and the nearest one is still very far away." After studying it carefully, she confirmed again, "Either we've simply had bad luck and happened not to encounter anything, or there's a settlement of Astral Alien Race nearby, perhaps a tribe."

Ji Xinghuo asked, "There are Astral Alien Races west of the City of Freedom?"

"Of course there are." Chi Zhonglin laughed. "What part of the Star Realm doesn't have alien races? There are dozens of races in Thousand Peaks Abyss Forest alone, all nominally vassals of the Tianyu Royal Court."

Ren Mian cautioned, "Most alien races can be communicated with, but we can't let down our guard or approach them casually. The few races that can't be communicated with are sometimes more dangerous than monsters. You never know whether they harbor hostile intentions."

She listed several Astral Alien Races and described their abilities and customs in detail.

"I'll remember that." Ji Xinghuo nodded.

Throughout the journey, his companions often taught him hunting experience and knowledge about the Star Realm.

Most of the time, Ren Mian was the one speaking. Her understanding of the Star Realm ran extremely deep.

Chi Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi had spent several years in the Star Realm, but what they knew was worlds apart from Ren Mian's knowledge, and they often had to listen carefully as well.

Ji Xinghuo had an excellent memory and remembered nearly all of it.

In fact, before entering the Star Realm, Ji Xinghuo had already studied a great deal about alien races. His university major had been Star Realm languages, and the three alien languages came with related courses. Language was the best window into understanding a race or civilization.

In this respect, his foundation was better than that of most people, and he grasped things immediately.

As starlight approached.

Ji Xinghuo suddenly stopped and said quietly, "Someone is approaching. Not monsters." After identifying them carefully, he added, "Three Forest Patrol Clan members."

There really was an alien tribe nearby.

Ren Mian was not surprised. "Can you tell which clan branch they belong to?"

"No." Ji Xinghuo shook his head.

Magnetic Field Induction had no color and revealed no images. The picture it formed in his mind was highly abstract; he could only identify someone by the shape of their magnetic field and judge their strength from its intensity.

His expression changed slightly. "The three Forest Patrol Clan members have discovered us. They're coming toward us."

"We'll avoid them."

Ren Mian did not want to come into conflict with an alien race. It could bring enormous trouble.

"They're moving very fast. I'm afraid we can't avoid them." Ji Xinghuo sensed ill intent from the newcomers. He had already gripped his compound bow and nocked an arrow.

Rapid footsteps came from ahead, like the dense pounding of hooves on the ground.

"Be ready." Ren Mian pressed a hand to her belt. Chi Zhonglin set down his backpack and stood at the front of the group with his spear in hand, while Jiangnan Caiyi vanished into thin air.

Soon, three tall figures charged out of the dense forest.

Their upper bodies resembled humans, but their lower bodies were like those of cloven-hoofed animals, somewhere between horses and deer. They had massive black hooves and wore leather armor over their immensely powerful bodies. Their faces protruded forward, their nostrils were huge, and a pair of branching black horns grew from either side of their heads. Their round eyes held primitive, savage ferocity.

The leader was clearly male. His head stood more than two and a half meters above the ground, his bare chest was extraordinarily muscular, and his four legs were as thick as pillars. He held an enormous spear and carried a bundle of javelins on his back.

The two beside him had feminine features and were smaller and more agile, though they were still nearly two meters tall. Each held a thick, heavy longbow.

Their skin was covered in blood-red tattoos from head to toe.

Forest Patrol Clan!

Ji Xinghuo thought.

The Forest Patrol Clan was common in the Star Realm and counted as a very large race. They lived in forests and called themselves the masters of the woods.

Overall, the Forest Patrol Clan's talents were middling among the Astral Alien Races, and they were fairly intelligent.

However, the Forest Patrol Clan was a race whose conduct was guided by faith. Differences in belief made the moral inclinations of different Forest Patrol Clan tribes completely opposite.

Some Forest Patrol Clan members revered nature and were warm and hospitable.

Others were cruel and violent, hostile to all outsiders entering their territory, like uncivilized beasts.

Ren Mian had already activated the Thinking Necklace. Her voice sounded in his mind. "I've never seen this clan. Let's try to communicate first."

"I don't know the Forest Patrol Clan's language," Ji Xinghuo replied. "But they might understand Celestial Race Language. I'll try."

As the ruler of Thousand Peaks Abyss Forest, the Tianyu Royal Court's language should carry some weight.

"Everyone..."

The moment Ji Xinghuo spoke, the male Forest Patrol Clan member opposite them suddenly let out a furious roar. His four hooves pounded the ground as he charged, swiftly pulled out a javelin, and hurled it at them.

The other two female Forest Patrol Clan members loosed their arrows as well.

"What the..."

Ji Xinghuo was completely baffled, with no idea how he had offended them.

But his reaction was not slow in the slightest. The arrow on his compound bow flew out almost at the same moment.

Green light bloomed in Ren Mian's hand. A cluster of withered leaves instantly unfurled, forming a verdant lotus leaf about two meters in diameter. Like a round shield, it blocked the front of her and Ji Xinghuo.

Meanwhile, Chi Zhonglin had already charged forward.

Pfft! The javelin struck the Shield Leaf Lotus, piercing through the leaf but becoming lodged in it. The two thick arrows were also blocked by the lotus leaf.

At the same time, one of the female Forest Patrol Clan members screamed.

"Ah..."

A Willow Leaf Arrow pierced her eye, punched through her head, and she collapsed to the ground in an instant.

The remaining female Forest Patrol Clan member saw Ji Xinghuo draw another arrow and aim at her. Panic filled her eyes as she stared fixedly at his compound bow, trying to evade the arrow. But she had no idea that a transparent figure had already circled behind her.

Jiangnan Caiyi suddenly appeared. Her katana flashed, and with a single stroke, she beheaded the completely unguarded enemy.

In one exchange, two Forest Patrol Clan members were dead.

The leading male had no time to rescue them. Instead, the deaths of his clansmen stirred his savagery, and he brutally charged into the oncoming Chi Zhonglin.

"Ha!"

Chi Zhonglin's body swelled until he was as tall as the Forest Patrol Clan member. The muscles in his arms bulged as he met the enemy's spear head-on without any flourish.

The Lava Gun's advantage showed immediately.

The Forest Patrol Clan member's spear snapped on impact. A scorching force traveled up his arm and pierced into his body, making him spit out a mouthful of blood.

Chi Zhonglin turned the spearpoint and seized the chance while the enemy was too weak to defend, thrusting it into his heart.

Star Force erupted from the spear, directly blowing open his chest.

Chi Zhonglin pulled out the spear. The blood staining it was burned dry in the blink of an eye. Without even glancing at the enemy's corpse, he immediately retreated.

"Go."

Without hesitation, Ren Mian had her companions leave at once.

Chi Zhonglin ran at the front, carrying the packs on his spear. Ji Xinghuo and Jiangnan Caiyi followed, while Ren Mian, at the rear, threw a black flower onto the ground.

The black flower took root the moment it landed. Its roots rapidly spread, devouring every plant they touched. Flowers, grass, shrubs, and trees alike were madly consumed and converted into nutrients, giving rise to a liquid-like fungal mat.

The black fungal mat spread across a hundred meters, devouring the three Forest Patrol Clan corpses and digesting them completely.

In less than ten minutes, this patch of forest had turned into a pool of black water.

Shortly afterward, a team of Forest Patrol Clan members arrived. Looking at the empty black ground, their faces were filled with wariness and fury, yet they were utterly bewildered.