Forest Secret Realm

merchant...

Just hearing that name makes Linsey feel like her head is about to explode.

Those who awaken to this profession are mostly quick-witted and have amazing insight.

If we become friends like Ailini, that would be fine. But if we're on opposite sides, the trouble will definitely not be simple.

Merchants who have built their skills on the very nature of trade and money are never easy to deal with.

"Did other merchants discover this place?"

Reze, standing nearby, asked his companion:

"Can we find his exact location? What is his identity? Is he a member of the Riverbank Merchant Guild, or just an ordinary merchant in Nine Bends City?"

The teammate shook his head slightly:

"It only left the traces of the Double Serpent Coin' influence in the transaction. As for the other party's specific identity and location—I'm sorry, with my abilities, I have no way of judging."

Linsey pressed further, "Can you ascertain the opponent's strength?"

"It doesn't need to be too precise, just a general range is fine."

This time, my teammates nodded in agreement, but the news they gave wasn't good. "At least he's better than me."

"..."

The merchant in Linsey's group is at the Fourth Stage of skill.

In other words...

The merchant who arrived at this Life Secret Realm before them was at least a Fifth Stage awakener.

The team members inevitably started to feel nervous.

The Fifth Stage is called the Ascender because from this level onwards, the Awakened's abilities begin to enter a completely new realm.

Of Linsey's team, only Reze is a Fifth Stage explorer, according to the official strength report.

Faced with this situation, no one even spoke up for a moment.

Linsey chose to break her silence:

"Anyway, let's go in and take a look, but everyone be careful, the other party is unlikely to be friendly towards us..."

Linsey's voice stopped abruptly.

Because at that very moment, he sensed that the bats he had sent to scout had been killed.

From summoning bats to infiltrate the secret realm, to Linsey coming down to talk to her companions.

The entire process takes no more than three minutes.

This implies two facts.

—The beings within the Life Secret Realm possess extremely strong Scouting Skill.

—A bat capable of killing Linsey in an instant must possess formidable combat power and speed.

"..."

"They've found us."

Linsey simply reminded her companion, then glanced at the map.

As expected.

Three Red Marker shot straight out of the forest, pointing towards the entrance to the valley where the team was located!

"Ordinary people, step back! They're coming very fast!"

Linsey shouted.

The ordinary people in the group immediately retreated, while several awakened individuals blocked the entrance to the valley, dividing the inside and outside into two spaces.

Only Linsey and Reze remained on one side of the valley.

Both of them had serious expressions. Reze pulled out a short knife, while Linsey drew a long Steel Spear.

brush--

Immediately afterwards, a gust of wind blew through the misty forest.

An elusive figure, like a ghost, swept across the twisting treetops with astonishing speed.

Just a second ago, Reze could still see the shadowy figure.

The next second, they pinpointed each other's location, and the two were already inches apart! The sword was drawn, its cold light flashing.

The raider, standing on an old oak tree, used the momentum of descending from a height to cleave down with his sword at the two men at the valley entrance.

"Drake, back off!"

Reze shouted and thrust his sword forward with a backhand motion.

In the explorer's mind, Linsey was only a Third Stage hunter, and it would be difficult for him to face an enemy of this strength head-on.

At this moment, he is the only one who can be the core of the battle.

Clang—

The sword blade clashed with the short knife, producing a crisp sound.

At this moment, the people present saw the attacker's appearance for the first time.

This was a young man, dressed very casually, and his gaze towards the crowd was filled with absolute confidence in the battle.

"I wonder who could have found this place?"

"Explorer?"

"Reze, but this time you've gone to the wrong place!"

The other party clearly knew Reze.

As their weapons clashed, he pushed off with one foot and used the momentum to spin his body.

With a simple exertion of force, Reze was forced to retreat repeatedly, eventually having to jump away to dodge.

"Ollie?"

Reze held the short sword horizontally in front of him.

Knowing he was unlikely to gain the upper hand, he took the opportunity to stop fighting and questioned his enemy, "What are you doing here?"

"I remember you left Nine Bends City a few months ago, didn't you?"

Reze recognized the Awakened One before him.

The other party is a warrior who takes Combat Essence approach; we had met before in Nine Bends City.

"Why am I here?" Ollie smiled arrogantly. "That's none of your business."

Swipe—

Before they could finish speaking, another sound came from behind the forest.

Another figure emerged from the broken shadows of the trees, looking at his comrades on the battlefield with a reproachful yet mocking gaze:

"Ollie, you run way too fast!"

"I was the one who found this person. Even if you wanted to take the credit, you didn't have to be the one leading the way, did you?"

"..."

"Flavi?"

They saw another person emerge from the forest.

Reze's expression grew even more tense.

He moved carefully, keeping his hands in a defensive stance, and introduced the two people in front of him to Linsey behind him, "The one named Ollie is a Fifth Stage warrior who follows the Combat Essence style, and is known for his speed. The one behind him is Flavi, a Fifth Stage Perceptor."

Reze's voice was soft.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, they were immediately detected by the perceiver on the other side.

"Ollie, our explorer, is explaining our abilities to the person behind him."

Ollie completely ignored Linsey.

His gaze fell on Reze, his eyes filled with threat:

"Reze, your Exploration Team has quite a reputation."

"Let's put it this way, we were the first to discover this secret realm."

"Unless you want to fight us to the death, you'd better go back to where you came from and don't make trouble for yourself here!"

Reze waved to indicate that he meant no harm.

The explanation should also be delivered as sincerely as possible in terms of tone:

"Ollie, I'm not here to compete with you for benefits."

"You outside may not know, but a war is currently raging in Nine Bends City. The anomaly in the forest at this time is a huge disaster for the entire central region of the world!"

Upon hearing this, Ollie's expression turned strange, and he subtly shifted the position of his longsword. "So... what is your purpose in coming here?"

Reze answered frankly:

"We came here to solve the problems of the forests..."

Bang! Before Reze could finish speaking, a loud bang came from beneath Ollie's feet.

The incredibly fast warrior stomped on the ground, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

When the people around him saw him again.

The man had already reached Reze, his sword slashing downwards—a clearly deadly move: "Since that's the case—"

"Then we have nothing to talk about!"