An hour later, Jiang Yan swung his sword, and the small tree in front of him snapped in two.
He kicked it aside, and light fell across his face.
He narrowed his eyes. They had reached the Yellow Alkaline Land.
Stepping out of the woods, he tested the ground with his foot. It was somewhat hard.
The others emerged, and as they looked back at the dense, shadowy woods, they all let out a slight sigh of relief.
They had been lucky. If they had run into a Monster in the woods, the trees would have blocked their view, making a fight very troublesome.
Hiss!
Just then, a Black Shadow shot up from the ground without giving anyone a chance to react and lunged at Sheng Fuwu.
Sheng Fuwu's gaze was icy, and not a trace of emotion crossed his face.
Boom!
He raised his hand, curled his finger, and flicked it.
Finger Strike!
White Inner Qi covered his finger. It was the mark of a Body Refining martial artist, and the strongest force within one's body.
Inner Qi!
Once one reached the Body Refining Realm and produced Inner Qi, one no longer relied on talismans. Instead, one could kill Monsters entirely through one's own strength.
His finger flicked, and a surge of peerless Inner Qi shot out from its tip, reaching a foot ahead.
It struck before the attack could arrive.
Pff!
The Black Shadow burst apart in an instant, splattering into a mass of bloody pulp in midair.
The other four, Jiang Yan included, hurriedly looked over, shock showing in their eyes.
Then came envy.
The Body Refining Realm. Inner Qi.
"Th-this is it? It's dead?"
Tang Long murmured. It wasn't his first time seeing a Body Refining martial artist in action, but shock still showed in his eyes.
The power of Inner Qi was simply too strong.
Besides, Body Refining martial artists developed their whole bodies, and their physiques were formidable too.
With a single flick of his finger, Sheng Fuwu had shattered the Black Shadow before anyone could even make out what it was.
Yet Tang Long's body had instinctively sensed the shuddering terror that came over him when the Black Shadow lunged.
"Th-this damn thing... Could Chief Sheng be at the Body Tempering Realm, not the Body Refining Realm?"
Above Martial Apprentice was the Body Refining Realm.
But Body Refining Realm was only a collective term for the Three Body-Refining Realms. In fact, the Body Refining Realm was divided into three major realms.
The Body Refining Realm, the Body Refining Realm, and the Blood Refining Realm.
Each time one broke through to the next realm, one's strength increased several times over.
In fact, a Ranked Monster had passed through Yuyang Village a while ago, leaving many dead and wounded. Tang Long's predecessor as chief had died at the Monster's hands. Afterward, the Dahe Gang had sent Chief Sheng to take his place.
This was the first time Tang Long had seen Sheng Fuwu fight.
"Let's go."
Seeing everyone standing there dumbfounded, Sheng Fuwu furrowed his brow and spoke coldly.
The others came to their senses and continued onward.
This time, Jiang Yan fell in behind Sheng Fuwu. He glanced unobtrusively at the bloody pulp on the ground. His left hand twitched, but he felt nothing unusual.
No Weird Value gained. So it wasn't a Monster.
Then he quickened his pace and caught up with the others.
Half an hour later, Sheng Fuwu called for a halt. He found a spot with terrain that made it easy to hide.
It was a stretch of ruins. One could just make out that it had once been a village, though it now lay abandoned.
Within the dynasty, Monsters broke through countless villages every day, turning the Human Race into fodder. Yet many villages also sprang up, like stars in the sky, their rise and fall uncertain.
"All right, we'll stay here. You lot hide first."
He took out an item he had obtained at considerable cost.
Monsters fed on flesh and blood.
But the wilderness also held some strange foods, which the Human Race called Exotic Food.
If Monsters ate such food, there was a good chance they would advance in rank.
So when Monsters caught the scent of this food, they would stop at nothing to get it.
The item in Sheng Fuwu's hand was Exotic Food that could help a Shepherd Monster advance.
"Monsters like the Shepherd have a certain sense of territory. I ran into it here last time, so unless something unexpected happened, it should still be around."
Sheng Fuwu thought to himself.
The others had barely finished hiding when the world suddenly dimmed. A cold wind swept past with a low, mournful moan.
Goosebumps rose across their skin.
"This isn't right," Tang Long muttered. "Why is this wind so cold?"
Even Sheng Fuwu shivered, his body stiffening.
"Something's wrong. There's something wrong with this wind."
The cold crept deeper, and the wind felt like a knife carving into him.
He couldn't afford to keep lying in wait. He hurriedly stood up and turned to look behind him.
He had no choice but to investigate. He was a peak Body Refining martial artist, only a step away from advancing to the Body Refining Realm. His blood and qi surged through him—what kind of wind could make even him feel cold?
In moments, heavy rain began to fall. The sky grew dark, and rain poured down like water from a sluice. All five of them were soaked through.
Looking up, they saw a pitch-black mass in the distance, black as ink. Like a mighty river in full spate, the Black Tide surged toward them.
"The Black Tide!"
Sheng Fuwu lost his composure and cried out.
At his words, the others' faces changed drastically.
"Find a house, quick!"
Sheng Fuwu grabbed Sheng Lunxin and left Jiang Yan and the other two behind, heading for the center of the ruins.
The three had no time to curse him. They hurried after him, running for all they were worth.
Behind them, the Black Tide moved incredibly fast. In the short time it took, the sky had already darkened.
A ruined house still stood ahead. The three were overjoyed and immediately changed course, racing toward it.
At last, before the sky turned completely black, the three of them made it inside.
The first step toward safety was done. Now there was another test to face.
They had no choice but to do everything they could. The Black Tide was simply too terrifying.
Nobody knew where the Black Tide began or where it went.
By the Human Race's classification of Monsters, the Black Tide was a special-grade entity.
It was a Monster that could not be dealt with through the use of force.
It was a law-type Monster.
Anyone swept up in the Black Tide would inevitably be assimilated by it, and the Tide teemed with Monsters of every kind, as countless as the sea.
Some even among the Human Race's kings suspected that the Black Tide was the source of Monsters.
The roar of surging water seemed to rise, and the sky turned pitch-black in an instant.
It was truly dark—not merely to the eyes, but to the heart as well. It felt as though all light had been stripped away, plunging one's mind into boundless darkness.
Suddenly, a light appeared.
The others' eyes flickered. All kinds of visions appeared in their minds, each one a desire buried deep within them, impossible to suppress.
Jiang Yan was no different, but he wasn't confused in the slightest.
This was the scene in his mind.
A massive city appeared, filled with rows of towering buildings and bustling traffic. Just as the city took shape, it vanished into thin air. Then it formed again, only to vanish once more.
Over and over, like a replaying save file.
He had no idea how long passed before he suddenly came to his senses. Everything before him was still pitch-black, but the hollow feeling in his heart was gone.
He knew he had weathered the Black Tide.
Smack!
He slapped the Blazing Flames Talisman onto his sword.
If he didn't fight, the talisman's power shouldn't fade too quickly.
Tang Long and Fei Shan stood there in a daze, their expressions vivid and strange.
Jiang Yan didn't try to wake them. It would be useless; he couldn't rouse them.
Jiang Yan thought over what he knew about the Black Tide. It was a law-type Monster with three characteristics.
First, anyone swept into the Black Tide would be assimilated by it.
Second, as long as one stayed in an enclosed space, such as a house, one would not be swept into the Black Tide.
Third, anyone who saw the Black Tide would have their mind put to the test. Those who failed would have their souls drawn into it.
Before you continue