So This Is What You Meant by "I Don't Know"?

This slash carried tremendous force, accompanied by distinct Soul Power fluctuations.

Zhou Qiubai still did not draw his sword.

Just as the blade was about to reach him, his figure swayed again.

He did not retreat. Instead, he moved forward.

Facing the blade's gleam, he slipped sideways into the one-eyed man's three-foot range.

At this distance, the long saber became a burden instead.

The one-eyed man tried to withdraw his saber, but it was already too late.

Zhou Qiubai lightly pressed his palm against the man's chest, sending a gentle force through his body.

It was not meant to kill, but to Quake.

"Pfft—" The one-eyed man violently spat out blood, staggering back seven or eight steps. The Martial Soul in his hand slipped free and dissipated. He dropped to one knee, his face as pale as paper.

The remaining four men's attacks all stalled at once.

Only then did Zhou Qiubai come to a stop. He dusted off nonexistent dirt from his sleeve and looked at the one-eyed man. "Can we talk properly now?"

The one-eyed man clutched his chest, his eyes bloodshot as he panted heavily.

"Y-you... who exactly are you?"

"Just passing through," Zhou Qiubai said casually. "I have no interest in your secrets. I only want to go down and take a look. Make way, or I'll knock you all down before going down. Choose."

The one-eyed man's expression shifted.

He had become a squad leader in the Black Wind Mercenary Group not through brute courage, but through discernment.

That palm strike had clearly been restrained. Otherwise, he would have been dead already. And the other man had not even drawn his sword.

The gap between them was simply too great.

"Make way!" At last, the one-eyed man gritted out the two words.

The four subordinates exchanged looks. In the end, they put away their weapons and moved aside.

Huang Tianzong hurried after Zhou Qiubai. As he passed the one-eyed man, he smugly puffed out his chest.

A lackey needed to have the awareness of a lackey.

But the next instant, a single look from Zhou Qiubai frightened him into shrinking back.

At the edge of Ghost Cry Ravine stood a steep cliff that was nearly vertical.

Zhou Qiubai stood at its edge, gazing down into the abyss.

It was at least thirty-odd zhang deep. Mysterious mist filled the bottom, within which faint, twisted shadows could be seen.

Strands of bamboo fragrance drifted through the air, mixed with the damp, cool mountain wind.

"My lord, how are we getting down?" Huang Tianzong peeked over the edge at the ravine below. His legs went weak, and his voice was full of unease.

Zhou Qiubai did not answer immediately. He bent down, picked up a fist-sized stone, and casually tossed it out. The stone instantly vanished into the dense mist.

Three breaths later, a barely audible thump came from below.

It was not the sound of an impact against the ground. It sounded more like...

It had landed on something soft.

Zhou Qiubai raised an eyebrow slightly, a meaningful smile tugging at his lips. "Hold on to me."

"Huh?" Before Huang Tianzong could react, Zhou Qiubai grabbed him by the back of the collar and leaped down!

"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"

Huang Tianzong's miserable screams echoed between the cliff walls.

Zhou Qiubai, however, remained perfectly calm.

The fierce wind howled past his ears, whipping up his robes and hair like falling leaves in flight.

He lightly sprang from the jagged cliff face, using protruding rocks to steadily slow their descent.

Several dozen breaths later, the two landed safely.

Huang Tianzong collapsed onto the ground, his face white as paper and his lips trembling. For a long while, he could not say a word.

Zhou Qiubai paid him no attention. His gaze had already been drawn to the sight before him.

This place was an entirely different world from the outside.

It was no less than the Peach Blossom Spring.

Though there were no peach blossoms. Zhou Qiubai smiled. This place could use a name.

Let's call it Bamboo Forest Origin~.

That bamboo stood right before him.

The bamboo was not tall, only about a zhang high, its entire body displaying a strange translucent texture as though it had been carved from crystal.

Its stalk was slender, only as thick as a thumb. Its leaves were equally transparent, their edges gleaming with a faint silver luster.

As the breeze brushed past, the bamboo grove rustled softly. That fresh bamboo fragrance surged over them like a tide, refreshing both body and mind.

This was a plant Spirit Beast he had never seen before, though it somehow felt familiar.

"Spirit Bamboo?" Zhou Qiubai murmured.

So it truly was this wondrous thing.

Some ancient books contained only brief records of it, mentioning merely that it grew in deadly lands, could develop intelligence after a thousand years, and that its shoots could temper one's muscles and bones when eaten.

It was not strange for such a thing to become a Spirit Beast on Douluo Continent.

Yet only now, seeing it with his own eyes, did he understand the marvel of the word "transparent."

Without close observation, these bamboos nearly blended into their surroundings.

"M-my lord..." Huang Tianzong finally caught his breath. Pointing deeper into the bamboo grove, his voice trembled. "There... something is moving."

Zhou Qiubai looked in the direction he indicated.

Deep within the grove, a Spirit Bamboo noticeably thicker than the others was slowly swaying.

A flickering streak of silver light could vaguely be seen flowing through its joints.

The Bamboo King.

And it was advancing toward the stage of Awakening Intelligence.

Zhou Qiubai took a deep breath and placed his right hand on the sword hilt.

He knew that his second soul ring lay hidden before him.

He had already vaguely felt himself approaching level 20 yesterday. It seemed that just as he had grown sleepy, a pillow had arrived.

Though it might be a thousand-year one, he was confident.

Zhou Qiubai did not attack at once. Instead, he slowly circled the outer edge of the bamboo grove.

His master had once taught him that the more precious a heavenly treasure was, the more likely it was to be guarded by a ferocious creature.

And what guarded the Spirit Bamboo was likely this bamboo grove itself.

Sure enough, when he reached the western side of the grove, his steps paused slightly.

On the ground, beneath a pile of fallen leaves, a section of stark white bone protruded.

Judging by its shape, it seemed to be a human arm bone. Its fractured end was jagged, as though it had been severed instantly by something incomparably sharp.

There was more than one corpse.

Zhou Qiubai swept his gaze around and found scattered fragments of human bones in several other places.

Some still looked fresh, with undried blood staining their broken edges.

Most of the Black Wind Mercenary Group's missing squad had likely perished here.

"M-my lord..." Huang Tianzong followed behind him, his voice shaking fiercely. "How about we... go back up first? We can make plans afterward?"

Zhou Qiubai did not turn around. He merely said flatly, "Leave by yourself, or wait here."

The moment his words fell, he stepped into the bamboo grove.

The fallen leaves looked soft, yet there was a strange springiness beneath his feet.

Zhou Qiubai softened his breathing and pushed his only soul skill to its limit. Every sound around him instantly magnified a hundredfold.

The wind, the rustling of bamboo leaves, his own heartbeat, and...

An extremely faint hum, like metal threads trembling through the air.

It was coming.

The Spirit Bamboo's leaves shot out without warning.

Those transparent leaves traced nearly invisible paths through the air. Their edges gleamed with metallic coldness, and they were so fast that they reached Zhou Qiubai in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Qiubai raised his right hand slightly. The iron sword at his waist slid only half an inch from its sheath. He did not fully draw the blade, merely sweeping the sheath in an arc before him.

An invisible surge of force rippled outward from him.

The force he had failed to learn before had actually become possible on Douluo Continent.

Even floor tiles came in good varieties.