Each With Their Own Agenda, Forming a Team to Go Deeper

Hearing Han Ruoruo's words, Wu Ming scratched her head and hesitated.

"Seems like... probably... I guess so...?"

"I almost forgot you've never been interested in these things."

Han Ruoruo rubbed her forehead, then explained to the two of them,

"The entire Inner Court only ever maintains three Red-Level Missions. Only after a student completes one will a new mission be issued to fill the vacancy. According to the academy records, the last person to complete a Red-Level Mission was a senior who possessed a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring while still at the Soul Saint level. It was said that he was later groomed as the academy's next dean."

As she spoke, she looked at Qiangu Yunche with utmost seriousness.

"For the Sea God Pavilion to rate it as a Red-Level Mission, there must be something terrifying within this Blood-Colored Forest. Even so, do you still intend to go in?"

"Why not?"

Qiangu Yunche asked with a smile.

"It's dangerous in there. Aren't you going to think about your own safety?" Han Ruoruo knew that Qiangu Yunche's Martial Soul possessed terrifying offensive power, but that did not mean she believed he had sufficient qualifications to enter this place.

"Sometimes, caring too much about safety only holds you back," Qiangu Yunche answered softly.

Han Ruoruo had no response. After a moment of silence, she said,

"Then we'll go in with you."

"Huh?" Wu Ming had just been planning to join Han Ruoruo in persuading Qiangu Yunche not to risk his life. She was utterly baffled, completely unable to understand why Han Ruoruo had changed her mind so quickly.

Qiangu Yunche was also somewhat surprised, but then he heard Han Ruoruo say,

"Investigate and eradicate the source of the Blood-Colored Forest's mutation, the second of the three Red-Level Missions. Those who complete it may enter the Sea God Pavilion directly and receive resources on the level of an elder. If a student has no intention of joining the Sea God Pavilion, they may instead choose any three treasures prepared by the Treasure Gathering Pavilion for Inner Court disciples."

Then Han Ruoruo fixed her burning gaze on Wu Ming and asked,

"Don't you want the Blazing Sun Origin condensed from the essence of an entire hundred-thousand-year Yangzhi Bird?"

That single question left Wu Ming speechless.

Every item displayed at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's treasure appraisal fair for Inner Court disciples was an ultimate treasure. The Blazing Sun Origin condensed from a hundred-thousand-year Yangzhi Bird held immense significance for Wu Ming.

If Wu Ming could refine the Blazing Sun Origin, its effects would likely be no weaker than fusing with a hundred-thousand-year fire-attribute Soul Bone. Her fire attribute, already close to ultimate fire, would become purer and more powerful, while her body and bloodline would also receive tremendous benefits.

Simply put, the Blazing Sun Origin would ensure that Wu Ming faced no obstacles on her future path toward becoming a Super Douluo.

Naturally, such a tyrannical treasure came at an exorbitant price. Even if she bought it on credit after a discount, Wu Ming still could not afford it. Her family, which could only be considered a second-rate force, would have to squander all its wealth to purchase this treasure for her. The price of doing so was simply too great, and Wu Ming could never allow her family to do that.

Wu Ming had previously mentioned to Han Ruoruo that, if there was truly no other way, she would wait until she broke through to the Soul Saint realm, then inform the academy of her desire to remain there permanently and use that in exchange for the Blazing Sun Origin.

Han Ruoruo also had her own selfish motives. There had never been a precedent at Shrek Academy for two people joining forces to complete a Red-Level Mission, but she had once discussed it with an elder.

That elder had once joked that if two people completed a Red-Level Mission together and chose the second reward option, the reward of three treasures would be changed to two.

Even so, no Inner Court students had ever formed a team to challenge a Red-Level Mission.

After all, Red-Level Missions had a fatality rate of over ninety percent. Even with a two-person team, the fatality rate remained around sixty to seventy percent.

All Inner Court students were extraordinary talents. So long as they graduated safely, the Four Great Empires would recruit them with the finest terms.

With such a bright future right before them, who without a death wish would go courting death?

The reason Han Ruoruo made this decision was, first, her confidence in the combined strength of the three of them; second, consideration for her friend; and third, her own selfish motives.

The Golden Binding Rope possessed astonishing control abilities, but it gave no boost whatsoever to a Soul Master's physical constitution. As the Inner Court's second senior sister, why had Han Ruoruo spent all these years cultivating so diligently, even giving up time to rest and find a partner? It was because she wanted to see a higher level of the world in the future.

Her goal was a seventy-thousand-year Golden Python King Torso Bone.

As its name suggested, the Golden Python King was a snake-type Soul Beast famed for its physical strength. Legend had it that a trace of Golden Dragon Bloodline flowed through its body. If she could fuse with that Soul Bone, Han Ruoruo's greatest weakness—her physical constitution—would be greatly improved.

After seeing that Wu Ming had no objections, Han Ruoruo smiled at Qiangu Yunche again and said softly,

"I'm a high-level Soul Saint, and Ming'er's cultivation is close to the Soul Saint realm. One more person means one more measure of strength. Besides, Ming'er and I swear upon our Martial Souls that we won't compete with you for your objective. What do you say?"

Qiangu Yunche considered it for a moment, then nodded lightly and extended his hand toward Han Ruoruo.

"Then I hope... we'll work well together."

Han Ruoruo smiled and extended a fair little hand, clasping it with Qiangu Yunche's...

After resting for a while and waiting for Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming to recover their Soul Power to its peak, the three-person team immediately set off, entering the Blood-Colored Region directly from near the village where Wu Ming had been carrying out her inspection mission.

Just as it had appeared from the outside, nearly everything visible within this region was colored in varying shades of red. Even the sun hanging in the sky seemed veiled by a hazy scarlet layer.

Qiangu Yunche discovered that the plants and even the animals here were exactly as that black-market vendor had described. Strange blood-colored fruits grew, more or less, on branches, heads, or bodies.

The farther inward they went, the larger the fruits became, and the purer and brighter their red color grew.

Along the way, the three of them even encountered a group of Soul Masters still frantically picking Blood Treasures. The strongest among them was only a Soul Grandmaster.

With such strength, even facing a century-old Blood Bat would be a fight for their lives.

For the immense profits of Blood Treasures, these people were practically dancing on a knife's edge.

Yet Qiangu Yunche could not really call them foolish.

After all, those risking their lives to gather Blood Treasures were not merely professional groups seeking enormous profits. A large portion of them were impoverished commoners from nearby towns, people who had no other choice due to poverty or various other reasons.

But the harsh reality was that the overwhelming majority of those who came to gather Blood Treasures at the risk of their lives did not die at the hands of Soul Beasts, but at the hands of their own kind.

As they continued deeper, the red grew ever denser, and even the air around them seemed to turn viscous from the thick blood aura.

Flocks of bats occasionally flew through the dim, blood-colored sky. Qiangu Yunche keenly sensed something abnormal in the air—it was poisonous as well. Or rather, every Blood-Colored Region contained the poison that had existed within Slaughter City ten thousand years ago, differing only in concentration.

The Snowy Swan Kiss Tang San had cast down ten thousand years ago had completely stimulated the Blood Sea. Qiangu Yunche estimated that the concentration of poison in this region was now at least ten times greater than it had been ten thousand years ago.

Yet in this region that could be considered a forbidden land for humanity, a shocking sight appeared before them after they crossed a barren ridge.

It was a massive sinkhole stretching beyond the limits of sight. Dim blood-colored light spilled down from the sky, yet it could not illuminate any area more than fifty meters below the edge of the boundless pit.

Qiangu Yunche's heart skipped a beat. The environment beneath this sinkhole felt even more extreme to him than the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

Moreover, he had a strange intuition that something below was calling to him, radiating a fatal allure he could not refuse.