Challenge

It was night.

Inside the Spirit Stone Mine.

Shen Fei finally finished absorbing the last Spirit Stone.

With that, Shen Fei had absorbed every Spirit Stone here.

Shen Fei dispelled his clones.

In an instant, spiritual energy flooded his entire body, and his strength rose by another enormous leap!

Yes, an enormous leap!

If Shen Fei used the Wood Human Technique again, he could maintain it for at least ten minutes this time!

For ten minutes, he could continuously supply the wooden human with Spiritual Power to keep it moving, while also using other ninjutsu.

The increase in his strength was extremely obvious.

Just then, a voice rang out.

"Have you finished absorbing them? How about we head to the Blue Mountain Villa District now? I have a villa there. It's already so late that going back would be inconvenient, so let's go get some rest."

Seeing that Shen Fei had dispelled his shadow clones, Li Yanran made a suggestion.

Naturally, she had a little agenda of her own.

A man and a woman alone together in one room-any normal man would do something unmentionable. Besides, I'm so pretty. There's no way Shen Fei can resist the temptation... Li Yanran thought.

Shen Fei swept his icy gaze over Li Yanran, and she felt a bone-piercing chill all over, goosebumps rising on her skin.

The next second, Shen Fei used the Body Flicker Technique and left.

Only Li Yanran remained in the dim Spirit Stone Mine.

The silence around her made Li Yanran a little afraid.

"Hey, Shen Fei!"

"Ahhh! I'm scared-"

Unfortunately, Shen Fei didn't hear her.

Actually, even if he had heard her, he would have remained unmoved.

Don't you have legs? Don't you have a phone? There are so many ways to leave this place. Do I really need to personally take a burden like you out of here?

Before long.

Shen Fei returned to his residential complex using the Body Flicker Technique.

He found someone waiting outside his door.

Shen Fei approached and recognized him. It was Lin Qiye.

Lin Qiye also spotted Shen Fei.

"You're finally back. I've been waiting for ages."

Lin Qiye acted as though they were already close, walking up and trying to sling an arm around his shoulders.

Shen Fei used the Body Flicker Technique, slipping straight past him to his front door, and said coldly, "What do you want with me?"

Seeing how cold and aloof Shen Fei was, Lin Qiye stopped trying to get chummy and went straight to business.

"I came to see you about two things. Let me tell you the first one."

"Do you know about the Forbidden Zones?"

Lin Qiye asked.

Forbidden Zones?

Shen Fei really didn't know.

Shen Fei shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.

Seeing this, Lin Qiye realized that Yun Yongfeng hadn't told Shen Fei about the Forbidden Zones yet.

Director Yun hasn't told Shen Fei about the Forbidden Zones yet? Since he hasn't, I'll do it. He's bound to find out sooner or later anyway... Lin Qiye thought.

"So you don't know about the Forbidden Zones. Let me explain."

"Actually, the Transcendent Administration Bureau has plenty of powerful people at the higher levels of mortal entry. There are lots of people like me, at mortal entry stage six level nine, in the Forbidden Zones. The reason they're there is that the Forbidden Zones have extremely dense spiritual energy. Talented people can grow stronger very quickly there."

"But likewise, the main reason those places are called Forbidden Zones is that, besides the dense spiritual energy, they also contain countless incredibly powerful Fierce Beasts. The Fierce Beasts in the Forbidden Zones aren't like the Devour-Slaughter Pig. The beasts there are powerful and highly intelligent, and they've already formed countless factions."

"In other words, it's very dangerous inside the Forbidden Zones. That's why the Transcendent Administration Bureau stipulates that only regulators at mortal entry stage five or above can enter the Forbidden Zones to train and grow stronger. Now that you've reached mortal entry stage six, you can go."

Lin Qiye continued, "There are four Forbidden Zones in Great Xia. First, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Second, the Qinling Mountains. Third, Danhe Gorge. Fourth, the East Sea."

"Every one of them is extremely dangerous. While the Transcendent Administration Bureau's regulators train inside, they also have to prevent the Fierce Beasts there from unleashing a beast tide. If a beast tide breaks out, nothing short of nuclear bomb carpet bombing can stop it. That's the duty of the Transcendent Administration Bureau's powerful regulators."

So that was it.

Shen Fei understood.

No wonder. No wonder Shen Fei had always felt something was off before. How could a state-established transcendent organization be so weak...?

It turned out that the Transcendent Administration Bureau wasn't weak. Its powerful regulators were all training in the Forbidden Zones and guarding them.

At that thought, a powerful yearning for the Forbidden Zones rose in Shen Fei's heart.

There are countless powerful opponents there. Fighting powerful opponents can increase my fusion rate... Killing powerful Fierce Beasts can also increase my fusion rate...

So Shen Fei had made up his mind. He had to go to the Forbidden Zones!

Seeing the fighting spirit brimming in Shen Fei's eyes, Lin Qiye knew he definitely wanted to go.

"One of the things I came to see you about is to invite you to join me in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, one of the Four Great Forbidden Zones!"

Shen Fei looked at Lin Qiye. "You're already at mortal entry stage six level nine. Why didn't you go earlier, when you were at mortal entry stage five?"

That was something Shen Fei wondered about.

Although the Forbidden Zones were dangerous, they could help people grow stronger. No one who wanted to become powerful would pass that up!

Then why hadn't Lin Qiye gone? Why had he stayed at the Transcendent Administration Bureau headquarters doing missions instead?

Lin Qiye gave a bitter smile. "It's a long, painful story. I used to be just as combative as you... Then I lost a match against someone... Our wager was that the loser had to stay at the Transcendent Administration Bureau headquarters for two months... So I stayed at headquarters for two months. It took me two months to go from mortal entry stage five to mortal entry stage six level nine... But that person reached mortal entry stage seven level nine ages ago and is just a step away from stage eight."

So that was it.

Shen Fei understood.

"All right. I agree."

"I'll go to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains with you."

Shen Fei accepted.

Hearing Shen Fei's answer, Lin Qiye wasn't surprised. He had expected this all along.

After all, someone powerful would never give up a chance to grow stronger!

And Shen Fei was so combative that he couldn't possibly allow himself to remain weak!

"What about the other thing?" Shen Fei asked flatly.

When it came to the last matter.

Lin Qiye took a deep breath, as though making some kind of decision.

He asked, "Were you the one who killed the Heavenly God Cult Leader? Were you responsible for the commotion there?"

Shen Fei didn't deny it. There was nothing to deny. He had done it, and that was that. With his strength, there was no reason to deny it.

"It was me."

It really was you... I never imagined you'd hidden so much. Your combat strength definitely can't be judged by your stage. Definitely not... Lin Qiye thought.

He took a deep breath, looked at Shen Fei, and spoke one word at a time.

"Shen Fei!"

"I challenge you!"

The women are all just plot devices, there to pad the word count a little and trigger the plot. Please don't assume there will be a female lead!!!