The woman slowly opened her eyes and discovered that, at some point, she had actually ended up on the dragon's back.
So... that had been a Space Element technique just now.
"Miss, do you know how to shake these guys off?" Having finally encountered a local, Ling Ling hurried to gather information.
"No. Once you're marked by Black Demon Tigers, they won't stop until one side is dead, unless you leave this forest," the woman said.
Marked?
Had killing that damned tiger just now gotten them marked?
"Then why are you still following us?" Lu Ling asked, dividing his attention.
He hurled the Intermediate Magic in his hands as if it cost nothing. Even if it couldn't inflict any substantial damage on the pack of Black Demon Tigers, it could still slow their advance for a moment.
"If I hadn't followed you, I'd already be dead!" The woman's voice carried lingering fear.
"I'd already sensed something wrong and was deliberately trying to escape, but even when my magical energy was nearly exhausted, I still hadn't gotten out. Instead, the tremors in the ground kept getting stronger..."
"Uh... sorry."
So he really had dragged her into this, along with everyone in this forest.
Hopefully, there wasn't anyone else here.
"Miss, could you point us in a direction? We've been fleeing so long that we're already lost," Ling Ling said.
"The way out of the forest... should be over there."
"Should be!?"
"I'm lost too. Let's just keep going forward." The woman sounded uncertain and suggested sticking to their current direction.
"Rumor has it there's a sanctuary deep in the forest. No matter how powerful the Demon Beasts in this forest are, none of them ever appear there," the woman said.
"Deep? How deep?"
Lu Ling felt that he had already flown dozens of kilometers, yet these Black Demon Tigers were still pursuing them relentlessly. A single glance made him suck in a cold breath of fright.
"I'm not sure either. It's only a rumor."
"Could you say something useful? Aren't you a local!?"
"I'm not a local."
"..."
Lu Ling had thought he'd rescued a guide, only to find that she was another clueless daredevil.
The number of Black Demon Tigers seemed about to break a thousand. They chased behind the group in a dense black mass, unleashing hundreds of terrifying rays of black light from time to time.
Continuously using Chaos Domain to alter the order of things was starting to strain even Lu Ling's magical energy.
"Fierce Fist!"
He cast another Fire Element spell, but unfortunately, it was still useless.
"Stop wasting magical energy. Inside this forest, all magic loses at least forty percent of its power. And Black Demon Tigers are very unusual. If you can't kill them instantly, their injuries will heal very quickly!"
"What kind of species are these things? Aren't they a little too well-rounded!?"
Lu Ling couldn't help cursing. If he couldn't kill them in one hit, attacking them was pointless?
And to think this forest really was suppressing his strength! By a full forty percent!
No wonder the Heavenly Star White Dragon's destructive dragon breath, which could normally kill Commander Level creatures, struggled so much against these mere Warrior Level Black Demon Tigers.
Could the Dark Baleful Forest be a region shrouded in Night Ruler all year round?
"At this point, we can only hope that sanctuary you mentioned really exists!"
Gritting his teeth, Lu Ling abandoned offensive magic and devoted all his strength to using Space Magic to speed up the Heavenly Star White Dragon!
Ten kilometers, twenty kilometers... a hundred kilometers!
"Do you see it!? It might be that clearing!" The woman's expression lit up with delighted surprise.
The two looked in the direction she pointed and immediately spotted something unusual. Within the dense forest lay an enormous open gap!
And this gap was a striking red, an exceedingly rare sight amid the gray and green forest.
"Long Zhanye, head over there!"
"I'm not blind!" Long Zhanye sounded somewhat irritated.
Perhaps, to her, being a dragon of noble blood yet fleeing in such a sorry state here was a humiliation.
"Brother Long, once we get out, I'll put everything into breaking through to the Advanced Level in the Summoning System!"
"Hmph. Keep your word."
The white dragon dove toward the sea of red, opening a gap of about a kilometer between herself and the Black Demon Tiger pack.
Her wings flapped slowly as she hovered in the air.
The three looked back. The Black Demon Tigers had stopped at the red boundary. Their anger had yet to subside, but they didn't take another step forward.
"They really didn't come in!" The woman was somewhat delighted. This rumor, which had seemed so utterly unreliable, had actually turned out to be true.
"Phew... we can finally breathe!"
The Heavenly Star White Dragon was the most exhausted of them all, having flown at full speed while resisting the black light attacks.
Dragons were said to have great stamina, but the suppression the light-attributed Heavenly Star White Dragon suffered in the Dark Baleful Forest was probably even greater than forty percent.
"Other Shore Flower?"
Ling Ling carefully examined the plants growing here.
Other Shore Flowers covered the ground, commonly known as manjusaka.
They were said to be plants that represented death.
Could these be what the Black Demon Tigers feared?
They were clearly nothing more than ordinary flowers that posed no threat whatsoever to humans.
"Lu Ling, check the surroundings for danger."
"I've been checking the whole time. There shouldn't be any danger."
Seeing both girls staring at him, he added, "At least, I can't sense any danger with my abilities."
Hearing this, they began resting where they were, while Lu Ling sent the Heavenly Star White Dragon back to the Summoning Plane.
Other Shore Flower... huh.
Lu Ling surveyed this beautiful place and sank into his memories.
He thought of his master, and the ability unique to his master.
It seemed to be magic that directly controlled blood. That day, his master had condensed crimson blood into a carpet of Other Shore Flowers, a sight still fresh in his memory.
Lu Ling?
Now that they had some downtime, the woman finally had a chance to study this white-haired man properly.
It was her first time seeing someone born so... beautiful!
Beautiful was exactly the word. Whether man or woman, anyone would consider him beautiful.
He had stolen the creative wonders of heaven and earth, the most perfect person in the world. So perfect that he barely seemed human.
"I still don't know your name. I'm Lu Ling. What should I call you?"
"My name is Ye Meng'e." Asharuiya smiled, her face completely uncovered.
So holy, she remained like an elegant jade fox immortal, no matter how bedraggled she was.
"Ye as in leaf, Meng as in dream, and E as in graceful."
Ye... Meng... E????
A hundred question marks instantly flashed through Lu Ling's mind.
If he wasn't mistaken, there was only one person this beautiful with such an awkwardly chosen Chinese name: Asharuiya!
Come on, this was Sweden! Not Athens!
How could he have run into Asharuiya here?
How was that possible... actually, it really was possible.
Because of where they were: the Dark Baleful Forest!
Asharuiya had always been an expert in the Shadow Element, even making darkness her other side... Presumably, this was where she had received that power.
"Thank you for saving me. This medicine can restore magical energy." Asharuiya took out a small jade bottle.
"Thanks." Lu Ling accepted it. One look told him it was sacred medicine from the Parthenon. "Though we were the ones who dragged you into this."
"It's all right."
"I'm Ling Ling," Ling Ling interjected.
"Hello, Ling Ling. You probably haven't even awakened your magic yet, but you dared to come somewhere this dangerous." Asharuiya looked interested. This little girl lacked even the strength to truss a chicken, yet she had appeared in such a deadly place. It went without saying that she was no ordinary girl.
"Don't underestimate her. She's very smart," Lu Ling said with a smile.
"I'm not stupid either." Asharuiya chuckled.
"You're a Westerner, right? Why do you have a Chinese name?"
"Hmm... I saw your Eastern faces, so I gave you my Chinese name. My real name is too long. I was afraid you wouldn't remember it. I'll let you in on a little secret: very few people know the name Ye Meng'e."
"..."
This damned woman really could put on an act. If she didn't want to give her real name, she could just say so. Instead, she was using a 'shared secret' to conceal her identity, though she hadn't actually lied.
"Ling Ling, I'm planning to head farther in."
"I was thinking the same thing."
The two looked toward Asharuiya in tacit understanding.
"Would you like to come with us, Miss Ye Meng'e?"
"..."