Chapter 425: Fluorescent Light

Fan Hongjiao and the others, however, all stared blankly at Duan Rong, not speaking for a long time.

Duan Rong felt a bit awkward all of a sudden.

He had only arrived a little late, hadn't he? Was it necessary for them all to look at him so coldly?

He admitted that when he first jumped down, he had needed a moment to adjust, but afterwards he had been falling at full speed the entire time; for that final stretch, he had even held his Qi and plummeted, crashing straight down. In his own view, he had considered himself to have used his full strength.

Duan Rong wanted to say something more to ease the awkward atmosphere, but just as he was about to speak, Fan Hongjiao threw an arm around his shoulder and laughed, "Little Disciple, you're the real man here!"

Fan Hongjiao's red lips and white teeth were almost right against Duan Rong's ear, and whether she was unintentional or deliberate, the side of a certain surging area of hers was currently pressed tightly against the other side of Duan Rong's shoulder.

Duan Rong's face could not help but turn slightly red.

Fan Hongjiao looked at Wang Yue with a smile and said, "Wang Yue, you're the most womanly one of the lot!"

Duan Rong lowered his head and glanced at the spot where Fan Hongjiao was pressed tightly against his shoulder, thinking to himself: Shouldn't you be the most womanly one?

Upon hearing this, Wang Yue let out a frantic cry and said, "Senior Sister, I only just became a Senior Brother today. Please don't keep disparaging my tall and imposing image in front of the Little Disciple."

"Your tall and imposing image?" Fan Hongjiao said, "Wang Yue! I think you should just be the Little Disciple from now on! You're short and stout, and you have the courage of a chicken. Look at Junior Brother Duan, he's full of vigor; standing next to you, who looks more like the Disciple?"

As Fan Hongjiao spoke, she gave Duan Rong a shove and moved him next to Wang Yue. Wang Yue was already short in stature, and by comparison with Duan Rong, he looked even more like a dwarf melon.

Duan Rong said, "Senior Sister, please do not joke. Such matters have their own order of seniority; Senior Brother Wang Yue entered the Sect first, so he is naturally the Senior Brother."

Wang Yue laughed, "The Little Disciple speaks well! Order of seniority! He knows propriety! He knows propriety!"

Wu Shidao said, "Senior Sister, since everyone has arrived, shall we enter the Dark Forest now?"

Among these people, Wu Shidao was the one who least liked to joke, and he was deep in thought, so the others were somewhat distant when interacting with him.

Fan Hongjiao said, "Fine, let's go!"

Only then did the group leave the cliff face and walk in a certain direction.

It was only at this moment that Duan Rong began to examine the surrounding scenery. He saw that the area around the cliff base was actually a large patch of Fluorescent Grass.

He soon discovered that the faint fluorescent light was all being emitted by the blades of grass beneath his feet.

Duan Rong was curious, so as he walked, he bent down and reached out to pluck a blade of grass from the ground.

He stared intently at the blade of grass in his hand, seeing that it emitted a faint, glowing light.

Seeing that Duan Rong was very interested in the grass, Wang Yue smiled and explained, "Little Disciple, this is called Qingguang Grass! Near every cliff-jumping point, there will be a patch of this grass. The fluorescent light emitted by this Qingguang Grass can blind the eyes of Origin Beasts. It's just that as soon as this grass leaves the ground, it will wither and die very quickly."

Sure enough, just as Wang Yue finished speaking, the fluorescent light from the blade of grass in Duan Rong's hand dissipated, and it withered and died.

The patch of Qingguang Grass they were in was about half the size of a soccer field, and the outer perimeter of this fluorescent grassland was shrouded in dense darkness.

Duan Rong looked toward the darkness; he knew that was where the true Dark Forest lay.

Not long after, the group walked to the edge of the fluorescent grassland, where there was a cluster of dense trees.

Just as they reached the edge, Duan Rong suddenly felt several strands of Divine Sense released abruptly, all of them right beside him, and then Fan Hongjiao took the lead and passed through the dense trees in front of them.

Duan Rong followed their figures and passed through as well.

As soon as he crossed through the dense trees, Duan Rong felt his vision go pitch black.

In the ink-black environment, he could only vaguely see a few blurry figures moving beside him.

In this environment, he actually wanted to activate his Divine Sense Envelopment, but he knew that once he did, he would certainly alarm the others; after all, everyone beside him, except for Wang Yue, had already projected their Divine Sense.

Because the distance was very close, Duan Rong could even perceive the strength of those three strands of Divine Sense quite clearly.

The three strands of Divine Sense, varying in strength, were probing in a crisscross pattern, coming from Fan Hongjiao, Wu Shidao, and Lu Geng respectively.

Lu Geng's Divine Sense was the weakest; Duan Rong felt he had likely only just achieved the second level of the Womb Treasury Sutra.

The strongest strand of Divine Sense came from Fan Hongjiao, who was walking at the very front of the group; Duan Rong estimated she had achieved about the fifth level of the Womb Treasury Sutra.

Lu Geng had been on Yunfu Peak for seven years already. He wasn't very sure about Fan Hongjiao, but it had to be at least ten years or more. She had only achieved the fifth level of the Womb Treasury Sutra. If their situation was anything to go by, he didn't know how many years it would take before the Sect taught him the Womb Treasury Sutra beyond the twelfth level.

After walking for a while, Duan Rong had already adapted to the darkness here.

He realized that there was actually light in the Dark Forest, it was just very faint; it was only because they had suddenly stepped in from a patch of fluorescent light that it had felt as dark as ink.

The group moved through the forest in a single file line. Fan Hongjiao walked at the very front, Wu Shidao brought up the rear, and Duan Rong was in the very middle.

Only then did Duan Rong get to see the weapons of his fellow Disciples.

Wu Shidao held an Iron Ruler, which could be seen emitting a faint fluorescent light even in the darkness. Wang Yue, walking in front of Duan Rong, used a set of Butterfly Twin Blades. Lu Geng held a melon-shaped hammer. And Fan Hongjiao, walking at the very front, held a coiled Python Whip in her hand.

As they walked, they suddenly saw a very strange tree not far ahead.

The tree's trunk was pitch black and twisted, but the branches hanging down were fine, soft, and emitted a faint silver glow. The entire tree with its silver-white branches hanging down looked like a galaxy in the darkness, standing quietly in this endless, gloomy forest; it was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

The moment Duan Rong saw that tree, his whole body turned cold.

Fan Hongjiao, who was walking at the front, suddenly said, "Little Disciple, do you see that tree? Never go near that kind of tree! In the Dark Forest, many plants are far more dangerous than Origin Beasts. And the more beautiful a plant is, the more dangerous it usually is!"

Duan Rong raised his eyes to look at Fan Hongjiao's back at the front, muttering and repeating her words: "Many plants are far more dangerous than Origin Beasts..."

Just then, three black shadows suddenly flashed from the pitch-black grass nearby and attacked them.

The black shadows were long and thin; Duan Rong had not projected his Divine Sense and only scanned them with his eyes, thinking they were three flying daggers.

The moment Duan Rong saw them, Wu Shidao, at the back of the group, had already flashed over. With a wave of his Iron Ruler, he knocked the two leading black shadows down at Duan Rong's feet. The last black shadow, however, suddenly turned and shot off at an angle.

Seeing the last black shadow suddenly change direction in such a strange way, Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat! He knew that thing was definitely not a flying dagger; no flying dagger could suddenly change direction in mid-air, and its speed seemed not to have weakened, but rather increased by a few points.

Once the black shadow changed direction, it shot toward that strange tree not far away, which was covered in hanging silver-white fluorescent branches. Under the illumination of the silver-white glow, Duan Rong finally saw clearly what the three black shadows that had shot out from the grass actually were.

They were Red-Scaled Snakes with two pairs of wings; at this moment, he could see their wings fluttering, and their speed was extremely swift.

But the Red-Scaled Snake with fluttering wings, startled by Wu Shidao's Iron Ruler, had suddenly turned and flown this way. Seeing it was now not far from the strange tree with the silver-white fluorescent branches, the Red-Scaled Snake seemed to know the tree was dangerous and was just about to turn to avoid it, but suddenly, one of the tree's branches whipped out like a long lash. With a flash of the whip's shadow, it had already coiled around the Red-Scaled Snake.

Once coiled, it was pulled into the dense mass of branches. Those branches writhed around the Red-Scaled Snake like maggots, and after only a moment, when the coiled branches dispersed, the Red-Scaled Snake was nowhere to be found, as if it had never existed at all.

Fan Hongjiao and the others seemed long accustomed to such scenes, but Duan Rong felt a chill run through his entire body. In the blink of an eye, the red snake had been reduced to nothing.

At this moment, Wang Yue squatted down at Duan Rong's feet, picked up the two Red-Scaled Snakes, and laughed, "This thing is a good find!"

"Little Disciple, these two red snakes, let's take one each. Your Senior Brother is being generous, right?"

Duan Rong said, "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Wang Yue seemed very happy and put the two red snakes into the pocket he carried with him.

As the group continued forward, after walking for a distance, a light suddenly appeared under Duan Rong's feet, which startled him, and he immediately flashed to the side.

Duan Rong held the Frost Pattern Phosphorus Crystal Blade, his expression stunned, as he saw that the ground he had just stepped on was glowing with a milky, eerie light; the light flickered on and off, looking just like little mushrooms.

Lu Geng patted Duan Rong on the shoulder and said, "Don't be nervous, little Disciple, those are just Moon-Ghost Mushrooms; they won't hurt anyone!"

Seeing Lu Geng say this, Duan Rong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Because Fan Hongjiao had said earlier that the more beautiful a plant was, the more dangerous it usually was; these Moon-Ghost Mushrooms, emitting a milky fluorescent glow, were quite enchanting, which was why Duan Rong's vigilance had spiked, thinking there might be some strange occurrence.

Fan Hongjiao glanced at Duan Rong and said, "Little Disciple, your reaction is correct. Caution is the parent of safety; in this Dark Forest, there is danger at every step. Since you have neither experience nor Divine Sense to scout the path, you cannot afford not to be on guard."

Duan Rong nodded and said, "Many thanks for the instruction, Senior Sister!"

Fan Hongjiao gave a hum and continued to lead the team forward; after walking a few more steps, Fan Hongjiao also stepped on a patch of Moon-Ghost Mushrooms, and a faint, milky halo of light enveloped her feet, truly looking like a ghostly moon shadow.

Fan Hongjiao frowned slightly and asked, "When did so many Moon-Ghost Mushrooms grow on this path? Wu Shidao, check the Topographical Map; did we take the wrong road?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Shidao struck the Iron Ruler in his hand into the ground beside his feet with a thud, then took that animal-skin map from the pouch at his waist.

The map was spread out in his hands, and he stared intently at it.

Duan Rong was curious and also tilted his head to look over; he saw that the animal-skin map was now also emitting a faint, eerie light, reflecting on Wu Shidao's face with a greenish, ghostly pallor, making him look just like a demon from hell.

That animal-skin map had clearly been drawn using some kind of pigment that emitted an eerie light. It seemed that when Wu Shidao drew this map, he had already considered being able to check it at any time in the Dark Forest. This man's foresight was truly profound.

Wu Shidao looked at it for a while, then raised his head and said, "This is the right road; we didn't go the wrong way. These Moon-Ghost Mushrooms must have just grown."

"Is that so?"

Fan Hongjiao muttered a word, then stopped speaking and continued walking forward.

The group continued to walk forward, encountering some small Origin Beasts along the way that tried to ambush them, all of which were easily killed by Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao. These small Origin Beasts were all happily collected by Wang Yue.

As the group moved forward, they seemed to be walking deeper and deeper into the Dark Forest, and Fan Hongjiao's voice drifted over from the front.

"Little Disciple, the deeper you go into this Dark Forest, the more dangerous it becomes; we only operate on the outskirts, which is relatively safer. The true depths of the Dark Forest are a place of terror, even for those with great power. In the history of the Taiyi Sect, it is not just once that experts of the Dongming Realm have fallen in the depths of the Dark Forest."

Hearing this, Duan Rong's heart was shaken.

"Experts of the Dongming Realm... fallen?"

Experts of the Dongming Realm are those who have grasped Law Power.

To be able to make such powerful beings fall, what kind of terrifying place is the depth of the Dark Forest?

As Duan Rong thought this, when he raised his head, he already saw patches of cold, eerie light shining through the gaps in the dense forest ahead.

"We're here!" Fan Hongjiao's voice came from the front.

"Come, let's crouch in the trees on the bank of the stream. When a weaker Origin Beast comes to the stream to drink water, we will slaughter it." As Fan Hongjiao said this, she turned her head to look at Duan Rong and said, "Little Disciple, follow me!"

As soon as Fan Hongjiao finished speaking, without waiting for a reply, she had already flashed to Duan Rong's side, grabbed his shoulder, and with a leap and a bound, she had already taken Duan Rong with her and jumped into the dense canopy of a pitch-black tree by the stream.

Wu Shidao, Lu Geng, and Wang Yue watched their figures, and with a sway, they disappeared into a pitch-black canopy.

Wang Yue said, "I have a feeling that little Disciple will be defiled by Senior Sister sooner or later!"

Lu Geng said, "Why do I feel like you're just being sour!"

Wang Yue said, "What nonsense are you spouting? I am clearly speaking up for little Disciple!"

Lu Geng said, "It's only because you're so short that Senior Sister hasn't messed with you; you should be secretly happy! Besides, what is there for little Disciple to be upset about? What's wrong with Senior Sister? She has the figure, she has the face, and she's so mature!"

"She is mature, but she's just too mature. I'm afraid little Disciple won't be able to handle it!" Wang Yue sighed feignedly. As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Geng glanced at him, and the two of them shared a malicious smile.

"Enough!" Wu Shidao said, "Everyone find a place to hide."

After Wu Shidao finished speaking, his figure leaped into the canopy of a tree next to the one where Fan Hongjiao and Duan Rong were hiding; Lu Geng and Wang Yue also used their movement techniques and leaped into the canopy of another tree nearby.

Fan Hongjiao and Duan Rong were hiding in the dense canopy of that large tree, and the two of them could see the situation on the nearby stream bank very clearly through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

In the darkness, Fan Hongjiao deliberately pressed her face close; her breath, fragrant like orchids, blew into Duan Rong's ear, causing an unbearable, tingling itch...

A wave of heat surged in Duan Rong's lower abdomen before he knew it.

Duan Rong closed his eyes tightly, secretly warning himself that he was a man with a family and must remain chaste.

After he muttered to himself for a while, when he opened his eyes again, the palpitations in his heart had calmed down quite a bit. Duan Rong took a deep breath, ignored Fan Hongjiao beside him, and only looked at the stream under the tree through the gaps in the branches.

He saw that the surface of the stream was emitting a faint, greenish, eerie light in the dark night; he soon discovered that it was not the water itself emitting the light, but a kind of plankton in the water.

That eerie light was dotted and speckled, floating slowly up and down with the current...

After some teasing, Fan Hongjiao saw that Duan Rong was like a stone statue, completely unmoved, and she instantly lost interest, thinking to herself: What a guy who doesn't understand romance! A waste of my good intentions.

Seeing that Fan Hongjiao was no longer blowing into his ear, Duan Rong asked softly, "Senior Sister?"

"What is it?" Fan Hongjiao's tone was clearly somewhat displeased.

Duan Rong said, "What is that plankton in the water that emits the eerie light called?"

"That's called Water White Grass!" Fan Hongjiao's heart stirred; Duan Rong's observation skills were quite good, as he had already discovered in such a short time that the eerie light in the stream was emitted by those plankton.

(End of this chapter)