Ch. 430 - Phoenix Perch Demon Forest

Xu Zimo slowly opened his eyes as the world before him stabilized.

He stepped out from the teleportation array.

After casually asking around, he found out that he had arrived in Tranquil Heaven City, part of the Phoenix Perch Empire.

He walked around the city for a bit and discovered that it was very small, almost the size of a small town.

Having traveled for several days through teleportation, Xu Zimo was mentally and physically tired.

The sky was also beginning to darken, so he decided to rest for the night.

He found an inn, ate dinner, and returned to his room to study Demon.

...

Late at night, Tranquil Heaven City was especially quiet.

Located on the empire’s edge, it had nothing to do with prosperity or bustling commerce.

Most of the city’s residents had already gone to sleep.

In the still darkness, a sudden gust of wind rose outside the city.

Three figures in black and red robes appeared at the city gate.

They stood before the gate, silently observing the city for a long time.

Finally, the figure in the middle spoke.

“Are we sure? This is the place?”

“There’s no mistake,” the person in the center nodded slightly.

“What did the organization say? Wipe out the city?”

“The God Cult cannot fully reveal itself here yet. Understand?” the man in the middle said calmly.

“Then what? Just us three to destroy the city?”

“You think they won’t be prepared? Just us isn’t enough.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Use someone else’s hand,” the man said, eyes sharp.

...

The Phoenix Perch Demon Forest was a vast expanse of wilderness that stretched across mountains, snowy peaks, and plains.

It spanned nearly half of the Phoenix Perch Empire.

It was a notorious danger zone.

Not only residents of the Phoenix Perch Empire, but even neighboring empires knew, this forest was a headache that had never been solved.

The forest contained only one kind of creature: Demon Spirits.

They were naturally born spiritual beings, feeding on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They were generally gentle and timid, never daring to enter human territories.

However, they had a strong sense of territoriality.

Anyone entering the Phoenix Perch Demon Forest would provoke their aggression, and they would attack until the intruder was either driven out or killed.

Because of this, the forest had long been the empire’s greatest problem.

But due to the demon spirits’ timid nature, humans and them had remained relatively peaceful for many years.

To prevent humans from accidentally entering, or the demon spirits from unexpectedly emerging, the Phoenix Perch Empire began long ago to build a defensive formation around the forest’s edge.

The array stretched from Sunpeak City in the east to Phoenix Perch Valley in the west.

It took hundreds of years to complete, using nearly every formation master in the empire.

Eventually, it successfully enclosed the entire forest.

North of Tranquil Heaven City, not far away, was a section of the forest’s boundary.

There, a fortress controlled an important segment of the defense array.

...

It was mid-spring. The weather was cool and refreshing.

A spring breeze blew from within the forest, lifting green leaves into the air.

The leaves danced briefly in the wind before drifting to the ground.

Atop the fortress, the surrounding landscape could be seen for kilometers.

Two soldiers in red armor sat on the walls.

One was an older man, the other a young man.

“Uncle Han, can you cover me for a bit? I want to get some sleep,” the young man said with a grin.

“What were you doing all day again?” the old man snorted. “If something happens with the forest, what will you do then?”

“Oh come on, Uncle Han, you’ve guarded this fortress for over thirty years and nothing’s ever happened.”

The young man laughed, “I won’t be that unlucky.”

He leaned back against the wall and dozed off. Uncle Han sighed and shook his head.

The night wind picked up, and the sky grew darker.

For those guarding the fortress, the worst weather was heat, heavy rain, or snow.

Uncle Han looked at the sky, then stood and gazed toward the Phoenix Perch Demon Forest.

He had no idea that several shadows were creeping up behind him.

A gust of wind swept past his ears. Before he could turn around, a mass of black mist enveloped him, dissolving and corroding his body completely.

The three black-robed figures looked at the young man still sleeping nearby.

One of them kicked him awake.

“Uncle Han, what are you-” the young man began, groggy.

But then he saw the three black-robed figures standing calmly before him and froze.

“Who… who are you?” the young man asked nervously.

“Open the defense formation,” the figure in the center said coldly.

“I can’t! I was only assigned to guard this place. I don’t have the authority,” the young man shook his head quickly.

“Then what good are you alive for?” the one on the left said, and brought his hand down.

Before the young man could even scream, the black mist corroded him silently.

...

“What now?” the one on the left asked.

“Check the formation first.”

The three left the fortress and arrived at the formation's edge.

The formation was always active, invisible and intangible.

They stood there observing it for a while. Eventually, the one in the center exhaled in relief.

He said, “Looks like I was right.

Even though the formation is one whole system, it’s actually made of many smaller arrays linked together.”

“So we don’t need to break the whole thing? Just open a small gap here?” the one beside him asked.

“Exactly. You two keep watch, I’ll try it.”

The center figure nodded.

About an hour later, the formation began to ripple.

The once-invisible barrier became visible, like a faint blue dome.

The black-robed man took out a bottle of black liquid from his storage ring and poured it on the barrier.

Crackling sounds echoed lightly from the array.

Soon after, the array corroded and opened a small hole.

The man waved at the others to join him.

He said seriously, “There are still three hours until dawn. We must complete everything before then, or we’ll be discovered.”

“Got it,” the other two nodded and entered the Phoenix Perch Demon Forest through the gap.

...

At dawn, the first rays of morning light crept across the horizon.

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