Chapter 246: Black Forest

After leaving the Shauna Valley, Yang Ling headed straight for the next perilous land requested by the Dark Association — the Black Forest near the large snowy mountains.

Riding on the speedy Unicorn, with a large team of Horned Bee Beasts protecting him, Yang

Ling arrived at his destination without much trouble a few hours later. Along the way, he killed a few Barbaric Bulls and obtained a few Magical Beast Essence Crystals as well as a few dozen Magical Beast Blood Orbs.

After setting up the Hunter Association, he could get quite an amount of Magical Beast Blood Essence from the hunters every day. Coupled with the Blood Essences that the Vampire Bats would collect, he already had enough for himself and the military factory. He no longer needed to hunt for Magical Beasts in the forest personally anymore. Of course, since the Barbaric Bulls had insolently blocked his way, he did not mind creating a few more Magical Beast Blood Orbs.

The Black Forest was situated on a small level plain and surrounded by a group of mountains. Perhaps it was because it was located too low on the ground, have trees that were too thick or for some other reason, the forest was perpetually pitch dark. Even an average Wind Wolf or Barbaric Bull would not roam in this area, much less the hunters.

Rumor has it that this was a cursed forest and anyone who enters this forest would die a horrible death, no matter who they are. Some said that this was the graveyard of ancient witches and had undying spirits everywhere. The living would have their souls sucked out the moment they entered the forest; Others claimed that the Black Forest led directly to the territory of the Demon God of Hell, and they would get captured by the many Evil Demon Barthos if they entered the forest…

An ordinary person feared the Black Forest, but there were some people who seized the opportunity to explore the forest!

Even though no sunlight was able to enter the forest all year round, the rare Purple Blood Cordycep grew within the forest. It could extend the lifespans of humans as well as beautify a person, and thus was highly sought after by the noble ladies.

In highly populated human cities like Montson or Bavaria, a Purple Blood Cordycep could sell for tens of thousands of Purple Crystal Coins. Every year, several adventurers or troops would take the risk and enter the forest, but unfortunately, most of them did not return!

Some did not return and no news of them was heard ever again; Some died on the spot and was only able to release a plea for help on the Magical Communication Device before they died; Some were lucky enough to avert the crisis, but would become delirious, murmuring to themselves all day long like a lunatic…

As time went on, the Black Forest became a land of death within the Terras Forest. Even powerful Troop Teams would only dare to roam around the perimeter of the forest to see if they could luckily encounter a Purple Blood Cordycep. No one dared to head deep into the Black Forest to explore no matter how much their employers were willing to pay.

Just like in his exploration of the Shauna Valley, Yang Ling did not act recklessly without understanding the situation. He rode the speedy Unicorn once around the outer periphery of the Black Forest and explored the terrain by commanding his Horned Bee Beasts using his massive amounts of mental energy. He then recorded the findings down using the wonderful Heart of the Ocean.

In his caution, he soon noticed something strange!

He could sense objects within a radius of several dozen miles in other areas, and could scout the terrain and movement within a radius of several miles by sending his Horned Bee Beasts out. But after he approached the Black Forest, he felt that his mental energy was severely restricted, his senses only reaching ten meters, or even lesser; He could also only control the Horned Bee Beasts within several hundred meters, or at times, even a mere hundred meters.

The effect became more obvious the closer he got to the Black Forest!

Could there be a massive Magical Spell Formation within the forest?

Yang Ling’s expression turned grave after he made his way around the forest. There was a deathly aura around the Black Forest. Rather than call it a forest, he might as well say that it was a large Magical Spell Formation, or a strange cemetery.

He could not see any active Magical Beasts after making his way around the forest. There were not even the commonly seen Black-backed Ants, much less a hungry Wind Wolf or a Barbaric Bull. There was no movement within the entire Black Forest other than the rustling of wind. Yang Ling could even clearly hear his heartbeat.

There was a deathly aura around the forest, greatly limiting how far he could spread his mental energy. Yang Ling could not think of any other explanation aside for the fact that there might be a massive Magical Spell Formation within the forest. However, he could not spot any traces of a Magical Spell Formation no matter where he went. He did not know if his guess was wrong, or that he was just not at a high enough level!

Unable to obtain even more information from the outer perimeter of the forest, Yang Ling had no choice but to personally enter the forest to explore. As a precaution, he summoned a team of speedy Horned Bee Beasts and Vampire Bats to protect himself, then slowly walked deeper into the forest.

Against a powerful enemy, the powerful Unicorn and Twin-legged Flying Dragons were undoubtedly his best assets; But since their bodies were too large and the ripples of energy coming from within their bodies were obvious, it would easily alert his enemies if he summoned them.

Thus, it was more suitable to use smaller flying Magical Beasts like the Horned Bee Beasts and Vampire Bats when he was exploring an unknown environment. Yang Ling was confident that he could deal with any dangers as long as the Magical Beasts bought him some time. He could either summon his Magical Beast army to face off against the opponents, or use the Earth Evasion Technique to escape to safety.

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There were lush trees within the Black Forest, their leaves obscuring the sunlight, making the surroundings dark. An average person might not be able to walk in this forest, much less explore the area; But this was not a problem for Yang Ling who had enhanced vision and an exceptional constitution!

With the many Horned Bee Beasts and Vampire Bats guarding him, Yang Ling raised his sharp Blood Elf Dagger as he walked deeper into the forest one step at a time, recording the terrain along the way using the Heart of the Ocean. The darkness was not a problem to him, but what was frustrating was the limited radius of his senses!

“Oh, what is that? Could it be the so-called Purple Blood Cordycep?”

After cautiously walking for some distance, Yang Ling’s attention got caught by a few strange plants soon after. If his guess was correct, those should be the Purple Blood Cordyceps the people were talking about.

At first sight, the Purple Blood Cordyceps were not much different from an ordinary blade of grass. However, closer inspection revealed that they were split into two sections.

The upper section looked like a purple blade of grass about two to five centimeters tall, its tip a pineapple shaped husk. The lower half looked like an old silkworm about three to six centimeters tall and a centimeter thick. It was a dark purple, its surface rough and ragged, with many crevices in its back. It had eight legs at its abdominal region.

The Purple Blood Cordyceps moved quickly when they heard footsteps, either digging into the snowy ground or the bushes to hide. While they were not slow, they stumbled along like a large penguin while they moved, making them exceptionally eye-catching!

Yang Ling might have passed them by if they remained motionless under the tree, but they immediately attracted the attention of Yang Ling and the many Horned Bee Beasts the moment they moved. A few of the Horned Bee Beasts in front dived down with high speeds, immediately grabbing over a few Purple Blood Cordyceps.

Not only able to beautify, but also extend lifespans?

Yang Ling shook his head as he looked at the strange Purple Blood Cordyceps in his hand. He then tossed them into a corner of the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda with the intention of getting the little lass Alice to have a look at them after he returned.

Ever since the military factory was set up, Alice had been busy working around a large bunch of bottles and containers, creating pills of various scents as if she was a witch. Ever since she became a high-level Spellcaster after consuming a droplet of Crystal Marrow and gained a powerful Magical Energy, her improvements became more and more obvious. Yang Ling had to admit that she was better than him when it came to the recognition and creation of various poisons.

A few thousand, or even tens of thousands of Purple Crystal Coins for a cordycep. Yang Ling would naturally not pass up on something as good as that!

Following that, Yang Ling split the Horned Bee Beasts into two teams, one responsible for defending him while the other was in charge of gathering the scattered Purple Blood Cordyceps in the forest. The army of bats were tasked to patrol the area around him at high alert, in case any monster suddenly attacked them.

Chitter…

The Horned Bee Beasts worked perfectly together, acting in groups of five, pouncing forward while they cried every time they encountered a Purple Blood Cordycep. Under their pursuit, none of the Purple Blood Cordyceps that they met on the way managed to successfully hide. In just a few miles of walking, Yang Ling had successfully obtained over a hundred cordyceps, enough for him to create a small-scale breeding ground in the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda.

Yang Ling did not feel excited even though he managed to obtain several precious Purple Blood Cordyceps, his expression becoming more and more grave!

The deeper he went into the Black Forest, the smaller the range of his senses. He only had a twenty-meter warning radius even after sending out his Horned Bee Beasts to patrol the surroundings. Furthermore, the deeper he went toward the center of the forest, the lower his warning radius got. He might be put in a very passive spot if some monster was to suddenly attack him.

Oh, weird, where is this metallic stench of blood coming from?

After walking for a full hour, Yang Ling suddenly caught a faint metallic stench of blood as a cold wind blew past him. Just as he was hesitating as to whether he should summon his high-level Magical Beasts like the Unicorn and Twin-legged Flying Dragon, a Horned Bee Beast suddenly transmitted a strange piece of information. Rushing over to take a look, all he saw was a large stain of blood on a tall tree, as well as a huge mess of footprints nearby.

Yang Ling confirmed that it was the blood of a human after touching the blood with his finger and smelling it. He also ascertained that the blood had been spilled not more than two hours ago. In other words, someone had been walking in front of him and had suffered from an assault.

Could it once again be men from the Church?

Yang Ling had a thought as he remembered Kayseri, the Red-robed Cardinal that he had thrown into the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda. There were more and more mysterious figures entering Wissen Town, and amongst them, most of them were men of the Church camping in the wilderness. Only factions such as the Church and the Dark Association had the ability to forcefully enter perilous lands like the Shauna Valley and Black Forest.

After following the stench of the blood and the footprints, Yang Ling soon realized that the situation was far more complicated than he had expected.

Other than the corpses of a few knights of the Church who had the cross-shaped insignia on their chests, Yang Ling also discovered the corpses of a few monsters with human bodies, but had the heads of a bull or pig. Some were three, or even four meters tall, their thighs thicker than the trunks of trees. The gleaming axes strewn around them weighed thousands of pounds. Yang Ling could not imagine what terrifying battle capabilities they might have had while they were alive!