Chapter 4246 — The Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast

Wei Zhao turned his head and exchanged a glance with Huang Xiaotao. Seeing nothing amiss about her, he set his mind at ease and swept his eyes over their present surroundings.

The six of them now stood amid an exceedingly dense forest. Beneath their feet, all around them, and overhead alike grew every manner of plant and tree, all bursting with vitality; some they had seen elsewhere, but others they had never seen or even heard of.

There really was no miasma—that was the first thing Wei Zhao confirmed. Here in the depths of the forest the light was faint, but at least he could make out his surroundings; even across a distance of some dozens of meters, so long as no foliage blocked the view, he could still see clearly. Had miasma been present, that would have been impossible.

Just then Huang Xiaotao gave Wei Zhao a gentle tug and pointed at the sky. He looked up, and his heart could not help but tighten.

Less than thirty meters overhead hung a mass of exceedingly thick fog, blotting out the sky and hiding the sun, without edge or boundary. Yet it was still midday, and a few faint shafts of sunlight could pierce the fog layer; otherwise it would surely have been utter darkness below.

"Brother Guo, is that layer up there the miasma?" Wei Zhao asked, curious. By the look of it, it was not much different from the sea fog he had grown used to, though its color was somewhat darker.

"That's right," Guo Dengtao said with a nod. This was already his third consecutive year coming to the Rufeng Forest, so he had come to know the place's conditions fairly well.

"It's midday now—theoretically the time of strongest light—and yet there's only this much faint illumination. Then when the miasma is at its normal state, wouldn't there be not even this much? How is it that such dense vegetation can still grow down here?" Wei Zhao found it all the more strange.

"Uh... I hadn't really thought about that..." Guo Dengtao was stumped on the spot and scratched his head in some embarrassment. He was not the sort to ponder things carefully on his own; since he had never heard anyone speak of such matters, he naturally had no idea.

"The Rufeng Forest isn't like this at ordinary times," Chu Bubai, at the very front, suddenly spoke up. "This so-called disappearance of the miasma is nothing but misleading hearsay passed around the markets. During this period, it's only because of local air currents peculiar to this place that the miasma layer has risen into the air. At ordinary times the layer doesn't climb this high—in fact it's even thinner, hugging the ground itself, so naturally the light isn't as poor as it is now."

"So that's how it is. I'm obliged for the lesson." Hearing this, Wei Zhao regarded Chu Bubai a little more highly. Though the man concealed a certain sinister ruthlessness beneath his refined and scholarly air—something Wei Zhao was very much on guard against—setting that aside, Chu Bubai did indeed give the impression of no ordinary man.

"Brother Chu is the one with real insight, unlike certain people who are not only weak but know nothing at all!" Feng Hongyu clung to Chu Bubai's arm with one hand and tossed her head, casting Wei Zhao a smug glance. That earlier scene—Wei Zhao feigning indifference, putting on airs, and then suddenly producing his spirit jade card—had thoroughly rubbed her the wrong way.

Wei Zhao paid the woman no mind. Instead, after studying Chu Bubai for a moment, he suddenly asked another question: "Brother Chu, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but have you also come to this Rufeng Forest at ordinary times?"

At these words, even Guo Dengtao and the others were taken aback, and they all turned to look at Chu Bubai with astonishment. Coming to the Rufeng Forest at a time like this was perfectly normal; but to dare come at ordinary times as well—that truly marked a man of exceptional skill and daring.

The Rufeng Forest of today and the Rufeng Forest of ordinary times were two entirely different worlds. Now, though danger lurked on every side, so long as one was careful and not too unlucky, even if one failed to win any heavenly treasures, one could at least withdraw with one's life intact.

At ordinary times, however, the miasma-shrouded Rufeng Forest—for human cultivators, to call it a den of dragons and tigers would be putting it mildly. Of ten who entered, nine and a half would die there.

If Chu Bubai had truly come at other times and survived unscathed to this day, then the man was indeed a remarkably thick leg to cling to.

"That's right. Once I was trapped here and ended up staying by accident for a time. Fortunately, I scraped through with my life," Chu Bubai said mildly, glancing at Wei Zhao and waving the white paper fan in his hand.

The others exchanged looks, and the respect in their eyes when they regarded Chu Bubai deepened at once. His words had been spoken lightly enough, but the peril within them could be guessed even without elaboration.

This man was truly no simple matter! Wei Zhao grew all the more certain of his own judgment. He shot Huang Xiaotao a look, signaling her to stay close to him and be careful from here on, lest anything unexpected happen.

Just then, everyone's expression suddenly changed. From the dense forest in the distance came a burst of roaring—"Hou! Hou!"—accompanied by the dense rustle and swish of foliage. Clearly, some spirit beast was approaching at speed.

Before anyone could react, the owner of that sound—which a moment ago had seemed a hundred zhang away—abruptly appeared behind them the next instant, and a colossal black shadow of incomparable swiftness came hurtling out sideways.

Wei Zhao had no time to look closely. He seized Huang Xiaotao at once and dodged swiftly to one side. Chu Bubai reacted in kind, pulling Feng Hongyu out of the way, but Guo Dengtao and Wang Feng fared rather more wretchedly.

Guo Dengtao came off slightly better; tumbling and scrambling, he managed to escape disaster. Wang Feng was not so lucky. Unable to dodge in time, he was sent sprawling head over heels by the great black shadow. Fortunately, it was only a glancing blow and not a direct hit; otherwise, judging by the force of it, Wang Feng would have been left half-crippled at best, if not dead outright.

In a place like this, a severe injury leaving one half-crippled was as good as death. Unless it were a bond of true life-and-death friendship, no one would be willing to carry a burden along on such a venture. At least among those present, Wei Zhao could see no one especially close to Wang Feng.

The great black shadow passed through their midst. After striking Wang Feng, it did not pause in the slightest; leaving only a trail of afterimages, it vanished into the dense forest in an instant.

The Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast! Wei Zhao's heart gave a start. Though the black shadow moved with great speed, that single hurried glimpse had been enough for him to recognize the spirit beast at once—for it was far too familiar.

Never had Wei Zhao imagined that, upon coming to Cloud Terrace Island—and to the Rufeng Forest in particular—he would actually encounter one of Little Feng's own kind!

Cloud Terrace Island was all but cut off from the mortal world, and Wei Zhao had assumed that spirit beasts like the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast existed only in the mortal realm. He had never expected Cloud Terrace Island to have them too—and judging by that display just now, this Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast's level of strength was far above Little Feng's! R1152