Volume Two: Setting Forth on the Journey Chapter 10: The True Mist Forest

"Not bad, little brother."

Jiang Yunyan jumped down from the tree and patted Wang Jue’s shoulder with a look of surprise. "Your rate of progress is genuinely terrifying, isn't it?"

"It seems we all underestimated him!" Su Yu added, her eyes filled with a touch of amazement. "I originally thought it would take him quite a while to fully integrate with us, but I never expected such rapid improvement in just a few hours. I’m starting to wonder—if we stayed on this trip for a few more days, would Wang Jue go straight from a rookie novice to a core member of the squad?"

"Hehe, I told you! Wang Jue is amazing!" Jiang Yunxin lifted her chin slightly, her face beaming with pride.

Fortunately, everyone’s attention was fixed on Wang Jue at that moment; otherwise, they surely would have asked: Wang Jue is indeed impressive, but what does that have to do with you?

Su Yu, Jiang Yunyan, and Shen Feng exchanged glances. They couldn't help but recall their own days as rookies. The first time they faced Star Beasts, it was nothing like the ease Wang Jue displayed; in fact, it was quite the opposite—they had been in a state of utter disarray. Compared to Wang Jue, they were far behind!

Thinking back to when Wang Jue had said he didn't need special care, they had assumed it was just pride preventing him from accepting help. Now, it was clear they had overthought it.

However, a nagging question lingered in their minds: are all rookies this strong nowadays?

Wang Jue, meanwhile, was panting slightly, too busy to respond as he looked down at the Red-Eyed Gray Wolf at his feet. The skirmish just now had looked simple, but in reality, he had used his full strength. Fortunately, his speed was by no means inferior to the Red-Eyed Gray Wolf, and with his micro-level basic footwork combined with his fourth-stage Spirit-Containing cultivation, the two factors stacked perfectly. Even though the Red-Eyed Gray Wolf excelled in speed, it was doomed to fall! Moreover, the wolf he had just killed was actually weaker than the Raging Wild Boar he had hunted for the first time—it was simply much faster.

Facing the team's praise, Wang Jue remained remarkably calm. He neither belittled himself nor grew overly arrogant.

"Alright, enough celebrating. Process the materials and let's get out of here quickly," Shen Feng, as the squad leader, commanded calmly. "With the battle just now and the scent of blood spreading through the air, other Star Beasts will soon be drawn to us. This is no place to linger."

Hearing Shen Feng's instruction, the group didn't argue. They immediately began to harvest the Red-Eyed Gray Wolf's carcass, focusing on its claws, fangs, and fur, while checking for a Star Core. As for other parts like the meat and bones, while they could fetch some money, the price was low and they took up too much space in their packs; no one bothered to recover them.

Wang Jue mimicked their methods, dissecting the fur, claws, and fangs. At the same time, he flicked his mind, drawing in the glowing transparent bubbles scattered on the ground and collecting them.

[Experience +1000]
[Experience +1000]
[Experience +1000]
[Experience +10000]
[Experience +1000]
...

Over twenty thousand experience points from a single fight! Wang Jue felt a surge of joy. Ever since the exams ended, the Martial Arts Association—once a great place to "shear the sheep"—had gone from overcrowded to deserted. He could only scrape together a few thousand points a day, not even reaching ten thousand. For someone like him, whose martial arts upgrades cost millions, that was a drop in the bucket. Even though he was desperate, he had found no better solution.

In truth, he knew that experience bubbles dropped by Body-Forging Realm warriors were mostly single digits, Spirit-Containing Realm warriors dropped double digits, and Red-Star Realm warriors dropped triple digits. Regardless of the magnitude, accumulating millions was an incredibly difficult task.

The primary issue was that Spirit-Containing and Red-Star warriors only visited the Association to accept or turn in missions; they rarely trained there. The Association was primarily meant for cultivating warriors from the common-man level up to the Spirit-Containing Realm. Once they reached the Spirit-Containing Realm, they were either attending high school or working as adventurers to make money. Who would spend all day training at the Association? If they had that kind of time, they would rather form a squad and head to the Blood Wolf Valley to kill Blood Wolves and sell the materials.

For a warrior to improve, cultivation resources were indispensable. And where did those resources come from? It was simple: you bought them! Unless a warrior was content with the status quo, everyone chose to hunt Star Beasts for money. In fact, back when Wang Jue hadn't yet broken through to the Spirit-Containing Realm, he had hunted frantically in the Blood Wolf Valley, earning not only massive amounts of Star Source points and experience but also enough from selling materials to become a multi-millionaire!

The only thing that depressed Wang Jue was that after he broke through to the Spirit-Containing Realm, he found that hunting Level 1 Blood Wolves yielded neither Star Source points nor experience! This result meant he didn't even bother harvesting the materials from them anymore.

Fortunately, Wang Jue kept a clear head. As his strength increased, he didn't learn many martial arts, focusing only on the "Clear Wind Nine Swords," a Black-Iron grade technique that provided bonus points for the adventurer exam. His original "Basic Swordplay," "Basic Fist Technique," and "Basic Footwork" had all reached the Master level; raising them further would require ten million experience points! For a Wang Jue currently as poor as a church mouse, ten million experience was enough to bring two or three Black-Iron techniques to perfection. Alas, he didn't have enough experience to support learning new skills. It was slightly awkward.

However, to Wang Jue’s pleasant surprise, while he had lost a good place to "shear the sheep," coming to the border battlefield with Shen Feng and the others had unexpectedly revealed a goldmine for Star Source points and experience.

The experience dropped by Body-Forging Realm warriors was single-digit, but Level 1 Star Beasts dropped triple-digits! Spirit-Containing Realm warriors dropped double-digits, but their counterparts, Level 2 Star Beasts, dropped four-digits! The difference was staggering.

In less than ten minutes, a dozen Red-Eyed Gray Wolves had contributed over one point of Star Source and over twenty thousand experience points. How could he be dissatisfied? Taking Level 2 Star Beasts as an example, each one dropped one thousand experience points. Compared to the millions needed for his martial arts, it seemed like a drizzle, but don't forget: one beast was one thousand! Ten beasts were ten thousand! A hundred beasts were one hundred thousand! A thousand beasts were one million!

With his current strength, dealing with Level 2 Star Beasts wasn't exactly like cutting vegetables, but as his realm improved, his power would naturally grow. Dealing with them would only become easier! Moreover, unlike his time as a lone wolf in the Blood Wolf Valley, he had now joined the Hurricane Squad, where everyone was at least at the fifth stage of the Red-Star Realm. Shen Feng and the others usually hunted Level 3 Star Beasts, and their current hunt for Level 2 beasts was mainly intended to cultivate Wang Jue.

Wang Jue didn't know how much experience a Level 3 Star Beast would drop, as he hadn't killed one yet. However, based on the patterns of Level 1 and Level 2 beasts, he could make some guesses. If he was right, a Level 3 beast might drop ten thousand! If that held true, a Level 4 would drop one hundred thousand, Level 5 one million, Level 6 ten million, and Level 7... one hundred million!

"If I could take down a Level 7 Star Beast right now..." The thought popped into his head.

The next second, he shook his head vigorously to snap out of it, quickly casting that "impractical" thought aside and continuing to harvest the materials from the Red-Eyed Gray Wolf.

Shen Feng and the others had skillfully dissected two or three wolves by the time Wang Jue finished his first. Wang Jue then nimbly tucked his share of the spoils—claws, fur, and fangs—into the compartments of his backpack, thoroughly sealing away the smell of blood. He shook his head and sighed to himself, "Everyone in the Hurricane Squad is a powerhouse except for me..."

Just as Wang Jue was feeling sentimental, the four of them finished processing their haul. Out of seventeen Red-Eyed Gray Wolves, not a single Star Core had dropped, not even from the Level 2 alpha. *If I didn't get one, you guys didn't either! That’s only fair,* Wang Jue thought with a secret chuckle.

"Alright, time to move on," Shen Feng called out, signaling the team to continue.

...

Time slipped away. Night fell deep. The roars of beasts in the Misty Forest rose and fell, even more lively than during the day, accompanied by the shrill cries of avian predators!

"Roar..."
"Awoo..."
"Woooo..."
"Screech..."

As time passed, Wang Jue noticed mist rising in the surroundings. His vision was significantly impaired, even with their night-vision goggles. Before the mist, he could easily see things thirty or forty meters away, though anything further became blurry. With the arrival of the mist, he found his vision restricted to within ten meters. This obstruction made him realize immediately that the Misty Forest was several times more dangerous with the mist than without.

"Captain, the mist is rising!"

Just as he hesitated whether to speak up, he heard Jiang Yunyan beside him, her brows furrowed. "We can't keep moving forward; it’s too easy to run into trouble."

"She's right, Captain." Su Yu, who had been scanning the surroundings with a wary expression, didn't turn back as she said, "Yanyan is correct. The level of danger between a misty forest and a clear one is not even comparable. Even for us, we have to be extremely cautious, not to mention that we have Wang Jue, a rookie with no experience in this regard, on the team."

Her words were blunt. If Wang Jue weren't there, they could choose to keep moving or set up camp where they were. But with a rookie on the team, they had more to consider.

"Very well, we won't go any deeper. We'll end it here for tonight," Shen Feng stopped and addressed the group. "We’ll find a safe spot to rest. The Star Beasts in the Misty Forest are even more active at night than during the day. Once a battle starts, it won't stop for a long time."

Hearing Shen Feng, the three of them had no objections, and Wang Jue naturally wouldn't say otherwise. He knew full well that a rookie had no say in such matters!

As it happened, he was the biggest rookie of them all.