Chapter 869: The Mysterious Woman
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The figure was a lithe woman. She had appeared rather mysteriously. Even Mo Wen did not seem to notice her.
“Is he Mo Wen? Junior Sister Lin Qing told me to take care of him during the Heaven List Tournament, but she seemed to have underestimated his abilities. Given his current cultivation levels, he might be able to pass easily even without my help, as long as his luck is not too bad.”
The mysterious woman stretched out a pale, slender finger and curled it around her long hair coyly. Then she turned into bubbles and disappeared.
If Mo Wen had heard that, he would definitely be shocked. The person had mentioned Lin Qing. What was her relationship with Lin Qing?
The leader of the criminals, Bao Xun, was vicious and heartless. In order to survive and butter up to Mo Wen, he had lied and said that he managed to escape Mo Wen. Then, he called for all his subordinates and killed them all personally.
Those living in the Red Stone forest were almost all cruel and vicious. They did not care much for life.
Bao Xun had more than 30 subordinates, all in the Golden Elixir realm. Together, they came up to about 250 points.
Of course, they did not measure up to Bao Xun, who was a martial arts grandmaster. He was far more valuable than the warriors in the Golden Elixir realm.
Mo Wen was in the Red Stone forest for less than an hour but already had almost 300 points. To the ordinary competitors, it was almost impossible for them to even imagine.
However, Mo Wen was shocked to realize that he could not even make it to the top ten with his current points.
Mo Wen was seated cross-legged on a red rock. He held his teleporting magical treasure — the jade pendant. His thoughts traveled through the jade pendant and transmitted into a different space.
A mysterious great hall appeared before him. On a wall in the great hall was a ranking list with 30 names on it.
Mo Wen realized that he was only in 19th place. There were still more than 10 people who ranked ahead of him.
It was the Red Stone leaderboard. One could check it through the special jade pendant from Huatian Palace. The points each competitor gained were added onto the board immediately and their rankings would be adjusted.
Mo Wen was pretty lucky. He encountered a group of criminals not long after he entered the Red Stone forest and his points increased greatly. The criminals in the Red Stone forest all knew how to hide and some of the unlucky ones would not have encountered even one criminal yet.
Even so, Mo Wen was still ranked 19th only. There were 18 people ahead of him.
“The Heaven List Tournament has a lot of strong competition this year.”
Mo Wen thought to himself. In the last tournament, his points would have put him firmly in the first place. If he was not wrong, more than one martial arts grandmasters criminals had died in the hands of his competition.
Luck only played a small part in ranking. Most of it depended on a person’s ability. One might be able to get on the leaderboard for a moment based on luck, but it would not be long before others squeezed them out of the running.
Bao Xun sat on the ground obediently ten meters away from the rock Mo Wen was sitting on. There was quite a bit of a distance between the two. While it seemed respectful and courteous on the surface, Bao Xun’s eyes glimmered as if he were feeling uncertain.
As a martial arts grandmaster who had been locked up in the Red Stone forest for more than 20 years, he knew some of the secrets of the jade pendant. Mo Wen’s thoughts had entered the ranking space. If he were to attack Mo Wen now, he might be able to defeat and kill the young man. However, it was a possibility that he might succeed. He was not certain.
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to give up. He did not dare to take the risk. He only had one chance, and if he failed, he would die.
Having lived on the brink of death for several years, Bao Xun understood the need to be composed. He would not wager his life for a possibility.
Mo Wen slowly retracted his thoughts. He glanced at Bao Xun, stood up, and said, “lead the way. I hope you are not lying. Otherwise, you know what will happen.”
After some time with Bao Xun, Mo Wen had found out quite a bit of information regarding the Red Stone forest.
The Red Stone forest was a little bigger than Mo Wen had imagined. There were many criminals living in it and they came from everywhere. The main space, inner worlds, foreign countries, mysterious places… However, those who appeared on the savages list were almost all locked up here.
As such, the criminals who were locked up in this space came from all over the world. There were all kinds of people here. Meeting foreigners and people of odd races were normal.
There was no exact count on the number of criminals in the Red Stone forest. Even Huatian Palace might not have an accurate count. This was because the people in the forests fought every day and death might occur at any moment. A large number was locked up here and a large number would die here. If one did not intentionally count the number of people here, no one would know how many criminals there were exactly in the Red Stone forest.
Bao Xun had estimated the number of criminals in the Red Stone forest. The number should be maintained at about more than 10,000.
This was a large number of people. Mo Wen was shocked. He had thought that having a few thousand criminals locked up in this place was already a lot. It seemed that he had underestimated the world-class prison.
In order to survive, it was common for the criminals in the Red Stone forest to form groups. Even though they were vicious and evil, they knew the importance of working together. As such, the rise of a faction was commonly seen here, as was the fall of a certain faction.
A group like Bao Xun’s, about 30 people, was considered a low-level faction in the Red Stone forest. They were almost completely unknown.
The ten most famous factions all had third realm martial arts grandmasters. Some had more than one third realm martial arts grandmasters.
After killing all his subordinates, Bao Xun drew up a plan for their next target for Mo Wen.
That was also a small group of people. There were probably about 30 to 40 of them. The leader was a martial arts grandmaster. Other than that, the others were all warriors in the Golden Elixir realm.
Bao Xun’s group had once fought with the group and knew exactly where they were.
“My Lord, please come with me. The group is probably about 200 kilometers away. With our walking speed, we can reach them in an hour.”
Bao Xun led the way respectfully. Using the Body Differentiation Technique, the scenery beside them sped by quickly.
They could not fly in the Red Stone forest. Even the most powerful cultivator could not fly in in the Red Stone forest. Even an immortal cultivator in the Primordial Soul realm, or a warrior who had become an immortal could not.
Huatian Palace had set up a large anti-air stratagem that covered the entire Red Stone forest. That was one of the reasons why the criminals locked up there could not escape.
There was a red stone mountain 200 miles away. The mountain was steep and dangerous. There was only one path up the mountain.
In ancient times, it would have been difficult to attack such a mountain. It was the best place to build a stronghold.
Mo Wen and Bao Xun stood on a cliff on the red stone mountain. Tall peaks surrounded them.
“My lord, behind that metal chain bridge is where that group gathers. You might not be able to see anything from the outside, but past the bridge, along the cliff walls is a completely different world.”
Bao Xun pointed at a bridge, which was 500 meters long, an arm’s length across, and stretched between two peaks. Below the bridge was a precipice.
The gravity in the Red Stone forest was very odd. If a martial arts grandmaster fell from such a height, they would be pulverized.
Without the bridge, Mo Wen would find it difficult to reach the cliff on the other side.
“Under the cliff walls is a fortress. It is rather well hidden, and we cannot see it from this angle. You can only see it when you walk up to the bridge. However, at that time, they will definitely discover us.”
Due to the environment of the Red Stone forest, even a martial arts grandmaster would find it difficult to enter. Unless they had special skills, they would be discovered.
“We don’t have to hide.”
Mo Wen waved his sleeve and turned into a flash of light that sped toward the metal chain bridge. If Bao Xun were to be believed, there was only one martial arts grandmaster there. There was no need for them to hide. If Bao Xun lied to him and there was an unknown danger, then he had a way to escape.
He had come to kill and gain points. He could kill swiftly and efficiently, why did he need to hide?
Mo Wen did not have any pity for the criminals in the Red Stone forest. If they were locked up there by Huatian Palace, they were not good people. Mo Wen knew that Huatian Palace was righteous. The palace took strict responsibility in maintaining order. The people locked up in the Red Stone forest all deserved death. There were a lot of foreigners in the forest who were wanted in their own countries.
Bao Xun looked at Mo Wen’s back. A cold cruel smile lit up his face. He had fought with the group for many years. However, his group had often been repressed because they were slightly less powerful. He had lured Mo Wen there because he wanted to use Mo Wen to eliminate them.
“Who is it who dares to barge into the lands of the Tiger Head Triad.”
Mo Wen had appeared not far away from the metal chain bridge and was immediately discovered. The fortress was right beside the metal chain bridge, and there were figures in the fortress. There was someone guarding the place at all times. The metal chain bridge was the first defense so it was naturally guarded firmly.
Mo Wen ignored the person who yelled and walked across the metal chain bridge.
“You’re seeking death.” The person in the fortress was enraged. He flew down and charged at Mo Wen.
“You are the one seeking death.”
However, before the person could reach Mo Wen, a loud yell was heard, and a figure appeared. The person appeared before them in the blink of an eye. With a single slap, he tossed the person in the fortress into the air.
“Martial arts grandmaster… you are Bao Xun! Oh no, Bao Xun of the White Wolf Triad is here to attack the fortress. Sound the alarm immediately.”
The person who had been tossed into the air vomited blood and stared at the person behind Mo Wen with wide eyes. He immediately recognized him as Bao Xun of the White Wolf Triad. The Tiger Head Triad and the White Wolf Triad had fought for many years. How could he not know who the leader of the White Wolf Triad was?
There was a commotion in the fortress the moment the man said that. A hurried alarm sounded the next moment. A martial arts grandmaster coming to attack them was no small matter.