Chapter 160

12.3 - A free plane ride and a trouble making system

translator: xiin

editors: Macabre & alamerysl

Mottled sunlight fell through the thick forest canopy, leaving no trace of warmth in its wake. The leaves whispered in the wind, following the small team trudging carefully through the forest. They were lacking in strength and were afraid of encountering something they could not afford to fight; they didn't want to end up dead in this mysterious forest.

They already lost a comrade last night. That idiot refused to listen to their advice, and had chosen to stay up and keep watch in the middle of the night. As a result, they disappeared into the Demonic Beast Forest during the night.

Night in the Demonic Beast Forest did not belong to human beings, nor did it belong to the demonic beasts, so very few demonic beasts would move about during the night as they would only end up as fertilizer for the demonic plants. If it hadn't been for the fact that those demonic plants would only transform at night, the Demonic Beast Forest would have become the world of demonic plants by now.

This continent had once been a flourishing one with countless races; dwarves, elves, orcs, all the races that existed in legends had once appeared on this continent, but now they only existed in history.

That time had long passed; so long that when the oldest elder still living had been born, this continent had already been left with nothing but the Demonic Beast Forest and the area where humans resided. Everywhere else had long since disappeared.

Legend had it that a clan of elves once lived at the center of the Demonic Beast Forest. The Elf King had extremely high magical power, as well as the strongest spiritual power on this continent. If he wished, he could have overturned the entire continent. During that time, the Demonic Beast Forest had no demonic beasts at all, and only demonic plants existed. After the Kings and Gods fell, the Devil World and the Mortal World became isolated, and children no longer heard legends about the devils. Even the legendary Beast God was held in contempt by many people.

This world had entered an era similar to the Desolate Eras in cultivation worlds. Gods were slowly disappearing for reasons unknown. It was obvious that they had cared for this continent, but they hadn't left even the tiniest bit of themselves behind, not even the legends from long ago.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

Xue Ling didn't understand these things, nor did he want to pay attention to them. He was crouched over the group of human beings at the moment, trying to choose the most suitable angle to pass through the road in front of them without catching their attention.

He calculated back and forth without finding any way to achieve it, and finally rolled his eyes in disgust, feeling that this group of people was really too eye-catching.

What was this group of spineless people doing in the Demonic Beast Forest? Couldn't they just find some random grove of trees to play in and be done with it? They were still in the outer layer of the Demonic Beast Forest. If they entered the middle layer, they would be done for sooner or later.

Xue Ling hadn't finished criticizing them internally when he heard a faint rustling sound from behind.

He tensed up all over, and the fur on the back of his neck stood on end. He unhesitatingly dove down and landed on the head of one one of them men in the group, launched himself off with a foot, and ran like he was flying.

That group of people's eyes brightened, and someone shouted, "Immature Flame Ink Wolf!"

Smiles burst out onto their faces immediately, but they were not happy for too long as the sound of a bird calling could be heard from behind.

The bird's cry was harsh, and the huge bird's flapping wings made a very loud noise, bringing forth fierce winds that swept through the crowd. They had no way to maintain their ranks, and the demonic beasts around them started to flee as various noises and calls rose and fell one after another.

This was the signal for an impending crisis. Although the demonic beasts here did not have the ability to speak, they were still very clever. When their natural enemies or stronger powerhouses came by, their auras were enough to frighten them out of their wits, quickly causing chaos in this area.

The members of the team immediately scattered, running around in every which direction. Several of them died on the spot, their deaths wretched; most of them had carelessly rushed in front of the already-frightened demonic beasts and were cut in half as a result.

Crying, howling, and all kinds of other noises did not affect the actions of the huge bird in the sky at all.

Without the Ink Flame Wolf, the mortality rate of young Meteorite Birds would be very high. No wonder the bird had gone to the outer layer to catch and bring Xue Ling back. It must have been searching constantly as it headed out, but the only wolf it had managed to find was Xue Ling.

The huge bird threw him into the suspended nest. It was confident that Xue Ling would be unable to escape as the nest which was set up very high in the cliffs, and thus turned and left again to continue looking for more Ink Flame Wolves.

Hatching the baby birds did not require other birds' care, and humans would be unable to spot the nest, so it left without much concern. Xue Ling moved silently to the edge of the bird's nest and asked the system to call out the map so that he could figure out where he was.

"This cliff is right next to the innermost boundary. You can't see it now. Let me help you turn on the god view function." The system's words were rather juvenile, but a semi-circle boundary really appeared in Xue Ling's vision. The boundary line did not account for altitude, and made no differentiation between the sky and the ground. "I've told you to think positively. If you jump down from here, you'll be one step closer to the Sacred Pool. It's quite close to here."

Xue Ling laughed sarcastically, "I'll kick you down first. You can pad my landing for me after you've fallen down."

"Host, don't laugh like that!" Xue Ling didn't know what the system was trying to pull off, but it offered, "I'll carry host down. Even though host can't use your own power, you can still borrow my strength. Host, don't worry. I'll fly us down."

Xue Ling wasn't worried, but he was unwilling to hug that white fox that looked so foolish when it stood up. He used a paw to smack the system onto the ground, then laid himself out on its back. His paws clutched two tufts of fur, and they looked just like a double layered carpet - the scene was quite beautiful.

The system stood up rather pitifully. It knew that things were not going that smoothly for its host this time, and very considerately made it a point not to go against him... Otherwise, its host wouldn't be merely lying on its body, and might instead choose to pull out its fur during their trip down to the ground.

Xue Ling thought about it. Although it hadn't been easy for the Meteorite Bird to carry him all the way here, its original intention had been to eat his meat and drink his blood. It seemed that simply walking away did not conform to his character of avenging any grievance and obtaining revenge.

The system commented, "Other than you, there are no other Ink Flame Wolves in the forest. What are you worried about? His children won't be able to live even if they hatch. At that point, he'll probably go and confront the humans."

"A while ago, the original host of this body heard that humans were planning to raise their own Ink Flame Wolves because the wolves in the forest had already been cleared out by them. As soon as he heard this news, Ivan immediately turned around and set this curse on him so that he would be unable to kill Kent his whole life. If I were him, even if I couldn't kill Kent, I would still stab Ivan so that the Holy Saint would also learn how it feels to be stabbed and killed."

The system shrugged its shoulders, stood at the edge of the nest, and jumped down.

At first, the system was not falling very fast. It had chosen a landing spot that was right at the edge of the boundary and planned to figure out a way to get Xue Ling across the boundary after they landed. But after they had fallen halfway, Xue Ling discovered that the Meteorite Bird had seen them and was now closing in.

The Meteorite Bird locked onto the system, and the system accelerated in a panic. Regardless of where they land, as long as it was within the middle layer, they would still be caught by the bird a second time. It would be absolutely impossible to escape a second time as the Meteorite Bird would definitely guard against them.

"Head towards the innermost layer." Xue Ling was on its back. He wrapped his arms tightly around the system's neck and commanded, "It can't get into the innermost layer!"

It's true that it couldn't get in! But we can't get in either! The system roared in its heart and thought to itself, if it was that simple to enter the inner boundary, this world wouldn't be fun at all!

But it hadn't even had time to swear when they came into contact with the innermost boundary. The system had originally thought that they would create a loud 'pa!' sound as they smacked against the boundary, but unexpectedly, they really went straight through. It subconsciously tried to stop, and accidentally sent Xue Ling, who had been on its back, flying through the air.

System: "..." QAQ It's over. Its host was going to kill it...

It looked up and saw that the Meteorite Bird had been blocked by the boundary. The system had originally thought that it would attempt to get in, but instead, when the Meteorite Bird saw them go in, it simply turned around and left. It seemed that the children in its nest were not as important as the boundary.

The figure of the system disappeared into thin air. After all, it wasn't really there, and as long as it wanted, it could immediately return to its host's side...

Even if its host was now unconscious from being tossed off its back...

xiin: given that the system doesn't even have wings, i have no idea how it can offer to 'fly'... best plothole ever.

Macabre: Today we learn the system was a flying squirrel all along.