Chapter Fifty-Two: Commencement

Li Yunfei truly left without hesitation this time. His only preparation was to buy a large quantity of food, cook it all at home, and store it as hot meals in his system’s inventory. Then, without delay, he set out by car.

He planned to enter the forest near Mount Taihuang in the southern prefecture of Ezhou, as the area was particularly plagued by wild boars. The distance from Eastern Yu to the southern prefecture was about six hundred kilometers—normally a drive of around seven hours. However, with the current circumstances, the highway was packed with traffic, making any real speed impossible. It took thirteen hours before Li Yunfei’s car finally rolled to a stop in a public parking lot beneath Mount Taihuang.

He had set off around one in the afternoon, but by the time he reached Mount Taihuang, it was already past two in the morning—an hour that suited his plans for entering the forest. During the day and the early hours of the night, rangers patrolled the area. To avoid any trouble, setting out in the latter half of the night was the best option.

It was a pity his cultivation level wasn’t high enough yet. Once he broke through to the Spiritual Movement Realm—level thirty—he would be able to draw Seclusion Talismans. As the name implied, this talisman allowed one to hide. The basic version granted invisibility, shielding him from human sight; ordinary people would never notice him. But it was useless before other cultivators, for they never relied solely on their eyes to sense threats. The fluctuation of one’s aura, the movement of air with each step—any of these might give him away.

A mid-level Seclusion Talisman not only turned the user invisible but also masked all traces of their aura; even their movements would stir neither air nor dust. Most cultivators would be none the wiser, unless they possessed spiritual perception or divine sense.

The advanced Seclusion Talisman was even more formidable, rendering one undetectable to even spiritual perception and divine sense. Only those with Insightful Vision or Celestial Sight could see through such concealment—abilities that belonged solely to immortals and gods. To wield such a talisman would mean Li Yunfei’s cultivation had neared the realm of the divine, and only immortals or gods could contend with him.

…

At this hour, Mount Taihuang lay in tranquil silence, with only the distant glow of lights from rural inns and guesthouses. Li Yunfei lost no time; though he had driven for thirteen hours, he felt no fatigue. If he needed rest, he could do so after entering the forest. Without hesitation, he headed straight toward the Shennongjia Forest.

The forest was still fifteen kilometers away. He avoided the main roads, choosing to cut through the wilderness instead. Upon entering the woods, Li Yunfei summoned his little fox and mounted her, racing toward the depths of the forest.

The jungle was the fox’s domain. She sped through the undergrowth as if on level ground. Along the way, Li Yunfei’s mind was filled with notifications of discovered dungeons, but they were all under level twenty and of no value to him, so he paid them no heed.

Within ten minutes, the little fox had carried Li Yunfei deep into the primeval forest. The woods were shrouded in darkness, but as a canid, the little fox’s eyes functioned like night-vision goggles. Li Yunfei lacked such gifts, but by channeling his spiritual energy to his eyes, he managed not only to see as well as with a night-vision device, but even better; his view was not tinted green, but held the dusky, natural hues of dawn or dusk.

Several kilometers into the forest, all traces of humanity vanished. Rangers only patrolled the outskirts and rarely ventured deep inside, except for the occasional helicopter sweep above the canopy. The primeval forest was fraught with danger—a virtual no-man’s land. Rangers’ main responsibility was to monitor for wildfires and guard against poachers; there was no need for them to venture further in. In truth, even poachers dared not penetrate the forest’s heart, preferring to remain just beyond the periphery. To go too far was to court death.

Forest fires could be monitored entirely by helicopter. As for those so-called explorers attempting to traverse the uninhabited zone of Shennongjia, their routes only skirted the edge, never straying more than two or three kilometers into the forest. Even at their deepest, they would still be at least twenty or thirty kilometers from the true center.

The core of Shennongjia had likely never been touched by human feet. With its unique magnetic fields, satellite surveillance was impossible. There was no cell signal, not even satellite phones would work. The region contained countless untouched places and unknown species. No one who ventured there ever returned alive; it was even more terrifying than Lop Nur. Helicopters flying over the hundreds of square kilometers here experienced instrument failure, often leading to crashes.

…

Li Yunfei instructed the little fox to avoid tourist trails, heading instead for the most remote and densely forested mountains. Soon, they left the world of men far behind and plunged into the primeval wilderness, where ancient forests soared and mountains overlapped in endless waves of green.

“Host, please note: Dungeon discovered—South China Tiger’s Lair. Level: 26 to 30. Please select dungeon level.”

At this, Li Yunfei immediately had the little fox change direction. Before long, the notification sounded again.

“Host, please note: Dungeon discovered—Leopard’s Lair. Level: 26 to 30. Please select dungeon level.”

With no other choice, he changed direction once more.

“Host, please note: Dungeon discovered—Sika Deer’s Lair. Level: 16 to 20. Please select dungeon level.”

All along the way, Li Yunfei steered clear of the lairs of rare and protected animals, venturing ever deeper. In truth, these so-called “lairs” might not contain many animals in reality, but once converted into dungeons, their numbers surged. Take the South China Tiger, for instance—tigers are solitary, one mountain rarely housing two unless a breeding pair. At most, a lair might have a male and female, plus a few cubs. Yet in the dungeon, whether the system duplicated them or not, their numbers ballooned—there could easily be a hundred or more.

Afterward, Li Yunfei and the little fox encountered a few lone nocturnal beasts, but these did not trigger the dungeon mechanism. To form a dungeon, there had to be a lair or the gathering place of a large group of the same species. Any lone beast, upon meeting the little fox in battle form, became as docile as a kitten or puppy.

When the little fox assumed her battle form, she exerted a bloodline suppression over ordinary animals. In this state, she was more a spirit beast or demon beast—far beyond any common animal.

Realizing this, Li Yunfei ceased detouring around predator dens, simply skirting past them. With the little fox present, no beast dared attack, and he had nothing to fear.

After traveling some seven or eight kilometers into the forest, Li Yunfei at last encountered his true quarry.

“Host, please note: Dungeon discovered—Wild Boar Woods. Level: 21 to 25. Please select dungeon level.”

The little fox immediately halted. Grinning, Li Yunfei said, “Time to get to work.”

He pulled out Giant Strength and Swift Strider talismans, affixing them to his limbs and boosting his strength and agility to their limits. With a thought, the formidable Snake-Scale Armor enveloped his body, and for his weapon, he still chose the Paralyzing Antlion Scythe.

The paralytic toxin was temporary and would dissipate after a while. But weapons of the destruction type carried toxins that lingered forever in the victim’s body. If he killed the wild boars and other predators ate their poisoned flesh, the forest might be littered with corpses. He could even, by accident, wipe out an endangered species—something for which he could not bear responsibility, nor would his conscience allow.

Besides, the Antlion Scythe was more than enough against these massive dungeon beasts; there was no need to use weapons that would pollute the environment.