Ning Yan looked at the unfamiliar jungle and felt very depressed. After all, none of them had a good understanding of this jungle. Other than Wu Ming, who had come here once, this was their first time. Even though Wu Ming had been here before, the jungle was so big and had lots of different regions. Therefore, he did not possess any advantage over the others. She was curious about her other fellow disciples, if they had also passed through Death Fantasy Ocean and entered this jungle. Had her Senior Sister gotten past this jungle and reached the core?
“Junior Sister Ning Yan, which way do you think is better?” Wu Ming observed the odd jungle before speaking to Ning Yan.
“Let me take a look at the map first,” Ning Yan took out her map and analyzed it solemnly. Although they couldn’t pinpoint their exact location, they could still roughly tell which path they had been treading on. Such methods might not be very accurate, but at least they could know if they were advancing or retreating. Otherwise, if they were to spend half a day walking around aimlessly, ending back up in Death Fantasy Ocean, wouldn’t it be too ridiculous?
Ning Yan held onto the map and calculated an appropriate path for them to travel. After observing the situation around her, she pointed towards the right side and said, ”This direction should be able to lead us to the core area. Let’s continue on this way.”
“Sure. We shall proceed on in this direction. Senior Brother Wu Ming, I have to trouble you again then,” Ling Hai stood up, looking in the direction Ning Yan was pointing at. After that, he smiled to Wu Ming.
“You…I’m sorry, the past few times had always been me leading. This has caused the group to get lost a lot of times. Therefore, I feel that it’s better if Senior Brother Ling Hai could lead the way. I believe that with Senior Brother’s ability and wisdom, leading us out of this jungle shouldn’t be a problem to you,” Wu Ming looked at Ling Hai’s smile as he retorted.
“Haha, Junior Brother must be joking. If it was martial power, I would not deny that I am a little stronger than Junior Brother, but when it comes to leading the way, I am still incomparable to you. Besides, Junior Brother also had the experience of crossing into this jungle. You couldn’t possibly hope that I lead everyone down a dead end, right? Isn’t that causing trouble for everyone? You also don’t hope that Junior Sister Ning Yan and her sisters enter a dangerous area, right?” Ling Hai smiled while replying.
“You…hmph!” Wu Ming glanced at Ning Yan. Ultimately, he agreed. He harrumphed at Ling Hai once before he walked to the front and lead the way again. Wu Ming was truly facing unspeakable, bitter suffering. If it wasn’t because he wanted to demonstrate his strength by telling Ling Hai and the others that he had crossed Death Fantasy Ocean before and had also been to this mysterious jungle, he wouldn’t have been used by others today!
“Junior Sister, let’s go as well!” Ling Hai said to Ning Yan considerately. Ning Yan didn’t speak as she led her junior sisters, following behind Wu Ming. Regarding their conflict, Ning Yan was also helpless. Furthermore, she didn’t hope to meddle in their dispute, regardless of what reason they used, even if it was because of her. Protecting her junior sisters’ safety was her priority.
“Junior Sister Ning Zi, you don’t need to be afraid. I will always be at your side, protecting you,” One of the Cangling Sect disciples went beside Ning Zi, speaking heroicly. Huaxian Valley fairies had always been the target of male cultivators.
“Hmph! Are you stronger than my Senior Sister? I don’t need your protection,” Ning Zi commented. Along the way, the ladies were bothered by Shushan and Cangling Sect disciples, causing them to feel very annoyed. It was to the extent that Shushan and Cangling Sect had almost gotten into a fight because of this. After that, it was because Ning Yan told Wu Ming and Ling Hai to restrain their disciples a bit. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to continue with their journey while they continued trying to flirt.Therefore, only during rest would there be someone going forward to strike up a conversation with the ladies. Those males would all receive a cold shoulder and could only return to their group embarrassedly.
“Small Junior Sister, your charm is actually so seductive! Along the way, countless men had been enticed by you!” Ning Wushuang giggled to Ning Zi.
“Hmph! You still dare to laugh at me. Aren’t you all the same,” Ning Zi blushed in embarrassment.
“Haha, small Junior Sister. There’s so many men here, which one have you taken a fancy to? Let Senior Sister act as a matchmaker for you,” Ning Xue giggled.
“Senior Sister, you are so hateful!” Ning Zi acted shyly. While those ladies were joking around, it caused all the struggling male cultivators to raise their eyebrows, but they did not have the courage to go towards them.
“Stop! Everyone be careful. There’s a dangerous demonic beast in front. Retreat!” Just when everyone’s mood had turned a lot more relaxed, Wu Ming raised up his right hand while shouting out hastily.
“Quick! It seems to have discovered us!” Sensing a strong dangerous aura creeping towards him, Wu Ming’s complexion changed. He tensed up. Just when everyone was rapidly retreating, a large monster appeared before them. It had a body of a lion, a white horn on its head and an anchor-like tail!
“Roar!” Seeing so many humans in front of it, the demonic lion’s eyes were filled with excitement as it howled in delight. When Wu Ming, Ning Yan and Ling Hai saw this big beast, they were tensed up yet at the same time, they also heaved a sigh of relief. It was because the aura it released was only in the Golden Core initial stage. They believe that with three of them around, it was sufficient to deal with it. In order to protect their junior brothers and sisters who were retreating, the trio had to fight the lion. The demonic lion leapt up while waving its right claw towards Wu Ming who was at the front.
“Bang!” Just when Wu Ming used his sword to block the demonic lion’s attack, he had actually blocked nothing! Before he even had the time to react, he felt a strong attack coming towards his back. He reacted by flying to the left.
“What’s going on?” Wu Ming was baffled as he crawled up from the ground. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Why did it feel like he was hitting air when he had actually landed his sword on the lion’s claws? Furthermore, he was actually attacked from the right side. Ning Yan and Ling Hai were also shocked. They couldn’t understand how Wu Ming had flown to the left. The lion had slapped down from the left, so theoretically, Wu Ming should have flown to the right!
“Roar!” When the demonic lion’s attack landed, it got even more excited as its tail swayed back and forth. With more force being exerted in the swaying motion, the tail had actually grown bigger as it swung towards Wu Ming like a thick rope.
“Ya!” Wu Ming shouted. He raised his middle-grade spiritual Red-Sun Sword and slashed it towards the incoming tail. Ling Hai and Ning Yan were startled again. Wu Ming had slashed nothing. In contrast, he seemed to have been attacked from the back and started flying towards the demonic lion.
“Pu!” Wu Ming vomited a big amount of blood immediately. His heart was filled with wrath and confusion. Why was he being snuck attack from the back again?
“Did you mount a sneak attack on me?!” Wu Ming crawled up from the ground, yelling at Ling Hai.
“Are you crazy? I haven’t even made my move. It should be you, what the hell are you doing? Performing a circus?” Ling Hai questioned in confusion.
“Really not him?” Wu Ming looked at Ning Yan, seeking her confirmation.
“Nope. What exactly is going on?” Ning Yan shook her head and ask curiously.
“I’m not sure either. I had clearly struck him, but I feel that I am hitting air. Then, I feel that I am being struck in the back!” Wu Ming had also gotten extremely confused.
“Let me try!” Ling Hai unsheathed his sword and stood out. Ling Hai’s speed was very quick as he charged towards the demonic lion. Ling Hai flew forward and slashed down with all his strength. However, what happened after he slashed down made everyone astonished.
When Ling Hai’s sword slashed down on the demonic lion’s body, Ling Hai was shocked. This thing was like an illusion, there was basically no resistance when he slashed down.
“Pu!” In that instant, an attack landed behind him. Similar to Wu Ming, he was sent flying forward while vomiting blood.
“Why is it like this?” Ling Hai stood up hurt and confused.
“How is it?” Ning Yan and Wu Ming also ran forward, not knowing what to do as they pointed at the demonic lion.
“Why do I not feel it’s physical existence when I slashed down? When I slashed down, I felt that I was slashing an illusion!” Ling Hai was unable to understand what was going on anymore.
“Illusion? How is that possible?” Ning Yan looked at the demonic lion and replied. No matter how she looked at that thing, it didn’t seem like an illusion!
“Let me try and we will know,” Wu Ming lifted up his Red-Sun Sword again. A beam of acute sword Qi slashed towards the demonic lion. What caused them to be surprised was that the sword Qi actually went past the demonic lion’s body, but the demonic lion was still standing there perfectly fine.
“Why is it like this? Could it really be an illusion?” They were no longer able to understand what was happening before them.
“Roar!” The demonic lion roared, pouncing towards the trio. The trio subconsciously slashed towards the pouncing demonic lion. The demonic lion went through their swords as it raised up its right claw and slashed down at them. The trio tried to block the claw, but were mysteriously attacked from the back. The three of them flew out at the same time.
“Damn it, what is going on? Why is he attacking from the front, but the impact comes from the back?!” Wu Ming no longer had the gentleness he had the past few days as he had thoroughly gotten angry. Having been through so many battles, he had never once fought such an odd and injust fight.
“Attacking from the front, but the impact comes from the back?” Ning Yan repeated Wu Ming’s words. Suddenly, she understood the situation and had seemingly caught onto something before looking back at the demonic lion which kept on staring at them. She walked towards the demonic lion alone.
“Don’t!” Seeing Ning Yan wanted to go and handle the demonic lion alone, Ling Hai quickly shouted. Ning Yan signalled them with her left hand and told them not to worry. Once again, she thrusted towards the demonic lion.
“Roar!” The demonic lion wasn’t a human and did not have the understanding of beauty that a human has. It wouldn’t pause because Ning Yan was a pretty lady. It did not have any tender feelings for the opposite sex as it pounced towards Ning Yan brandishing its claw again.
“Bang!” Just when the demonic lion’s claw was about to land on Ning Yan, Ning Yan did not guard against the incoming claw attack, but instead, she turned around and stabbed towards her back. Ning Yan was delighted. As she expected, the sword actually stabbed into the lion’s body and that demonic lion was forced to retreat by the sword.
“What’s going on?” Wu Ming and Ling Hai stared stupidly at the situation and were unconvinced by what just happened.
“I also couldn’t understand what was truly going on! But what I can confirm is that this beast isn’t an illusion, but it is strange. Its actions and physical body are in opposite directions. When we saw that it was pouncing towards us from the front, in actual fact it was pouncing towards us from the back. This was to confuse us,” Ning Yan explained her analysis to them.
“So it’s like this. No wonder we were all being attacked in the reverse side. Since I know this now, let me handle it!” Wu Ming finally understood what was going on, so he felt that he alone was enough to handle the lion.
