The night had passed and a new dawn had broken. When the sun was just beginning to rise, Xiao Ling went to the place that had been promised earlier.

When Xiao Ling arrived, there were already many people gathered as if they had been waiting for his arrival. He realized that almost all the members of the hunting party were present.

Xiao Ling was surprised as this situation was very different from what he expected based on their last meeting, there were even some members who were absent yesterday that had shown up now.

"Are you surprised that almost everyone gathered here." Said Jie Jiu, who was one of the people gathered.

"Ah, yes... I didn't expect almost everyone to decide to come." Said Xiao Ling, who was still surprised.

"Hahahaha! I actually wanted to tell you that your touching speech yesterday has changed the hearts of everyone here." The laughing Jie Jiu reminded Xiao Ling of yesterday's incident.

It seemed that everyone present yesterday had changed their minds and decided to take part in the journey to Misty Mountain because everyone had realized again how important Mo Zhongzhi was to them, thanks to Xiao Ling's speech.

Mo Zhongzhi was the leader of the hunting group and everyone who had been part of this group knew very well what kind of figure he was in their eyes. The Misty Mountain had momentarily blinded them towards Mo Zhongzhi, and now there were no more doubts in the eyes of everyone gathered at this moment.

"Since you're already here, I think it would be much better if you took the lead." Jie Jiu said. "After all, you are the one who has gathered everyone here."

It could be seen that everyone seemed to share Jie Jiu's opinion, with no one disputing it or voicing opposition.

"Alright then, let's head straight for Misty Mountain." Xiao Ling exclaimed.

Xiao Ling didn't want to linger any longer, he immediately led everyone to set off towards Misty Mountain immediately.

They headed north towards the exact location of Misty Mountain, they walked through the vast grassland for several hours, until they finally stopped to look at Misty Mountain.

Of course, although they could now see Misty Mountain more closely compared to back in the village, it did not mean that the distance between the two was the same as it seemed. In fact, there were probably still several tens of kilometers to go until they actually reached right below Misty Mountain.

The reason why they stopped was because everyone started holding their breath when they saw the magnificent natural scenery.

Misty Mountain is visible to everyone as a collection of trees towering high into the sky, where the peak cannot be seen clearly due to the thick fog that covers it. A blue-colored path from the peak of the mountain descends down to form a vast and crystal clear lake, which can even be seen from a distance.

There is a very dense forest that surrounds Misty Mountain for several tens of kilometers, nothing is visible inside due to the dense foliage that covers it.

Besides the eye-pleasing scenery, everyone can feel the rich spiritual energy of Misty Mountain in particular.

"Let's go... The real journey will start from here." Xiao Ling said leading everyone.

Everyone woke up from their reverie thanks to Xiao Ling's words. They walked into the forest to reach the Misty Mountain.

***

Arriving in front of the forest, Xiao Ling and the others realized how large the forest was based on the trees towering up to about thirty meters high.

"I think this is the time when the danger will begin." Said Jie Jiu, who moved forward the most. "Xiao Ling, it would be better for you to retreat and guard us entirely."

Xiao Ling understood what Jiu Jie was saying, as his fighting style was not focused on close combat or direct combat.

Xiao Ling's cultivation method and fighting style was more about controlling the battle area and a wider range of techniques.

Xiao Ling and everyone else began to prepare themselves for any eventuality.

As Xiao Ling started to enter the forest, he could feel that there was almost a huge difference from before, either in the atmosphere or the environment.

"Watch out!" Shouted one of them.

Not long after someone shouted, suddenly a pack of Night Wolves came at high speed from the side to make a surprise attack.

But fortunately, thanks to the warning of one of them, everyone was already prepared for the sudden invasion. The number of Night Wolves that came charging at them totaled eight.

The collision between them was instantaneous as the distance between them closed, the eight Night Wolves' lunge was immediately held back by the hunting group. The fangs and claws of the Night Wolves clashed and were parried by swords, sabres, and spears. While the eight members of the hunting party held back each of the Night Wolves, the other members quickly took up positions to attack.

Although eight Night Wolves came and ambushed simultaneously, it was still not enough to be able to injure a single person from the hunting group who had a lot of experience in hunting Magical Beasts.

It was also undeniable that there were more than triple the number of Night Wolves that quickly finished off the Night Wolves.

Shortly after the clash occurred, the eight Night Wolves instantly fell to the ground in a limp and helpless state with thick red liquid oozing from their bodies.

"Do we need to collect those items?" Asked one of the hunter members.

"No. We don't need to do that. We don't have time to do that."

"Right, and also we can't linger here because there will be more who will come because of the smell of blood."

Xiao Ling and Jie Jiu answered the question, then they all moved back deeper into the forest.

Even when they first entered the forest, they all entered by forming a special formation where each of them could guard and watch every nook and corner so that not a single blind spot was missed.

With this formation, they can reduce the chance of surprises and can also guard and assist each other more quickly and flexibly.

In this formation, Jie Jiu is in the front row as the leader and guide, while Xiao Ling is in the center to cover all areas.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before they were suddenly attacked by a shot made of sticky, thick and hard thread from the top of one of the trees.

Luckily, it only missed one of them by a few centimeters.

"Xiao Ling!" Jie Jiu exclaimed.

Even before Jie Jiu shouted, Xiao Ling had set up his talismans on all four sides simultaneously.

"[Formation: Four-Sided Dome]"

Xiao Ling quickly formed a hand seal and instantly activated one of his formation techniques.

The four talismans that had been set up simultaneously emitted lines that connected with each other and formed a circle. Inside the circle, the four lines converged with Xiao Ling at the center.

Everyone was inside a dome-shaped formation that was protected from attacks coming from outside.

[Four-Sided Dome] is one of the formation techniques that has the effect of creating a barrier that will deflect any form of attack coming from the outside. Of course, it also works the other way around, while this formation is formed everyone within it is also unable to make attacks from within.

Among the many protection-type formation techniques, it can be said that [Four-Sided Dome] is one of the most fundamental.

"That's a Red Feather Black Spider." Jie Jiu said.

"There's another one coming from the opposite direction."

"That size! That's the biggest I've ever seen."

"What should we do?"

One by one, voices began to be heard from one of them. Each of them expressed their opinion about the newly seen Magical beast.

The Red Feather Black Spider continuously attacked the barrier created by Xiao Ling probably hoping to try to destroy it. But the barrier created by Xiao Ling would not be easily destroyed at this level as long as Xiao Ling continued to concentrate on defending it.

"I will attack one of them." Jie Jiu said.

"Can you do it?" Asked Xiao Ling, who still maintained his hand seal.

"Yes, I will give the signal."

"Alright, everyone get ready to split up according to Jie Jiu's signal."

Everyone seemed to start getting ready after hearing Xiao Ling's words.

Jie Jiu is seen taking out the prepared spear on his back, taking a stance and positioning the tip of the spear then takes a deep breath. Focusing the power in his right hand which is currently holding the spear.

Everyone prepared to listen to Jie Jiu's call to action.

The moment a pause in the attack of the Red Feather Black Spider shot was seen, at that moment Jie Jiu shouted, "Now!"

Xiao Ling immediately released his formation at the same time he heard it.

As the barrier began to disappear—Jie Jiu threw his spear that was moving straight at full speed upwards at a distance of about thirty meters without slowing down due to the effects of gravity.

The Red Feather Black Spider that was unable to avoid the spear that was directly aimed at it, could only stand in shock as the spear entered its mouth and penetrated inside.

The Magical beast wriggled for a while until it finally stopped and began to fall.

Jie Jiu's precise spear throw instantly killed the Red Feather Black Spider for sure.

Everyone had scattered and exited the formation area to avoid the impending attack of the Red Feather Black Spider.

Two people tried to climb the tree by jumping between the adjacent trees on either side of where the Magical Beast was.

The two people named Su Han and Hee So were the most agile and dexterous in the hunting group. It didn't take long for them to reach the top and try to slash the legs of the Red Feather Black Spider from both sides in the hope of knocking it down.

They both managed to cut off one leg each, the Red Feather Black Spider whose legs were cut off began to lose its balance and fell.

It was unfortunate, because when the Magical Beast started to fall, there were already several people waiting for it below.

Xiao Ling, Jie Jiu and the others had surrounded the area right where the Magical Beast fell, everyone was ready with their weapons and finished it off without giving it any room to escape.

"Be careful of the red feathers." Jie Jiu said.

BRUK!

There was a loud crashing sound as the Red Feather Black Spider fell, and at the same time everyone started stabbing, slashing, and cutting. The Red Feather Black Spider tried to put up one last fight before it finally stopped moving altogether.

"Are all Red Feather Black Spider really this big?" Xiao Ling said as he looked at the corpse more clearly.

Red Feather Black Spider—are spiders that have evolved a beast core.

This spider has eight red eyes. It is about one meter tall and two meters wide, and its entire body is covered in thick black fur except for its legs. Its four pairs of long legs were covered with poisonous red feathers that were sharp and thick as well.

"No... This is also the first time I've seen one of this size." Jie Jiu replied.

Perhaps this was because this region had rich spiritual energy.

Xiao Ling began to raise the danger level of Misty Mountain again. Xiao Ling, who had experienced it firsthand understood why this place was called a forbidden area, it was full of dangers and treasures.

It is said that where there is danger, there is also treasure or something like that.

Xiao Ling seemed to begin to understand why Mo Zhongzhi had chosen this as one of his options, in a place filled with dangers like this there were untapped treasures. But he still doubted whether it was indeed worth the price.

The bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward.

Xiao Ling never liked that line, because sometimes the rewards didn't match the danger. There were even some where the danger was so great that the reward wasn't worth the danger, or you couldn't get the reward because you couldn't pass the danger.

There must be something wrong with that quote, Xiao Ling thought.

For him, he would choose a more stable yet certain option with less risk, rather than a big risk with a big payoff.

Perhaps this is what separates Xiao Ling from Mo Zhongzhi, because Mo Zhongzhi is the kind of person who always makes choices with risks involved, always thinking that the higher the danger, the sweeter the reward. He is not the kind of person who will run away when faced with a challenge.

There is a clear difference in perspective between the two, which may be one of the reasons why Xiao Ling could not guess what Mo Zhongzhi was going to do.

Courage can sometimes be mistaken for recklessness.

Sometimes people would do anything without making preparations or thinking about the risks.

That's why Xiao Ling always thought that Mo Zhongzhi was a brave person, but sometimes it was because of his nature that he often acted recklessly.

In that case, perhaps I am indeed a coward, Xiao Ling scoffed to himself

But... Not this time... he encouraged himself.

Xiao Ling for the first time took a very dangerous risk just to look for his best friend, he even went to a forbidden and dangerous area to do so. Despite the uncertainty of whether his best friend really went to a place like this or whether he could really find him, Xiao Ling did it anyway.

Based on just one clue he had—Misty Mountain—he was willing to risk everything.

That showed the depth of his earnestness.

Perhaps if his best friend knew this, he would say, 'Xiao Ling... This is not like you who did all of this.' With a tone that seemed to tease and started laughing—Xiao Ling was sure of it.

Xiao Ling and the others had already started to go deeper and were probably halfway through before he actually reached the bottom of the Misty Mountain.

After fighting the Red Feather Black Spider, they had met and fought more Magical beasts. Fortunately, they had not encountered any serious obstacles, so they had been able to pass through smoothly until now.

Up to this point Xiao Ling had still not found any traces or clues left behind by Mo Zhongzhi—of course he was aware that this forest was vast and it would be very difficult for them to find him without doing a thorough search.

Even after going through so much to reach this point, Xiao Ling realized that almost everyone seemed to be exhausted due to the almost continuous battle that had started since they entered this forest. Xiao Ling decided that it would be much more dangerous if he were to force a search under these conditions. He felt that this was a good time to pause before conducting further searches.