As it drew near evening, the setting sun cast its golden rays upon an endless patch of grassland, which stretched out in the distance where another long line of trees loomed. Dense forest which extended from left to right, formed into a natural barrier. From the expanse of the grassland, the Inner Layer of the Brightmoon Forbidden Forest looked bleak and desolate, though the trees were sparsely distributed with considerable distance in between.
A long and winding road, stretched out from the forest into the distant cutting through the grassland. At the far end, the blurry shapes of a large city emerged, barely visible to the eye, save for the occasional glimpse of the tallest of buildings. Even so, the silhouettes of people walking towards the city were visible in abundance.
Whoosh!
The air around the forest suddenly vibrated as something shot out from the trees and landed abruptly on the grassland, sending a few parching butterflies to fly away. It wasn't long before the figure on the ground stood up, his senses reeling as he took in the scene around him, motionless, looking stunned at the new environment.
After his furious battle against the Wolf Beetle, Cao Yaun had committed all his strength into rushing forward all through the later part of his journey forward all the way till here. Having ran for more than four days in the span of his journey, he had just exited the Brightmoon Forbidden Forest today. An open field greeted him, along with the cool, crisp night breeze, sending his heart into a flurry of mixed emotions as he stood there, stunned.
"Huff! Finally..." he sighed, giving a contented smile to himself. He turned around to gaze back at the forest from which he had just exited. Having traversed through the Brightmoon Forbidden Forest for an entire month, he had just exited the forbidden territory. In hindsight, one could say that it was pure dumb luck that saved him, as if the goddess of fate had favored him personally.
Indeed, had there been the slightest will of it, he would have fallen victim to the countless monsters of a higher realm that prowled the depths of the Brightmoon Forbidden Forest. It was as if all the truly fearsome apex predators in the Brightmoon Forbidden Forest had gone on a break, giving him a miraculous chance to walk through the woods without incident.
But even so, Cao Yuan's heart had been unbendingly tight every single day he spent walking in the forest, his heart pounding furiously at every rustle of leaves in the Inner Layer. But now, gazing at the pitch-black forest behind him, Cao Yaun felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water. His tension had long since dissipated, leaving his heart to calm significantly and his tense heart became unburdened.
"Heh!"
Bad luck! Cao Yaun thought, as he was suddenly jolted back to the present with the sudden exclamation of another voice. His heart was quick to jump at the possibility of yet another monster blocking his path.
"Hey! Over here!" This time, the voice was even clearer and nearer, coming from behind him, causing Cao Yaun's heart to slow down and his muscles to relax.
Cao Yaun turned around and, sure enough, he saw a group of five figures walking up the road. There were three girls and two boys among them. The speaker, a young lady in her early twenties with a flowing red dress, had a bow slung across her back. She held her left hand at her side while her right waved at him.
The other two girls also looked to be about the same age as the speaker, and were almost identical. Each had a knife strapped to their backs as they walked. As for the boys, the one on the left was taller and had an outdoorsman's tan, with a muscular build and a longsword strapped to his hips. In contrast, the other boy was shorter and thinner, with a staff in hand.
The young lady in the red dress smiled as they drew nearer. "Hello there. I see you are also heading to Baixun City?"
Cao Yaun gave a cautious nod. "Yes."
He stood, still in the middle of the patch of grass from where he had just exited, only the upper half of his body is visible from the top of the grasses.
The young lady introduced herself. "My name is Lin Qing. These two lovely girls are my companions, the twins Su Mei and Su Lan. The hulk over there is Zhang Wei, and the one with the staff is Li Chen. We are an adventuring party returning from an expedition. What brings you here, and why were you staring blankly at the Yaunxin Forest?"
Cao Yuan blinked. His mind went blank for a moment. "Yuanxin Forest? You mean the Brightmoon Forbidden Forest?"
The moment the words left his lips, the eyes of the young lady and her friends widened in surprise. Lin Qing clapped her hands together. "Ahhh! That's incredible!"
"Wait... what... are you?" The eyes of Lin Qing and her fellow companions turned wide at the sight of Cao Yaun's figure, which was emerging from the grassland.
"Human, what else can I be?" Cao Yaun sighed, rolling his eyes at their expressions. His figure was now only visible in his pants, made from woven ferns here and there. His muscles, fully exposed, made the two girls blush furiously as Lin Qing gulped at the sight of his three and a half meter tall figure, stepping back at his sudden appearance.
"Human... what type are you?"
"Sorry..?" Before Cao Yaun could answer, Lin Qing immediately began to apologize at her embarrassing question.
"Here, take this." Zhang Wei, the tall one among the group, pulled out a large piece of cloth used for outdoor camping, having rummaged through his belongings in search for something to cover Cao Yaun only to pull out that single yet strange piece of garb for a cloth. After all, the young man's figure was not something you wanted to see on a daily basis.
Not minding the strange yet kind gesture, Cao Yaun wrapped the piece of cloth around his torso, covering his upper body from their probing eyes. With the sudden hush in the air, silence filled the atmosphere with all of them at loss of words with the sight of a three and a half meter human covered in a piece of cloth.
"Ugh... so are you from the lost barbaric tribe?" Su Mei could not help but ask, shattering the silence between them with her inquisitive remark.
"No!" "So... do you come from there?" "Nah.. I came all the way from the Brightmoon province at the other side" Before they continued questioning, Cao Yaun bluntly answered their questions, giving the name of the area he came from. He made no mention of the Blackscale jungle, not wanting to bring up too many details.
"Ahhh! So you are from the other side! That explains everything! You see, most refer to the forest as simply the Yuanxin Forest these days. The only truly forbidden part is the Core Region which the lower realm cultivators are unable to enter" Lin Qing replied, her eyes sparkling at the remark.
Many stories of heroes traversing the Brightmoon forbidden forest were told among the adventurers, with most giving up on traversing it on their own. For many, only groups of people and merchant caravans would embark on the journey to the other side of the world. The tales told of even those of early Qi realms cultivators losing their lives attempting to cross through the forest and enter other realms.
Their bodies stiffened as they thought of it, realizing Cao Yaun is most likely one of the many cultivators departing for distant lands. They stepped back, surprised.
"No it is just pure luck... " As if feeling their thoughts, Cao Yaun shook his hands, punching outwards to let them feel his power, letting them relax if only a little bit. Their expressions were even more perplexed and surprised than ever.
"But how?" Su Lan gave question, only for Cao Yaun to shrug his shoulders and point towards the city.
"oh sorry… lets get going" Lin Qing said, as she quickly turned around, walking towards the Baixun city. The other followed behind her as they proceeded to walk towards the city. Along the walk, they did not pry further into his business nor did they seem to have ill intentions. If anything, they invited him to walk with them, to which Cao Yaun accepted.
Along the walk, the group conversed. Mostly the girls, with the boys occasionally adding a word or two. Lin Qing gave a proud introduction to Cao Yaun on the general geography of their homeland, the Azura Wind Province.
Apparently, the land was home to four major cities; the Baixun City at the south, Sunset City at the west, Azura Gold City at the north and Jade Tiger City at the east. The Baixun City was famous for its markets, which attracted many visitors to the city, making it a convenient transit for those passing through the forest.
Still, it seemed that most of the folk on this side of the province never referred to it as the Forbidden Forest.As Lin Qing noticed his uneasiness at referring to the forest as such, she merely laughed it off, elaborating on the details.
"That is because on our side, we refer to it as the Yuanxin Forest. Save for the Core Region, which is inaccessible to all cultivators below the ranked ones, not even those still in the early stages of Mortal realm cultivation can consider it forbidden. To all the adventuring parties and hunters, it is simply a hunting ground of beast materials" Lin Qing replied, adjusting the bow on her shoulder as the group walked.
As the group walked, the blurry shapes of the city became more defined. By the time they had reached the gates, the night had fully drawn in. Everyone paid two copper coins as taxes to enter the city, before walking through the gates and into the Baixun City.