Chapter 43: Below the Seventh Rank

pate in the gladiatorial games had left Xia's house over a month ago and hadn't returned since.As for the reason for his departure, he didn't know. But now that the head of the household had given an...The Beast's Lair spanned thousands of miles, its vast expanse shrouded in mystery. Rumors whispered of an intricate array of traps and defenses, a lethal labyrinth laid out by the legendary strategist Zong Bu. Only one entrance remained, a gaping maw that promised to swallow whole any unsuspecting souls who dared to enter.

As a forging ground for the Questioning Dao Sect, while disciples are not forbidden from entering, those who dare to venture deep within are at least outer sect disciples, and most choose to travel in groups.

At this moment, quite a few outer sect disciples were gathered at the entrance. They chatted and laughed in groups of three or five, and from the tokens they wore on their waists, it was easy to tell that they came from the five peaks of the Dao Seeking Mountain.

They are gathered here because they are waiting for their companions. After all, the more people enter, the greater the safety.

"Where's Wang Shidi I wonder when he'll be here. We'll have enough people once he gets here."

"Where's Junior Li We were supposed to enter the Beast Trap Forest today! He couldn't have chickened out, could he"

"It's about time, we have five people now which should be enough. Shall we just start"

Suddenly, the noisy crowd fell silent as the figure of Jiang Yun appeared in everyone's eyes. When they saw Jiang Yun's disheveled appearance and the gray servant's clothes he was wearing, one by one, their faces were filled with contempt, and they began to gossip again.

"Who is this person Even a menial disciple dares to enter the Beast's Den"

"Looking at him like that, he seems to have just been beaten badly. Could it be that he's lost his mind and wants to go into the Encirclement Forest to seek death"

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"Even death wouldn't bring me here. I could just find any mountaintop and jump off. It would be better than dying in the mouths of those beasts, being torn to pieces."

Gingercloud completely ignored the murmurs of the crowd around her. Her gaze was fixed on the dark entrance of the Beast Trap Forest, her steps unwavering as she strode past everyone and into the forest!

As soon as he entered, the commotion resumed, and even some outer disciples couldn't help but want to follow him in. However, after considering their own safety, they ultimately gave up on that idea.

The fact that Jiang Yun entered the Encirclement Forest will soon be forgotten by them. After all, he is just a handyman disciple. As the lowest existence within the Wenda Sect, no one cares about the life and death of a handyman.

Generally, the first time someone enters the trap forest, they are usually tense and nervous. However, Jiang Yun was just the opposite. Standing on the slightly damp ground, he felt the mixture of various plant, wood, and earth scents flooding his senses. His eyes were slightly closed, a hint of reminiscence appearing on his face, as if he had returned to the vast Wanshan Mountains.

In a mere instant, Jiang Yun reopened his eyes. But within them, there was no trace of light. After glancing around, his figure flashed as he arrived beside an unremarkable patch of grass. He reached out and grabbed some blades, quickly smearing them all over himself.

Wild beasts are extremely sensitive to the scent on humans, especially the smell of blood. Jiang Yun wasn't here to hunt, so he didn't want to waste time dealing with wild beasts. He needed to get rid of his own scent and any traces of blood to avoid attracting a large number of them.

Only after making sure there was no trace of his scent left did Jiang Yun begin to scan the forest again. After all, he knew nothing about this place. If he wanted to find Lu Xiaoyu, he had to first choose a general direction.

"Azure Wolves like places bathed in light, and there must be a water source nearby. Therefore, following the stream, you'll have a higher probability of finding an Azure Wolf."

Ginger Cloud quickly identified a direction and dashed off.

I have to say, although this encirclement isn't comparable to the hundred thousand treacherous mountains, as I ventured deeper into the forest, Jiang Yun really did encounter quite a few ferocious beasts.

With his understanding of various beasts' habits, Jiang Yun could naturally dodge them with ease. However, looking at these beasts, a question arose in his mind.

This beast den has disciples from the Question Dao Sect entering almost every day. Even if a disciple's strength isn't great, overall, the probability of a ferocious beast dying is greater than a Question Dao Sect disciple. So over the years, the number of ferocious beasts here should have dwindled, but how come there are still so many

In the midst of Mangshan Mountains, each village needed to frequently hunt ferocious beasts for survival. However, no matter which village was hunting, they always maintained a sense of restraint. Simply put, they would never relentlessly pursue and kill every single beast, nor would they repeatedly hunt in the same area.

That's why Jiang Yun was a little confused about the situation in the Beast Trap Forest. However, he didn't think much of it, after all, the Question Dao Sect was a sect that practiced cultivation, and with the Hundred Beasts Peak like this, they were adept at beast taming methods, perhaps they had special ways to ensure that the number of ferocious beasts wouldn't decrease drastically.

But the deeper she went, the greater the doubts in Ginger Cloud's heart became. For besides the large number of ferocious beasts encountered, the level of these beasts remained consistently within a fixed limit.

Everything is below level seven!

Within the sect, the differences in identity and status led to distinct living quarters for disciples. However, this was not the case for ferocious beasts.

The saying goes, "one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers," but that doesn't mean there are no other ferocious beasts in this mountain besides one tiger.

Most ferocious beasts live in groups, and in Mangshan, Jiang Yun even encountered situations where ninth-order ferocious beasts and first-order ferocious beasts lived together. However, in this Beast Trap Forest, after walking for about twenty or thirty miles, although it wasn't deep, all the ferocious beasts encountered were below seventh order!

Especially the places where Jiang Yun passed through, were extremely suitable for several seventh-order ferocious beasts to reside in, but he couldn't see even one seventh-order ferocious beast.

This caused Ginger Cloud to fall into deep thought, but in the end he still attributed the answer to the question to the sect within, especially the words previously spoken by Sha Jing Shan - one must not venture deeper than a hundred miles into the forest.

"It should be asked how the Daozong sect used a special method to bind all ferocious beasts above the seventh rank outside the forest for a hundred miles. Naturally, this was done to protect the disciples who entered here. After all, the seventh rank is equivalent to the sevenfold pulse-opening realm, which happens to be the realm possessed by outer disciples."

Just like that, Jiang Yun followed the direction he had set, constantly venturing deeper into the Beast Trap Forest, until a figure of a blue-glowing wolf appeared in his sight!

At the sight of this Azure Wolf, Jiang Yun's eyes lit up instantly. As a pack-dwelling beast, the Azure Wolf couldn't possibly be out alone foraging for food; its lair must be somewhere behind it.

Jiang Yun's heart began to beat rapidly involuntarily. After forcing himself to calm down, he moved like a ghost, silently circling the azure wolf.

Just a moment later, Jiang Yun stood in the lair of the Azure Wolf. Despite there being at least a hundred adult Azure Wolves surrounding him, none of them dared to move under the powerful aura emanating from him. They all lay quietly on the ground, their bodies trembling.

Soon, Jiang Yun could tell that Lu Xiaoyu had never been here.

This result did not ease his mood in the slightest, instead it grew heavier because he had completely lost any lead on finding Lu Xiaoyu.

Without hesitation, Ginger Cloud immediately withdrew and changed direction, continuing to search within this encirclement.

It took a whole three days!

Three days later, Ginger Cloud, with bloodshot eyes, stood in one place. Before him, the ground beneath his feet had a long, boundless red glow, as glaring as fresh blood!

This red light was composed of countless blood-red characters, each one a "Forbidden" seal!

The densely packed "forbidden" characters, just looking at them would make one's scalp tingle and their spirit tremble.

This red light was set up by the masters of the Question Dao Sect. Its existence is equivalent to a warning because wherever the red light is, it marks an area within a hundred miles that is a death trap.

To cross the red light is to step into another forbidden zone, a place that is extremely dangerous for all disciples of the Questioning Dao Sect.

Jiang Yun had already searched the entire hundred-li range of Kun Shou Lin in these three days, and even inquired with several waves of outer sect disciples, but he still found no trace of Lu Xiaoyu.

By this point, even he knew deep down that Lu Xiaoyu was probably in grave danger. Still, he refused to give up hope, so he came all the way to this border a hundred miles away.

With a ripping sound, Jiang Yun suddenly reached out and tore off the tattered grey robe from his body, revealing the animal hide underneath. In one stride, he crossed the red light!eaven!Although most of them didn't even know Xueqing and the others, they could tell their identities just by seeing the light that shone in their Heavenly Emperors' eyes.Needless to say, disciples li...