CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 87 WANG YIDAO!_1

"It seems like... we are surrounded," Wang Zhan spoke haltingly.

At that moment, dozens of fluctuations appeared within the range of Wang Zhan’s mental energy scan, indicating that dozens of beasts had gathered around them.

The power of these energy fluctuations was not too strong; they were probably between level 7-8 beasts and lower Soldier-level beasts.

However, their numbers were too great, and they all remained motionless, merely waiting in the darkness. This made Wang Zhan wonder if there was an even more formidable presence behind these beasts.

"We can’t go back the way we came. Let’s move deeper in." Wang Zhan gave a wry smile. "I wonder where we’ll end up."

A place like Flame Valley was not suitable for students like them, who were not even Warriors. They had been full of confidence on their way in, but reality had made the team of Wang Zhan and two others realize how naive they had been.

Soon after, the three of them dashed out of the beasts’ encirclement at full speed. When they left, the beasts did not initiate any attacks, which made Wang Zhan even more certain of his suspicion.

"They clearly noticed us but didn’t attack. There’s obviously a stronger beast commanding them from behind, just like a Beast Tide," Wang Zhan said after they escaped the encirclement.

Fortunately, they had left a step ahead; otherwise, who knew how many more beasts would have gathered in that place.

In the depths of the wilderness, although beasts, unlike humans, did not commonly possess high intelligence, a strict hierarchy existed among them. The strong commanded everything, while the weak strictly obeyed orders.

This time, it was the discipline hidden in the beast genes that allowed the team of Wang Zhan and two others to find a loophole and escape.

After walking continuously for over half an hour, Wang Zhan was still pressing forward, showing no intention of stopping.

Meanwhile, Huang Pufeng, the weakest of the three, was clearly nearing his limit.

"My stamina is almost depleted. Can we find a place for me to recover?" Huang Pufeng said helplessly.

It wasn’t just Huang Pufeng; even Song Dongming and Wang Zhan felt a significant drain on their stamina.

At this point, they were deep inside the inner valley of the Flame Valley, and the deeper they went, the hotter it became.

The air temperature where they were was already close to 80 degrees Celsius, as if they were constantly in a high-intensity sauna.

No matter how talented the three of them were, maintaining high-speed movement in this environment consumed at least three times more stamina than it would in the outside world.

Hearing Huang Pufeng’s request, Wang Zhan showed no intention of stopping. "Hold on a bit longer! There are powerful beasts nearby—intermediate Soldier-level beasts or even stronger!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Pufeng immediately fell silent. He pulled out a bottle of Mixed Essence Pills, swallowed them without refining, and continued onward.

This move was extremely risky. After all, Mixed Essence Pills had potent effects. If not refined in time, they could cause minor injuries. In severe cases, they could even cause a martial artist’s Essence Energy to run rampant, damaging their meridians and inflicting grievous wounds.

But under these circumstances, Huang Pufeng had no other choice.

Just two minutes later, Song Dongming also reluctantly swallowed Mixed Essence Pills directly to restore his stamina.

"Wang Zhan, don’t you need any?" Song Dongming said bitterly. "We’re deep in the Flame Valley now. Any beasts active in this area must be at least Soldier-level beasts. It’ll be difficult for us to find a place to recover. If your stamina runs out, Huang Pufeng and I will be as good as blind in this situation."

"No, there’s still one place in the Flame Valley where we can rest," Wang Zhan said, his expression unchanged.

But just then, a nearby pile of volcanic rocks suddenly exploded, and a black shadow shot directly toward Song Dongming’s back!

"Watch out!" Wang Zhan shouted urgently.

The black shadow had hidden itself too well, not revealing even a hint of its aura, which was why Wang Zhan failed to detect it in advance.

Wang Zhan’s warning came too late. Coupled with Song Dongming being at his weakest, he was unable to dodge.

However, at that critical moment, Wang Zhan instantly burst forward with incredible speed, positioning himself behind Song Dongming in a flash.

Immediately after, Wang Zhan felt a searing pain in his back; a sharp blade had clearly sliced his skin.

"Ugh!"

Wang Zhan let out a muffled grunt of pain but quickly forced himself to endure it. Without hesitation, he lunged toward the ambushing black shadow.

After its successful strike, the black shadow’s speed noticeably decreased. Wang Zhan captured it alive without much effort.

This black shadow was actually an entirely black spider about half a meter tall. It had virtually no hair on its body, and all eight of its legs had evolved into blade-like appendages that looked extremely sharp.

Song Dongming rushed to Wang Zhan’s side, his voice laced with worry. "Your back! Is the wound okay? Huang Pufeng, quickly apply some medicine!"

If it hadn’t been for Wang Zhan, Song Dongming knew this inconspicuous spider would likely have sliced him in two.

There was a considerable gap in physical strength between him and Wang Zhan. If even Wang Zhan received such a long gash, his own fate would have been far worse.

"A Blade Spider... The strongest are only level six... This one seems to be merely level five."

Wang Zhan stomped on the Blade Spider, crushing it instantly. He then said, "Don’t apply medicine yet. Let’s leave immediately. Blade Spiders always live in groups; it’s impossible for one to be out alone."

As soon as his voice fell, the three of them heard a dense rustling sound coming from the pile of rocks.

"Go! We’ll rest when we get there!" Wang Zhan urged.

The trio continued to hurry onward, quickly leaving the Blade Spider’s territory.

About another half an hour later, Wang Zhan, who was leading the way, finally stopped.

In the distance before them lay an open area.

In the Flame Valley, a place otherwise filled with magma and rubble, a stretch of flat ground lay not far ahead of them!

Furthermore, on that flat land, there was an extraordinarily clear Pool, vaguely exuding a cool breeze. Next to the Pool stood an odd Crooked-neck Tree that had split into three branches. However, the tree was leafless, clearly just a dead tree.

Even though Wang Zhan and his two companions hadn’t yet entered that area, they could already feel the surrounding temperature drop significantly, bringing them considerable relief.

But even so, the three of them halted outside the area, none daring to take another step.

"I should have known. The resting place you mentioned... in the entire Flame Valley, it could only be here," Song Dongming said, his face contorted with unease.

"Wang Zhan... Brother Zhan!" Huang Pufeng managed a bitter smile. "Big brother, you’ve got some serious guts."

On their journey, the three had memorized all available information about the Flame Valley. Because of this, they were acutely aware of the dangers lurking within this seemingly utopian flat land.

This was the deepest part of the Flame Valley—its very end.

Two overlords reigned in the Flame Valley, two leader-level beasts.

One was the Magma Giant Tortoise, which guarded the boundary between the inner and outer valleys.

The other was the one that resided in the deepest part of the Flame Valley: the leader-level beast, the Red-bill Bird!

"The Red-bill Bird, with its red beak and jade-green feathers, can command fire," Wang Zhan stated calmly. "I know how terrifying this so-called Red-bill Bird is, but this is our only option now."

Wang Zhan sighed deeply. "All we can do now is pray the Red-bill Bird doesn’t return for a while, allowing us to rest here peacefully for a day or two... Our luck seems to be holding; the Red-bill Bird has actually gone out hunting."

"Leader-level beasts have enormous appetites. It’s normal for them to hunt for ten days, or even half a month, at a time," Song Dongming interjected.

"Maybe the Red-bill Bird just left," Huang Pufeng chimed in.

Wang Zhan glanced at his two companions but said nothing more.

He knew very well that these were just words they told themselves for comfort.

Wang Zhan was the first to step into the area of the Pool. A peculiar energy seemed to linger there. The moment he approached the Pool, he felt the temperature drop to around 20 degrees Celsius.

It was like stepping from a furnace into an air-conditioned room.

Wang Zhan felt the tension that had gripped his entire body instantly dissipate for the most part.

Song Dongming and Huang Pufeng followed closely. They were in even worse shape, collapsing beside the Pool. Huang Pufeng even plunged his entire head into the water.

After a good ten seconds, he abruptly lifted his head. "So refreshing!"

"Rest first. Recover your stamina, then we’ll talk," Wang Zhan said.

Song Dongming and Huang Pufeng naturally had no objections. The three of them soon settled into meditation by the Pool, beginning to recover their massively depleted energy.

「An hour later.」

Wang Zhan was the first to open his eyes. He had recovered to his peak state.

This was the benefit of a powerful physical body—a comprehensive enhancement. Whether it was combat prowess or recovery speed, Wang Zhan far surpassed others.

After getting up, Wang Zhan saw that Song Dongming and Huang Pufeng were still recovering. Not wanting to disturb them, he began to curiously survey the area where the Red-bill Bird lived.

He first walked over to the Crooked-neck Tree next to the Pool.

The Crooked-neck Tree was around thirty to forty meters high, with three bare branches. Each branch was thick enough for three to five people to encircle with their arms. Clear claw marks on one of the horizontal branches suggested that the Red-bill Bird usually roosted here.

Curiosity piqued, Wang Zhan leaped up and landed on the tree.

But before he could experience the Red-bill Bird’s vantage point, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a rock face dozens of meters away.

There, a big saber pinned a huge beast skull firmly to the rock face!

"What?!" Wang Zhan’s pupils contracted.

The beast skull was at least the size of three or four people. Although it was already skeletonized, Wang Zhan could still recognize it from its elongated shape and sharp beak—it was the skull of an avian beast!

Considering this was the Red-bill Bird’s territory...

An unbelievable thought surfaced in Wang Zhan’s mind. No way...

Could it be that the Red-bill Bird hadn’t left, but had been slain by a human expert long ago? But why has no news of this spread? A place as famous as Flame Valley... if the Red-bill Bird was truly dead, it’s impossible that no one would have discovered it by now!

With this in mind, Wang Zhan quickly walked over to the big saber.

Then, he saw a line of flamboyantly written characters carved into the rock face:

’Wang Yidao avenged his brother here by slaying the Red-bill Bird of Flame Valley!’

"Wang Yidao?!"