Chapter 886: Just Friends...

Sigma_ SSins

As the absolute darkness covered all of them, they couldn’t see anything around as they flew forward.

However, it didn’t take a long time before they started to fall into a deep chasm, sinking rapidly.

Boom!

They landed one after another, feeling the entire world tumbling. After a long while, they finally gathered their consciousness.

Boom!

The Undying Wood star map on Fei Lan’s hand suddenly exploded all of a sudden. Its dust scattered in the air.

The darkness faded away.

A beautiful scenery was slowly revealed in people’s sight...

It was a luxuriant forest with dense, ancient trees. Small, ancient trees were dozens of meters tall, while the bigger ones had so many branches that it made them look like a small mountain that was several-hundred-meters high. The tree trunk could occupy a couple mu of land that would require more than one hundred people to circle it.

The gravity here was hundreds of times heavier!

No King God Realm warriors could fly in such terrifying gravity. The Original God Realm could float a little higher than the ground. Only existences like Fei Lan could escape the gravity and hover dozens of meters in the air.

Earth and heaven energy here was thick and abundant. It surged like the immense ocean, making people feel relaxed. They felt indescribably cozy, sinking into the sea of energy.

Not far from them was a lake that hadn’t been contaminated yet. The water was so clear that they could even see the bottom. Mist hovered above the water surface with dense Water Qi. The humidity in this area was pretty high.

Beautiful floras of all kinds of colors and species grew by the lake. Some had five-colored leaves and branches while others had jewel-like roots. Their vitality was immense as if those plants were intelligent.

Alchemist Jester was shocked. Bright light sparkled in his eyes as he studied the foliage by the lake. He muttered as if he was dreaming. "Three Leaf Crown Orchid, the top grass to nurture the soul... Jade Water Lily..."

He mumbled to himself as if he had just fallen into bedevilment. The alchemist instinctively walked towards the lake, completely forgetting where he was.

Fei Lan frowned. Her face was dark and heavy as she spoke to Leona, "The star map exploded by itself. I don’t know where the hollow channel is. Even if we find it, without the star map, we can’t get back."

Leona slightly changed her visage. She was startled and she muttered to herself. "Where are we?"

"Where is Fan He’s group?" asked Shi Yan.

Hearing him, people started to react. They looked around, but no one could see Fan He, Feng Ke, the warriors of the three big forces and the pirates led by Feng Ke. It was unknown why their destinations were different.

Only dozens of Ka Tuo’s pirates, Feng Rao, Carthew and his people, and Zi Yao were here.

Not many people Shi Yan didn’t know.

When they were still in the Soul Confining Platform, alchemist Jester had decided to walk to Shi Yan. That was why he was brought here. The others seemed to scatter as they didn’t depart at the same time.

"Why should we care about their lives!" Leona snorted, speaking indifferently. "It’s good that they died. We don’t need to use our force to kill them."

She neither had a good feeling for the experts of the three big forces nor the pirates. Except for Ka Tuo and Shi Yan, the ones with secret inheritances, Leona didn’t mind anybody else, including Zi Yao.

"They headed to the same place with us. However, their stop was different. I need to check it out." Fei Lan squinted calmly as if she started to release her transcendent Soul Consciousness to search.

After a long while, she shook her head. "This place is really magical and so vast. My Soul Consciousness couldn’t cover it all, but I didn’t see them anywhere in the areas I could reach."

Shi Yan was so surprised.

Fei Lan was at the Ethereal God Realm, the strongest realm he had seen until now. Although the Land of God Punishment was so vast, her Soul Consciousness could observe every corner. Nothing could avoid her sensing.

However, she said that she couldn’t sense this luxuriant, boundless forest entirely. So it meant that this forest is larger than the Land of God Punishment?

"Level 7 life star, at least! My my, the place the star map marked isn’t just a hoax! It’s a level 7 life star!" Jester was dedicatedly collecting spiritual grass and plants by the lake. He was so excited that he acted like a child finding treasure. He swung his hands. "Spiritual herbs nurtured by Nature in a level 7 life star are the best ingredients to refine pellets and medicines! Being able to see those top-quality materials. It is worth it even if I have to die."

"A level 7 life star?" Shi Yan was shocked as his hope amplified endlessly in his heart.

"Yes, it is!" Jester nodded heavily. "If it isn’t a level 7 life star, how can it grow so many precious spiritual herbs like this? No matter where we are, to the alchemists, this place is the best place that we have ever dreamed of!"

What Jester said couldn’t stir up Fei Lan and Leona as they were wearing strange, heavy faces.

"What are you worried about?" Shi Yan was surprised and didn’t know anything.

"This place has abundant earth and heaven energy. We hope that there’s no life here. Otherwise, it would be very intimidating!" Fei Lan took a deep breath, her face bitter. "Our Raging Flame Star Area doesn’t have a level 7 life star, but we do have King God Realm and Original God Realm warriors. And I, after thousands of years of accumulation, have entered the Ethereal God Realm. This place has so much energy. If creatures can cultivate here, they will receive a lot of benefits. Their progress would be tremendous."

"Besides the spiritual grass and plants, a level 7 life star can produce materials like ores, divine crystals, and other precious crystals. It will be beyond your imagination. If the creatures here know how to cultivate with abundant earth and heaven energy here, combined with the access to spiritual herbs and crystals, they would progress rapidly. I think cultivating to the Ethereal God Realm wouldn’t be as much of a struggle like in the Raging Flame Star Area." Leona also wore a heavy visage.

Listening to them, Shi Yan suddenly quieted down.

It was true that the Grace Mainland had entered the last phase of its energy cycle, but it still had the Peak of True God Realm warriors. The Raging Flame Star Area had level 5 life stars so it could have characters like Du Tian Ji, Fan He, and Fei Lan at the Ethereal God Realm.

This place had better natural resources and plenty of earth and heaven energy. If creatures here knew how to cultivate, their attainment would surpass the Raging Flame Star Area for sure.

"You guys stay here. I’m going to search around," said Fei Lan after contemplating for a while. She didn’t wait for Leona and Shi Yan to answer, slowly floating up into the sky and flying to the further area.

Since she was at the Ethereal God Realm, she could cross one thousand miles in just a blink of an eye if she was in the Raging Flame Star Area. However, this magical place had gravity that was several-hundred-times heavier, so her speed had slowed down too. Shi Yan and the others could see her floating and moving in the air.

"Shi Yan..." at this moment, Zi Yao approached him, beaming a weak smile. "I’ve broken through..."

Shi Yan was stunned. Afterward, he managed to beam a bright smile, speaking honestly. "Congratulations! Original God Realm! Your power will increase massively. I think that even if you don’t depend on anyone, you can earn a seat for yourself."

"I’m not as excellent as you are," Zi Yao didn’t sound arrogant or content, "compared to you, nobody could have the same rate of cultivation speed. When I first knew you, you had only the True God Realm cultivation base. Your progression is a miracle."

"I have good fortune." Shi Yan smiled, talking naturally, "Seems like you were delayed on your way. Or else, you wouldn’t have been so late."

"Yeah, I had a good encounter, but it took some time to break through," Zi Yao nodded and smiled. "You and the Pirates have separated now. What is your plan for the coming time?"

"I’m one of the Pirates. What do you mean by ’separated’?" Feng Rao wore a cold face, storming over and clutching Shi Yan’s arm, placing her head next to his and showing the others how close they were. "From the day he and I left the Purgatory Star, he became no longer a member of your divine nation. You don’t have the power to bind him."

Feng Rao looked at Shi Yan. She paused and then bit her lower lip. "Do you still want to depend on her and be her escort?"

Shi Yan frowned, keeping silent.

Zi Yao’s beautiful eyes showed that she was embarrassed. She pondered and then said faintly, "I have never considered Shi Yan my subordinate in the way that I’ve treated him. In my heart, he has always been my close friend. That will never change."

"Close friend?" Feng Rao mocked, "When Ao Gu Duo trapped him in the Purgatory Star, where were you? When Ao Gera plotted against him, what were you doing? If you consider him your close friend, when people attacked him, you should have helped him immediately, right? But did you do that?"

"Her Highness didn’t know this. When Shi Yan was trapped in the Extreme Purgatory Field, Her Highness had come to search for him. I can prove that" Carthew gave a faint smile, expressing his opinion.

Leona had an indifferent visage, observing at Shi Yan who was sandwiched between two women. She deliberately moved away as if she didn’t want to be involved in this mess, leaving Shi Yan to deal with his business.

"I always considered Your Highness my friend. I always dis." Shi Yan smiled under Feng Rao’s gaze, speaking deliberately. "We’ll still be friends in the future. You’ve treated me well. I will remember it."

Friend?

Zi Yao’s eyes flashed a hidden sorrow, but she pulled herself together shortly, nodded, and said, "Yes. It’s true. We’re friends. We’ll always be."

"Friends only?" Feng Rao looked at Shi Yan.

"Yeah, we’re friends," Shi Yan confirmed.

Feng Rao relaxed her tense nerves, beaming a bright smile. She didn’t want to chase them furthermore. She just smiled. "That is good then. I think you have many things to talk about as friends... Suit yourself. I’m not going to disturb you anymore." Then, Feng Rao walked away.

She was a smart woman. She knew when to be tough and when to be flexible. She knew how to not displease someone.

Because she minded someone, she would consider things for him. Putting up guard was okay, but she needed to also give them privacy.

Carthew gave a faint smile. "You guys should talk." He also left the place, leaving the two to have a private moment.

After Feng Rao and Carthew left, Shi Yan and Zi Yao fell into silence. The atmosphere between them was awkward.