Translated by: Skyfarrow
Zhen Jin and Zi Di carefully walked alongside the river.
The river waters babbled and flowed, the two banks lush with dense vegetation.
The two walked until the river gradually narrowed. The terrain slowly formed up into two mounds, facing each other in the distance.
The two mounds were not fair apart, rooted on both sides of the river bank but extending over some of the river water. On the mounds, the vegetation was sparse.
Zhen Jin and Zi Di went up the mounds and took a look.
"Zi Di, you had a pretty good guess. That damned wolf probably came over from here," Zhen Jin spoke with a tone of certainty. The traces of the wolf were quite obvious here.
He looked at the girl before him, and his evaluation of her increased by another level.
Before the two set out, it was Zi Di who took it upon herself to suggest going back. Zhen Jin had agreed with the suggestion.
The island was a dangerous one, and even so when the both of them were empty-handed. To make matters worse, they had no food or water, and it was difficult to collect for themselves. On the other hand the previous search-and-rescue team had been carrying a huge number of supplies.
However, walking back via the original route would be too risky.
Before this Zi Di had climbed the tree trunk to cross the river onto the opposite bank. Right now after all that incident, the trunk was not stable, and the surface of the trunk was extremely slippery.
Zhen Jin had no climbing experience, and Zi Di had admitted that although she had succeeded once, she did not have the confidence to do it again; it was way too dangerous. The first success was practically a miracle, after all!
If they ever fell into the river, they would stir up the green vines lurking in the river. The green vines were stout as giant pythons, and were at least White Silver levelled lifeforms. However its aura had always been hidden, it could not be felt. If they ever fell into the river, there would be absolutely no hope of survival.
Thus, Zi Di began to propose that they walk along the direction of where the wolf came from to check it out.
It seemed that her suggestion was quite right. Though the giant wolf was ferocious, it did not have the form of a human and was no expert at climbing. It also knew very well the dangers of the water, so the path it chose to cross over and attack was valuable.
The two of them climbed the mound. The mound reached up to about three meters, but the distance between the two mounds was about four meters.
After realising this, Zi Di could not help but feel scared and relieved. "Thank god I was in time to shake the trunk to make the wolf's grasp unstable, so it could not jump. Otherwise I would have been buried in its belly."
For the wolf who could jump over four meters of distance, those who practiced battle qi like Zhen Jin could also try it. However for Zi Di, this would be no small feat.
"We can create a makeshift wooden bridge," Zhen Jin quickly reached an idea.
While animals were fierce and strong, humans had the power of intelligence and could create tools - this was a very huge advantage.
Zhen Jin looked around, choosing to take a few steps, coming under a tree.
The branches and leaves on the trees on top of the mound were sparse, and looked quite different from the usual rainforest trees alongside the river bank. Zhen Jin stretched out both his hands, grabbing a branch. He gave a soft cry and used all his strength.
This tree branch was as thick as a grown man's thigh. However, under Zhen Jin's strength, it immediately gave a sharp bend.
Yet, next came a standoff.
Zhen Jin used all of his strength, his face full of valor; the tree branch decided to portray a tenacity that made him very surprised.
In the end, the tree branch did not break, and Zhen Jin's follow-up strength became smaller and smaller; he could only give up for the time being.
He shook his head and looked at Zi Di for a while before turning back to the tree branch that he failed to break. He gritted his teeth and spoke with a tone of anger and humiliation, "I'll try again, I'm sure I can break it!"
The look of expectation in Zi Di's eyes never wavered, and she nodded as she said, "Zhen Jin, my Lord, with your strength you are definitely able to do it!"
Zi Di practiced magic, while Zhen Jin was a practitioner of battle qi.
Although he could not use battle qi at the moment, the process of practicing battle qi had long strengthened Zhen Jin's body. His own strength, speed and other qualities had long surpassed those of normal people.
However, Zi Di quickly said,"Zhen Jin, my Lord, these mounds are rather weird. The soil is reddish brown, and the trees that grow on it seem to be more resilient than normal trees."
Zhen Jin narrowed his eyes and observed his surroundings carefully this time, and found that Zi Di's words were very reasonable. His humiliation and anger in his heart quickly dissipated, and his affections for the girl increased yet again.
The young girl did not lose hope towards Zhen Jin in the slightest. She also never gave him empty encouragement; instead the girl had decided to check her surroundings carefully, using her accurate and keen insight to give Zhen Jin some practical help.
"Perhaps I should break the branches from the trees of those below the mounds to build the bridge, this will save my strength."
Physical strength was important, and should not be wasted simply. It was especially so in the current situation, where Zhen Jin and Zi Di were both empty-handed.
When Zhen Jin was about to walk down the mound, a sudden and strange noise rang out from the jungle in the distance. The tall and huge trees fell non-stop one by one, and a gigantic wild beast came into Zhen Jin's sight.
"What is this?" Zhen Jin's pupils shrank.
"It looks like a dragon turtle?" Zi Di was also shocked.
The young boy and girl quickly used the cover of the thickets to hide.
"It's not a dragon turtle," Zhen Jin quickly deduced as he watched the giant beast firmly.
Even though he had problems with his memory at the moment, it seemed that his common sense and knowledge was still well-preserved.
He knew that the dragon turtle was a type of giant turtle that possessed the blood of the dragon tribe, having a huge body and much strength. However the beast before him was way bigger than a normal dragon turtle.
Generally speaking, the dragon turtle would be about as big as a carriage. Any bigger ones would be the size of a mammoth. And yet, the huge turtle before them right now was about six meters in height. That is to say, the dragon turtle when compared to it would be like comparing a young boy standing beside the leg of an adult.
The dragon turtle's head is similar to that of a dragon, and is full of scales. This giant turtle however had a normal turtle head, and it was scarlet red in colour, rough as a rock. There were also two chunks of thick and solid ivory tusks that grew out beside the gills of the giant turtle.
The giant turtle was so heavy that every step it took created vibrations on the ground. The shell was ink black and had many holes on it. As it approached, Zhen Jin could clearly feel the air sweltering in heat.
"Yellow Gold level demon beast!" The giant turtle's life aura was spreading everywhere, and the young couple were full of worry. They were definitely no match for the giant turtle.
If the giant turtle decided to hunt them, they would have no choice but to try and jump over to the other side. This would be very risky!
For Zi Di, she would definitely not be able to jump across from the mound on this side to the other. However there was still hope for her to use the height difference and jump across onto the thicket on the other side of the river.
One thing that gave Zhen Jin and Zi Di little assurance was that the giant turtle had very slow speed.
Both teens dared not to breath, and were staring carefully at the giant turtle.
Under their watch, the giant turtle walked straight through the dense jungle in a crushing manner, creating a wide road. After that it slowly came to the river side, staying about two hundred meters from the mounds.
The giant turtle stretched its neck, letting its sharp beak dip into the river.
So it turns out that it just wanted to drink!
However in the next moment, after realising a disturbance, the river water suddenly started like an explosion and a huge number of green vines shot out. The green vines were like dozens of giant pythons, quickly enveloping the giant turtle's head, then wrapping around the giant turtle's front two legs and a small half of its body.
More than a dozen green vines had wrapped around the giant turtle, dragging it, trying to get the giant turtle into the river water.
The giant turtle let out a low roar instead, instantly giving strength into its four legs, holding steadfast on the ground as it fought against the pull of the vines. At the same time, it never stopped gulping huge amounts of river water.
More and more green vines shot out from the water, wrapping around the giant turtle.
With all its strength, the giant turtle stayed firmly on the soil with its four turtle limbs that were strong as a column. And yet very quickly, the number of green vines had reached over twenty, and the giant turtle was slowly starting to be dragged into the river, inch by inch.
Zi Di let out a cold huff; the green vines truly made her heart throb in horror. She originally thought that the green vines in the river were demonic plants of white silver level, but with the current events where the green vines were no longer hiding its aura, it turns out that it was actually of yellow gold level!
The green vines and the giant turtle were both yellow gold levelled beasts, but the green vines had the advantage of territory. Just as both young teens thought the giant turtle would lose, thick black smoke started to spew out suddenly from the holes of the turtle's shell. The thick smoke plunged into the sky, while copious amounts of heat instantly spread out, causing the air in the surroundings to heat up and burn.
After a few breaths, dark red magma began to flow out from the turtle shell's various-sized holes! The magma flowed along the shell, falling non-stop.
The green vines took a hit, instantly getting covered by the magma, and quickly burned up.
Over twenty green vines were burned and broke away, carrying flames as they quickly retreated into the river. However the magma continued to flow, entering the river waters, creating water vapour. Thus the giant turtle had successfully escaped the trouble, and moved its legs, slowly turning around and leaving an area of semi-solidified magma.
The magma quickly cooled and turned into a field of dark red mound. However, the air was still full of lingering heat, and Zhen Jin and Zi Di were sweating profusely all over their bodies.
Zi Di was hardly able to hide the terror in her face, and as she looked at the giant turtle leaving, she said, "I finally understand. The mound below our feet was left behind by the giant turtle! No wonder the land here is so dramatically different."
"What in the world was that monster?" Zhen Jin marvelled, his heart thumping fast.
Zi Di shook her head.
She was a magic practitioner and paid great attention to accumulating knowledge, but even so she knew nothing about a giant turtle with tusks that could spit out magma.
Fortunately there was no danger for them - the giant turtle had no interest in them, and Zhen Jin and Zi Di had been very cautious not to fall into the river water.
"This island has all kinds of strange plants and animals, I've never seen such things before in my life. We should quickly leave this place," Zi Di said.
Zhen Jin nodded and ran down the mound, quickly carrying a lot of broken pieces of wood to create the bridge.
The giant turtle had stepped and broke numerous trees, and this gave Zhen Jin a lot of help.
The two of them used the bridge and quickly got to the opposite bank with ease.
Then they walked upstream, where Zi Di was able to find traces of her original escape route.
Zhen Jin's heart was heavy.
In such a short amount of time, Zhen Jin had seen a white silver wolf, a type of yellow gold river vine, and a yellow gold giant turtle - this island was just way too dangerous!
He could feel that his situation was totally precarious.
"I'm unable to use my battle qi. Just by relying on the strength I have now, I'm barely able to break a tree branch."
"It was complete luck that I was able to deal with that wolf earlier. At that time, the wolf was in the air and could not change its direction. My sudden awakening and attack had taken it by surprise. It had no way to avoid my hit and fell into the river water."
"Those terrible green vines in the water had instantly taken away the wolf's life. If I were to fight it head on, I would be all bark and no bite."
"If I run into another beast like that, what can I do?"
Zhen Jin was distressed.
He was completely unarmed at the moment, and could not even use his battle qi. His memories were incomplete, and no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to unearth a single relevant memory about his battle qi.
Without battle qi, he would just be a walking meal in this dangerous jungle.
"I can't even protect myself, what more to say about saving Zi Di?" Zhen Jin looked at the young girl before him, and could not help but feel anxious and guilty.
"To save me, Zi Di disregarded her own life, how deep her sentiment runs! Even though I spent such a short time with her, she has been so understanding and kind. She is sharp and cool-headed, and has always been trying her best to help me." Zhen Jin watched her back, his emotions unstable.
Right now the young girl was leading the way ahead, carefully identifying her previous tracks.
The jungle thicket was dence, and if they lost their way, they would no doubt be in even greater danger.
"I want to live, and I must protect her at all costs!" Zhen Jin once again reaffirmed in his heart.
"Oh, right, Zi Di," Zhen Jin suddenly broke the silence and asked, "what's my skill level like?"
Without the ability to perceive his own qi, Zhen Jin was unable to tell his own abilities.
The young girl slowed down and slightly turned her head, her tone considerate as she replied, "My Lord, the public thinks you have the abilities of a Black Iron level."
Zhen Jin could not help but raise his eyebrows slightly. Zi Di's reply was interesting.
"The public thinks?" Zhen Jin asked again while raising his arm a little, motioning to the girl to walk while speaking at the same time.
"Yes," Zi Di nodded as she resumed her exploration, "you usually displayed black iron levelled ability. But from my guess, it is definitely not the case, because the reason for crossing the sea this time was to fight for the White Sand City Lord's seat. A city lord must have at least white silver cultivation in order to serve the public.��
This reply had a huge amount of information.
Zhen Jin quickly pondered.
His memories were incomplete, and most of it was about himself, while common sense and affairs were relatively complete. At least there was no shortage on that part.
The human race's Sheng Ming Emperor was wise and prominent. Not only was he able to unify the continent, he had also formed an expeditionary force that expanded over the great seas, invading the wild continent.
The White Sand City was a fortified castle city that was built by humans atop the wild continent. It was a nail embedded in the wild continent, by the Sheng Ming Emperor.
There were more than a dozen similar castles like White Sand City, and the number was still increasing as of now - new castle cities were constantly being built.
The human race castles had been placed along the edges, and was rapidly expanding into the hinterlands of the wild continent.
(1) Zhen Jin was a member of the human race's expedition of beast men. However, he was not a pioneer, but a successor.
"I wanted to compete for the White Sand City lord seat?"
"Although there are city lords with black iron levels, however for the White Sand City of the wild continent, there's no way they would allow a black iron city lord."
Zhen Jin was analysing in his heart.
Whether it was battle qi or magic, they had all had the sublimation of life essence.
(2) Green Copper, Black Iron, White Silver, Yellow Gold.
Green Copper level was the quintessence of the human race. The captains of armies would often carry this level of cultivation.
Black iron level was higher than green copper, and their life essence was a step higher, so they were often made as the backbones of big and small organisations, such as Zi Di.
White silver level would be qualified to serve as the lord of a city, and quell a region.
Yellow gold levels were even rarer, and would usually be the pillars of a great aristocracy or a small kingdom.
"With this guess, I should have the strength of a white silver level."
"This year, I'm sixteen, and I have already become white silver level, so my qualifications must be uncommon."
"In any case, I also managed to hide this secret in my daily life, and the public thinks I am only a black iron level. It seems that even though I am young, I have a high level of shrewdness."
Zhen Jin continued to deepen his understanding of himself.
According to his age, to be able to reach black iron level would mean he was pretty good. Such is the case for Zi Di.
To have white silver cultivation at sixteen would mean he could be called a genius.
Of course, there were those who were even more blessed.
To carry yellow gold cultivation levels at sixteen was not impossible, but it is usually quite rare to find one in a country alone.
If Zhen Jin had yellow gold cultivation, he would probably not be dispatched to the wild continent to risk and fight for whatever lord seat. Such a talented genius that appears only one per country would no doubt be protected by higher powers, or killed off early on.
Note:
Sheng Ming Emperor - Enlightened Sage Emperor, Holy Emperor? Could be appropriate titles.
I'm not too sure about this line - the original was 针金正是人族远征兽人的一员,只是他并非先锋军,而是后续成员.
I'm not sure if 兽人 means beastmen, orc and whether it refers to the expedition members or if the expedition is hunting them.
Green Copper, Black Iron, White Silver, Yellow Gold - Depending on whether the author wants to make a pun on these metals again, they may be switched to Bronze, Iron, Silver and Gold later on.