Han Shuo didn't immediately rest upon returning to the hotel storage room, but rather practiced magic as usual.
The magical yuan within his body circulated according to the principles of demonic magic. Under Han Shuo's careful guidance, it flowed through every inch of his meridians, skin, muscles, and bones. Whether it was his physical strength or his five senses, Han Shuo could feel that both had greatly improved.
Han Shuo resolutely kept attacking the final bottleneck according to the instructions in the Mystical Glacial Spellfire. He circulated his magical yuan to the centers of his two hands and repeated tried to clear the meridians in his five fingers and bones. Pain continuously emitted from his bones and meridians as his two hands trembled with convulsions. Faint red and purple lights emitted from the backs of his hands, like two feeble lanterns.
The pain continued to increase while Han Shuo grit his teeth and stubbornly hung on. He knew that this was the critical point in training the Glacial Mystical Spellfire. It was up to his will to see if he could clear all the meridians in his hands and achieve successful results with the Glacial Mystical Spellfire.
The process of the magical yuan attacking the bones in his five fingers seemed to continue interminably. Han Shuo sat Indian style with sweat dripping out of every pore as his veins bulged and pounded in his forehead. His originally peaceful facial expression became a bit sinister and ghastly, giving off a feeling of extreme evil.
After who-knew-how-long, just as Han Shuo felt that he would faint from the pain, he could no longer bear the bone searing agony in his hands and involuntarily flapped his hands with a low roar.
Papapa…
Ten crisp sounds rang out from his fingers as Han Shuo immediately felt a bit drained, but the magical yuan flowed smoothly into his fingers with no obstacles.
Ten purple-red embers, like the flame on a candle wick, instantaneously arose from his fingertips. The ten purple-red blossoms of fire sparkled with breathtaking colors in the dark of the storage room. They were like hypnotizing flowers that had suddenly bloomed, giving others a secretive and unpredictable feeling.
The palms of his two hands were also dyed with purple-red color, along with his fingers. The bones within his hands could clearly be seen, and even his skin shone with a translucent gleam, looking exceedingly bizarre.
Absolutely elated, Han Shuo roared in a low voice. He then quickly looked around, and slowly withdrew the magical yuan from his hands back into his stomach. Without the continued infusion of magical yuan, Han Shuo's hands slowly went back to normal and the ten flowering flames disappeared as well.
Success. This was the evidence of successfully practicing the Glacial Mystical Spellfire. Although its full power could not be demonstrated due to his insufficient magical yuan, Han Shuo was no longer a defenseless, ordinary person, thanks to his current achievements.
The red flame of the Glacial Mystical Spellfire burned all in its path, whereas the purple flame was bone chillingly cold. Anyone struck with this spellfire would either be burned from the inside out, or experience their internal organs being frozen into blocks of ice. The likelihood of survival was exceedingly low. When the caster had sufficient magical yuan, even greater spellfire could be concentrated into the palms and thus unleash even more frightening power.
Han Shuo was engulfed by a huge wave of exhaustion after succeeding with Mystical Glacial Spellfire, and he fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, dawn.
Under Fanny's leadership, the band of twelve had gathered at the entrance to the town of Drol. They gathered some food and water from the town and piled all these items onto Han Shuo.
"What were you doing in Master Fanny's room last night?" Lisa asked Han Shuo in a low voice as she hung a leather water skin on him.
It seemed like Fanny hadn't explained last night's events to anyone. Han Shuo cast a glance at Fanny off in the distance and realized that she was reminding some students of things to be careful of. He also responded in a low voice, "Nothing much. Master Fanny wanted to test some necromancy magic and used me as a subject."
"Hmph. Don't lie to me, even if Master Fanny wanted to test some magic on you, she would test bone arrow. This kind of magic only needs to be practiced by apprentices, would she need to test this kind of magic as an adept mage?" Lisa huffed and looked warily at Han Shuo.
"Master Fanny was testing bone arrow magic, isn't each magic spell divided into five levels? She just wanted to see what level of bone arrow magic she could cast with her current strength. You can ask Master Fanny if you don't believe me."
Ever since Han Shuo had lied to Lisa, her attitude had indeed changed drastically towards him. But, women were just so. Even if she didn't like him, she would still treat you as her personal property when she knew that you liked her. If you developed an ambiguous relationship with anyone, she would be the first to feel uncomfortable.
Lisa was the same way. Although she didn't think much of him, but once she "understood" Han Shuo's thought, she naturally thought that Han Shuo would like only her unto his death, and shouldn't have any goings on with Fanny. Han Shuo had heard of this from others before, and now it seemed that there was some sense to it.
"Forget it, you wouldn't dare lie to me anyways!" Lisa looked at Fanny, spoke to Han Shuo in a carefree manner and then turned to leave.
"Bryan, let's go. The trees and shrubs grow vigorously in the Dark Forest and the paths are winding and uneven. We can no longer ride horses and can only proceed on foot. You have too many resources on you and cannot be pulled down. There are many vicious magical creatures within the Dark Forest. It would be tragic if you were pulled down and killed by them." Fanny looked at Han Shuo from afar and called out.
Fanny's attitude towards Han Shuo had subconsciously changed after yesterday's events. She seemed to place greater importance on him now, but the gentle attitude she had towards him had ceased to exist, replaced with a brusque frustration.
"Coming, coming!" Han Shuo had taken huge advantage of Fanny yesterday and she'd also witnessed his ugliness in her bathroom last night. It was natural that she no longer looked kindly upon him. It was actually a kind of improvement now that Fanny was slowly changing her attitude towards him.
Drol was abnormally busy in the day as many stores had already set up shop bright and early. A few sleepy-eyed merchants and adventurers walked out of nearby alleys with their clothes in disarray. These people were also preparing to get to work after a night of depravity.
Merchants and adventurers formed groups and set off for the Dark Forest with their belongings in tow. They either sought to capture magical creatures or trade with the minorities within the Forest.
Under Fanny's constant urging, Han Shuo's group of twelve also put their affairs in order and followed Fanny and Gene's footsteps into the Dark Forest.
The Dark Forest was vast and endless with various savage and violent magical creatures within it, as well as a few uncommon races. Elves, goblins, and savages numbered amongst them and were the main races within the Forest, but even these races normally lived on the outskirts of the Forest.
The real inner world of the true Dark Forest was full of mysteries and danger. The largest and most frightening magical creatures lived within this inner world, and that was the most tempting and mysterious part of the Dark Forest. Although legends spoke of great treasures and precious items within the core, few dared venture within. Those who dared to enter and still made it out alive were the cream of the crop.
"Follow me, we'll head south." Fanny called out loudly as soon as they entered the Dark Forest and changed the group's heading, making straight for the southern part of the Forest.
The roads were indeed rugged within the Dark Forest. All sorts of durable rocks and towering trees with branches tens of meters long could seen everywhere. There were many merchants and adventurers also heading south in the beginning, but they all veered off on their own paths as time went on. The others all disappeared in the blink of an eye, and no one knew where they went.
Suddenly, several rapid footfalls fell into Han Shuo's hearing. He paused, concentrated his hearing, and then immediately said, "A sound is approaching, and it doesn't seem like the steps of humans."
"Bryan, you're just an errand slave. What danger can you hear? So ridiculous." Bach was the first to laugh loudly and mock Han Shuo.
Ever since Han Shuo had started training his magical yuan, his five senses had become a lot more perceptive than before. Besides, he was confident with his hearing to begin with. It was impossible for humans to emit the fast approaching light taps, and there seemed to be more than one.
Han Shuo had only spoken up because he understood from Fanny and everyone else the dangers of the Dark Forest, but seeing that no one paid any attention to him after his words, Han Shuo refrained from speaking up further.
The group continued to slowly walk south, but Fanny first frowned, and then exclaimed in surprise after two minutes. She said in her sweet voice, "There are indeed magical creatures approaching. Everyone put down your things and prepare to fight. Since we're still in the outskirts of the Dark Forest, the creatures shouldn't be terribly strong. No need to worry everyone."
The students started, then looked at Han Shuo oddly after Fanny spoke. They hurriedly relieved themselves of their packs and formed a circular defensive position.