"F*ck, it's hot."
Inside the dark forest, where the light couldn't even take advantage of the gaps between the leaves, a blazing, cursing figure was leaning on a big rock.
Occasionally, there would be miserable 'F*ck!' and 'Sh*t!' resounding through the Dark Forest, shocking the ghosts and phantoms in the vicinity. Perhaps if they could talk, they would be cursed back.
It's a good thing that they couldn't.
After a few hours, a staggering figure crawled out from the bushes. His gait was even eerier than the ghost itself. A nearby ghost who flew was shocked when a figure appeared before it, and it flew away!
"The f*ck? You're a ghost! Why are you the one running away instead?"
Doesn't that mean he was more of a ghost than the ghost itself? Fang Zhaoge was so mad he tried to uproot a whole 1 km tall tree. It was uprooted, but he put too much force, and it flew away…
After a few moments, Fang Zhaoge successfully calmed down and inspected his body. His skin had turned white, like a real ghost. Sometimes, a torrent of fire would set ablaze from his skin, setting out a menacing, blazing ghost look!
He was speechless. I knew I entered a forest filled with ghosts and phantoms, but was it necessary to look like one?
At least his strength and talent were increased by 10x. Now, it's comparable to 5000x amplification. Just enough to compete with the top 3 physique holders.
"Anyway, I should have looked around. The Heavenly Emperor said that the whole Dark Forest is in itself, the core area, where the substance of the Forbidden Zones resided. But what kind of substance does a Dark Forest even have?"
He scratched his head. Nevertheless, he started to run at lightning speed. Occasionally, some ghosts and phantoms passed by in his sight, and they were propelled away by his sheer speed.
Fang Zhaoge felt a little bad. However, just when he was stuck in his thoughts, an extremely creepy ghost appeared on his face and screeched horrifyingly!
He was so shocked he immediately gave his all and performed the eight slash with his Immortal-grade sword! The ghost was shocked, the nearby phantoms and ghosts were shocked, and even the trees were shocked!
Immediately, a fearsome pressure dawned upon the Dark Forest. Because the slash was too big! It was so big it looked like it severed the deepest of land and the highest of sky!
Even the nearest civilization, which was hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the Dark Forest, saw the huge slash!
"What in the world…"
"Just what sort of beings that dwelled in the Forbidden Zone?"
The nearby village stared in awe as the slash gradually disappeared from their eyesight. In fact, it wasn't disappearing, it was moving!
Fang Zhaoge was dumbfounded. He looked as the eighth slash intended to utterly decimate the Dark Forest, going from its deepest roots to its highest sky!
Actually, in logic, with his trillions of suns' worth of combat strength, the world will be destroyed just by his flick, right? However, Fang Zhaoge found out that the 'sun' was the standard of his previous world!
In this world, not to mention trillions of suns, perhaps a punch worth a million galaxies could only shake it. When he learned of this, his heart was shaken. This is the difference between the world's laws!
Some worlds have weak laws that even a trillion trillion tons could ruin their ecosystem. Some worlds are so strong, that perhaps the weight of countless universes could not even shake it. Their mountains would be destroyed, at most.
They're probably Immortal Worlds…
As for this world, he suspected it needed at least the combat strength of a universe's weight before it could be crushed. Fang Zhaoge lamented, the comparison is just ridiculous! Just imagine the laws of a star, how would that be?
He shuddered. He cannot imagine it. He truly couldn't…
It also made him realize that pure physical strength cannot precede everything! Only when he had the techniques would he be able to cut through a world even without the combat strength comparable to a universe's weight!
Soon, after the eight slash was exhausted, an extremely massive ravine was created right amid the Dark Forest. Many oblivious ghosts and phantoms have become the victims, perishing without knowing the cause.
But the Dark Forest was massive, too massive. Such a powerful, overbearing slash didn't even change the overall situation of the forest!
Fang Zhaoge sighed in relief. He also cursed the horrifying looking ghost. He swore it looked like a malnourished old lady with black eyes and white long hair. The way it screamed was too terrifying!
He shivered. The old lady with black eyes and white long hair beside him also shivered.
"F*ck! Get away!"
Fang Zhaoge had lost count of how many times he cursed. But this damn forest was truly too much. Just how dense is the Yin energy here to sustain countless ghosts and phantoms in an indefinite amount of time?
"Perhaps the substance the Heavenly Emperor talked about is the element?"
But didn't yin come before the elements? Wait, could it also be considered as an element? Yin is cold after all, like the energy of the incoming, creepy old man staggering before him…
"Stop bothering me already!"
Fang Zhaoge isn't scared of them. He was scared of the shock! Why do these ghosts like to jumpscare so much, anyway? It's not good for his heart.
However, this time, when he ran away from the old man, he found himself crashing against a staggeringly gargantuan tree. Its roots were comparable to the logs of the already massive 1 km tall trees.
Fang Zhaoge staggered back as he looked up with a big gape. Just… just what is wrong with this 'mortal' world? Why does a mortal world even have this kind of monstrosity on its surface?
It was unimaginably gigantic.
He could only identify two thousand kilometers tall before the lush foliage of the utterly godly tree blocked off his sight.
He only talked about how tall it was. He had yet to mention how long and wide it was…
Taking a deep breath, Fang Zhaoge jumped like a rising meteor, directly arriving at ten thousand kilometers height from his initial position!
This time, he looked up again, and he was struck. He was shaken. The tree… its countless branches hold unidentified creatures. They dangled in the air, and they have no mass, only bones and skin. It was as if they were caught by the tree before they were sucked dry, and died by the branches.
Fang Zhaoge was shocked when one of the creatures was actually the old lady! He was enlightened and also terrified. So the phantom came from this?
He jumped again, and again, and again, and his sight was still filled with the same thing! Countless creatures, such as minotaurs, deers, wolves, even humans! All of them dangled on the branches like key locks.
"So it's true that Forbidden Zones are not as simple as they seem."
Fang Zhaoge turned solemn. It was already tens of thousands of kilometers in height, yet he had yet to see the end of this.
This Dark Forest… it was basically a graveyard, wasn't it? Just look at how many dead creatures there are. It's like raining here, but instead of water droplets, there were corpses.
Just the fact that he made such a terrifying analogy makes Fang Zhaoge take a deep breath to calm himself. He was so curious about how this could happen.
Soon, he's no longer curious anymore, because a branch assaults him from behind!
"Despicable!"
With a slash of his sword, the branch was easily severed. But afterwards, dozens also come!
"Damn trees!"
Fang Zhaog cursed once again as he furiously slashed the branches apart while trying his best to reach the top of the tree. With his Blazing Physique, the tree naturally met its nemesis!
Now, he could truly be called as the rightful disciple of the Scorching Sun Sect!
Torrential, blazing flame set ablaze as his sword absorbed most of it, turning it into an inferno sword! Fang Zhaoge's eyes lit up, as expected of an Immortal-grade sword!
With such powerful offensive prowess, he easily decimated any branches in his way and finally made his way to the top, while burning many corpses along the way.
Vaguely, he could see the spirits of the burning corpses cupping their palms at him. Even a strange, egg-shaped head, black-eyed skinny figure did the same. He watched as their phantoms disappeared with the wind.
In the end, he sighed. So these people are trapped, and this tree was the main culprit. Perhaps those 1 km trees are all its branches?
After arriving at the head of the tree, he saw a desolate figure with a black cloak and a scythe staring at the miniature sun on a stele. The figure simply sat on the top foliage of the tree, ignoring him.
Fang Zhaoge looked at the man cautiously. He couldn't sense anything at all from him! Although it's mainly because he hasn't formed his Nascent Soul yet.
The silence was deafening. Finally, just when Fang Zhaoge was about to burst, the figure turned around and revealed his void face.
"Welcome to the Gate of Abyss. I… wait you're not a phantom?"
The figure was dumbfounded. Fang Zhaoge was even more dumbfounded. Gate to the Abyss? What does that mean?
"You could actually breach the relentless assaults of thousands of branches of this cursed monstrosity as a living being… You're a mortal with the bearing of an Immortal!"
He couldn't even react before the man removed his hood and revealed his pale white hair. He's actually a young man! Well, his face is. His void eyes, on the other hand, showed desolation, like a man in his twilight years.
"Wait Senior! You don't explain anything at all! What is the Gate of the Abyss? What about this cursed monstrosity? Why would you describe a plant as if it was a monster?"
Fang Zhaoge truly was curious. The Gate of the Abyss sounds so mystical and mysterious. But the white-haired man just shook his head.
"Not yet, Defier. You will know when the time is right, including the title which I called you just now."
"However, I wish you could go back to where you belong now. This is not the place you are supposed to be in. Perhaps when you reached the realm above Emperor Exalted would I consider sharing the problems with you."
"Let this be my parting gift with you."
The white-haired man wasted no time, as if he was racing against time. He simply threw out an amethyst necklace to which Fang Zhaoge caught before a crack appeared below him, sending him to somewhere else.
"Remember, do not investigate the Forbidden Zones before surpassing the realm I mentioned."
Thus, Fang Zhaoge disappeared. Soon, after the white-haired man sat back, a terrifying entity with a vague figure materialized right at the top of the tree. Its one red eye stared lifelessly at the white-haired man.
"I feel my food has decreased."
The white-haired man merely replied with a flat look, "Some ghosts rebelled against you, and I have to take care of it. I'll replenish your Yin energy next time, my Lord. Just wait for a hundred years, and I promise it will be served on the best platter I could find."
"Good."
Soon, the utterly massive entity disappeared. As for the white-haired man, he once again stood before the miniature sun that was engraved on a stele. His void eyes blankly stared as a figure appeared in his memory.
"Defier, you propelled back those Immortals from our world. One day, perhaps, we also could be free from the enslavement from these entities…"
"But before that, you must ascend to the Immortal World first and search for your own destiny and learn abundant knowledge that was necessary for your cultivation progress."
"When you're strong enough, you'll naturally find out that our world has been suppressed in its development for billions of years. From there on, I'll let you judge the situation yourself."
The white-haired man closed his eyes. Just to remember a reason he was willing to hold on all these years, all for a single reason…