Chapter 74 The central region
Stepping inside, Shun Long felt the increasing quality of the qi in the air around him, as it was being absorbed by the magic beasts living in the central region.
''Master, you have to be careful inside. I can sense many magic beasts and none of them is below the rank 3''
Little Black warned Shun Long as he used his soul to sense everything in a 30 mile radius around him.
Shun Long nodded as he asked
''Little Black, won't we get discovered by the magic beasts here if you keep using your soul to sense the surroundings?''
''Don't worry master, unless a magic beast has already reached the rank 5, it is impossible for it to notice my soul sense.''
Shun Long breathed out in relief but he was still extremely careful as he slowly headed deeper inside. The magic beasts in the central region were all at the rank 3 or even higher, and attracting their attention would be disastrous.
Beast roars could be heard everywhere around Shun Long as the central region seemed to be a constant battlefield for the magic beasts here. After all, this was the place with the purest qi in the entire Demonic Mountain Region, so how could the fighting here be avoided?
However, with little Black's directions, Shun Long had managed to avoid the lurking dangers around him as he headed deeper inside.
Anyone who had the guts to enter the central region would witness abundant scenes of rank 3 magic beasts fighting and killing each other.
However, these scenes had started to become less frequent as Shun Long entered deeper inside the region, while the strength of the magic beasts around him grew stronger and stronger, the closer he approached to the central mountain.
After 8 hours of careful walking and detouring, Shun Long had arrived in front of a huge lake that was 150 miles away from the central mountain. The lake was more than 10 miles wide and if Shun Long wanted to reach the central mountain, he either had to go through it or go around it.
On the left side of the lake, there was a big mountain, while on its right, one could see a large lush forest.
''Little Black can you sense anything?''
''Master, the lake is extremely dangerous. I can sense a magic beast lurking inside that is very close to the peak of rank 4 so we will have to take a detour. Inside the forest on our right, I can sense a middle rank 4 aerial magic beast, as well as quite a big number of rank 3 beasts, while in the mountain on our left, I can only sense the aura of an early rank 4 magic beast but I can't identify what kind of beast it is yet.
So I think it's best if master passes through the mountain.''
Shun Long thought deeply for a while, before he shook his head and said
''We will go through the forest''
Little Black was confused after hearing that they will go through the path that had the most magic beasts. One could argue that this forest was even more deadly than the lake. Sensing the dragon's bewilderment, Shun Long laughed lightly as he explained
''The lake is obviously impossible to traverse if we don't fly over it, which leaves us with only the mountain and the lush forest as our options.
However, although the forest looks to be more dangerous at first glance, in reality this is actually the best choice for us. Since the middle stage rank 4 beast inside it, is a flying type magic beast, it will most likely have a bad sense of smell.''
Little Black's eyes inside the 'Stone of Time' glistened brightly as he heard Shun Long's words
''Meanwhile, we don't know what kind of magic beast that early rank 4 living on the mountain really is.
If it's not an aerial beast, then even with me hiding my aura there is still a chance that it will locate me through my smell.
But even if it is a flying magic beast, while I can use the environment of the trees to hide myself in the forest, there won't really be any place to take cover in a mountain''
Little Black was dazed for a good while. As a dragon, he would never consider the physical attributes of other magic beasts. He would simply use his strength to do everything he wanted.
But Shun Long seemed to have thought through everything and had already calculated the best route to take.
Entering the forest, Shun Long found nearly a dozen rank 2 medicinal herbs lying around. However, not a single rank 3 herb was anywhere in sight.
''I guess that the magic beasts here have already hoarded the good stuff'' Shun Long sighed as he kept walking forward.
The forest had more than 10 magic beasts lying in wait inside, but Shun Long easily avoided them with little Black's soul sense.
Nearly 2 hours later, Shun Long arrived in front of a stream, as he saw a huge bird more than 5meters(16ft) tall, sleeping atop a big tree at the other side of the bank.
''This is a '4 winged ice bird'.'' Shun Long mumbled as he looked at the sleeping bird atop the tall tree.
The bird had 4 icy-blue wings wrapped around it, that were in stark contrast with its brown body and red beak.
To pass through the forest Shun Long had to get to the other side of the bank. If he actually wanted to swim through the stream, or even jump all the way to the other side, he would definitely end up waking the magic beast.
However, Shun Long simply smiled and thanked his lucky stars that the bird was asleep, as he clenched his right hand and punched the air in front of him.
As his fist hit the air, a space tear big enough to fit a person was formed as Shun Long entered it and instantly arrived at the other side of the bank.
Almost as if sensing something, right after Shun Long entered the space tear, the '4 winged ice bird' snapped open its eyes as it looked around the stream.
Although it didn't find anyone, the magic beast was now keeping a vigilant watch over its surroundings. As a middle stage rank 4 beast, the '4 winged ice bird's' senses and intelligence were nothing to scoff at.
Thankfully Shun Long had instantly taken cover underneath a tree, before opening another space tear to flee deeper inside the forest.
At the same time that Shun Long entered the second space tear, the '4 winged ice bird' suddenly set its sights on the tree that he had taken cover at earlier. After flapping its wings the bird instantly arrived in front of that tree. All 4 of its wings then lit up with a snow-white light as shards of ice had suddenly formed on them.
Flapping its wings once again, the '4 winged ice bird' sent a barrage of ice flying at the tree, filling it with countless holes.
Only after seeing that there wasn't anyone there, did the bird finally leave.
Shun Long sighed in relief a few tens of meters away after seeing this scene
''This '4 winged ice bird' is really terrifying. I didn't make the slightest sound and yet it still seemed to have somehow felt my presence!''
''Master definitely didn't leave any traces behind after your spatial leap. It was probably the bird's intuition that alarmed it.''
Little Black exclaimed with confidence.
Earlier, he was ready to jump out from the 'Stone of Time' and fight against the '4 winged ice bird', if its attack was about to threaten Shun Long.
After a few more hours, night had already fallen as Shun Long finally reached the end of the huge forest.
He could now clearly see the huge central mountain that was just a few miles away. The mountain had many caves in it and surprisingly, it was void of any vegetation. Forget about trees, not even a single plant existed on it.
''Master, I can sense two presences inside that mountain.'' Little Black said after he sent his soul to scan through it.
''Two?'' Shun Long asked confused. Could it be that there are 2 magic beasts instead of 1 in the central mountain?
Little Black nodded his head at Shun Long's question as he continued
''Master, actually, I don't understand what is going on here. There seem to be 2 presences but... only one of them seems to actually be alive''
Even Little Black who had lived for so many years hadn't met with such a situation before.
Shun Long pondered over it for a bit, before he decided to rest for the night and continue towards the central mountain tomorrow after his strength had replenished, when a loud screech filled with hatred came from the central mountain, shaking the entire central region.