Four days later.
The long and narrow valley of Wind-Whisper Canyon receded into the distance behind them.
Lin Gui and Elvia had finished crossing this mountainous area famous for its "wind whispers."
The journey was extremely long.
So long that without the flying vessel, a Transcendent powerhouse would have had to travel for over half a month on foot.
Over the course of those four days, they flew over endless gray ridges.
They flew over parched riverbeds and sparse coniferous forests.
The winds in the mountains were strong, pouring in from the mouth of the canyon.
The rock walls were filled with wind-eroded holes that made a "woo-woo" sound as the night wind passed through them.
Inside those holes, many pairs of blood-red eyes would always emerge after Lin Gui flew past.
But the flying vessel was too fast.
So fast that the vessel had already disappeared beyond the horizon before those eyes could even blink open.
Finally, at dusk on the fourth day.
Watchtower Keep appeared at the edge of their vision.
This city-state was small.
Even smaller than Dragonbone City.
It had grayish-white stone walls, low-rise houses, and a main street that cut straight from the gate to the castle.
To call it a castle was generous; it was actually just a slightly larger stone building.
Elvia was the first to rush inside excitedly, but when she returned after a loop around the city, her face had collapsed in disappointment.
She originally wanted to buy some luxury items to pass the tedious time during their crossing.
Perfume, face powder, or some nice clothes.
Even a decent book would have done.
As it turned out...
There was nothing.
This city-state didn't even have any nobility.
Those who lived there were all miners, hunters, and a few rookie adventurers.
Just surviving was an achievement for them; no one had the heart for luxury goods.
Lin Gui didn't mind.
Setting up the post office and the collection and delivery of letters went very smoothly here.
Without nobility, there were none of those messy obstacles.
However, because Watchtower Keep was so remote and sparsely populated, he didn't receive many letters in the end.
Even the letters sent from Dragonbone City and Whitecliff City to Watchtower Keep numbered barely more than a hundred.
The Weekly Commission was completed.
The System rewards were issued.
Lin Gui's luck this time wasn't as good as it had been in Whitecliff City.
Across a hundred magic draws, he didn't fish out a single new spell.
However, the mastery level of Flame Enchantment increased slightly.
It rose from LV1 to LV2.
The chanting time was about a second faster; for Lin Gui, it was better than nothing.
On the other hand, the 300 mana reward brought him one step closer to the Transcendent rank.
[Host: Lin Gui]
[Rank: High-tier High Rank mage]
[Mana Reserve: (8090/14900) Distance from the next rank breakthrough: 5100 mana points]
After staying in Watchtower Keep for two days, Lin Gui took Elvia and set off toward the Forbidden Zone.
The Withered Wood Wasteland.
As the flying vessel streaked across the grayish-white sky, the land below began to change.
The green grew sparser as the gray took over.
The trees became thin with twisted branches, resembling withered hands reaching toward the sky.
The ground began to crack, with parched fissures covering the land like scars.
The air was thick with a dry, dusty scent.
The number of demons began to surge.
Low Rank, Mid Rank, High Rank.
They wandered across the wasteland in packs.
Occasionally, even more powerful and obscure auras could be sensed.
Those were Transcendents.
There were even Legendary ones.
This was Elvia's first time entering a Forbidden Zone.
Her body was tense, her hand pressed against her sword hilt, and her eyes constantly scanned their surroundings.
She was like an alert cat.
Even the slightest movement in the wind would make her heart race.
But over the next few days, she gradually relaxed.
Because... Lin Gui was simply too steady.
Lin Gui carried her along in that small boat, flying at high speeds.
The speed was immense.
So fast that they had already passed through the demons' territories before the creatures could even react.
The only difference was...
Lin Gui stopped with much higher frequency.
And he frequently changed direction.
Often, he would only fly for five minutes before stopping to rest.
Sometimes ten minutes.
The longest stretch was no more than twenty minutes.
But overall, they were moving forward.
Also, the duration of his breaks grew longer.
Previously in Wind-Whisper Canyon, he could continue flying after resting for half an hour.
Now, he often needed to rest for an hour or even longer.
He said that the density of demons in the Withered Wood Wasteland was too high.
He needed to keep his mana full at all times just in case.
Under Lin Gui's guidance, they didn't encounter a single proper demon crisis.
From Dragonbone City to Whitecliff City, Elvia had followed that Gold Rank adventure group and encountered no fewer than ten demon attacks along the way.
Every time was a bloodbath, and every time someone was injured.
But following Lin Gui...
From Whitecliff City to Watchtower Keep, and from Watchtower Keep deep into the Withered Wood Wasteland, they had encountered none.
Although they rested frequently and often changed course, there were no accidents.
Elvia's heart gradually eased.
In fact, as time passed, a thought began to grow in her mind.
Forbidden Zones were nothing special.
However, by the fifth day of their crossing, that thought was crushed into dust.
That afternoon, they had just finished resting and were preparing to set off again.
Lin Gui's expression suddenly changed.
He didn't speak. He grabbed Elvia by the wrist and yanked her onto the flying vessel.
Mana poured in wildly, and the flying vessel shot out like a rocket.
Before Elvia could react, she heard a massive boom from behind.
It wasn't just one boom.
It was a series of continuous, deafening explosions.
She looked back.
The horizon far in the distance was lit up by a dark red light.
Two terrifying pressures that were suffocating even from a distance of over ten kilometers made it hard for her to breathe.
Those were Epics.
Two Epic demons were engaged in a bloody battle.
The ground was shaking.
The floor of the Withered Wood Wasteland was being torn apart, with gravel and dust being blown hundreds of meters into the air.
They formed a dust storm that blotted out the sun.
That dust storm expanded in all directions at a terrifying speed.
Lin Gui's flying vessel fled frantically along the edge of the dust storm.
The howling gale chased them from behind, carrying gravel and dirt that slammed into the vessel's hull with a rhythmic clatter.
Elvia gripped Lin Gui's waist tightly, her face buried in his back.
She could feel the flying vessel jolting violently.
It felt like it could be torn apart by the gale at any moment.
No one knew how much time passed.
Perhaps a long time.
Perhaps only a few minutes.
The jolting finally stopped.
Elvia looked up.
Behind them, those two terrifying auras were still there.
But the distance between them was now great.
The dust storm was still expanding, but it could no longer catch them.
Her back was soaked with cold sweat.
Lin Gui didn't stop; he continued flying.
He only slowed down after those two auras completely disappeared from his perception, finding an obscured rocky crevice to land in.
Elvia climbed off the flying vessel, her legs feeling a bit weak.
She leaned against the rock wall, gasping for breath.
"That was... Epic?"
Her voice was a bit dry.
Lin Gui nodded.
"In this Forbidden Zone..."
"There are no fewer than ten such terrifying existences."
Elvia fell silent.
She thought back to her thought from a few days ago.
Forbidden Zones were nothing special.
Looking back now, she had been far too arrogant.
It wasn't that those terrifying existences didn't exist.
It was just that they had been circumvented in advance by Lin Gui.
Two more days passed.
Withered Wood Town finally appeared at the edge of their vision.
It was small, even smaller than Watchtower Keep, yet it was a city-state far more prosperous than Whitecliff City.
Rate on N.U.
