Chapter 35: Leaving Flaming City

“Hurry up, or we’ll really be too late! Fang! Keep an eye on this kid—remember what I said!” As the sound of hurried footsteps grew louder, the old man rushed to tell Kiro and the others.
Pushing them aside, the old man drew his sword and dashed off into the distance, determined to stop the group approaching them first.
“Kiro… what should we do now? Really take this kid with us?” With the old man gone, only Kiro, Anderson, Alice, Sambik, and Jim remained. Looking at the unconscious Rod, Anderson asked Kiro.
“Let’s go! The elder ordered it—we must do it. Leave this place quickly!” Shouldering Rod, Kiro led the group in a rapid run in the opposite direction. The top priority was to get as far away from here as possible.
From the elder’s expression, he could tell that the strength of these newcomers was likely no less than that of the previous group. He knew full well what that meant—he wasn’t naive enough to think he could survive such a situation unscathed.
“No, we can’t take this bastard with us! It’s better if he dies!” Glaring at the unconscious Rod, Alice protested loudly.
“Let’s go first!” Ignoring Alice, they took Rod and ran swiftly into the distance.
“Damn it! We can’t catch them—they’re gone!” Sambik and the others tried to chase after them, but their speed was too slow, and they soon lost sight of them.
“What do we do now…”
“Let’s go. Our leader will be fine. At least the elder isn’t dead. Those guys wouldn’t dare do anything even if they had the audacity. Let’s leave this place first and avoid the city lord’s pursuit. We can deal with the rest later!” After hesitating for a moment, Jim said firmly, pulling the two with him as they fled into the distance.
…
“Damn it! Where is this place? What’s going on?” In a daze, Rod felt intense jolts and voices around him. A severe headache made him groan. The pain all over his body was unbearable, and his weakness made him want to fall asleep right away.

“No, where’s the old man? Where am I?” Suddenly, the last image that came to mind flashed before his eyes. Thinking of the old man, Rod’s heart skipped a beat as he growled inwardly.
“He’s awake!” It was still that woman’s voice, as clear as before, but this time with a hint of coldness and hatred that Rod could clearly sense.
Opening his eyes, everything seemed to return to him in an instant. The pain intensified, causing him to twist his mouth slightly and take a sharp breath.
“How did I end up here? Where is this? Where’s the old man? Where is he?” Seeing the three people in front of him, Rod, ignoring Alice’s murderous gaze, rushed to ask.
“We left Flaming City and are on our way to Breeze City. The elder is still in Flaming City!”
Kiro looked at Rod with a somewhat solemn expression. After taking a deep breath, he raised his head and spoke seriously to Rod.
“Damn you! Then why did you bring me out? Send me back quickly! The old man is still there. Why did you take me away?”
Hearing Kiro’s reply, Rod ignored the pain in his body, sat up quickly, grabbed Kiro tightly, and shouted loudly.
“Don’t be ungrateful! Hmph! It’s already good enough that we haven’t taken revenge on you. We even took great risks to bring you out of Flaming City. Do you know how much danger we’ve faced?” Anderson snorted coldly at Rod’s behavior.
“Who the hell wants your fake kindness! Let me go down! I want to go back!” Rod shouted angrily at Anderson.
“Naitrod, calm down. The situation over there really isn’t suitable for you to stay. It was at the elder’s request that we brought you out. You know that staying there won’t help at all and will only hold back the elder, right? Do you really want that outcome?
The elder is a quasi-divine-level warrior. Do you think others can easily deal with him? Although he’s under the effect of a severe poison, the toxicity has been suppressed after taking my Spirit-Strengthening Pill. With his strength, escaping from there shouldn’t be a problem at all! What’s the point of letting you leave now? Even if you rush back, everything will be over. What can you do then?
It’s better to leave with us. Remember the elder’s instructions and expectations for you. Work hard—that’s the best reward!”

With a sigh, Kiro removed Rod’s hand and patiently tried to persuade him with a complex expression—hoping these words would dissuade him! After all, it was indeed too late to go back now. As for the excuse he had made, he figured it was meant as good intent. He wasn’t sure about the old man’s situation either, but it probably didn’t look good.

Perhaps Kiro’s words really worked. After hearing them, Rod gradually calmed down. Sitting in the carriage with a solemn face, head lowered, he seemed to be deep in thought.

Seeing Rod’s state, Kiro breathed a sigh of relief—finally, he had managed to calm this guy down.

The carriage jolted as they continued moving forward, growing further away from Fire City. After pondering for a long time, Rod suddenly raised his head, took a deep breath, and looked at the two people beside him. “Did the old man say anything before he died?”

“The elder told you to leave Fire City—go as far away as possible. Don’t go back, at least not until you gain enough strength! And as you must have heard, don’t approach those with the golden eagle symbol!” Kiro replied immediately, a faint smile on his lips. He knew Rod must have understood.

“Got it!” Rod replied indifferently before falling back into silence. The atmosphere became somewhat strange, with extreme quietness filling the carriage. No one knew what to say in the face of Rod’s silence.

“Are… are you okay?” Worried that Rod might be upset after those words, Kiro couldn’t help but ask, seeing his furrowed brows and silent contemplation.

“I’m fine! Where are we going now?” Hearing Kiro speak to him, Rod looked up at his concerned expression, exhaled, frowned slightly, and forced a weak smile.

“Collins Forest!” Alice interjected coldly before Kiro could answer, her gaze toward Rod still carrying a hint of resentment and hostility.

“Collins Forest?” Rod’s expression changed slightly as he frowned tightly.

This place seemed very familiar. After searching through his memories, he finally realized it! Good heavens, wasn’t this one of the famous places on the continent? Rather than calling it the Koslin Forest, it was more accurately described as an outer area of one of the continent’s forbidden zones—the Source of Darkness. The Source of Darkness was one of the two major forbidden zones on the continent, a place that filled people with fear. No one could venture deep inside to discover what lay there, and no one knew what it looked like or what existed there. All that existed were a series of terrifying rumors and countless legends!

It was said that powerful magical beasts lurked within the Source of Darkness. Even a god-tier warrior couldn’t survive there safely, let alone return unharmed after going deep inside. Most importantly, it was said that on the outskirts of the Source of Darkness lay the territories of the despised vampire and werewolf races on the continent—places inhabited by members of these two races, who had wreaked havoc across the continent thousands of years ago.

The Koslin Forest was located on the periphery of such a place, hiding the Source of Darkness behind it. The forest was filled with countless terrifying magical beasts, and the more inward one went, the more terrifying they became, until reaching the edge of the core area of the Source of Darkness. No one had been able to reach that area in nearly a thousand years and bring back any reliable information.

Of course, this place was also a paradise for adventurers, as the slightly weaker magical beasts in the outer areas of the forest provided their core essence, which served as a main source of income for those adventurers or mercenary groups. Some adventurers, mercenaries, or mercenary teams often hunted magical beasts in the outer regions of the Koslin Forest to obtain their core essences, which they then sold to weapon shops or magicians in exchange for payment. They also inevitably took on tasks involving capturing magical beasts. For example, Alice’s magical beast, the Flaming Leopard, must have been captured by a powerful mercenary group after being listed at a high price in the Mercenary Association—it was likely a young beast. Otherwise, how could Alice, with her weak strength, obtain such a powerful magical beast? It was pure fantasy.

At the thought of going to such a place, Rod frowned and looked doubtfully at the people in front of him—members of Alice’s Porter family. As for Kiro and Anderson, aside from their strong abilities, their backgrounds must also be complex. They didn’t seem like people short of money. And mercenaries? That was even less likely. What would they be doing there? His mind was filled with confusion.

“Collins Forest?” Rod murmured to himself. He reached into his chest and touched the iron box that the old man had given him, emphasizing its importance over and over again. Feeling the slight chill emanating from it, he took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with determination. At that moment, he made a decision of his own.

Noticing Rod’s change and seeing his expression, for some reason, Kiro felt a sense of unease, as if something bad was about to happen.

But Rod had no mood to pay attention to Kiro’s doubts. The moment he made the decision, he suddenly felt his mind become clear and calm, as if he had let go of everything. His internal combat energy began to flow rhythmically, as if drawn by an invisible force, slowly moving through his meridians.

The speed increased, and the pattern of its flow changed gradually, as if the combat energy itself had gained consciousness!

“Could it be?” Feeling this, Rod’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed he had thought of something as he muttered to himself.

The next moment, Rod’s expression changed drastically, then turned excited!

Indeed, wasn’t he already at the peak of an intermediate warrior? With 99% certainty, this situation meant he was about to achieve a breakthrough.

He quickly expanded his mental energy, integrating it into his body to guide the combat energy. At the same time, he continuously absorbed external fire elements to refine and purify his combat energy, repeating the process until he felt a sense of expansion.

Carefully, he directed the combat energy toward that slight blockage.

Boom… Everything went so smoothly, so naturally. He achieved the breakthrough effortlessly! Feeling a new realm open up before him, the seals in his mind shattered once again, revealing newer cultivation methods.

Without stopping the absorption of internal energy, Rod rapidly incorporated dense external fire elements into his body, then integrated them into his combat energy to strengthen it.

After three more cycles, he finally stabilized his current state and solidified his strength—now an advanced warrior! At this moment, he truly was an advanced warrior.

Everything happened so quickly—just a few months, and from an ordinary person he became a high-level warrior. Such speed made Rod smile in satisfaction! Of course, he had no idea what kind of reaction it would cause if others learned of this training pace. It would probably leave countless people stunned, not knowing what to do.
Those so-called geniuses on the continent seemed utterly insignificant, slow, and foolish in comparison to Rod’s training pace!
Feeling the energy surge within him, Rod let out a soft hum. The fatigue from earlier seemed to vanish in an instant, leaving him full of energy.
Opening his eyes, he was immediately struck by brightness. He had no idea how much time had passed during this training session. Seeing Kiro and Alice looking at him with tense and complex expressions, Rod flashed a slight smile.