Chapter 5: The Black Fog Zone (Part 2)

Eagle Demon suddenly raised a hand to signal the two to be quiet. He pricked up his ears and heard an extremely faint whistling sound coming from the thick fog.
Zhou Xiaoling frowned and said, “It’s the whistling of a shuttle vehicle!”
Guo Shier asked, “What shuttle vehicle? Whose is it?”
Zhou Xiaoling replied, “It’s ridden by inspection experts… extremely fast…” Before she could finish speaking, the whistling grew louder.
The three looked up at the sky. The black fog in the sky churned, and a large shuttle vehicle suddenly appeared in their sight as it passed through the fog—about ten meters long, shaped like a flat shuttle with pointed ends and a wider middle. Its fully enclosed, streamlined body emitted a faint blue glow and was covered with various runes, looking very beautiful.
The shuttle vehicle hovered abruptly above their heads. With a soft sound, a gap opened on its belly, and a person flew out. It was an old man wearing a black cloak, his grayish-long hair fluttering in the wind. He slowly landed on the ground.
Zhou Xiaoling stepped forward and said, “Greetings, Inspection Chief.”
Guo Shier and Eagle Demon exchanged a glance before stepping forward as well and saying, “Greetings, Inspection Chief!” Although neither of them knew what an Inspection Chief was, they both knew they couldn’t act as if they knew nothing.
Guo Shier stared curiously at the old man. His first impression was that this man was not easy to deal with. His soul could clearly sense the man’s strength—seemingly even greater than MasterMaster Kumu MasterMaster Kumu’s—but he couldn’t be sure if the man was a High Saint Master.
The old man stared at the three of them, and a massive spiritual pressure suddenly emerged. Zhou Xiaoling and Eagle Demon couldn’t withstand it and stepped back repeatedly. Guo Shier’s soul was different; he managed to hold on. After a slight hesitation, he also stepped back two steps under the pressure.
Guo Shier had now seen clearly the identity badge hanging around the old man’s waist. As the runes on it flickered, he realized the old man was an intermediate High Saint Master named Lin Fengyi, the Inspection Chief of the Bloody Secret Realm. No wonder Zhou Xiaoling had immediately known his position.
An intermediate High Saint Master? Guo Shier was shocked. In the Chenxiao Sect, he had only seen one junior High Saint Master. Here, just any Inspection Chief was already an intermediate one. He couldn’t imagine how powerful the inspectors here must be.

Lin Fengyi was also a bit surprised. All three of them were junior Mad Masters, clearly elites from their sects and families. Especially Guo Shier and Zhou Xiaoling—both were very young, a rarity even in his own sect. Only masters under thirty could enter this place for training; some didn’t even reach the level of Mad Master despite being in their forties. Yet these two children had already achieved it, a clear sign of their extraordinary talent.

“Have you seen this person before?”

Lin Fengyi raised his hand and threw a shadow talisman, which flew toward Guo Shier. He could tell at a glance that this child was the key among the three.

Guo Shier caught it. The palm-sized talisman displayed an image, similar to a phone screen from his past life. It was another novel thing he had never seen before.

The talisman recorded a man’s image—a disheveled fellow with a defiant expression. Guo Shier asked, “Inspector, who is this…” and handed the talisman to Zhou Xiaoling.

Zhou Xiaoling took one look and understood. “A fugitive?” she said, then handed the talisman to Eagle Demon.

Lin Fengyi nodded. “Have you seen this person?”

Guo Shier shook his head. “No. We just arrived in the Black Mist Area and haven’t gone deep in yet.”

Zhou Xiaoling added, “I haven’t seen him either. What’s wrong with him?”

Lin Fengyi said, “He killed seven trial disciples! Moreover, he has reached the level of intermediate Saint Master yet still hasn’t left. I’m giving you these message talismans. If you spot him, crush them immediately, and we’ll arrive soon.”

Guo Shier nodded and took the talismans. Zhou Xiaoling exclaimed in shock, “Killed seven trial disciples?”

Lin Fengyi said, “Be careful. If you encounter him, signal for help and run away immediately. You can’t defeat him… Oh, right. His name is Zhang Yaojin—a scumbag! A madman…”

Guo Shier thought to himself, “If we meet him and have to signal for help, we’re in real trouble. With Zhang Yaojin’s strength as an intermediate Saint Master, no one can escape. By the time you arrive, we’ll probably be dead already.” He said calmly, “Okay! If we meet him, we’ll send a signal.”

Lin Fengyi nodded in satisfaction. “Good!” Without wasting time, he waved his cloak and flew back to the shuttle. A few seconds later, the shuttle trembled slightly, then roared as it soared into the air.

The three of them exchanged glances. After a while, Zhou Xiaoling asked, “If we see that man… Shier, can you really use the message talismans?”

Guo Shier replied, “No!”

Zhou Xiaoling was taken aback; she hadn’t expected Guo Shier to answer so promptly. She wondered, “Weren’t you just agree?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Since I’ve agreed, why do you still ask?”
Zhou Xiaoling giggled and said, “Shier, you’re so naughty!” As soon as the words left her mouth, she blushed, realizing her remark was a bit odd.
Guo Shier said seriously, “I won’t send out signal tokens unless it’s absolutely necessary. It’s too dangerous. Zhang Yaojin is a mid-level Holy Master. If we anger him and make him feel threatened, he’ll surely drag us all down with him! With just the few of us, we’re no match for him!”
Zhou Xiaoling nodded. “True.”
Eagle Demon said, “Anyway, I don’t want to run into that man. Shier, let’s head back to the camp.”
Guo Shier asked, “Dingding, how much longer do we need to stay here?”
Walking toward the camp, Zhou Xiaoling replied, “We’ll leave once everyone has adjusted a bit. Practicing in the Black Mist Area is fast, but there’s a need for an adaptation period.”
Guo Shier said, “Help them adapt as quickly as possible. I hope to enter the Black Mist Area sooner.” He had already experienced the benefits of this place—the black threads emerging from the ground were very helpful for the soul. He really wanted to go to an area with denser black threads to practice and see just how much improvement it could bring to his soul.
The tents in the camp had already been set up. Lan Hu was boiling meat soup in a large copper pot, while Xuan Ai was controlling the magical fire. Sun Min’er, Peng Yuanwang, and Yang Qi watched eagerly, especially Fat Yang, who looked drooling, constantly asking, “Is it ready yet?” “Almost done, right?” “I’m hungry…” He had a naturally loud voice that was annoying.
Finally, Lan Hu lost her temper. “Fat Yang! If you keep making noise… you won’t get any food! Shut up!”
Yang Qi stepped back in fear, not understanding why Lan Hu was angry. Stammering, he said, “L-Lan Hu, I… I didn’t say anything! You…”
Xuan Ai said smilingly, “It’s your loud voice that’s annoying everyone! If Little Lan Hu doesn’t get angry, I will!”
Eagle Demon said, “It smells so good! Hehe, I’m already hungry just from smelling it. Little Lan Hu, prepare some pancakes for me and a big bowl of meat soup.” He reached out with a smile.
Lan Hu replied, “Uncle Eagle Demon, you have to wait a bit longer. The meat isn’t ready yet… We’re using rhinoceros meat this time, and it doesn’t cook easily.”

Guo Shier sighed, “Since when… have we only been eating the meat of mutated talisman beasts? By the time we start eating the meat of aberrant talisman beasts, we might truly become powerful.”
Eagle Demon had never heard of aberrant talisman beasts before and wondered, “What are aberrant talisman beasts?”
Zhou Xiaoling was also puzzled and said, “Uncle, you can’t possibly not know about aberrant talisman beasts either? They’re even rarer than mutated talisman beasts, extremely powerful… It’s said to be the favorite of top professionals. They’re very rare and precious.”
Sun Min’er asked, “Dingding, I heard the sound of a shuttle just now… Is it looking for you?”
Zhou Xiaoling replied, “It’s an inspection chief searching for a guy named Zhang Yaojin.”
Peng Yuanwang was surprised, “Zhang Yaojin? What’s wrong with him?”
Guo Shier reacted quickly and asked, “Do you know him?”
Peng Yuanwang said, “He’s from our sect. He went missing a long time ago. He was quite famous in our sect.”
Zhou Xiaoling asked, “Oh, was he a disciple who was heavily trained by the sect?”
Peng Yuanwang shook his head repeatedly and said, “Not a disciple who was heavily trained. He was… well, around my level. They thought he had no future, so they sent him here… The kind of person whose success counts as a gain, and whose failure isn’t a loss… Of course, this Zhang Yaojin might just be someone with the same name.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Whether we know him or not, it doesn’t really matter to our team. If we see him… try to avoid him as much as possible. This guy has killed seven disciples who came here to train, and he’s already reached the rank of intermediate Saint Master. We’re not up to dealing with him.”
Peng Yuanwang’s mouth dropped open, and it took him a while to say, “My god… He only came here for over a decade and already reached such a high level?”
Sun Min’er asked curiously, “Was he a junior master or a senior master when he came here?”
Peng Yuanwang replied, “Of course, a junior master. And he was almost thirty years old. He barely made it in.”
Guo Shier said, “This guy is also an amazing person. In just over a decade, he managed to reach a high professional rank. If he could get some inheritance, he could become a key figure in our sect… Strange. Since he’s been discovered, why hasn’t he left this secret realm?”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “He can’t leave. After his image was recorded, his talisman gate was sealed. Unless he can get someone else’s talisman gate… And that requires the other person’s willingness. Forcing it won’t work.”

Guo Shier suddenly remembered that after advancing to the rank of Mad Master, he could use his talisman gate. He immediately checked his talisman gate and was surprised to find a new coordinate inside it. However, this coordinate was completely new, and it was impossible to return to the Secret Realm of Tranquility. He was utterly stunned.
What was going on?