Chapter 172: Savior

Ye Feng looked at the dense jungle around him, puzzled, and turned to Bell and Belle. The last thing he remembered was his right fist colliding with Su Rui’s left hand, which was reaching for his throat, followed by darkness and nothingness.
When he woke up again, he was lying in that small wooden hut. He had no idea what had happened in between.
“This is the Terror Forest—that’s what people outside call it!” Bell wasn’t expecting Ye Feng to not even know where they were.
“The Terror Forest?” During his few days on Planet Festus, Ye Feng had heard of this place. “Is it the place where seven powerful warriors from the Tribulation stage explored hundreds of years ago and were all wiped out?”
“That’s right! Those seven guys angered Sister Epipremnum, who tore them to pieces.” Belle stood up and walked slowly to a spot not far from Ye Feng before sitting down.
“Epipremnum?!” Ye Feng pointed in the direction the girl had left. “Is it that Epipremnum?”
“Yes. Sister Epipremnum is the first plant to emerge on this planet. She has been cultivating for billions of years. Originally, Planet Festus was a fifth-class planet, but Sister Epipremnum used her roots to forcibly alter the planet’s spiritual energy pathways, transferring most of them to this forest while leaving only a few minor pathways elsewhere. That’s why the magical beasts in the forest are so powerful, while humans outside are extremely weak.” Bell also climbed over slowly.
“Alter the flow of spiritual energy pathways?!” Ye Feng had never heard of such a thing—it was even harder than destroying a planet.
“That’s right. It took her hundreds of millions of years to gradually guide, change, and strengthen the pathways…” Belle nodded. “That’s why magical beasts at the Mahayana stage like me and Bell exist in this forest.”
“Wait, you two are already at the Mahayana stage?” Ye Feng stared at Belle and Bell in disbelief.
“Yes. We were originally due to ascend, but Belle became pregnant and couldn’t ascend. So we suppressed our cultivation levels, waiting until the baby was born before ascending. It’s been a hundred years—the baby should be born this year!” Belle’s large face showed a human-like smile.

“A baby? When will it be born this year?” Ye Feng looked curiously at Bailey’s belly. It wasn’t as easy to tell if she was pregnant as it was with humans, as her belly seemed about the same size as Belle’s.
“It could be born at any time, because our gestation period is only a hundred years, and a hundred years have already passed. It could be born anytime—usually, though, not later than this year.” Bailey gently touched her belly.
“But after you ascend, who will take care of your child? Your child can’t ascend with you, right?” Ye Feng was puzzled.
“We already entrusted it to Sister Epipremnum. But it seems now that Sister Epipremnum might leave with the young lady… If nothing else works, we’ll have to leave it behind, even though this forest is very dangerous…” Bailey said, sounding disappointed.
Ye Feng fell silent for a moment before changing the subject. “How did you find me? In my memory, I only recall fighting with someone and then passing out. When I woke up, I was here. I want to know what you know.”
“You two happened to land in our territory. Normally, we wouldn’t care about human lives. But this little one is also a young magical beast. Both Bailey and I like it very much—it’s adorable. And it refuses to leave you, so we had no choice but to bring you along too.” Belle nodded.
“After bringing you here, the young lady saw that you were seriously injured and came to check on you. She then gave you some medicinal pills and had Sister Epipremnum build this little house for you.” Bailey pointed to the small wooden house where Ye Feng had slept.
“You mean this house was built by Sister Epipremnum in an instant?” Ye Feng looked at the wooden house in disbelief. It wasn’t large, but it definitely couldn’t have been built in such a short time. “How long was I unconscious? How long did it take her to build this house?”
“You’ve only been unconscious for a day; today is the second day. As for building the house, it only took a few seconds. She just inserted her fingers into the soil, and trees grew automatically, forming the shape of the house.” Belle clearly understood what Ye Feng was thinking.
“I see.” Ye Feng’s face still showed surprise, but at least this explanation resolved his doubts.

“Who exactly is that lady you’re talking about?” As soon as Ye Feng asked, he noticed two people walking toward him.
Lu Lu glared fiercely at Ye Feng, while beside her stood a woman in a purple dress with a graceful figure. A thin layer of purple veil covered most of her face, revealing only her eyes. Her long black hair hung vertically down like a waterfall, and her eyes were as clear as if washed by mountain spring water, with black pupils that held an infinite allure like deep black holes.
“Are you talking about me?” A voice devoid of any human warmth drifted into Ye Feng’s ears like clouds floating in the sky.
Ye Feng was momentarily stunned before responding, “Hello, I’m Ye Feng. Thank you for saving my life!”
“You look much better without the mask…” The woman wasn’t shy about her praise, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her lips.
“Uh… thank you. I wore the mask to avoid my enemies…” Ye Feng said shyly, clearly realizing she already knew he was wearing a mask but hadn’t asked him to take it off. “You’re my saviors; there’s no need for me to use that fake face around you.”
“Your injuries are no longer serious. It may take some time to restore your dantian. Don’t use your true energy for now,” the woman said with a faint smile in her eyes.
“Mm,” Ye Feng nodded. Seeing her smile made him feel comfortable. He enjoyed this feeling; for some reason, seeing her smile made his own lips twitch upward involuntarily.
“I’m preparing an elixir to help restore your dantian, but I’ve never made such an elixir before, nor do I have a recipe. So I need a few days to create one and test its effects.” Clearly an expert in alchemy, she could create a recipe on her own without one—a skill only master alchemists possessed.
“Then I’m in your hands, madam!” Ye Feng bowed slightly to express his gratitude.
“Rest well! There’s no danger in this area. If you need anything, just come to me directly.” With that, the woman turned to leave.
A faint fragrance gradually faded away. Then Ye Feng suddenly slapped his own head and called after the two who had already walked away, “What’s your name?”
“My name is Situ Xuan…” A soft voice drifted into Ye Feng’s ears…