From between the foliage of the towering trees, speckles of scarlet sunlight sprinkled through, giving the huge and boundless forest a sombre and desolate atmosphere.

In the core zone, it seemed as if even the the sunlight concealed traces of chilly killing intent. Countless heroes had fallen on this vast land.

Currently, there were a few figures quietly seated on a plot of empty land in the depths of the forest. A faint bloody smell drifted out from their bodies, informing others that they had just experienced a great battle.

Upon closer inspection, the figures gradually became familiar. They belonged to Lin Dong and his counterparts, who had just gone through a great battle with the Wind Cloud Empire half a day earlier.

Due to the battle, Lin Dong and Little Flame had sustained some injuries. In a land that was filled with danger, an injury was a danger in itself. Therefore, after the battle ended, Lin Dong did not stop at any highly-populated places and retreated with his counterparts.

Even though he believed that he had instilled fear in people’s hearts by defeating the Wind Cloud Empire, there were still people who would let greed overwhelm their rationality in this world. Currently, they possessed three Heavenly Grade Nirvana Seals which were undeniably enticing for those who wanted to break into the Nirvana Golden Ranking. In addition, Lin Dong had seized the Black Dragon Sky Roaring Seal from Feng Cang under everyone’s watchful eyes. Undoubtedly, this would only increase the greed in some people’s hearts. Thus, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Lin Dong chose to retreat for the time being and keep a low profile after his ground shaking battle.

He understood that this news would spread to more than half of the core zone within a day or two. By then, he would have attracted the attention of many powerful and ambitious individuals. Nonetheless, no matter how troublesome it was, he had to treat his injuries first ...

Everyone had become lions trapped in a cage once they entered the core zone. The only way to rise above others was to step over one another and move forward. There was no compassion, only the strong and the weak.

Lin Dong sat in silence under a huge tree. He had already changed out of his blood-stained clothes. However, the faint smell of blood had yet to dissipate completely and there were still some open wounds on his body. These kinds of injuries would take an ordinary person a few days to recover. However, Lin Dong’s body was different from others. Not only was his body physically stronger, but after practicing the Green Heaven Materialized Dragon Skill, his recovery capabilities were now countless times stronger than an ordinary practitioner as well.

Therefore, most of his wounds had healed in a mere half a day. As for the Yuan Power that had been depleted, it was recovering at a terrifying rate thanks to his Devouring Ancestral Symbol.

Given his abnormal recovery rate, he would soon be lively and regain his fighting strength in a day!

While Lin Dong and Little Flame were in recovery mode, Little Marten was leaning against a huge rock and sunbathing in the scarlet sunshine that pour down from between the trees. He bit a piece of grass and appeared extremely carefree.

However, even though he had a languid demeanor, he still opened his eyes slightly from time to time and scanned the depths of the forest with a piercing gaze.

At this point of time, Lin Dong and Little Flame were in a relatively weak state. Clearly, all responsibility fell on Little Marten for the time being.

Meanwhile, Su Rou fiddled with the bonfire as she put up roast meat on the roasting rack, giving a rather busy appearance. However, this scene was somewhat heartwarming as well. Compared to the previous gruesome and bloody battle, this atmosphere was much more relaxing.

“Brother Lin Diao, this place is far from the main roads and few would walk in this direction. This place should be quite safe,” Su Kui grinned as he took a piece of meat from the roasting rack and passed it to Little Marten.

In his eyes, this devilish-handsome young man was enigmatic and unpredictable. Even though Lin Dong and Little Flame had certainly shocked him with their fighting capabilities, he still felt that the seemingly lazy Little Marten was the one who concealed himself the most out of the trio.

With regards to the enormous mysterious power in Su Rou’s body, Lin Dong and Little Flame had no idea on how to deal with it. However, Little Marten actually had ways to help Su Rou control it. It was hard to imagine that such a young man would possess this ability. Initially, Su Kui thought that only the super sects had the ability to solve the issue of the mysterious power in Su Rou’s body. However, it had already been solved by Little Marten..

“It’s good to be careful. Lin Dong has a prudent nature. He will not allow the slightest bit of carelessness that will result in the situation growing out of control,” Little Marten casually replied as he received the roast meat and viciously bit into it.

Su Kui gave a silly laugh and could not help but glance at the recuperating Lin Dong. The former could tell that the trio shared a remarkable relationship. Among the three of them, it was apparent that Lin Dong was the core and the leader of the group. Even though there were times when the enigmatic Little Marten would guide Lin Dong on certain issues, he would still follow Lin Dong’s decisions on the more important issues.

Previously, Su Kui could not understand why was this so. However, after he witnessed the battle between Lin Dong and Feng Cang, he somewhat understood that this young and ordinary-looking fellow possessed some mystical abilities that could turn the impossible into the possible.

“Furthermore, from what I can see, I’m afraid our situation is not as pleasant as you think it is,” Little Marten wiped his mouth and said. His enchanting purple-black eyes narrowed a little as a dark look flashed across them.

“Is there a problem?” Upon hearing these words, Su Kui asked in a low voice as his facial expression slightly changed.

Little Marten lightly nodded his head. He glanced at Lin Dong and Little Flame, who were both deep in a state of recovery as the corners of Little Marten’s mouth curled to form a sinister smile. Back in the Wanxiang City, he had already sensed this well-hidden presence. Initially, Little Marten had believed that he was mistaken. However, after they had entered the core zone, this feeling grew even stronger.

Clearly, they had been marked by someone. However, the person hiding in the dark was rather powerful. Even Lin Dong and Little Flame could not sense him.

“Ahh, there are indeed a lot of capable individuals in the Ancient Battlefield..” Little Marten sneered as he threw away the bone in his hand.

Su Kui’s facial expression grew sombre and felt a faint sense of unease. This was the first time he had seen Little Marten show this kind of expression. Little Marten had never showed such an expression even when in the face of an individual like Feng Cang.

“Don’t worry, if an unforeseen event arises later, you and Little Rou only need to protect Lin Dong and Little Flame. They are currently at a critical moment in their recovery. As long as they can endure through this, they will be able to regain their fighting capabilities..” Little Flame instructed in an indifferent manner.

“Ok.”

Su Kui nodded his head. He did not expect themselves to be targeted by some unknown viper just after finishing off the hindering fiends of the Wind Cloud Empire.

“I want to see what kind of individual dares to create trouble with me around!” Little Marten smirked in a low voice as his eyes lowered a little.

Su Kui retreated calmly and pulled up Su Rou, who was fiddling with the roast meat. Under Su Rou’s puzzling gaze, Su Kui pulled her over to Lin Dong’s side and whispered, “Don’t let anyone near them.”

It was clear that Su Rou was startled by Su Kui’s sudden actions. However, she was smart enough to quickly understand that something was wrong from Su Kui’s facial expression. Soon after, she could not help but look at Little Marten, who was leaning on a huge boulder. The latter had both his arms behind his head, eyes closed as if he was napping.

On the empty plot of land in the forest, the bonfire burned fervently. Subtle sounds of firewood crackling were given off, becoming the only sound that could be heard in this quiet place.

This silence continued for a period of time. The scarlet sunshine that pour through the trees gradually became fainter.

As time passed, the scarlet sunshine became dimmer and dimmer. Eventually, the scarlet sunshine completely disappeared, leaving the entire core zone in darkness.

Swoosh!

When the last light disappeared, two dark flashes suddenly leapt out from the darkness where Lin Dong and Little Flame were seated and stabbed towards the back of their heads at an extreme speed!

“Buzz!”

As the dark flashes surged forward, a dark green light flashed across Su Rou’s eyes, who had been waiting for enemies to appear all along. With a flick of her finger, two beams of green light shot out from her fingertips, completely crushing the two incoming dark flashes.

“Cowards, finally you have appeared!?”

The sleeping Little Marten suddenly opened his eyes at this moment, a sinister look appearing on his handsome face. His purplish black eyes swiftly shifted, locking onto a huge tree to his right.

“Show yourself now!”

Little Marten reached out his hand and violently grabbed the empty space ahead of him.

Bang!

As Little Marten grabbed the empty space in front of him, the lofty huge tree immediately exploded, filling the sky with broken bits of wood. A mysterious black light shot out from within and landed on the ground. The black light wiggled before materializing into a black shadow.

“Heh, you are indeed the most unfathomable one out of the three..” A gaze that was filled with boundless ghastliness shot out from the black shadow’s eyes and locked onto Little Marten’s body.

Little Marten sat on the huge boulder and slightly leaned his head to the side. He stared at the black shadow with his purplish black eyes and replied casually, “You’re the one who has long been concealing himself since Wanxiang City right? And yet, you don’t dare to reveal yourself. However, now that we have entered the core zone, you are in a hurry to take action. It seems as if someone from the Wanxiang City is missing in this place..”

“Let me guess.. That person should be the overseer of the Wanxiang City, Song Tai?”

The black shadow did not answer. Instead, his increasingly dark gaze seemed to reveal something.

“You’re worried that Song Tai might be able to discover something and at the same time, you hate us so deeply. Hence, I can guess that you are one of those cowards hiding in the dark while plotting against this domain? Looks like you guys really have no intentions of letting us off..” Little Marten chuckled. The cunningness that could cause headache even for Lin Dong had surfaced again.

“Tell me your name, Grandpa Marten has no interest in nameless coward..” Little Marten nonchalantly said.

“All of you know something that you should not know. Therefore.. you must die. As for my name, you can call me...”

The black shadow wiggled as a sinister voice that was filled with scalp numbing murder stealthily resounded throughout the forest.

“Death Spirit General!”