Chapter 177 - Mysterious Village
Zhao Feng took in a cold breath - he hadn’t expected for the Luohou Bow to transform in such a way.
Its power hadn’t increased, but the true change was the imbuement of elemental properties.
An ice lotus symbol appeared on the Luohuo Bow, while the arrows within the quiver acquired a slightly blue hue.
A part of the power from the crystal had entered the bow by transmitting through the string, and the arrows had been close to the crystal ripples, absorbing a bit of energy from it.
But from the arrow just then, one could see that it was an one-time use item.
Zhao Feng thought deeply for a moment before he picked up a stick off the ground and shot it out from the Luohou Bow.
Sou!
The stick struck its target cleanly but disintegrated inch by inch, casting a layer of ice over the target without fully sealing it in ice.
“It looks like only ‘changed’ arrows can use the power of ice to its greatest.”
Zhao Feng thought in his heart.
This meant that the remaining tens of arrows were precious items since they could seal the target in ice, and from the power exhibited just then, anyone under the 4th Sky of the Ascended Realm would be fully sealed if hit.
Those at the 4th and 5th Sky wouldn’t be able to escape in a short amount of time, but they still had a high chance of staying alive if they were willing to pay a price.
Although someone at the 6th Sky of the Ascended Realm wouldn’t be ice sealed, their movement would be affected.
The effect of this was insane; the only regrettable thing was that these blue arrows were of one-time use.
Zhao Feng concluded that if these arrows were taken back into the outside world, they would shatter due to the change in temperature.
Si-- Si---
The coldness radiating from the freezing pond continued.
Zhao Feng stood nearby and his body shivered since his bloodline power had a limit, and the duration of his Scarlet Blood Fruit’s effect was coming to an end.
Go!
Zhao Feng glanced unwillingly at the freezing pond, but logic told him that this was not his treasure to be had.
This was similar to the ‘Blood Moon Devouring Spirit Sword’. He couldn’t control it.
Zhao Feng needed to reach the True Spirit Realm to get the mysterious crystal tear and this was him with the power of his bloodline - others at the True Spirit Realm might not succeed.
Thinking about it, Zhao Feng thought that his rewards weren’t that bad.
The Luohou Bow had been changed by the crystal and its power rose half a level.
The one-time use arrows gave Zhao Feng some hidden cards, and the latter also felt that his body had stronger resistance against the cold.
After leaving the freezing pond, Zhao Feng headed towards the South-East direction. On the way, the temperature kept dropping.
It was obvious that the mysterious crystal tear was a ‘forbidden’ item in the Sky Boundary Island, and Zhao Feng had accidentally touched it, which changed the temperature of the entire island.
Under the sudden drop in temperature, the Yao beasts returned to their caves while the weaker ones instantly died.
Only the strong Yao beasts weren’t affected.
This had lowered the 3rd stages’ difficulty since the probability of being attacked by a beast horde dropped dramatically.
Zhao Feng didn’t know that this action had once again affected the entire Floating Crest Trial.
…..
Three hours later, a canyon appeared in sight.
A few hours earlier, it might have still looked like a canyon, but now it was an ice gorge.
In Zhao Feng’s mind map, there were a few groups of beasts around here, but because of the temperature change, many of them had retreated back to their caves, which made Zhao Feng’s journey easier.
This canyon had been covered by a large, powerful illusion array, meaning that there should be something wrong here.
In terms of size, this place was as big as the ancient forgotten garden, but it was hidden on the contrary.
Zhao Feng didn’t know what was inside the canyon; it could spell luck or disaster - no one knew.
“There should be some sort of secret here since it’s hidden by an illusion array.”
Zhao Feng flew down from the top and looked downwards.
From his angle, the canyon looked like a black abyss filled with clouds.
Faint noise and aura emerged from the clouds with some arbitrary auras even stronger than the True Spirit Realm cropped up, but being an array master, Zhao Feng had almost full resistance against mental energy illusions and, through his left eye, could see fluctuations of array power.
Hmm?
Zhao Feng wasn’t able to see through the entire array even when he used his full power - all he saw was the landscape of the canyon.
There wasn’t any black abyss nor terrifying Yao beast king.
Ceng!
Zhao Feng’s body lept into the air and floated towards the canyon while ignoring the power of the illusion array.
When he landed, he felt as if he was falling into an abyss, as if a monster had opened its mouth and gulped him up. However, he knew this was the array at work.
This was, after all, an ancient place. Even though he had the mysterious left eye, it didn’t mean he was unstoppable.
After leaping into the air a few times, he landed gracefully near a village.
There were old and young, men and women wearing very simple clothes, and the structures seemed old.
“Spicy smelly tofu, two pieces for a penny.”
“Sweet iced shaw, a penny for one.”
…….
Everywhere, a racket of chaotic noise was present.
Zhao Feng had a queer feeling as he stood in the middle of this market. It was as if this place had nothing to do with the Floating Crest Trial, but he didn’t think that this place would be so innocuous.
“It seems real, but everything here is still the power of the array.”
Zhao Feng sighed in his heart.
The power of the illusion array was immense and extremely real. Even Zhao Feng’s left eye couldn’t fully see through it.
He couldn’t imagine how an array could create such a big place so specifically.
There were people selling vegetables, showing tricks and even gangsters….
Everything just seemed so real, and if it wasn’t because Zhao Feng had his mysterious left eye, he wouldn’t realise that this was all fake.
At the same time, some additional thoughts chugged in Zhao Feng’s mind.
What was the purpose of this market? What’s it for?
First Elder had talked about the trial before and told him that not everything was awarded through killing.
Truthfully, Righteous Inheritances usually tested one’s heart and will.
One had to meet the requirements to get the treasures.
“Normal participants wouldn’t be able to realise this is fake. Therefore, I should treat this place as real…..”
A thought appeared in Zhao Feng’s mind.
He tried to gather information from the market but realised that there was just far too much.
Therefore, Zhao Feng decided to roam around the village casually, until he heard the angry voice of a youth at a certain point: “You bastards, let go of my mum….”
That voice was extremely clear in Zhao Feng’s mind, different from the other chaotic voices. Even if Zhao Feng didn’t have his left eye, he would be able to the difference.
“Is the illusion purposely allowing the participants to hear this?”
A smirk appeared on Zhao Feng’s face.
Turning to the side, he saw an old store selling buns and a pretty woman who was being pulled away by three gangsters.
“Let go of my mum!”
A youth wearing tattered clothes fought with one of them.
Peng!
The youth was slapped away by one of the gangsters and blood streaked from his lips.
“Hmph! Your old man gambled and lost, owing three thousand silver. The store covers for a thousand and your pretty mother can go to the Yihong Brothel to work off the debt. Money is earned much faster there….”
One of the gangsters laughed.
Looking up to here, Zhao Feng knew what had happened.
Even in reality, he would interfere without hesitation. Furthermore, there was a high chance that this was part of the trial.
The most important thing was that this was a Righteous Inheritance test and helping the weak while getting rid of the wicked was a must.
“The three of you can fuck off!”
Zhao Feng charged forwards and sent one of the gangster flying.
The other two exclaimed in anger and charged at him from his left and right.
Zhao Feng’s cultivation was worked up one step at a time, and even if he didn’t use his True Force, he could easily beat two gangsters.
The three gangsters were all sent flying by a kick respectively and wouldn’t be able to get up in a short amount of time.
“Thank you so much.”
The pretty woman and youth were all extremely grateful, but Zhao Feng could still see the woman was worried.
“Little brother, what’s your name?”
Zhao Feng asked.
“My name is Li Luan. Big brother, you were so awesome just then.”
The youth said in admiration.
“Li Luan…. Floating Crest Trial….”
Zhao Feng murmured and became lost in thought as he looked at this youth.
To confirm his guesses, Zhao Feng decided to be a good person to the end and settled all the problems of Li Luan’s family.
The gangsters in the village were beaten into submission by Zhao Feng and the latter also wrote a few martial arts from Core level techniques to High level techniques for Li Luan.
However.
After doing all this, Zhao Feng still didn’t get anything.
He sighed in his heart, could it be that the reward wasn’t destined to be with him?
Zhao Feng always felt that this village wasn’t as simple as it looked, but his time was limited so he decided to leave after one more day.
He knew where the places with treasures were at - he didn’t have to stubbornly stay at this one.
On the second day, Zhao Feng said goodbye to Li Luan and his family.
“Brother Zhao, thanks for all your help. This is my beloved ‘small knife’, and now I’m giving it to you.”
Li Luan handed over one item.
Zhao Feng’s eyes lit up, but that supposedly ‘small knife’ was only an old, tattered piece of metal with a green lightning-shaped carving on it.
Taking the small piece of metal, Zhao Feng instantly felt a calm aura envelop him. After merging his consciousness inside, he caught glimpse of a scenery where green lightning flashed in the air and demolished an entire mountain in one hit.
At the same time, a piece of information appeared in his mind: “Floating Crest Lightning Seal.”