Chapter 17: Damnit, the Script is totally Wrong!
Sheng Tian had a deep sleep last night and almost didn't want to wake up. But duty called, no, Xiao Lian woke him rudely and he had no choice.
After reaching the First Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, he was more confident in the Embrace of Death.
Xiao Lian gave him the direction from which he sensed the unusual auras. So, he set off in that direction.
She didn't let him fly with her powers. She told him that he has to depend on himself from now on.
He was surprised by her sudden change. He didn't know that it was his own words that induced the change.
As the lush grasslands and the chain of beautiful mountains hid the terrifying dangers of the land, Sheng Tian made his way to the East.
"The Death Energy here is very rich, I can't guess which legend died here to have so much death energy. Or did a war take place here?" Xiao Lian contemplated the possibilities.
"Hm, these Forbidden Lands are said to exist since the beginning of historical records. The history we have mentioned these Forbidden Lands.
I can't guess their Origin. But, I guess it could be related to this "Mythical War" after which this planet is named." Sheng Tian jumped from a tree branch and disappeared in midair as he reappeared on another branch before he jumped out again.
Xiao Lian tilted her head as she fiddled a lotus in her exquisite hands "I am feeling confused over this as well. Why would a planet like this have such a name? And what happened here long ago?"
Sheng Tian shrugged and was about to retort when a dark scarlet light flashed near his feet. Instantly, he jumped up.
"Hey." he shouted in surprise.
A small creature similar to a porcupine with shining red spikes appeared on the tree branch. Instantly, countless red spikes shot at Sheng Tian floating in the air.
But it's cultivation was at the Earth Realm!
The air itself has pushed aside as the spikes cut them apart and approached Sheng Tian.
Powered by profound energy, these spikes only increased in their velocity.
When they appeared right in front of him, they instantly burst with explosive power and slashed at him.
"Holy shit" Sheng Tian swore and instantly used his profound energy to throw him downwards instead of defending the attack.
"Shua" sharp piercing sounds were heard as the spikes showed their might, creating a vacuum in air through their sheer might.
Sheng Tian roughly landed on the ground. He didn't waste a second as he shot his sword at the red Creature.
It escaped his sword with a hair's breadth and landed in front of him.
Sheng Tian got his sword back and at the same moment, the sunlight falling on him was blocked as the sky above him was covered by evil dark spikes.
Sheng Tian immediately used the Formless Void Steps and dashed forward.
The Red creature narrowed its slit eyes and looked around.
But for a second, Sheng Tian vanished from sight.
That was an attribute of the Formless Void Steps-the practitioner could not be detected easily by cultivators of the same realm. And for a relative time, they disappear!
A sword impaled the throat of the creature cutting off its lifeline. Life started seeping away from its body.
As the final struggle, it released all the spikes on it with full power.
An image blurred and Sheng Tian appeared at a distance as he chuckled, "Never underestimate the final struggle of your enemy. That is most fatal."
Without delay, he resumed his journey.
Even with his super speed, he didn't arrive at the location, but only approached it.
By the time it's evening, Sheng Tian was approaching a series of mountains which spanned over dozens of kilometers.
Looking at the infamous place of the tales, he clenched his fist.
Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the mountains.
An eerie silence filled the atmosphere as it was deadly silent. The valley ahead seemed so quiet that his breathing and heartbeat were clearly audible.
The silence, however, didn't soothe his soul but sent shivers down their spine. The place ahead of them is from the tales, one of the famous deadly places in the Embrace of Death, the Valley of Death.
The secrets of this place are buried here along with those who knew them. If someone tried to know more by risking things, they will have to pay the price, their life. This is common knowledge in Red Star Continent.
Though there are some brave hearts who won the bet and got earned their fortune by keeping their life on the line, they are too few and rare.
Even those people didn't get to know any deep secrets and they are certainly not willing to try.
The Death Aura here is very dense. Sheng Tian felt his scalp tingle.
For he was never a fan of Horror Movies or Ghost Stories.
In fact, due to a trauma in childhood, he avoided all such content. But he never would have
thought that he would have to go 'live action' in a real horror setting.
The valley had mountains surrounding it in a 'V' shape, with tall trees and beautiful flowers on either side.
No Profound Beasts could be seen, but Sheng Tian knew better.
"Tap" "Tap" a series of footsteps sounded.
Sheng Tian spread his spirit sense and immediately hid.
A group of young men and women approached the entrance of the Valley of Death.
They were all wearing elegant clothes, had an air of pride and arrogance.
Sheng Tian didn't know others except for the one young woman in the lead.
"Qin Qing?" he wondered.
Dressed in an Emerald blue dress, a beautiful young woman was looking ahead in silence. As if she sensed it, the lady turned her head and looked directly into his eyes.
Sheng Tian didn't flinch the least, instead, his gaze intensified and he gave her a warm smile.
Then he came out of his hiding in a casual manner and said "Hello fellow cultivators. I'm Ling Tian. I wonder what fellow cultivators are doing here? Perhaps we can help each other."
Qin Qing narrowed her eyes as two young men behind her stepped forward and shouted one after the other:
"Who the fuck gave you the qualifications to help us?"
"Who the hell are you?"
Sheng Tian, in a different disguise, was a moderately handsome young man around 17 years old. With a tall frame and fair skin, he looked charming.
He paid no heed to the barks of the two dogs and gazed into Qin Qing's eyes.
With a calm face, she asked: "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Sheng Tian flashed a token from his sleeve. It shone brightly and floated in the air before he swiftly put it away.
"Sacred Sword Sect Inner Disciple?" she asked, deciphering his identity right away.
"Yep. I'm a reserved core disciple actually. So, I want to have some adventures and came here before you guys arrived. I wanted to confirm your status before I met you, so I hid. I answered your question, so it is only fair that you answer mine." his lips curled up.
Sheng Tian's token and status was enough to shut the mouths of the two young men who earlier chided him. After all, even a reserved core disciple is a force to be reckoned.
His token was only of Inner disciple, but his mannerism was definitely that of a great genius. They had no doubt about that.
And no one really doubted the credibility of the token, because it cannot be replicated by anyone else, at least that's what they believed.
But Xiao Lian's illusion arts were too powerful for the mortals to differentiate them from reality.
Qin Qing nodded her head in greeting and said "I'm Qin Qing, the young miss of the Great Qin Clan. We are here for Yin Death Grass because of the preliminary test of Qin Ancestral Grounds."
Sheng Tian's mind started to search his memories until he found some information regarding Qin Ancestral Grounds. Only a bit of information was present- Difficult Trials, Great Rewards. He felt embarrassed about his own ignorance.
Waving his hand swiftly, he said "If I get you the herb, I will join the Ancestral Grounds Expedition. Deal?"
Qin Qing's eyebrows furrowed and she stayed silent for a moment before replying "If you are the one to find the herb and get it, you can join my team."
Sheng Tian nodded. It seems that everyone accepted him into the team because of his identity token.
A fake identity token has its perks after all!
Xiao Lian spoke, she sounded a bit worried "What are you planning now? Let them do their own things. Don't prank them. They are good people." alas, she was worried about them not him.
Sheng Tian secretly rolled his eyes and said "I want to use them as Cannon Fodder when we reach that region if needed. And don't act all saintly. I know what you are thinking. You want to rob them after they get the herb, right?"
"Yea...I mean, No way! I am a pure and innocent maiden! I swear on you." Xiao Lian blurted out the truth but made the futile struggles to defend herself.
"Humph! If you are innocent, then everyone will become saints." Sheng Tian ended their banter with a victory.
Then he got to know the properties of Yin Death Grass from Qin Qing.
Yin Death Grass grows from Death Energy. They could only bet their options on known places of the Forbidden Lands.
The group of ten men and two women didn't hesitate as they stepped into the valley.
But as soon as they did, a feeling of death crawled up in their hearts. They hardened their resolve as they began the search.
Everyone's spirit sense was restricted due to the dark, thick fog hanging in the air.
Sheng Tian let them search for half a day. He made sure with Xiao Lian that there is no such herb in the vicinity.
When they were feeling defeated and down, Sheng Tian approached Qin Qing and said with a tired face :
"Miss Qin Qing, I know a far away place that I stumbled upon. There are all kinds of herbs there, but it's too dangerous for me to go there alone. So, we can try our luck there. And if we get the herb there, it will be my credit. What say you?"
Qin Qing's eyes brightened hearing his words. She agreed after checking his face and body language for any signs of lies.
Too bad for her, Sheng Tian trained his acting skill the most in the seven days of practice. There was no flaw at all!
Turning his back to Qin Qing, Sheng Tian's face had a smug smile as he said in his mind
"What little Lian? You want to worship this Big Brother's acting skill? Tell me the direction to that
Secret Land."
Xiao Lian felt defeated. She didn't argue about his character. There is no doubt about his character in her heart at all.
Shameless. Lazy. Narcissist. This is her conclusion after living together.
But now she could only let things be and use her divine sense. At her current condition, she used it rarely and the range is also not at its peak. It only covered a few hundreds of kilometers now.
But even that is unbelievable.
The entire valley is filled with Death Energy and Aura, but it didn't stop her as she is not using Spirit Sense but Divine Sense, something beyond the boundaries of the mortal plane.
She recalled the location and guided him.
Sheng Tian dashed ahead as the rest followed.
Even though they were somewhat dissatisfied that they were being led by a newcomer, remembering his status as a future core disciple, they kept to themselves.
Even their backgrounds can't offend him totally except Qin Qing.
After he was separated from the group and started screwing around, the ground suddenly shook.
Sheng Tian was about to ask Xiao Lian to check it up when she screamed in panic "Get out of here."
Sheng Tian turned towards the direction they came in and was about to use his movement arts to escape.
He didn't even have time for himself, let alone others. They are separated by a large distance anyway.
With the ground shaking and seeing him escape, they should be able to pick the hint and run away too.
Sheng Tian started his escape, unfortunately, it was too late.
At a terrifying speed, Sheng Tian's eyes caught a colossal figure coming crashing next to him followed by a gigantic body.
As he turned to change the direction, it forcefully hit the ground, the debris enough to bury him alive over hundreds of times.
As the shockwaves blasted with devastating energy, he protected his body and quickly moved.
The body of the creature could be seen if he just turned his head.
Through the corner of his eye, he caught the outline of its huge body.
Its two hands which are at least 40 feet long. What the...? As its size and structure gave a huge shock to Sheng Tian, the battle between titans didn't stop.
The next attack, however, made Sheng Tian want to cry yet have no tears. The other creature's attack just arrived as Space itself was torn apart. The space in front of Sheng Tian was cracked open.
Having no time to escape, he was sucked into the Space Crack.
Sheng Tian's mind, however, was exceptionally active at this moment as he cried out in his heart 'The Script is totally Wrong! I am not the cannon fodder here, I am the Main Character dammit!'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_Transcendent
_Transcendent So. Moving Ahead. For something Greater.
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