Strongest Mage with the Lust system

Chapter 1025: Dark Valley

Max was silent for a while before he asked, “Did you go to Liu family to ask about him?”

“My father did.” Gu Wenfeng nodded, “But he was turned away from the gates. We also went to the Judicial Office to file a complaint but they refused to register it and said we should wait for a few days. If he doesn’t return even then, they might consider registering the complaint.”

Max nodded in understanding, then looked at him curiously, “So much has happened, why did you come to work?”

Any normal person, after they had betrayed their family and their strongest pillar had been possibly killed, would want to stay at home where they would be safe. But this guy had come out to work like usual, acting as if nothing had happened.

Gu Wenfeng forced a smile, “To earn money.”

Max fell silent. He knew the First Elder hadn’t taken any money when he left and after finding out how he was under the Liu family’s control, he shouldn’t have gotten any money by selling the Spirit Weapon Repairing shop to them either. This made it so that the First Elder’s family didn’t have enough money to live in an Inn in the Upper City without any worry.

Max considered it for a while, then he told him, “Go, tell your father and uncles that they can return to the Gu family.”

Thud!

Gu Wenfeng’s eyes widened and immediately slammed his forehead on the ground before Max’s feet, “T-Thank you, Patriarch! Thank you very much!”

“Get up now.” Max said when he saw he was about to slam his forehead again. While the ground wasn’t concrete, it was still quite hard and it would injure him.

Gu Wenfeng rose to his feet, trembling and looking very emotional. He, however, didn’t leave to give his family the news.

“Patriarch, I’ll first escort you to the forest.” He said.

Max thought for a moment before he nodded, “Alright.”

…

On the way, Gu Wenfeng asked, “Patriarch, where are you going to hunt?”

This forest not far from the Red City was quite large and was home to several types of spirit beasts, weak and strong. So the people had divided it into different zones based on the difficulty.

“Dark Valley.” Answered Max calmly but it made Gu Wenfeng’s heart skip a beat and he hurriedly said, “Patriarch, you are going hunting… after a long time. Also, since you have just broken through, you must not be able to control your strength as efficiently. So, why don’t you reconsider? The Dark Valley is too dangerous. Even those families in the Upper City don’t usually go there.”

A small smile appeared on Max’s face when he heard the concern in his voice and saw how he was careful with his words, trying not to offend him.

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m going there.” He said in a tone that brooked no further argument.

Gu Wenfeng went silent. Half an hour later, they arrived at the periphery of the forest and the carriage stopped.

There were many other carriage pullers, several stalls that sold different things to the cultivators going to hunt, or were purchasing their hauls. There were several injured cultivators too.

Max got out with his saber and swept his gaze across the area, taking in the scenery.

Then he glanced at Gu Wenfeng, covered in sweat after pulling the carriage, and said, “Go now. Come back to pick me up before the sunset.”

Saying this, he began to walk away toward the forest.

Gu Wenfeng hurriedly said, “Please be careful, Patriarch.”

Max waved his hand in acknowledgement before he vanished behind the trees.

Several people nearby were surprised.

“Patriarch? That kid was a Bone Tempering cultivator?”

“Nah, only those Marrow Refining families in the Upper City or the City Lord’s noble family can produce such young Bone Tempering realm cultivators, but none can become their Patriarch. Maybe he is the son of some Patriarch?” Someone ventured a guess.

“You are right, but that guy called him Patriarch, not Young Master or Young Patriarch.” Someone pointed out.

“I know that carriage puller. He is from the Gu family that lost their Patriarch two years ago in the beast tide.” Someone recognised Gu Wenfeng, who knowing they were going to interrogate him, hurriedly rushed away with his carriage.

The people cursed him for a few moments before they began to discuss animatedly whether Max had indeed reached the Bone Tempering realm.

Not long after, they suddenly noticed a group of five cloaked figures rushing over from the direction of the city.

Immediately, the crowd fell silent because the figures’ speed and the intimidating aura they were excluding told them they were authentic Bone Tempering realm cultivators.

Swoosh!

A moment later, they sped into the forest and vanished.

“They were Bone Tempering realm cultivators, right?” Someone murmured and broke the silence.

“They were. But what’s going on, why were they hiding their identities?”

As the crowd began to speculate, some of the people who were from the Upper City had already rushed toward the city to inform their respective families of the movement while some entered the forest to tail them.

No one found it surprising because it was very rare for Five Bone Tempering realm cultivators to enter the forest at the same time, that too while concealing their identities.

“Hey, what if that earlier guy from the Gu family was indeed a Bone Tempering realm cultivator and these five have gone after him?” Someone suddenly speculated, their voice filled with excitement as if they had cracked the secret.

Several people’s eyes flashed but none dared to comment. After all, what if it was true? Wouldn’t they become those five’s targets? Though it was unlikely to happen, they didn’t dare risk it.

…

Swoosh! Swoosh!

After entering the forest, following Gu Chen’s memories, he rushed in the direction of the arguably most dangerous part of this forest, the Dark Valley.

It wasn’t called a valley because it was situated between mountains or hills but because a large area of the forest was sunken, forming a large pit. Because it was quite deep and the trees that grew at its periphery had black trunks and when they shed their leaves, they also were black, people began to call it Dark Valley.

It was rumored that it was home to some strange beasts, the weakest of which were Tier 3 Beasts, as strong as Blood Condensation realm cultivators. Those who had ventured into its depths and were fortunate to come out alive had even said that there were countless Tier 4 and even Tier 5 beasts residing there.

Not many believed this, after all Tier 5 beasts were as strong as the Marrow Cleansing realm cultivators. How could someone survive after coming face to face with them?

But whether people believed that there were Tier 5 beasts in there or not, the City Lord mansion had issued an advisory, stating that unless one was a Bone Tempering realm cultivator, they shouldn’t enter the Dark Valley. This told people it was indeed a very dangerous place.

People, of course, also secretly complained that since it was so, why hadn’t the City Lord cleansed it. After all, being so close to the city, it was a constant and huge threat for them. If they came out one day and suddenly attacked the city, it would be a disaster.

…

“That little bastard’s going to the Dark Valley? Has he noticed us?” Liu Bashan, one of the five cloaked figures tracking Max, frowned when he realized where Max was headed to.