Monster Paradise

It was past ten in the morning on the second day when Lin Huang arrived at the entrance of the foggy area.

The entrance of the foggy area was located in a valley and there were already hundreds of people gathering there.

Lin Huang saw a familiar person there — Huangfu Lin.

He saw her even before they entered the ruins. However, Huangfu Lin did not notice him among the crowd.

Startled was her first reaction when she saw Lin Huang. His presence was out of her expectations. However, after sensing his powerful aura, her frozen reaction turned into shock in the blink of an eye.

“It’s been awhile.” Noticing that Huangfu Lin had seen him, Lin Huang knew there was nowhere he could run, so he walked towards her while smirking. The reason he did not really want to meet Huangfu Lin, his old friend, was that of the illogical elevation rate of his combat strength.

As expected, the first thing Huangfu Lin said was, “Your combat strength’s on immortal-level rank-3 now?!”

The last time they had seen each other was merely half a year ago and Lin Huang’s combat strength had been only blue flame-level back then. Leaping five ranks above within half a year and elevating by a level from holy fire-level to immortal-level in between, his cultivation speed was so fast that it was absurd.

“Yeah, I just happen to have great luck.” Lin Huang nodded while smiling. However, that simple response halted the topic completely. What he really meant was that he did not want to talk about it.

Huangfu Lin did not ask further so she changed the topic, “You shouldn’t have come even though you’ve advanced to immortal-level rank-3.”

“I just thought of taking a look since there was quota available.” Lin Huang did not bother to explain although he knew he was being underestimated. After all, apart for a couple of people on holy fire-level, his combat strength was indeed the lowest among all who were present. It would be ridiculous for him to tell Huangfu Lin that he was actually so powerful that he could even fight an imperial-level white gold-rank.

“Why is everyone gathering at the entrance but not going in?” Lin Huang changed the topic to avoid Huangfu Lin discussing his combat strength.

“We can’t go in yet. The area covered in white fog seems to be blocked by a layer of invisible film. You’ll know what I mean if you touch it with your hand,” Huangfu Lin explained. She had arrived a few hours before Lin Huang, so she already found out what had happened.

“So what do we do now? Do we just wait?”

“The people from the Union Government said the defense layer will only be effective for 24 hours. It’ll fade away automatically 24 hours later. We can go in by then.” It was not confidential information, so naturally, Huangfu Lin did not have to keep it a secret.

After chatting with Huangfu Lin for a while, Lin Huang saw Shen Tao from the Heaven Alliance descending from the sky, riding on a beast.

Shen Tao noticed Lin Huang in the crowd in an instant.

After putting the beast away, he walked towards Lin Huang in large strides. He only noticed how extraordinary Lin Huang’s combat strength was when he got closer. “Lin Xie, your combat strength…”

“Just luck.” Lin Huang shook Shen Tao’s hand while smiling.

Compared to Huangfu Lin, Lin Huang had fought alongside with Shen Tao at the tribal land before, so it was natural for them to be closer.

“You guys go ahead.” Huangfu Lin nodded to both of them and left.

Shen Tao took a glance at Huangfu Lin, then patted Lin Huang’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs up when she left far away. He said softly, “That chick’s not bad!”

“You’re thinking too much. We’ve just met once before this.” Lin Huang shook his head while smiling.

“Let’s meet more frequently. Work harder. It’s possible to meet her for another 10 or 20 times,” Shen Tao winked as he spoke, “Let me tell you, you must be clingy if you want to win a lady’s heart.”

“I don’t need you, a single dog, to teach me how to woo a lady. I’m afraid I’ll have an even harder time to find a girlfriend after listening to your advice,” Lin Huang attacked him verbally in a straightforward way.

Shen Tao had nothing to say.

“What do you guys know about this foggy land?” Lin Huang said through voice transmission all of a sudden.

“We know nothing,” Shen Tao replied in all seriousness, “The Fallen God Land is a grade-7 ruins. The Union Government in Division 3 is keeping it confidential. Although the ruins opened on a major scale, they only provide us with the most basic information.”

“Although they’ve only explored less than a fifth of the ruins throughout the past hundreds of years, the Division 3 Union Government must have collected quite some information. As for this foggy land, I think the people from the union organizations such as the Union Government and Hunter Association might know something about it,” Shen Tao voiced his speculation.

Recalling what Huangfu Lin had said earlier about the people from the Union Government knowing the defense layer would only be effective for 24 hours, Lin Huang figured that Shen Tao’s speculation was accurate.

“Let’s not talk about this. Since you’re here, let’s join the rest, so we can take care of each other.” Shen Tao pulled Lin Huang towards the direction where the few Heaven Alliance members were gathering. “Big Brother Tan Lang’s here too. He’s been wanting to meet you.”

Lin Huang had only heard of Tan Lang but had never seen him before. In reality, Lin Huang had never seen any of the three Heaven Alliance deputy chiefs before and had no idea how they looked like.

Five Heaven Alliance members arrived before Lin Huang and Shen Tao did.

Seeing Shen Tao walking over with Lin Huang, the five of them from the Heaven Alliance were observing him while feeling a little curious. They did not expect Lin Huang, who was only holy fire-level from what they recalled, to elevate to immortal-level rank-3 now. They were all surprised by the elevation speed of his combat strength.

Lin Huang scanned through the five of them. Although all of them had a combat strength of immortal-level rank-9, he recognized Tan Lang immediately.

He was not as tall as Lin Huang had imagined at a little over 1.8 meters, which was similar to Lin Huang’s height. He wore a black, slim-fit trench coat with a stand-up collar while his body was rather skinny. However, Lin Huang was almost sure that he was the kind who appeared skinny but was chubby underneath those clothes.

His skin was tanned. Although his appearance was not considered handsome, he was very manly. There was a scar across the left side of his cheek which was almost three centimeters long. However, instead of making him hideous, it made him cool.

Although they were all immortal-level rank-9s, Tan Lang, who was clad in black, had the strongest aura which was much more powerful than the three of them among the four.

‘He’s indeed on par with the Seventh Prince from Dynasty,’ Lin Huang secretly commented.

Apart from Tan Lang, there was a baby-faced person who made Lin Huang do a double take. That person’s aura was just slightly weaker than Tan Lang’s, but it was clear that he was a supreme genius too.

His age should be at least 28, but he looked only 17 or 18 at the most. He dressed like a student with a gentle smile on his face which made him look rather harmless.

“He disguises himself to be harmless, but he’s actually not.” Lin Huang secretly gave him a label.

“Hi, everyone. My name’s Lin Xie.” Lin Huang walked forward and greeted them.

“Tan Lang.” Tan Lang was the first one who shook hands with Lin Huang.

“Li Jia.” The baby-face was the second.

After some introduction, Lin Huang found out that Tan Lang and Shen Tao both came from Division 1 while Li Jia came from Division 2. Among the 10 quotas that the Heaven Alliance were given, Chan Dou gave two to Division 1, one to Division 2 while the remaining seven were assigned to the local members from Division 3.

“Lin Xie, I know that your ability surpasses your combat strength. Although your combat strength’s only immortal-level rank-3 now, your real ability might be more powerful than many immortal-level rank-9 powerhouses. But there are many immortal-level rank-9 supreme geniuses who are coming into the ruins this time. Some even have the ability to kill imperial-levels while there might also be many imperial-level powerhouses who participated this time. To put it simply and although it was rather displeasing to hear, your ability’s not worth mentioning among these people.”

“Chan Dou gave me a mission before I came. If I happen to see you in the ruins, I must do my best to protect you. He thinks you’ve got the potential to be one of the Five Princes and hopes you won’t die here. I don’t want to judge if what he thought is accurate or not but I don’t want to fail my mission. Hence, I’m giving you a mission here. The mission sounds simple, but it might not be easy to fulfill: protect yourself,” Tan Lang said in all honesty and straightforward.

Although it was rather displeasing, it was clear that he came with good intentions.

“Alright then.” Lin Huang had no idea how to respond to what Tan Lang said.

“Don’t leave the group once we get into the foggy area. We must move together. If we’re separated, you must follow me first, Li Jia second and Shen Tao third…”

“Understood,” Lin Huang agreed while nodding calmly.