98: Perception, Red Moon Recruiter?

Eternal World.

702 Novice Zone's western border, Grey Earth Plains.

This place was sparsely populated, with almost no monsters appearing, so few travelers passed through.

At the center of the Grey Earth Plains, there was a Dense Forest that blotted out the sky.

Everyone knew that by passing through the Dense Forest, one could reach other Novice Areas.

But for nearly a hundred years in the Eternal World,

No one had ever been able to pass through here.

The Dense Forest itself had nothing special about it, and monsters were even scarcer inside.

Only a level 200 boss guarded this place, and it was precisely because of its existence that several Novice Areas were completely separated.

Once, a bored top-tier expert used a dimension dissociation stone to come here, intending to defeat this boss.

However, the result was that the top-tier expert, who was bored to death, never came out again.

But it was also because of this “brave” top-tier expert that the secret within was revealed to the world.

It turned out that the boss was not only level 200, but there was also a barrier set up within the Dense Forest.

Once Professionals exceeding the Novice Area's level entered, the barrier would enhance the boss's combat power.

The higher the level of the Professionals who entered, the stronger the boss's combat power increase.

And there were as many as 7 such bosses in the entire Novice Area.

Since then, the thousand-mile radius of the areas where these seven bosses resided was labeled as a forbidden zone by humans.

And it was recorded in the first lesson for new students.

At this moment, on the Grey Earth Plains of another Novice Area.

Zhi Zi Jiu gazed at the Dense Forest in the distance, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Behind him, a middle-aged Professional stepped forward and cautiously said,

“Young Master, you have already completed your second advancement, let's leave.”

Listening to the person behind him, Zhi Zi Jiu paid no attention.

After an unknown period, he finally retracted his gaze.

Forget it! I'll come back to subdue that beast in a few days.

Then, he asked the middle-aged Professional, “What's the situation with that Night Shadow now?”

The middle-aged Professional was not surprised by Zhi Zi Jiu's question and immediately replied, “The latest information we received is that Night Shadow appeared in the 702 Novice Zone's Black Sand City not long ago and robbed two local legions of a total of 10 million eternal coins.”

“Robbed?” Zhi Zi Jiu was slightly startled, then sneered, “With his status as an ordinary person, he probably could only think of such crude methods, right?”

The middle-aged Professional continued, “According to our data, the two major legions are backed by the Lin Family and Wang Family of Yun Province, respectively. Currently, these two families have issued a notice to indefinitely encircle and suppress Night Shadow, but many people speculate that it's a plan by the Zhi Family.”

Zhi Zi Jiu shook his head and said nothing.

There was no need to guess this point.

As one of the Eight Great Families, Zhi Zi Jiu's understanding of the Zhi Family was naturally not something ordinary people could compare to.

If it were the Zhi Family, they would naturally do the same.

However, Zhi Zi Jiu felt that the Zhi Family didn't have a very good way to deal with Night Shadow at this stage.

Unless they could find Night Shadow's location in the real world.

Unfortunately, it had been three days since Night Shadow last appeared in reality, and no one knew his whereabouts since then.

Clearly, Night Shadow had long had a plan.

At this moment, the middle-aged Professional continued, “Shortly after leaving Black Sand City, someone saw a new Professional, suspected to be Night Shadow, appear in Yellow Sand City's Professionals Hall. Considering that the Miasma Hidden Forest, which Night Shadow controls, is near Yellow Sand City, the credibility of this information is extremely high.”

After listening to the middle-aged Professional's report,

Zhi Zi Jiu said indifferently, “Send more people to keep an eye on this. If Night Shadow's trace is found, you must report it to me immediately, no matter when.”

After a pause, Zhi Zi Jiu said casually, “Also, if Night Shadow encounters danger, ensure he stays alive at all costs.”

“This cost includes your lives, do you understand?”

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, but he still nodded obediently, indicating he understood.

Zhi Zi Jiu saw the doubt in the middle-aged Professional's heart.

However, he didn't need to explain anything.

He did this not to protect Night Shadow, but because he had a reason to kill Night Shadow with his own hands.

--- ---

Meanwhile, on the other side of that Dense Forest.

Ye Xiao also stopped and glanced in the direction of the Dense Forest.

After accepting the third advancement quest from Yellow Sand City, Ye Xiao first returned to the Miasma Hidden Forest.

Originally, he had planned to quickly refine some exquisite gems after Xue Ling revived the Plague Source Grub.

But he didn't expect Xue Ling to bring him not-so-good news.

That was, the process of reviving the Plague Source Grub was more troublesome than expected; according to Xue Ling, the originally estimated time would probably be far from enough.

Ye Xiao was anxious about this, but there was nothing he could do.

So, after some thought, he left the Miasma Hidden Forest and set off on the journey to Linhai Village.

Before setting off, he specifically looked up some information about Linhai Village.

But the available data was extremely limited.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that over the years, quite a few new Professionals, like himself, had received advancement quests to guard Linhai Village.

However, no one had been able to complete it to this day.

Ye Xiao's mood was also very bitter about this.

He never dreamed that he would get stuck at this stage.

Although every year, about two to three hundred thousand new Professionals receive similar quests during their third advancement,

The number of new people who descend into the Eternal World each year is basically around ten million.

This probability is extremely low.

But unfortunately, he had bad luck and received it.

If it were before he obtained the god-tier Talent, Ye Xiao might have compromised like other unlucky ones.

Either specializing in a life profession or joining a certain faction, becoming a small soldier stationed in the Novice Area, living out his life.

But right now, he was not reconciled.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to try no matter what.

What's more, others might not know, but he was very clear.

NPCs were not all dead.

Perhaps there was still a way?

With a faint glimmer of hope, Ye Xiao traveled non-stop towards Linhai Village.

Although Linhai Village was located in the most remote area of the Novice Area, with Ye Xiao's current speed,

It wouldn't take too much time.

In just half a day, he arrived at the Grey Earth Plains. He only needed to walk a few hundred more miles along the outskirts of this plain to reach Linhai Village.

The reason Ye Xiao stopped on the Grey Earth Plains at this moment was entirely because, just a moment ago,

The crimson moon token suddenly emitted a red light without any warning.

As early as when he obtained the red moon eye, Ye Xiao already understood that this red light meant there were other Crimson Moon Summoners nearby.

And by judging, Ye Xiao found that the Crimson Moon Summoner should be on the opposite side of this Dense Forest.

But because there was a level 200 boss guarding it,

Ye Xiao did not enter rashly.

However, just then, the crimson moon token returned to calm again.

Ye Xiao understood that the Crimson Moon Summoner had already left the crimson moon token's sensing range.

Ye Xiao secretly sighed in his heart, feeling it was a pity.

But it was only a pity, after all, compared to this point,

How to break through to the third advancement was his top priority right now.

If he couldn't advance to the third rank, even if he found the other five red moon fragments, they wouldn't mean much to him.

Shaking his head, Ye Xiao suppressed the disappointment in his heart and regained his spirits, walking towards Linhai Village.

After another moment,

Ye Xiao finally arrived at the coordinates of Linhai Village.

However, as he stepped into the outskirts of Linhai Village, before he could even check the situation of Linhai Village,

A voice suddenly rang out.

“Oh? Someone else came?”