Chapter 40

Facing the bone spines shooting towards him, Ye Feng retracted his axe, his body flickering as he leaped into the air, soaring several dozen feet high. The bone spines shot past beneath his feet.

"Close call!" Ye Feng muttered to himself.

If not for his abundant true qi, he wouldn't have been able to leap several dozen feet high, and the bone spines would have been impossible to avoid with the Shadow Step. This was the bone boar's final attack before death, filled with anger, sealing every inch of space around it.

The bone spines completely destroyed the surrounding area, leaving a mess within a radius of several dozen meters. Trees were pierced by the bone spines, and the bone boar's body slowly lay down, shriveled, with all the bones inside already cleared out.

"Pity, I can't absorb the essence from your body!"

Ye Feng's face showed regret. Unable to absorb the bone boar's essence, he didn't linger and walked out of the Nether Valley, eager to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible.

Several hundred miles away from Ye Feng, Gui Wuxue stood in place. In front of him lay a peak-level Ninth Rank Flame Ape, which he had killed with a single punch. The bloodlust in his eyes grew even more intense.

"This boy actually came to the Nether Valley, and he's only four days away from me. I'm not in a hurry to kill you; I just need to wait here."

Gui Wuxue looked at the compass in his hand, which somehow revealed Ye Feng's exact location.

Ye Feng cautiously advanced, collecting all the spirit herbs he encountered along the way, which he could exchange for a large number of spirit stones for cultivation after leaving.

After an hour, Ye Feng left the Nether Valley and entered a lava field. The temperature here was much higher due to the volcano, which constantly spewed lava, making the area barren.

However, a strange beast called the Fire Eater appeared here. This beast fed on lava, with a completely red body. The high-temperature lava was the best food for the Fire Eater.

When entering this area, Ye Feng was very careful, but he was still spotted by several Fire Eaters. They were highly intelligent, and with no place to hide, Ye Feng was quickly exposed to them.

Three Fire Eaters surrounded Ye Feng, growling lowly. Although they didn't like human blood, they still attacked anyone who entered their territory, refusing to let humans step into their domain.

This time, Ye Feng didn't draw his axe. Although the bone boar was powerful, its speed was lacking. The Fire Eaters were much weaker than the bone boar, but their speed was astonishing.

The three Fire Eaters circled around Ye Feng. Suddenly, one of them pounced at him, incredibly fast, even exceeding the speed of sound, like a meteor.

Immediately, the other two moved, attacking Ye Feng from three directions, forming three red lines in the air. Through the red lines, Ye Feng could see the fangs in their mouths, covered in red lava.

The fierce aura tried to engulf Ye Feng. They opened their fangs and bit at him.

Ye Feng was enraged. His body shot forward, and his ten fingers extended, emitting a cold green glow. His sharp nails clawed at the abdomen of one of the Fire Eaters, creating a strong wind, causing the air to crackle.

"Shh!"

Their speed was fast, but Ye Feng's speed was not slow. His nails pierced through the Fire Eater's body, digging into its abdomen. With a pull, he brought out the Fire Eater's internal organs, blood gushing out, and the fire essence flowed into Ye Feng's body.

Ye Feng felt another dantian being activated. These Fire Eaters contained a large amount of fire essence, which had formed over time from absorbing lava, now flowing into Ye Feng's body.

"Roar!"

The Fire Eater, in pain, roared and tried to escape, but Ye Feng wouldn't let it go. He opened another dantian, which excited him. Opening the first yin dantian had greatly increased his strength, and now opening a fire dantian would further enhance his power.

Ye Feng's guess was correct. Although his realm didn't improve much, the true qi in his dantian grew rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, this Fire Eater was drained dry. Ye Feng tore it apart with his claws, his eyes fixed on the other two Fire Eaters. His body shot forward, and his claws pierced through the air, grabbing at the abdomen of the Fire Eater on the right.

"Crack!"

Piercing through the bones, it was like cutting through tofu. Ye Feng began to absorb the essence of this Fire Eater, the fire dantian absorbing the fire essence, which transformed into fire true qi and began to be stored, rapidly increasing Ye Feng's strength.

With a powerful tear, the body and internal organs of the Fire Eater were completely destroyed, leaving no room for struggle. The last Fire Eater, seemingly afraid, tried to escape.

Ye Feng transformed into a large bird, leaping high and then landing, his hands piercing into the back of the last Fire Eater, beginning to absorb its essence.

After absorbing three Fire Eaters, Ye Feng still felt unsatisfied. Although his strength had increased significantly, it did not meet his requirements, and his body was extremely lacking in fire essence.

The temperature of the lava was too high for Ye Feng to extract fire essence from it, so he could only obtain it from the Fire Eaters. However, three Fire Eaters were far from satisfying his needs.

Seeing more than ten Fire Eaters in the distance, Ye Feng's eyes flashed with a glint, and his body disappeared, moving closer to the group of Fire Eaters.

Upon seeing someone approaching, the more than ten Fire Eaters became alert, completely surrounding Ye Feng, growling fiercely, their feet moving restlessly on the ground. Seeing the bodies of their three companions in the distance, the Fire Eaters were enraged.

Without retracting his nails, a cold light flashed in Ye Feng's eyes, and he pounced without hesitation, beginning the hunt.

The Fire Eaters roared in unison, seeing another companion die cruelly at Ye Feng's hands, turning into a pile of flesh and blood, scattered on the ground, they roared to the sky.

Facing the counterattack of more than ten Fire Eaters, Ye Feng relied on his agile movements to dodge. If he wanted to kill them, he could do so in a few rounds.

However, Ye Feng was not in a hurry. He slowly hunted, reducing the number of Fire Eaters one by one. The essence in their bodies transformed into fire true qi, entering Ye Feng's body and filling his fire dantian.

In just a short time, more than ten Fire Eaters were reduced to a pile of shredded flesh. Ye Feng slowly stood up. Although his fire dantian had absorbed more than ten Fire Eaters, it was still not saturated. He would have to wait for another opportunity to find more fire essence.

Time passed quickly, and a day went by in the blink of an eye. Ye Feng faced three waves of beast attacks, all of which he successfully repelled. The sky gradually darkened, and the roars of the beasts grew louder. Looking at the sky, Ye Feng decided not to continue his journey and found a quiet place to spend the night.

The Nether Valley was too dangerous. Although Ye Feng believed that Ninth Rank beasts could not threaten him, he still did not dare to be careless. Traveling at night was extremely dangerous, and if he encountered a powerful beast, the lack of visibility could easily put him at a disadvantage.

Taking advantage of the light before it completely darkened, Ye Feng found a large tree hollow, large enough to accommodate him, and began to meditate to recover.

At night, the Nether Valley became even more terrifying. Hiding in the tree hollow, Ye Feng heard the roars of the beasts and even some piercing screams. Many people would likely die to the beasts that night.

The next morning, after eating some dry rations, Ye Feng prepared to continue his journey. After a day of fighting, his sensitivity to danger had increased significantly, and he remained vigilant at all times.

"Ha ha ha, we searched for you all day, and finally, we found you."

A cold laugh came from not far away, and four or five disciples in Dalu Academy uniforms walked toward Ye Feng. The leader, whom Ye Feng recognized, was named Fang Yu.

Seeing Ye Feng, the four or five people had a wild look on their faces, blocking his path.

"How did you find me? I thought the Nether Valley couldn't reveal our exact positions."

Ye Feng remained calm, surprised at how these people had discovered his location in just one day, which puzzled him.

"Boy, since you're about to die, we'll let you die with your eyes open. With this, we can find you easily." Zhu Zequn was among them, his face twisted with a grin. After being treated by the upper echelons of the Dalu Academy, his injuries seemed to have healed.

Seeing the object in their hands, which resembled a compass, Ye Feng understood. This was a Soul-Tracking Compass. By placing a strange fragrance on the person being tracked, even if they were hundreds of miles away, the compass could clearly show their exact location.

Ye Feng understood everything. No wonder during the footrace, three people from the Dalu Academy suddenly appeared to block his path. At the time, he felt something was off. The three people were not very strong but insisted on blocking him. After knocking them away, Ye Feng had noticed a strange fragrance but didn't pay much attention to it.

Seeing his enemy, Zhu Zequn's eyes turned red. He hated Ye Feng so much that he wanted to tear him apart and kill him. As the champion of the Dalu Academy's internal competition, he could at least rank in the top ten among the elite disciples. Yet, he was brutally humiliated by Ye Feng at the Tianling Academy, a humiliation that was worse than death.

This humiliation could only be washed away with blood, so he was the first to join this hunting activity. Only by killing Ye Feng could he rid himself of this mental demon.

"Ye Feng, you publicly humiliated me that day, and this enmity is irreconcilable. Today is your day of death. I advise you to commit suicide to avoid our hands."

Zhu Zequn laughed maniacally. With five or six people, including Senior Brother Fang Yu, killing Ye Feng seemed certain, and he laughed without restraint.

"Are you dreaming? Since I couldn't kill you that day and you were saved, I can still kill you today. I didn't want to seek you out, but since you came to me, don't blame me for killing you all."

Ye Feng laughed coldly, showing no fear of these people.

"Such arrogance! I want to see how you plan to kill all of us today."

A cold voice echoed, coming from Fang Yu. This Fang Yu was a sword expert and a master of strategy, making him a formidable opponent.