Dragonic Overlord

As soon as Bai Feng and An Bo stepped of the orphanage, bullets of sunlight hit their faces making them instantly feel the heat. But this was only natural to them as the northern continent was a place that was generally hot all round, many people say that the reason for this was because the majority of martial artists were martial artists with heavenly nature, and this gave people the idea that heavenly natured martial artist represented the sun, heat, good and all other positive aspects, while the demonic natured martial artist gave of images of the cold and other negative ideas.

As Bai Feng led An Bo behind the orphanage, they came face to face to a green domain after walking for a while. Large, thick trees that were as wide as 4 full grown a.d.u.l.ts blocked their path as If guard sentries. And these trees could be seen as far as they could to their left and right sides. Facing this situation Bai Feng paused for a moment and searched within his PD ring.

This process took a whole full minute before Bai Feng finally retrieved an ancient scroll that had the words 'Northern continent' plastered on the centre of it. This ancient scroll was a map that had a diagrammatic representation of all the areas of land and seas within the northern continent, while also showing physical features like the cities, towns and domains.

By using this map, Bai Feng memorized all the provinces locations and all major domains and cities.

The northern continent was made up of seven provinces. The formation of these provinces were very abnormal as six of the provinces were arranged in a circle format with the seventh province being right in the middle of the circle. This made it so that all the other six provinces could all have access into the seventh province and the same principle would apply to the latter. But the thing was that if anyone from the other six provinces wanted to go to the seventh province they had to pass a very large forest called Demonshrine forest that had an area of 5 million km².

Demonshrine forest was famed for its biodiversity of Crystal beasts. Crystal beasts were wild creatures that were able to unlock their intelligence and also cultivate like humans, their strength was ranked the same as human ranks, but if crystal beasts fought with humans that had the same cultivation rank as them, the crystal beast were most likely to win as they had a physical advantage over humans.

Crystal beasts were stronger, faster and bigger than most humans inherently so in fights they would always dominate when fighting with people that had the same ranks as them.

But crystal beasts were not the only reason why Demonshrine forest was famous. Another reason was also because of the wide range of medicinal plants and resources that could be found within it, ranging from plants that could concocted to from pills that could heal severe wounds or items that could boost one's strength tremendously.

There were also many treasures that were hidden within the forest that were waiting to be discovered. Demonshrine simply put was a treasure haven for martial artist but was also a death trap for martial artist because of the crystal beasts and other dangers that lurked within the forest, and some died of starvation or dehydration as to cross the Demonshrine forest in the first place would take at minimum 2 months.

And right now what stood before Bai Feng was the famed Demonshrine forest itself. After Bai Feng studied the contents of the map he thought for a moment on how he should progress. A few minutes later he folded the map and placed it back in to his PD ring. He turned to face An Bo and said to him

"From now on, things are going to start getting dangerous, the decision is up to you but would you like to continue with me. If you don't want to, it's alright I can take you to a good orphanage where they can take care of you and find you a good family to go into, but if you want to stay with me I should warn you that it will be a very dangerous journey through Demonshrine forest"

An Bo thought for a while and said

"It's alright big brother Feng, I will travel to the ends of the world for you and follow you an....."

Before An Bo could finish talking Bai Feng struck his neck and made him go unconscious. Before his body hit the floor An Bo held him and placed him over his shoulder he then whispered into his ear

"I am sorry little Bo but I just can't let you follow my path. It is too dangerous for a little kid like you, I fear that I won't be able to protect you from every danger and I don't want a good kid like you to die young. So when you are strong enough to protect yourself come look for me and then we can journey together".

After saying that Bai Feng walked towards a sewing shop that was opposite the orphanage and placed An Bo on the step of the door. He took a blanket from his PD ring and covered An Bo with it. He then knocked on the door very loudly three times and ran away as fast as he could towards the Demonshrine forest leaving An Bo on the doorstep.

After a few minutes of running he soon came face to face with the forest again. He then took out of the PD ring a red cloak, black boots and black trousers which he took from the orphanage as 'interest' for their treatment towards him. He then calmed his mind and entered into the dangerous Demonshrine forest.

In the forest, the sky vanished almost completely, only a few fragments of blue remain- like scattered pieces of an impossible jigsaw puzzle. The air was rich with the fragrance of leaves and loam, damp too. Even many hours after the rains have passed, the soil remained wet, slowly releasing its heavy fog. Even though outside was the noon daylight, the powerful rays of early summer, but in the forest everything was cool.

After walking for 30 minutes past primordial, looming trees and through moist grass, Bai Feng then came to a halt as he suddenly realised that air was a bit thicker and he could breathe more easily even though his body felt a bit under pressure

"This is wonderful, it seems as if the further you progress into the forest, the higher the concentration of martial energy, if I could breakthrough into the earthen realm absorbing the martial energy here. The benefits would be unthinkable and I will be able to unblock my meridians at the early stages of the earthen realm which is very rare."

The meridians were a set of pathways throughout the body. They allowed energy to flow through them efficiently. At first the meridians are blocked so they have to be broken through when a martial energy which is most of the time when they reach rank 5 of the earthen realm or another way of them doing it earlier is if they have thick, strong and a high concentration of martial energy then in those cases they may be able to unblock them in the early stages of the earthen realm.

If one had unblocked their meridians it would be a great advantage because it meant that they could start releasing martial energy in the form of martial skills, which would be a great addition to their battle power when in fights against others.

Bai Feng thought to himself for a while and then said, "If I could go further into the forest and then find a good spot to breakthrough into the earthen realm it will be marvelous. If that happens then it will be easier for me to make my way through this beast infested forest. "

Bai Feng made his way through the forest as quietly as possible so he wouldn't lure the attention of the crystal beasts. He wanted to voyage through without many troubles

Suddenly he heard a loud shrill cry of what seemed like a bird, he quickly became on guard and tried to figure out where the sound came from

From the sound of that shrill it seemed as if the 'thing' that made that noise was in pain. Bai Feng turned his attention to the left side of the forest and started walking in that direction

After walking for what felt like hours, he stopped walking and assessed a problem.

"It seem as if I am walking towards the centre of the forest, which may explain why the pressure of martial energy has increased dramatically, the further I walk in this direction the harder it will be to take steps. it may also mean that I am close to the source of this pressure, I just need to keep on walking a bit more"

As Bai Feng kept on progressing through the forest in that direction, every living thing in the forest, including the crystal beast was going in the opposite direction as if not daring to go towards the source of the martial pressure. It was like some aura that was only targeting the animals and telling them to go away.

After walking a bit more, a path came into view, it was obscured by bushes and fallen rocks and sloped high into a valley. The path halted and a cave appeared. Ivy wounded round the cave and concealed the entrance that was a jagged opening.

Bai Feng walked down the path and stood at the entrance of the cave

'It seems as if this cave is where the source of martial pressure is coming from, this seems like the best place to breakthrough into the earthen realm'

The cave was a mouth of impenetrable blackness, as soon as he stepped into the cave, his shadow dissolved into the surrounding darkness. It was dank and the only sound was the dripping water. Small, loose stones littered the floor making it easier for someone to trip

After what seemed like ages, Bai Feng dropped to the floor. The pressure of the martial energy was too much for him to bear. After adjusting himself he started to get back up with difficulty.

'In my previous life I suffered more suppression and pain than this, in the face of them this is nothing'. He reached out his hand to feel his way and continued walking. And suddenly just when he felt like collapsing...

All of a sudden, flaming torches sparked to life, lighting up the area ahead

The area in front was a small area the size of a hut. The ceiling was a minefield of rocky spikes.

A red fiery light seemed to bathe the area in blood.

In the centre was a small roasting pot and the source of the red light seemed to be coming from the pot.

Bai Feng realised that the pressure of the martial energy was tripled in comparison to the rest of the cave

'I have to stop and concentrate on breaking through to the earthen realm now before I approach the pot.'

Bai Feng sat down in a meditating position and brought out all his remaining 123 [Earthen pills]

'This should be more than enough to break through and become a Rank 5 mortal and then I can start absorbing the martial energy from the pot to officially enter the earthen realm'

With this Bai Feng began his breakthrough into the next realm.