Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

Vivian didn't like Zachary at all. However, her father invested a lot just to recruit him. If anything untoward happened to him in the forbidden area, all the blame would fall on her. But then again, as she thought that she might have to be engaged to him, her heart grew darker. She made up her mind and said in a callous tone, "Okay, you can go there if you want. I won't stop you!"

"Just wait for me here. I won't be long." Zachary's voice was filled with confidence. After he left such a remark, he immediately disappeared.

When she was sure that there was no aura outside, Vivian walked out of the door. With a displeased expression, she couldn't believe that Zachary had really left. Curiosity masked her surprise as she said to herself, "Is he really not afraid of death? What's wrong with him? He's willing to take such a risk just to know who I am. Well, it would be best if he died. Once that bastard is out of the picture, there'll be no more engagement." Afterward, she also left with haste.

Zachary was flying with great haste all the way. Sooner than expected, he finally arrived at the top of the Ogre Cliff. With vigilant eyes, he looked down and scanned the area. The foot of the straight cliff was lush and green with humongous trees. Further ahead, he could see dozens of hills decorated with sparse trees. All kinds of enormous beasts roamed around. Obviously, it was an extremely dangerous place. In the distance, mountain ranges stretched out as far as the eye could see. The forbidden area was extremely vast that it might be as big as the Dark Prison.

The thought of the Flying Boots from Holy Phoenix passed through Zachary's mind. Without hesitation, he immediately took out the items and put them on. The Flying Boots allowed him to fly in the air in a short period of time. Such wonderful items were a necessary tool of travel and had given him great mobility.

After he safely wore the Flying Boots, Zachary immediately ascended to the sky. At first, he was a bit wobble and off-balanced. However, after some time, he was able to get the hang of them. Finally, he felt as though he were treading on clouds.

"Amazing! Flying is truly an incredible ability." Zachary made a wide grin as he shouted, "Go!" As his words echoed through the wilderness, Zachary immediately flew towards the foot of the Ogre Cliff.

It took Zachary a few minutes to reach the bottom of the cliff which was a thousand feet high. After he passed through a dense shade, a deep forest area with thick trees welcomed him.

As soon as he landed, Zachary curiously scanned the area. After he looked around, he realized that the place was different from an ordinary forest. Countless thick and long vines extended in

virtually invisible and undetectable. As the bugs saw that the intruder finally disappeared, they crawled around for a moment and then withdrew towards the vines.

"Finally! I thought they would never leave me alone." After the bugs left, Zachary heaved a sigh of relief. However, he was still wary of the dangers so he didn't reveal himself carelessly. Instead, he vigilantly looked for a way out under the cover of the Flawless Illusion. Luckily, he found a gap between the vines where he could barely creep through. After a few difficult minutes, he finally left the creepy area full of vines.

After he escaped the maze of vines, Zachary continued to move forward. With the power of the Dog Soul Ring, he also followed Mimi's instructions to look for the Mandala Grass that Vivian wanted.

Unexpectedly, in less than an hour, Zachary had encountered several extremely ferocious martial beasts of Imperial Level. Numerous strong beasts roamed around and he continuously crossed paths with them. However, he didn't fight with them but instead, got rid of them with the use of the Shadow Pace. The deeper he got, the stranger the vibe that he got from the place. Suddenly, a burst of ghastly and bloodcurdling aura came from the deep forbidden area. The atmosphere suddenly became increasingly spooky. It was the same feeling when he absorbed the Nether Dark Energy on the second floor of the Living-dead Tomb.

"What the heck? Why is there such a spooky place in the forbidden area of the Xiao Clan?" Zachary muttered as he let out a surprised gasp.

As he went deeper into the forbidden area, Zachary realized that the fog around him became thicker. After some time, he couldn't even tell which direction he was going. However, he could feel that a very ghastly aura was surging violently under the ground.