Heaven Refining physique-Chapter 12: Forbidden zones

Everyone's eyes widened. They couldn't believe it. The burly man even wanted to shout that this lad was cheating, but he couldn't bring himself to do so because that would mean doubting the judgment of the seven seniors present here.

So, he kept himself quiet and didn't voice his stupid thoughts.

The disciples of the Mountain Sword Sect also couldn't believe what they had just seen. When Jiang Hao punched, they definitely felt that he was at Stage 9 of the Qi Refinement realm.

But they also knew he had held back while punching, and even then, he reached indigo color easily.

In the Mountain Sword Sect, if a Qi Refinement cultivator was at the peak of the Qi Refinement realm and achieved blue color on the pillar, then they would be allowed to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Very few cultivators in the Mountain Sword Sect, who are naturally stronger in the aspect of the body, are able to reach indigo color.

That's why what just happened stunned them thoroughly. After all, it wasn't even the full strength of this young boy—he just casually punched it. What would have happened if he had punched with his full strength?

Wouldn't they be seeing violet color, which only body cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm were able to achieve in their sect?

The cheerful disciple came to his senses, realizing he had to announce the results. He was a disciple of the Mountain Sword Sect and shouldn't embarrass himself by getting stunned by the punch of a Qi Refinement cultivator.

"Cough... Amazing, you have reached indigo color. Not many can achieve that. Looks like we've got the winner. So, thank you, everyone, for participating."

After this announcement, all the cultivators began to leave.

The burly man was indignant but he also left without saying anything. He knew Jiang Hao was stronger than him and he would only make a fool of himself if he spoke.

Jiang Hao's appearance was also quite misleading. After all, he looked like a young master of some prestigious family.

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Jiang Hao didn't think much of it. He knew from the beginning that he would win. He had contemplated how much strength he should show. He didn't want to appear too strong, and even while punching casually, he held back a lot.

If he had punched with his full strength, the whole pillar might have shattered. After all, his strength was equal to the late stage of Grade 2 body cultivators.

Although he wasn't able to achieve the effect of not looking too strong, it wouldn't affect him too much.

"What's your name, brother? You can call me Xiao Dan," the cheerful disciple greeted him with a smile.

"I am Jiang Hao, senior. Thank you for letting me accompany you guys."

"What's there to thank, junior brother? You earned the position yourself. And call me senior brother."

Xiao Dan said while patting his shoulders in a friendly manner.

"Then I will do so, senior brother Xiao."

Jiang Hao liked the easygoing personality of this senior.

"Let me introduce you to my fellow sect mates. This junior brother behind me is Jun Jei. Right beside him is junior brother Zhe Peng, and that skinny junior brother is Le Yang. This junior sister's name is Xin Yan. On her left is junior sister Jia Li, and finally, on the right is senior sister Ming Yue."

Xiao Dan introduced everyone while pointing them out.

Jiang Hao greeted all of them, and they also responded and greeted him.

Jiang had a feeling that he would be able to learn a lot from senior Xiao without even asking for anything specific. He just needed to drive the conversation in the direction he wanted.

"Junior brother, if you don't have anything else to do right now, let's just enter the forest."

Jiang Hao just nodded to show his willingness.

After that, all of them moved toward the other city gate, which was opposite the one Jiang Hao had entered.

And fair enough, senior Xiao was very talkative.

"Junior brother, what's your age?"

"I just half-past 15, senior brother."

"Peak of Stage 9 at the age of 15 is comparable to the geniuses of big clans, junior brother. In our group, only senior sister Meng achieved that."

"Oh, why is that, senior brother? It's not like geniuses are only born in big clans, is it?"

After hearing that, Xiao Dan rolled his eyes at him and said

"You surely know how to joke, junior brother. Even if geniuses are born elsewhere, how will they get resources to cultivate? Not everyone is rich like you and senior sister Meng."

Finally, they arrived at the city gate, and here Jiang didn't see any mortals. All the people coming in and going out of the city were cultivators, and there were a lot of them.

Jiang Hao thought it was the right time and asked, "There surely are a lot of cultivators in this city."

And as expected, Xiao Dan didn't disappoint him.

"That's true. It has increased a lot since the news of someone getting a Nascent Soul Realm Spirit Herb from just under the 500-mile mark inside the forest was released.

Although it's hard to believe, still, many people come to try their luck. Who knows? They might become the lucky ones."

"What a joke! They don't even know the real dangers of this forest," Jun Jei spoke with contempt in his voice.

"You can't say that, junior brother. Opportunities are always related to dangers.

Although they might not know the real danger, they do know it is dangerous to explore this forest," Xiao Dan replied to Jun Jei.

When Jiang Hao heard it, he got intrigued. He was only 15 years old, after all. How much would he know? If he felt like asking something, he should just ask.

"Even I don't know what the real danger is, senior Xiao," Jiang Hao said after thinking for a little while.

"It's expected, junior brother Jiang. Before coming here, even we didn't know about it. Only mighty figures of top sects and big clans know about it. After all, this knowledge is not available to everyone.

Junior brother, there is a reason why it is advised to not go deeper than 10,000 miles in this forest."

Senior Xiao paused for a moment, then spoke.

"It's because one of the forbidden zones lies in the depths of this forest. Forbidden zones are places where formidable demon races live. If any human cultivator steps into their territory, they will be killed without mercy... sigh."

Xiao Dan sighed a little and then continued.

"Before knowing this, I used to think that humans were the real rulers of this world, but I was thoroughly wrong."

Jiang Hao was stunned when he heard that because, in his heart, he thought the same.

"This world is quite big, but humans only rule about 10 percent of it. The other part is pure wilderness where forbidden zones exist.

I don't know how many forbidden zones there are in the whole world, as we only heard about this one from an elder of our sect when we decided to come here.

Forbidden zones don't mean you can't enter them. It is just that you will be killed anytime there because these zones are occupied by formidable demons. Even the top mighty figures might die there, much less weaker cultivators like us."

This was unexpected news for Jiang Hao. It completely changed his view of what he used to believe.

"But we don't have to worry too much, as 10,000 miles of this forest is assumed safe to explore.

I don't know the reason why formidable demons don't come out to hunt humans because the elder didn't mention that.

But to truly reach 10,000 miles deeper into this forest, you have to be very strong because spirit beasts and demons, which are not strong enough to enter the forbidden zones, reside in this forest.

The density of spirit qi in this forest is also very high. If not for the forbidden zone, many sects would have tried to create their foothold here."

Jiang could sense that the spirit qi in the direction of the forest was indeed denser.

"Usually, 1,000 miles is considered safe for cultivators at the Core Formation Realm, and for the Foundation Establishment Realm, it is 500 miles. So we won't be going beyond 500 miles."

They crossed the gates and left the city. In front of Jiang Hao was a green line about three miles away from the city. It extended endlessly to the right and left of his vision.

"As I said, it is only considered safe. It is not totally safe either. Many people die in this forest. That's why it is important to not enter alone. And that is the reason why you can see there are many small groups like us."

True, Jiang Hao could already see many people moving toward the forest, all in groups of five to ten.

"They all know they might die in this forest, but they still venture inside to try their luck.

After all, this forest is filled with resources that are hard to find anywhere else. In the whole eastern region, this forest is the best place to find top-tier spirit herbs and spirit beasts.

Even big sects like ours release missions for finding resources in this forest. That's why we are here too."

After listening to Xiao Dan, Jiang Hao stared at the green line even more intently.

To others, this forest might be dangerous, but to him, it might be a paradise.