At noon, the fiery sun unleashed its brilliance.

"Whew-" Fang Yan gasped heavily, and the air he exhaled was scorching. Casually wiping the sweat from his face, Fang Yan stopped and took a breath, looking into the distance through the shadow of his palm.

With a glint of thought flashing in his eyes, Fang Yan reached out and took out a scroll from the package behind him, opened it and looked at it carefully in front of his eyes: "It seems that it is almost there, according to the distance on the map, there are probably still a few hours away." ”

Nodding slightly, putting the map back in the package, Fang Yan took a step forward and continued to walk forward.

On this outing, Fang Yan's purpose was to find a rare material called "Black Iron Heart Wood", which was a specialty of the ebony forests in eastern Ionia, and even there were very few of them.

Twenty days later, it was the Ionian Festival of Fire, and Fang Yan wanted to go to Presidium on that day to prove his path to his master, so he had to finish the weapon he had been preparing for a long time before then, after all, it was completely unconvincing to just say it, and only by taking out the real thing could he do it.

And "Black Iron Heart Wood" is the last material missing in Fang Yan's plan. After Fang Yan got the "Black Iron Heart Wood", his forging work could officially begin.

There was not much time left for Fang Yan, after all, this place was not close to the windmill village, Fang Yan had traveled for three days, and on the way, he had changed to various means of transportation such as horse-drawn carriages and ox carts, and only now had he stepped into the eastern region. Counting the return trip, it would take more than six days to seven days to delay on the road alone, so Fang Yan needed to find the Black Iron Heart Wood in the Ebony Forest as soon as possible, so as to leave him enough time to forge.

Under the scorching sun, Fang Yan, who was alone, stepped on the road to the ebony forest step by step, leaving shallow footprints on the road.

I don't know how long it took, Fang Yan slowed down and looked ahead suspiciously. There, a figure sat cross-legged on the side of the road, shaded by a small tree.

Fang Yan kept walking towards that side, and when he got closer, he saw the person's appearance clearly, it was a middle-aged monk who was very common in Ionia, the monk's robe he was wearing had several patches, and his body seemed to be a little thin due to malnutrition.

Fang Yan stopped in front of the monk and asked while wiping his sweat, "Master, where are you going?" "After walking alone for so long, Fang Yan also wanted to find someone to talk to him.

The middle-aged monk opened his eyes, and his eyes were full of compassion and compassion, as if he had attained the Tao and was a monk. The middle-aged monk stared at Fang Yan with his eyes, clasped his hands together and said, "Layman, the poor monk has something to go to the extreme east. ”

"Far East, you're passing through the Ebony Forest?" Fang Yan's eyes lit up, and he suggested, "Master might as well come with me, I'm going to the Ebony Forest in front, we can stop by for a while." There are many beasts in the Ebony Forest, and I can protect the master. ”

At a glance, the monk in front of him was an ordinary person, so Fang Yan said this. After all, there was indeed some danger in the Ebony Forest, and letting an ordinary person pass through there, Fang Yan was really a little uneasy.

The middle-aged monk smiled at Fang Yan, his smile was extremely sincere, he folded his hands and bowed: "Thank you for the kindness of the layman, but the poor monk still has a message to give to others, so I am waiting here, I don't know how long it will take for that person to arrive here." If you have something important to do, please go first. ”

Fang Yan thought for a while, nodded at the monk and said, "It's a pity that I do have something important to do, so the master is waiting here, so I'll leave first." Perhaps, we can still meet in the ebony forest. ”

The monk clasped his hands together and bowed to Fang Yan. Fang Yan smiled and waved his hand, took a step and continued to walk forward.

After a few hours of marching under the scorching sun, Fang Yan finally reached his destination and stepped into the edge of the ebony forest.

"Let's rest for a while, the forest is not complete." Fang Yan gasped slightly, put the package aside and sat down against the tree to rest. After sitting quietly for a while, Fang Yan took out the map from the package and put it in front of him to study it carefully.

"This forest area is quite large, it will take a whole day just to pass through here, if you look for it a little bit, I don't know when you will find the black iron core wood・・・・・・" Scratching his head subconsciously, Fang Yan carefully looked at the words marked on the ebony forest area on the map.

"According to the ferocity of the beast, the Ebony Forest can be divided into three levels from the inside out, and the closer the area is to the center of the forest, the more dangerous it is・・・・・・" Reading the notes next to the Ebony Forest on the map word by word, a trace of doubt flashed in Fang Yan's eyes, "Divided into three levels?" ”

According to Fang Yan's understanding, most of the forests were the beasts inside the forest that were more ferocious than the ones on the edge, but such a layered distribution was really rare. In general, the areas where wild beasts gather are near water sources, but this does not seem to be the case in the Ebony Forest, where the concentration of wild beasts is not highlighted around the blue lines representing small rivers on the map, and the concentration of wild animals radiates outward from the center of the forest. This was a point that made Fang Yan quite puzzled.

"If that's the case・・・・・・ then according to the plot of the usual bard stories, the treasure is in the center of the forest? Then, a precious tree like black ironwood also grows in the center of the forest, right? ”

A bright smile welled up on Fang Yan's face, and he stretched out his finger and pointed in the direction of the center of the forest in the distance: "Then, I should directly identify there and go down steadfastly." ”

"Whoa-" "Roar-" Several beast roars came from far away.

"Just kidding・・・・・・ how can you just go to such a dangerous place!" Fang Yan's face fell, "Let's look for it on the periphery first." ”

"Well, the most important thing now is to recharge your batteries. When my energy is restored, I'll start looking for Black Ironheart. Holding on to this thought firmly, Fang Yan closed his eyes, leaned against the tree and began to sleep quietly.

And just as Fang Yan began to rest, where he had met the monk a few hours ago, two figures were talking in the shadow of the small tree.

The middle-aged monk quietly looked at the black-clothed man opposite, his eyes no longer as compassionate as before, but a terrifying calm. Habitually clasping his hands together, the monk spoke: "Are you sure someone has the 'key'?" ”

The man in black nodded, with a strange coldness in his voice: "Of course, that person is in the forest ahead." ”

The monk nodded, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes: "It's incredible, I didn't believe it at all when I first heard it, and even now I have been skeptical. The power of the four gods in the legend can appear in one person at the same time?! ”

"I know you enjoy studying these things, but I want to remind you not to forget your mission and put your other thoughts aside." The man in black reminded him suspiciously.

"I understand." The monk's eyes looked calmly at the man in black, and a hint of displeasure flashed in the depths of his eyes.

The man in black sneered: "We need the power that that person has, what you have to do is to teach him well and fully unleash his power." When he is fully in control of his power, we will truly have the 'keys' so that we can fulfill our long-held desires. Don't do anything that makes people unhappy・・・・・・"

"No." The monk said coldly.

"Humph!" The man in black walked away.

(ps: I can't find out the self-title of Western monks and the names of others, so I came according to this, I hope you won't feel uncomfortable・・・・・・)