After leaving Tianji City, I walked all the way east for three days, and finally arrived at a lush jungle, where a huge stone tablet on the side of the forest was engraved with the words "No Return to the Forest Forbidden Land", and there were actually many soldiers of the Tianji Empire guarding the town along the way, but at a glance, I knew that most of them were reserves, and many soldiers were not even equipped with military uniforms.

Zhuang Shaoyu rode his horse and walked in the forefront, looking for a path into the forest of no return, although it is a forbidden place, but there are still occasional bold hunters to enter to hunt, for them in order to survive and support their families, there is no place to be forbidden, so there must be a road in the forest that the hunters have opened up to enter, and their group of eight people are riding horses, and there must be a road to walk in the mountains, which is an obvious thing.

A spring rain has just ended, the forest is green, and the small white flowers in full bloom in the green make people feel pleasing to the eye, Sikong Yao and Shang Qian also smiled, after all, they are both women, seeing such a beautiful scenery will naturally open their hearts and feel comfortable.

In the distance, a dozen soldiers armed with spears walked on dirt roads full of mud and dead leaves, their faces were yellow, and they looked like they lacked nutrition, and they were not returning to the forest and were in a remote area, and these soldiers must not be able to eat anything good.

Zhuang Shaoyu, Beiyingjie, Sikong Yao, Shang Qian and others looked at each other's costumes, so a group of soldiers did not dare to make a mistake, and the veteran who took the lead raised his spear tremblingly, and said respectfully: "A few sons and young ladies, this place is not to return to the forest, it is listed as one of the forbidden places by the empire, and no one is allowed to enter, please don't make it difficult for us to be soldiers, please take a detour!"

Zhuang Shaoyu stretched out his hand and pointed to the depths of the forest and asked, "This elder, what is in the forest?"

"...... in the woods"

The veteran's face was gloomy, and he said: "There is everything in this forest, demon beasts, demon spirits, giant pythons, fierce beasts, etc., we can only camp in the open field, otherwise we will be attacked, this month alone, one of our garrison regiments has already had seven brothers die under the claws of demon spirits......"

"The demon spirit is so arrogant that they dare to attack the imperial army?" Zhuang Shaoyu was stunned.

The veteran nodded: "Childe doesn't know, but where the army guarding the forest does not return, there will be a holy warrior for every thousand people, and the strong aura exuded by the holy warrior is enough to deter the ordinary little demon, but ...... But most of the 2,000 people in our garrison regiment are recruits, so the adults above did not arrange a holy warrior for us, and the demons in the forest who do not return are spiritual, knowing that I am easy to bully, and repeatedly attack...... Hey, I really don't know when the empire will be able to send the warriors of the Tianji Dragoon Regiment to exterminate these arrogant spirit beasts. ”

"They're coming. ”

Zhuang Shaoyu comforted the veteran and asked, "Is there a way into the mountain here?"

"Childe wants to enter the mountain?" The veteran was stunned: "I advise Childe, it's better not to enter the mountain, unless it is the existence of a dragon knight this year, otherwise entering the Forest of No Return must have gone and no return, so many years, too many demons in the Forest of No Return are about to ascend, and they are very fierce......"

"We are here to enter the mountains, so don't hinder us. Zhuang Shaoyu said lightly.

The veteran frowned, and several recruits behind him immediately raised their blades to surround Zhuang Shaoyu, Lin Muyu, Sikong Yao and others, and said: "No one is allowed to trespass and not return to the forest, this is the law of the empire, do you want to disobey the law of the empire?"

Zhuang Shaoyu smiled slightly, took out a gold token from his arms, and said, "What if I have this?"

Everyone looked at it, and several recruits didn't know each other at all, but the veteran squinted at the words on the token, couldn't help but tremble, threw away the spear and knelt in the mud: "Subordinates, see your lordship...... Son...... Childe must be Zhuang Shaoyu, the young son of Da Situ, right?"

"It's good that you know Situ Jinling, can we enter the mountain now?" Zhuang Shaoyu asked with a proud face.

The veteran frowned and nodded: "If the young prince wants to enter the mountain, then go into the mountain, it is said that the young man Zhuang Shaoyu is the strongest among the young generation in the imperial capital, presumably ...... Presumably, the demon spirit in the mountain must have no choice but to do anything about the child, but the subordinates still advise the childe, the son must be careful, the lord who does not return to the forest is a demon emperor, once it attracts the attention of the demon emperor, I am afraid it will not be so easy to get out. ”

As he spoke, the veteran glanced at Sikong Yao and Shang Qian, and said, "What's more, I brought two such beautiful young ladies......

He obviously said that these two women were dragging their feet, and suddenly Sikong Yao was not happy, five fingers and one finger, Bing Xuan roared, rolling up the surrounding fallen leaves, and banged on the big tree on the side, the nearly twenty-meter-high tree actually stopped and cut off, and fell down with a bang.

"Why, can't I enter the Forest of No Return?" Sikong Yao asked with a smile.

The veteran was horrified, thinking that this group of people was too simple, one was the first master of the rookie generation in Tianji City, the other was such a powerful girl, and the other few who didn't make a move must not be simple.

Shang Qian smiled slightly: "Okay, Ah Yao, don't embarrass them, take out the pass order of the War Palace." ”

Sikong Yao grinned, took out a piece of paper from his arms and shook it away, and said, "See clearly, the permission order to enter the non-return forest signed by the sect leader of the Tianji Sect, Sikong Ming, is it okay?"

The veteran nodded again and again: "Yes, yes...... The nearest trail into the mountain is not far behind, so I'll take you there......"

"Well, thank you. ”

......

The road at the foot of the mountain was muddy, and after being soaked in the spring rain for a few days, it turned into a puddle of mud, and most of the soldiers of these garrison regiments had tattered straw sandals on their feet, and the soles of many of them were even worn out, and they were drenched in blood. Lin Muyu rode his horse side by side with the veteran, and asked softly: "Master Shi, it stands to reason that the empire's military strength is so strong, and such an important matter as guarding the forbidden land of the forest should not be carried out by the recruits, why is this?"

The veteran sighed: "Gongzi doesn't know, a month ago, the entire Tianji Empire issued an edict, and the major legions began to train and prepare for war, God knows what is going to happen, all over the country is frantically arresting people as recruits, and the elite troops of the four major legions no longer know where to send them to garrison, depending on the situation, it is going to fight, and it is an unprecedented battle." ”

"Oh......"

Lin Muyu nodded: "Do you want to fight the Heavenly Absolute Empire or the Black Stone Empire?"

"That's His Majesty's business, how can we soldiers know that we will fight whoever His Majesty wants us to fight. ”

Zhuang Shaoyu smiled slightly: "Shaoxia, what are you doing to inquire about these military affairs?" It stands to reason that as a ranger, you should inquire more about the Tianji Sect and the Dragon Cavalry Regiment, right?"

What a Zhuang Shaoyu, he is so alert.

Lin Muyu smiled faintly and said: "It's just curious, if these recruits fight against the demon spirits, they will simply send them to death, it's too unbelievable." ”

"That's right. ”

Zhuang Shaoyu looked up at the sky and said, "But what Your Majesty and the marshal decide must have their intentions, so we people should not speculate at will." ”

"Hmm. ”

Lin Muyu continued to remain silent.

......

Soon after, entering the Forest of No Return, as the outside world said, the Forest of No Return is dangerous and abnormal, Lin Muyu closed his eyes and let the war horse follow Sikong Yao's horse, holding the reins, but the spirit vein technique has been fully rolled out, and quickly detected that there is a stronger aura nearby, less than three miles away There is a strong breath, and there are a few farther away, farther away, there is also a breath about fifteen miles away, very strong, at least a demon spirit at the level of the demon venerable, it seems that this night is destined not to be too peaceful.

Zhuang Shaoyu glanced at the Northern Netherworld Festival and said with a smile: "Little prince, at the chrysanthemum banquet half a year ago, our contest has not yet been decided, so it is better to ...... How about trying it again this time?"

Bei Ying Festival smiled faintly: "What kind of test method does Shaoyu want?"

Zhuang Shaoyu took out a delicate bag on his waist, shook it, and said: "This is the bag I used to hold the demon spirit stone, it is still empty, from now until we get out of the forest of no return, see whose bag contains more and stronger demon spirit stones, and use the quality of the demon spirit stone to compete for the winner, how about it?"

"Hah, that's exactly what I wanted. Bei Ying Festival happily agreed, and said: "But once the demon spirit appears, the capable person deserves it, this truth should still be understood by Brother Shaoyu, right?"

"Naturally. Zhuang Shaoyu nodded: "If it is the demon spirit that the little prince has taken a fancy to, I, Zhuang Shaoyu, will never fight for it." ”

"Okay, it's a deal!"

At this moment, Shang Qian's beautiful eyes swept towards Lin Muyu and Liu Buyi, and then the corners of her mouth raised and smiled: "Since it is a competition, naturally the more people the better, I heard Ah Yao say that the strength of this young man is still above Ah Yao, if this is the case, it is better for the young man to participate in the competition together, and the three of them will compete for the strongest person in our line, how about it?"

Sikong Yao was a little excited, and looked at Lin Muyu, her eyes full of encouragement.

Lin Muyu secretly complained, this Shang Qian is really a not simple woman, she just wants to see how capable she is, and she can't refuse in a few words, so she nodded: "Let's participate." ”

Zhuang Shaoyu said: "Ha...... Well, the three-player competition is more interesting, but ...... Since it's a competition, there must always be a reward, right?Ah Yao, Miss Shang Qian, what kind of reward do you think is the best for the winner of the competition?"

Sikong Yao said, "Gold?"

"Too vulgar, right?" Zhuang Shaoyu denied with a smile.

"So...... A demon king-level demon spirit stone?"

"This ...... It's a bit shabby, and it doesn't have any practical significance...... "This time it was the little prince of the Northern Netherworld Festival who denied it, his eyes kept wandering on Shang Qian, obviously the Northern Netherworld Festival is also one of Shang Qian's suitors, and it was for Shang Qian that he came, and the purpose was very simple.

Sikong Yao saw his thoughts, smiled slightly, turned over and flew up, landed behind Shang Qian, hugged Shang Qian's waist and grinned.

"Little girl, what are you going to do?" Shang Qian couldn't help but laugh.

Sikong Yao grabbed the delicate cloak behind Shang Qian and said: "This robe has the imperial emblem pattern rusted by Sister Shang Qian's own hands, and it is also Sister Shang Qian's beloved thing, why don't you sacrifice it like this, Sister Shang Qian's sacrifice will win the competition, Sister Shang Qian's close-fitting robe will be given to whom, how about it?"

The Northern Underworld clapped his hands and smiled: "That's very good." ”

Zhuang Shaoyu was a little embarrassed: "I just don't know what Miss Shang Qian means......"