Return to Power

The heavens and earth were vast and endless, and the long forest was silent and still.

Dean Oneway rode his horse slowly through a deep, dense forest, unable to find his way out. He could only rely on the occasional sunlight filtering through the swaying trees to discern the overgrown path hidden by weeds, and continue forward.

Due to the profound depth of the forest, it was impossible to discern any direction, so Dean Oneway didnt know where he was. He only knew that he was still wandering within the Blue Castle Mountain Area.

This was all because of the woodcutter he had encountered yesterday morning. When Dean asked for directions, the woodcutter had said that the mountain road was long and winding, and thus pointed out a shortcut that could save a days journey.

Following the woodcutters instructions, Dean proceeded along the path but somehow took a wrong turn and ended up on this trail. The deeper he went, the denser the woods became, until he was thoroughly lost, unable to find his way out and only managing to circle around within the deep forest.

He had already spent a night in this forest, fortunate to have brought bedding and a hundred thin pancakes, along with dozens of pounds of mule and beef prepared before entering the mountains. At night, he gathered some dead branches to start a fire, softened the pancakes, wrapped them with beef slices, and spread on some chili sauce, which tasted quite delicious. Moreover, his copper gourd was filled with fine wine, making the long night not feel so lonely.

Thinking of the wine in his copper gourd, Dean immediately felt an itch in his throat, as if there were wine worms crawling. He looked around and thought it must be around noon, so he decided to dismount and rest for half an hour, eat some rolled meat pancakes, drink four ounces of wine, and then take a nap. It wasnt a bad idea, given the circumstances. There was no use in getting angry; it was better to go with the flow.

At this moment, he deeply realized that no matter how strong his martial arts were, they were of little use in this dense forest. Even though his Broken Dragon Blade could cut through iron like mud, he couldnt use it as an axe to chop down the thousands of trees, could he?

Even though his Ice and Fire Cultivation was about to reach its peak, and a single palm strike could split a tree, he couldnt cut down the entire forest and cause a massive fire. If he were trapped in the forest with nowhere to escape and burned to death, that would be the biggest joke in the world!

Dean dismounted his horse, opened the oil paper package, and sat on the ground, using his Broken Dragon Blade to cut the mule meat into thin slices, rolling them in pancakes and spreading on a bit of chili sauce. He leaned against a large tree trunk and began to eat, while his horse leisurely lowered its head to graze, completely ignoring Dean.

After eating his fill, Dean took four sips of wine and reluctantly closed the copper gourd, placing it beside him. Just as he was tying up the oil paper package and calculating how many more days he could last, he suddenly heard a faint, sharp whistle coming from the distance, intermittent and indistinct.

Deans thick eyebrows shot up, and he quickly put the oil paper package into his cloth bag, slung the copper gourd over his back, grabbed his Broken Dragon Blade, and rushed towards the direction of the whistle, not even bothering with his horse. flashing and leaping through the trees like a phantom, covering dozens of feet in the blink of an eye.

His speed was incredibly fast, yet he never collided with any trees. Often, just before he would have touched a tree trunk, he would change direction, passing within half a foot as if sliding along the trees body. This nimble maneuver was a small, which could only be practiced after reaching the third level of his divine skill. Even if the intervals between the trees in the forest were only three feet apart, he could still agilely slip through.

Dean rushed another dozen feet or so, hearing the sharp whistle sound again, growing closer and closer. His heart leaped with joy, and he took a breath of true energy, flying even faster.

After a while of running, he noticed that the light ahead was growing brighter and the trees were becoming sparser. Sunlight poured down, dazzling in its radiance, clearly indicating that he was about to exit the dense forest.

At that moment, the whistling stopped, and Dean heard a rustling sound. He immediately slowed down and looked towards the noise. To his surprise, he saw the grass a few feet away moving without wind. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the wriggling, advancing creatures were all snakes, densely packed in a space eight feet long and wide along the edge of the forest, forming a rectangular pattern with their colorful bodies.

The snakes varied in size, with the shortest about a foot and the longest nearly a yard, all slithering through the grass in the same direction, like a large piece of brightly colored Xinjiang woolen fabric moving across the ground, an eerie and bizarre sight.

Dean had visited Miao territory years ago and witnessed the Miao people driving snakes and cultivating gu. At that time, he relied on his bodys divine skill, which was impervious to all poisons, to awe the eighteen chiefs of the Miao territory, who regarded him as a deity. So he was not afraid of snakes. However, the sight of thousands of snakes wriggling together was enough to make ones scalp tingle and even feel nauseous.

Dean knew that such a bizarre scene must be controlled by someone, and the sharp whistle was the tool to command the snakes.

He thought to himself, "Are there no more snakes in Miao territory? Those Miao people dare to come to the Blue Castle Mountain Area to catch snakes and refine medicine. Heh! They have big guts, casually intruding into the sphere of influence of the Blue Castle Sect, not afraid of ending up dead and buried, right?"

The thought had just flashed through his mind when he heard voices coming from outside the forest. He immediately gathered his energy, performed the small moving technique, and leaped up several zhang, climbing onto a horizontal branch. After catching his breath, he jumped to the top of the tree.

Sunlight bathed him, and a gentle mountain breeze brushed against him. Before him lay a rolling grassland, wildflowers scattered, with a mix of purples and reds, a sight that was pleasing to the eye and cleared the gloom that had been in his heart for days.

He retracted his gaze and stepped diagonally, already on the top of the outermost large tree in the dense forest. So lightly, he stood on a green, supple branch, his massive body like a feather, clinging to the leaf tips, swaying with the wind.

Such a magical lightness skill, even in todays martial world, could not find a few people. Unfortunately, the six people walking in the grass only cared about finding their way and did not look up, so they did not see a person standing on a tree more than ten zhang high.

Dean looked down and saw that the six people were of different heights, all thin and dark-skinned, wearing blue clothes and long pants. In addition to wearing black headscarves, their trouser legs were also tied with black leggings, which made it clear that they came from Miao territory.

There are many ethnic groups in Miao territory, and their clothing is also very different. Even though Dean had stayed in that remote place for nearly two months, he did not travel everywhere, so he could not recognize which ethnic group these Miao people belonged to.

The six Miao people carried short knives on their waists and held long yellow bamboo poles in their hands. As they walked, they occasionally used the long poles to move the grass, forming a