"This place is really dangerous. Xiao Ji, don’t move around carelessly. If you fall, it’ll be troublesome."
Holding Xiao Ji, Фэн Юань walked slowly down the mountain path under Veronia’s cover. Annie, due to Veronia’s restrictions, couldn’t leave their sight quickly.
However, Фэн Юань was concerned about the flight restriction here, so he didn’t let Xiao Ji follow by flying but held it instead. After all, the narrow mountain path would sometimes have steps carved forcibly out of rock, with significant gaps between them, which were a big problem for Xiao Ji.
In Фэн Юань’s arms, Xiao Ji occasionally wriggled, trying to prove it could descend the mountain on its own without being carried by Фэн Юань. However, its movements made it a bit bothersome for Фэн Юань, as Xiao Ji’s restless movements made it difficult for him to maintain his balance.
Noticing its mistake, Xiao Ji curled up and whimpered softly as if complaining, but it didn’t struggle further.
Mutant wild wolves descending from the sky were blocked by the crystal vines summoned by Veronia, falling straight down the cliff. Watching the wolves that occasionally fell around them, Veronia pointed with her finger, conjuring a crystal guard out of thin air. However, despite its ability to fly, the crystal guard seemed to be pulled downward as if something was dragging it down.
"Sure enough, this place restricts flying."
This didn’t surprise Фэн Юань, as he had already guessed this possibility, which was why he held Xiao Ji instead of letting it move on its own. Najia sat on Yang Hongzhi’s shoulder, her gaze occasionally scanning the surroundings.
Unlike Фэн Юань, Yang Hongzhi had already put away both Xiao Hui and Xiao Hei. The mountain path was too difficult even for Xiao Hei to navigate. Unlike Фэн Юань, Yang Hongzhi was a relatively ordinary Укротитель зверей. Without Xiao Hei and Xiao Hui, he could only rely on martial arts and similar skills for self-defense.
In such situations, Najia naturally needed to raise her vigilance to prevent any accidents. Normally, Укротитель зверейs on wilderness expeditions would prepare a small-sized spirit beast or ghost series spirit beast to follow them for this reason.
"Wait!"
Фэн Юань suddenly stopped and looked around, noticing something—multiple space overlaps?
With this suspicion, Фэн Юань turned to Veronia and asked,
"Have you noticed anything strange?"
Veronia nodded, lightly waving her right hand. She obviously wouldn’t make no attempts. Although she didn’t care about others’ lives, Фэн Юань did, so why not give it a try?
Crystal vines grew from the rock wall and danced in the air as if trying to touch something, but they didn’t seem to succeed.
"Not good!"
Фэн Юань yelled and placed Xiao Ji on the step in front of him, then swung his dark scythe out over the cliff. A man appearing out of thin air was blocked by the long handle of the dark scythe, and Фэн Юань pulled him back to the mountain path with Veronia’s crystal vine wrapped around his waist just in time.
Xiao Ji transformed into an eggshell chicken and jumped onto Фэн Юань’s head. The sudden change startled it, and the unexpected appearance of the man made it worry that continuing to let Фэн Юань hold it in its eagle form might bring inconvenience.
"Are you okay?"
After placing the man on the mountain path, Фэн Юань inquired. Meanwhile, the crystal vine, taking advantage of the fragile barrier pierced by Фэн Юань, successfully opened a space gap.
Still shaken, the man sat on the mountain path with a bewildered expression. When he lost his footing and fell, he truly thought it was the end for him, but unexpectedly...
Veronia controlled the crystal vines to forcibly tear apart the fragile spatial wall. Although she wasn’t a space series divine beast, as the master of the World of Mirrors, exploiting the gap in the barrier to continuously tear it apart wasn’t too difficult for her.
As the space kept fracturing, the two overlapping spaces intertwined. Seeing the team that suddenly appeared on the mountain path, Фэн Юань stroked his chin and turned to Yang Hongzhi, saying,
"It seems they should be teams sent by other academies."
He had anticipated this. The actual space of the Аномальный Пространство wasn’t particularly large. After hosting so many schools, he could guess that they would inevitably encounter other teams on the way. Moreover, these teams also posed a significant trouble for subsequent rescue missions.
After all, in this Аномальный Пространство, all means of spatial movement were nearly ineffective. Finding people required slow searching, and more so, now it seemed like there were "instances" as well?
"Who are you..."
The leader pulled into this space by Veronia saw the people appearing through the spatial crack and suddenly grew tense. Just moments ago, a team member was knocked off the cliff by wolves constantly attacking from above. Now, with the unexpected situation, they couldn’t help but worry about what might happen next.
"We are... sort of a Maomu Academy investigation team. Although I’d love to send you back to the academy to rest, now isn’t a very good time to do so."
Glancing at the team, Фэн Юань spoke. The team appeared quite battered and, given their strength, was likely injured during a wolf pack’s attack. Of course, other circumstances might be possible as well?
Фэн Юань wasn’t certain their encounter was exactly like theirs, but from the position and perfect overlap with the mountain path after Veronia tore through the space, the possibility was high.
Upon hearing Фэн Юань’s reply, that group was momentarily stunned. Thanks to Фэн Юань, Maomu Academy had been fairly renowned among academies in Great Xia for the past six months.
They couldn’t help it—those favored by Божественный зверьs were even rarer than Divine Pact Makers, not to mention his participation in numerous major events, which made his identity quite mysterious. Consequently, the academy he studied at was occasionally mentioned.
But they couldn’t quite understand what was with this three-person team. Normally, a small expedition team should have at least five members.
It’s not a mandatory rule but a conclusion considered from various aspects. After all, everyone’s team orientation is different. Only with enough beasts can they avoid limitations. Each environment requires different spirit beasts to handle.
Five people are the minimum number required to cover the largest range. Any less than this would inevitably encounter an environment they couldn’t handle unless someone had special spirit beasts or Beast Taming skills.
Of course, university teams could be reduced to three people, mainly because their inherent strength was insufficient, leading to more beasts being trained. For academy faculty and students, raising a large number of spirit beasts for this purpose was a cost-ineffective strategy.
Even for academy teachers, except for some of the older ones, most maintain a five-person scale when forming teams.
Shrugging, Фэн Юань said helplessly,
"Let’s head down the mountain first. We’ll discuss other matters once we reach the base."
Indicating with his eyes, Фэн Юань said, as mutant wolves continued to fall from the sky. They were blocked by Veronia’s crystal plants and couldn’t attack, but this didn’t mean they could comfortably stand and chat on the spot.
They’re joking; a cliff was right next to them, making lingering in such a dangerous place an added risk.
They didn’t refuse Фэн Юань’s proposal, acknowledging that conversing here wasn’t a good choice.
Descending the mountain, the narrow path significantly impeded them, and the nearly ineffective wolf fall made them realize some truths. It was no wonder that this three-person team dared to take action.
That peculiar young lady’s strength was just too formidable, removing any threat or disturbance posed by the wild wolves, which left them in tatters, nearly losing a companion.
As they drew closer to the foot of the mountain, the crash site also came into view. Wolves descending from the sky were shattered into data fragments, disappearing into thin air, yet Фэн Юань knew this didn’t harm them at all.
Data constructs within the Область данных have no concept of life or death. As long as the rules of the Область данных continue to exist, maintaining them continues to recreate them, rendering them immortal.

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