Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

"Oh? So you know about Dark Blood," Cang Feng said. "That's right. To survive, they sell Dark Blood everywhere, and they also consume it themselves to gain immense power. Now they even want to expand this business to the interior. The Empire has gone to great lengths to deal with these barbaric forces."

"However, you're only half right. It's true that the Dark Blood is circulating among these wilderness forces, but they didn't create it."

"Scholars of the Empire once studied Dark Blood, a special blood gene poison. It is an artificially concocted product using demonic energy contaminants, alchemical potions, and the blood of demons. It requires a great deal of alchemical knowledge to make, and most of the Wildernessers are illiterate; they do not yet have that ability."

Ye Ge narrowed his eyes: "So, there's a powerful figure behind this doing illegal business with these wilderness forces?"

“That’s right, the Empire is also investigating this matter recently.” Cang Feng paused and said, “So, on our way to transport supplies, in addition to being careful of all kinds of monsters and strange beasts, we also need to be wary of staying away from these wilderness forces. They are willing to risk their lives for survival. There are definitely a lot of military transport vehicles that have been robbed by scavengers in the wilderness. We absolutely cannot let our guard down.”

Nangong Qiuyue was astonished: "They actually have such audacity? They even dare to rob the Empire's transport vehicles?! Aren't they... just a bunch of ordinary people??"

“Of course.” Cang Feng said slowly, “They are indeed just a group of ordinary people, not superhumans, but don’t forget that they have dark blood. That thing will give them terrifying combat power in a short period of time, so they are not weak. Moreover, they will do anything to survive… Oh, by the way, let me remind you, these wilderness people do not only rob for money and goods, they eat meat.”

“…” Xia Xiyao and Nangong Qiuyue shuddered when they heard this.

The two little girls instinctively wrapped their clothes tighter, their faces turning deathly pale, and they remained silent for a long time.

"...Teacher, please don't scare them." Ye Ge gave a helpless bitter smile: "The route we took through the Hundred Souls Forest this time doesn't have any wilderness forces, right?"

Xia Xiyao and Nangong Qiuyue were taken aback and both looked at Cang Feng.

Cang Feng couldn't help but chuckle, then burst into laughter: "That's right, I was just trying to scare them. Scavengers don't just randomly enter the Hundred Souls Forest... But you didn't have to expose me so quickly, did you? Isn't it fun to make them nervous?"

Xia Xiyao & Nangong Qiuyue: "..."

"Aaaaaah, teacher! You've gone too far!"

"Exactly! You scared me to death just now!"

"How could an adult scare a child like that! It's despicable!!"

Cang Feng glanced at them through the rearview mirror and said calmly, "This is to teach you a lesson. If you had investigated the information and studied our mission route before carrying out what I just said, you would have been like Ye Ge and wouldn't have been scared by me at all. Gao Shenxue and Long Ying obviously did the same. But what about you two? Why were you scared? Reflect on yourselves."

"..." Upon hearing this, Xia Xiyao and Nangong Qiuyue were speechless.

The two girls, both academically weak, exchanged a glance, blushed slightly, and stammered in silence, feeling guilty.

The off-road transport vehicle drove into the Hundred Souls Forest.

The environment here is finally much better than it was in the wilderness before.

The spiritual energy here is abundant and there is no demonic pollution. The air quality is significantly better. Spiritual plants can be seen everywhere. The huge Xuanling trees are hundreds of meters tall, with canopies that block out the sun. The trees are thick enough to allow four or five adults to hug them.

Cang Feng drove all the way from morning until evening.

Along the way, they saw many rare and exotic beasts in the forest. Just as Cang Feng had said, they were not aggressive and behaved very docilely.

The sun gradually set.

After dark, the temperature in the Hundred Souls Forest drops drastically, plummeting to below -30 degrees Celsius, so the group decided to find a place to camp in the forest first.

After setting up camp and lighting a campfire, Cangfeng assigned everyone to take turns keeping watch.

"Although this is not the habitat of any strange beasts, it is still necessary to arrange for night watch shifts just to be on the safe side."

Cang Feng said, "There are six of us in total. I'll keep watch for two hours, and the rest of you will each keep watch for one hour. We'll continue our journey after seven hours. Is that alright?"

Xia Xiyao and Nangong Qiuyue: "Okay~"

Gao Shenxue and Long Ying nodded gently: "No problem."

Ye Ge had no objections.

Cang Feng: "That's settled then. Get some rest and we'll continue our journey tomorrow morning."

......

As night deepened, the pitch-black night sky remained devoid of any stars.

A light snow began to fall in the forest, and the temperature grew even colder.

Ye Ge opened her eyes, waking up precisely at her shift change time, and then walked out of the tent.

Long Ying was sitting alone by the fire in the open space, cross-legged with her hands on her knees, seemingly cultivating. The orange-red flames made her serene and beautiful face even more radiant.

"It's time to hand over the shift." Ye Ge sat down next to her. "You're really diligent. You don't even forget to cultivate at a time like this?"

Long Ying concealed her aura and said calmly, "Actually, I haven't been cultivating much. My mind has just been a bit chaotic, so I wanted to meditate to distract myself."

"Oh? Is something on your mind, Ninth Princess?" Ye Ge smiled faintly. "What are you thinking about?"

Long Ying turned her head and glanced at him, saying softly, "I miss you."

Night Song: "???"

Long Ying continued, "I'm thinking about how to defeat you."

Ye Ge breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

I told you...

"It seems you're still quite bothered by those two failures," Night Song said.

“Yes.” Long Ying looked into his eyes and said seriously, “From childhood to adulthood, I have never lost to any of my peers. Or rather, since I was seven years old, I have never lost to anyone under the age of eighteen.”