8 Commotion at the Siege Forest

Early in the morning, Jie Heijun left his home and started making his way to the Siege Forest. With his home stationed close to the trees near the beach, the Siege Forest could be said to be on the other side of the town.

Wanting to use the early day to avoid the townspeople, Jie Heijun ended up catching the state of the people's homes.

Some had residue of water stains 16 to 17 centimeters high, showing the times the town would have its frequent small floods. Others had cracks and damages that looked like it got hit with a strong force or erosion.

Even the ground he walked on, had wet dirt and small puddles as if its been raining recently. Of course, it wasn't rain causing this type of scene to appear, but the sea, treating the town harshly.

Every so often, the people living in Beach Town would need to secure their belongings and homes for the 3 to 5 days of flooding. And judging by the last time a flood happened, Jie Heijun was sure another flooding would appear soon.

Thinking about others, brought a small smile to his face as he wondered just how long it would take for the Bai Family to be able to enter the dungeon.

Given Bai Longtian's insight, he gave them about 2 to 3 days time, since they might be clueless about a dungeon's abilities. Focusing his mind back to the matter at hand, Jie Heijun noticed the Siege Forest coming into view.

What was unexpected upon arriving, was a scene of a large group of youngsters and their elders blocked by five unknown men. Each of these men wore a robe similar to each other in some fashion and seemed to carry themselves in a confident demeanor.

Their very presence seemed to release a slight pressure when standing too close. Even Bai Longtian who Jie Heijun meet a day earlier didn't give off the same type of bearing. It could be shown by this, that the five men's strength was a notch above Bai Longtian's or more.

Not only that, but Bai Qingyun was also waiting outside the forest with a few Bai Family Elders acting as support. Seeing the high number of elders for families working as bodyguards, Jie Heijun was able to tell his previous way of thinking was too simple.

"Hmm, there are indeed a lot of youngsters hoping for a fortuitous encounter. This backwatered place is disappointing." Said one of the five elders. "That's true, but we came to see a show, so does it make a difference?" Another asked.

"I suppose not. Let's just inform them of the situation. Hopefully, when this week passes, we can get a decent recruit or two." The first one that spoke said, agreeing.

After coming to an agreement, one of the five men stepped forward. "Listen up yokels; we are Elders from the Extreme Waterfall Sect. We are also the ones responsible for moving your little town's youth tournament schedule up." Here, he snorted at the ridiculousness of yokels competing against one another.

Hearing the word yokel left many people confused. Was he talking about them, the townspeople? What did yokel even mean anyway? Was it an insult or a compliment?

Jie Heijun who stood on the side listening and watching, frowned at the sect elder. It was clear he didn't think much of the people from Beach Town. Once more, he also couldn't see the catch, to them wasting their time at a place they hated.

"I'm sure some of you are very naive on how the world really is. Let me guess. For example, I would say half of you believe, sticking to the outer edge of the Paradise Forest will be safer than going deeper in." Right here, he paused as he chuckled to himself.

At this point, Jie Heijun wasn't the only person in the crowd frowning. How could such a dangerous forest be labeled as a paradise? It was a blunt insult to the very people that lost their lives going inside.

"But you all should feel honored that we came to this place. We Elders, have already taken care of the wild danger you would have faced from the forest. Now inside the Paradise Forest, is a space seal divider that has grouped the weakest to the strongest of field residents and ferocious beasts into sections."

The sect elder continued to look at the crowd with disdain. "Since we are helping you cross the Paradise Forest in a week, we naturally won't allow weaklings to take advantage of our kindness. To prevent this, the space sealing item in place will help us monitor your kill count, which level the kill is at, and how far you go in the forest."

"What we want is for the participants for the upcoming tournament to go through a little examination. If you agree, you will get a chance to join the Extreme Waterfall Sect after crossing the Paradise Forest, and the top ten of this test will get to join the tournament for free. You can also feel at ease that this test is not to kill one another but to kill the things inside the forest." The man finished.

This news, left the crowd in another uproar, completely forgetting the disrespectful way the man had been addressing them earlier. After all, what was the reason everybody tried to leave Beach Town? It was to gain greater strength that they couldn't achieve in a small place.

If they got a chance to join a sect right after leaving Beach Town directly, it would be like having a slice of pie offered to them, while being allowed to eat cake too. No sane person would turn down this offer.

Jie Heijun also felt this way about the offer. He didn't care about how other people viewed him, as long as his goals to get stronger and avenge his family would be met, nothing else mattered. Of course, there was still moral values he followed and would not lose.

Waiting for the man to allow them entry, Jie Heijun heard them explain how the process was graded. There was a point system. Each person would have 10 points, if they met an encounter and fail to kill the beast or resident, they would lose a point.

They would also lose points if their kill got stolen by another person. Even worse, points could be taken from other people despite the elders from the sect saying they didn't encourage fighting between others.

For gaining points, it could be stolen or by killing beasts and residents at a certain level. Level 1 creatures would give 1 point; level 2 creatures would give 2 points, and so on. The time limit was four days inside the forest, or they would lose any rights to pass the examination.

It was also because the space sealing item, could only last for four days before becoming useless, and the youth selection tournament was in five days. By that time, if people insisted on being inside, that was their own, problem.

Furthermore, any elders found hiding inside the forest or entering the forest, would be killed at sight, by the five men overseeing the event. And since beasts or residents didn't drop Spirit Stones, they could be exchanged using Exp Stones, outside the forest between the five men waiting.

Jie Heijun couldn't help but wonder just how rare, the space sealing item appeared. It had the ability to, separate everything in sight, while keeping things it separated, in view. Its only shortcoming was its timed usage.

Once everything got finalized, Jie Heijun stepped toward the Siege Forest. He refused to address it as a paradise forest in any way. Looking at it close up, it had its own spiritual feel to it.

The tree seemed thicker than natural forests, and the leaves on each tree gave the impression of being razor sharp. Even the branches attached to the trees when peer at, showed signs of hands stretching out to cut everything it touched apart.

If one didn't know better, they would think the very forest placing a siege on Beach Town was alive and purposely trying to straggle the lives in the town. "Once I walk out of this place, I should have progressed another step closer to avenging Mother and Father." Jie Heijun whispered.

Letting the small blowing winds and light noises of birds help clear his mind from distracting thoughts, Jie Heijun shot full speed ahead into the Siege Forest. There was only one last thought left in his mind before he completely cleared it.

"Mother, Father, your unfilial son will take full opportunity of this moment, and grow stronger. Those daring to block me will soon know how unyielding my will is to let you find rest and peace."