877 Heart of the Red Stone Fores

This woman who had made the enraged Lord Merciless forcibly quell his anger was none other than the mysterious woman who was always shrouded in mist.

It seemed as though after encountering her, even the arrogant Lord Merciless had to keep his temper in check.

"You saw everything that happened just now?" Lord Merciless's face was extremely ugly. The battle that had just happened was practically the disgrace of his life up so far. He had not expected that there had been someone watching the entire thing and that the person who had been prying was her.

The woman was none other than Water Deity, who was ranked third on the scoreboard. In terms of ability, she was above Lord Merciless.

Water Deity was most proficient in concealment techniques. Lord Merciless knew that if she wanted to hide, he would be absolutely unable to detect her at all from a hundred meters away.

"I saw what I needed to see. It is just that I never expected that the dignified Lord Merciless would actually be disgraced at the hands of a youth. You should indeed rein in that temper of yours. Otherwise, this will not be the only time you embarrass yourself."

Water Deity's voice was still gentle, but it was difficult to disguise the mocking tone in her voice.

"Did you show yourself just to mock me?" Lord Merciless's expression turned even uglier as he forcibly held back his raging anger. Water Deity's ability was superior to his. Her cultivation was also above that of his own. Rumor had it that she had broken through to the Martial Arts Grandmaster third realm a few years ago. She was rather famous. Among the youthful hidden martial arts strain strong practitioners, Water Deity most likely would be ranked among the top ten.

Lord Merciless was not a fool; knowing that he was not a match for Water Deity, he suppressed his anger.

"I'm not mocking you. I am merely reminding you. I have some connections with the lad you were fighting just now. You better give up any thoughts you have about him," Water Deity said plainly.

Water Deity's upfront threat caused Lord Merciless to almost burst in anger. Since when had he, Lord Merciless, ever put up with treatment such as this? Before this, Mo Wen had embarrassed him; now, Water Deity had popped out of nowhere and threatened him.

"You are not satisfied? We can fight it out if you want." There was no change in Water Deity's voice. It remained very gentle. However, the sharp edge to it was evident.

Fight if you are dissatisfied. Water Deity was as gentle as a mass of water from head to toe, but she was definitely not someone who was easy to deal with.

"Water Deity, I do not wish to discuss him anymore. You will not change my resolve. What I am curious about is how a man like him has a connection with your Goddess Cult. Your Goddess Cult does not take in men, does it?"

Although Lord Merciless was arrogant, he was not foolish. In his battle with Mo Wen just now, he had expended quite a bit of power. If he were to also battle with Water Deity right now, he would be allowing her to toy with him. He could not bear the idea of disgracing himself; he would rather suppress his anger.

"Is that any concern of yours? I have said what I needed to say. You had better know your place. If we have a falling out, don't say I didn't warn you."

Water Deity clearly had no interest in answering Lord Merciless' question. She left behind these last words. Her entire person became a mass of mist and gradually disappeared without a trace.

"Water Deity, just you wait. One of these days, I will pay back all the disgrace that I have suffered today!"

Lord Merciless clenched his fist tightly. He bit down on his teeth so hard that a grinding sound could be heard. She had gone too far.

In reality, the Goddess Cult was also a hidden martial arts strain sect, and its status was rather high. They had a rather ancient heritage. Even the Blood Evil Temple paled in comparison to the Goddess Cult.

It was said that the Ming Cult had a thousand-year heritage. However, the Goddess Cult had a history of a few thousand years. It was just that the Goddess Cult had defined themselves as part of the hidden martial arts strain a long time ago. They had not appeared in the world for centuries, so the martial arts circle only had legends of the Goddess Cult.

...

"The lad is astonishing. He has actually mastered four rite of passage martial arts at such a young age. His talents are terrifying."

On top of a mountain peak, a cloud of mist filled the area. A graceful silhouette could be seen among the mist. The howling wind on the mountain could not disperse the mist. The wind merely caused the mist to contort and drift slightly, creating a natural charm.

"Just now I secretly placed a water imprint on him. Initially, I could follow his trail, but to my surprise, I lost him. He is but a youth. Even if he has astonishing talents, by rights, the cultivation of his soul should not be too high. How did he discover my water imprint?"

Water Deity was rather surprised. The water imprint that she had secretly placed on Mo Wen had actually been dispelled.

In reality, when Mo Wen was battling with Lord Merciless just now, Water Deity had covertly performed her secret technique and left a water imprint on Mo Wen. She could locate Mo Wen using the water imprint. To her surprise, she had tracked him for less than a hundred kilometers, and she had completely lost track of him.

"Sect Younger Sister Lin Qing's information is rather outdated. If this lad does not encounter those few famous monstrous figures, he won't need my help at all. But that's reasonable. Sect Younger Sister Lin Qing is still young, and she has just broken through to the sixth level of the Goddess Technique. Her judgment is limited, so it is normal for her to not be able to tell the youth's actual level. Sect Younger Sister Lin Qing said that this youth is less than twenty years old. He is considered a toddler in the hidden martial arts strain. How can he be so monstrously powerful?"

Water Deity could not get her head around it. How could Mo Wen reach his current level at his age? He had even mastered four rite of passage martial arts. She had received training from her old ancestor and currently, she had only mastered three rite of passage martial arts.

"Whatever. Since this youth doesn't want me to locate him, then I will let him be. With his ability, it will most likely be fine for him to venture into the Heart of the Red Stone Forest. Perhaps we will meet each other there. It's just that I don't know how far he can go. This time around, it will be rather challenging to get into the top ten of the Heaven List."

Water Deity transformed into a beam of light and disappeared once again.

...

Sometime later, a silhouette walked out from behind a rock wall. It was none other than Mo Wen.

"Why is that woman following me?"

Mo Wen stood where Water Deity had been standing. A look of deep thought flashed in his eyes. It was not the first time that the woman had appeared. When he encountered Bao Xun, he had noticed her presence.

In reality, after Mo Wen cultivated a deified soul, she could not hide from his deified soul's sensory ability although this woman had incredible concealment ability.

He could sense that this woman was incredible, hence he pretended to not know anything to avoid alerting her.

"This woman's cultivation is very high. It is most likely much higher than that of Lord Merciless. I hope she does not bear me any ill will. Otherwise, it would truly be troublesome."

Mo Wen shook his head. The world was vast. As expected, it was not as simple as it seemed. This Heaven List Tournament had many experts. Most likely half of the pinnacle geniuses had appeared here.

"Five days have already passed. The Heart of the Red Stone Forest should already be open. The outskirts are already of no value. In order to not fall behind the others, I should head to the Heart of the Red Stone Forest right now."

The Heart of the Red Stone Forest was the center of Red Stone Forest. Rumor had it that it was a very unique place. It was enveloped by a stratagem from the Huatian Palace. Normally, no one could enter. Only after five days had passed during the Heaven List Tournament could people enter that place.

There was a condition for participants to enter the Heart of the Red Stone Forest. They needed to have more than five hundred points in order to enter.

Also, only those who entered the Heart of the Red Stone Forest were qualified to contest in the final round. If one could not even enter the Heart of the Red Stone Forest, they were considered completely disqualified.

Five hundred points was not a small number. It would be very difficult for participants who did not have the ability to accumulate so many points. Many people would not even pass this first stage.

Rumor had it that the previous Heaven List Tournament only required two hundred points to enter the Heart of the Red Stone Forest. This time around, the difficulty was raised.

Also, in the previous Heaven List Tournament, criminals of the Martial Arts Grandmaster second realm and third realm would not appear at all. All of them would be restricted by the Huatian Palace. Only first realm Martial Arts Grandmasters would appear. But this time around, there was a high chance of second and third realm Martial Arts Grandmaster criminals appearing. For the participants, this would be a huge challenge.

Of course, these second and third realm Martial Arts Grandmaster criminals would not appear outside. They could only move about in the Heart of the Red Stone Forest. The strongest people in the outskirts were only first realm Martial Arts Grandmaster criminals.

The Huatian Palace ruled that only by entering the Heart of the Red Stone Forest and reaching a place known as Mechanized Maze City could one contest for a spot among the top ten.

If one could not enter the Heart of the Red Stone Forest and reach Mechanized Maze City, it would be useless no matter how many points they had accumulated.

The Huatian Palace also did this to prevent people who used special methods to accumulate points or those who were extremely lucky and picked up points from winning from entering. By providing a challenge, they could guarantee the fairness of the tournament.

Only by having powerful ability could one receive a high rank in the Heaven List Tournament.

The Heart of the Red Stone Forest was located a thousand kilometers within the Red Stone Forest. The deeper one walked, the more desolate it became. The surroundings were covered entirely with dark red boulders. There were traces of wind erosion on their surfaces.

When Mo Wen reached the place, a gigantic blue light shroud appeared in front of him. The light shroud connected the sky and the earth as though a screen descended from the sky, blocking Mo Wen's path entirely.

"Is this the Heart of the Red Stone Forest?"

Mo Wen's mouth curled to reveal a smile. Those strongest criminal groups and the most powerful criminal strong practitioners were all in the Heart of the Red Stone Forest. It was the biggest challenge for the participants too.

Mo Wen walked towards the blue sky screen and took out his jade pendant. He placed it on the sky screen. The jade pendant lit up and formed a type of connection with the blue sky screen. The next moment, ripples similar to water ripples appeared on the blue sky screen. They sucked Mo Wen's body toward them and drew him into the sky screen bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye, Mo Wen had disappeared from his original spot completely.

The blue sky screen would automatically identify the points in the jade pendant. When the participants had more than 500 points in their jade pendants, the blue sky screen would grant them access.

…

"Lord Merciless, the Heart of the Red Stone Forest is most likely fraught with danger. I am not particularly skillful…"

Shao Ji said this as he stared at the gigantic sky screen, worried. He was standing in front of the blue sky screen with Lord Merciless.

Shao Ji had been following Lord Merciless for the past few days. He had seen with his own eyes how different this round of the Heaven List Tournament was. There were many participants who were stronger than him. Some were even terrifyingly powerful. Right now, Shao Ji had lost his earlier arrogance and confidence. He had realized that a common first realm Martial Arts Grandmaster was practically a nobody in this round of the Heaven List Tournament.

If Shao Ji had been alone, he would have no confidence that he could make it through the Heart of the Red Stone Forest. It was because the Heart of the Red Stone Forest was a dangerous place. Moreover, there were Martial Arts Grandmaster second realm and third realm criminals treating the participants as prey. The criminals were ready to hunt them down.

In the past, the strongest practitioners in the Heart of the Red Stone Forest were merely first realm Martial Arts Grandmasters. However, it was different this time around.