"I think we should learn more about Misty Forest before deciding to go in," Liu Rufeng said.
"Although the Sect Gate mission is important, we also have to take care of our own safety.
If we don’t ensure our safety, how can we even think about fusing with the Blood Lizard?"
"Rufeng is right. Lin should know more about the Blood Lizard," Fang Xiang looked at Xu Zimei and said.
"Let’s study the Fusion Method," Xu Zimei suggested.
The group formed a circle and huddled together, taking out the book on the Fusion Method.
Flipping through the light blue pages, the content wasn’t plentiful, but it was described in great detail.
The lizard clan has been living in the marshlands of Misty Forest for generations, mainly divided into four major groups.
Green Lizard, Red Lizard, Yellow Lizard, and Blue Lizard.
The strength of the lizard clan is calculated based on age and generational hierarchy.
Generally, there are hundred-year lizards, thousand-year lizards, and ten-thousand-year lizards.
The fusion of the Blood Lizard is divided into four stages. First, find a hundred-year Green Lizard and a hundred-year Red Lizard for fusion.
This will result in a Fire Lizard.
Then, fuse the Fire Lizard with a thousand-year Yellow Lizard to obtain a Jade Lizard.
Fusing a Jade Lizard with a ten-thousand-year Blue Lizard will yield a Light Red Lizard, and after refining it with Divine Dragon Fire, one can obtain the rare Blood Lizard.
Regarding the Fusion Method, it is all recorded here.
What is worth mentioning is that the fusion of the Blood Lizard might fail, and each fusion requires Fusion Stones.
"This is tough, so complicated," Mu Zhoubai rubbed his head and complained with a headache.
"If it were easy, the Blood Lizard wouldn’t be so rare," Yin Rong pondered for a moment and then said.
"After all, rarity makes something valuable. However, there is a city next to Misty Forest where we can go to inquire further."
The group nodded, packed up the Fusion Method book, and then headed off in the southeast direction.
Ragefire City is the closest city to Misty Forest.
Everyone fears Misty Forest, deeming it a Forbidden Land, but the people here survive because of this dangerous place.
The main reason is the Fusion Stones.
The trade resources of Ragefire City are not Spirit Crystals, not even Divine Crystals or Demon Crystals, but Fusion Stones.
Fusion Stones are not only used for fusing with the Blood Lizard but are also used to capture the creatures within to obtain Essence Stones, which are specially used for physical cultivation.
Although Essence Stones aren’t exactly impossible to find, they are quite rare.
If ordinary people want to obtain Essence Stones, they must enter Misty Forest and kill these creatures.
But most are afraid of losing their way, becoming trapped in the forest forever, so they are unwilling to enter Misty Forest.
This is when Fusion Stones are needed, to lure the creatures out and then kill them.
As for the history of Ragefire City, it is said that a long time ago, a Melting Heaven Realm Venerable known as Ragefire Venerable came to this place.
Initially, he wanted to use these creatures to refine his Vein Skills. After killing the creatures, he couldn’t be bothered to pick up the Essence Stones.
Eventually, some people started following him to collect these Essence Stones.
Over time, the rumors spread. It was said that a strange person called Ragefire would enter Misty Forest at sunrise to kill the creatures.
After sunset, he would leave and rest at a fixed place.
These people followed the Ragefire Venerable by his side and, day by day, after several years, the place where these people rested came together to form a city.
This was the embryonic form of Ragefire City. Eventually, as the Ragefire Venerable watched the city grow stronger day by day and more people joined, he commanded his people to manage it.
The Ragefire Venerable had cultivated in the Misty Forest for a total of seventy-nine years, which also marked the peak of Ragefire City’s history.
In the eightieth year, the forest was shrouded in mist, and as usual, the Ragefire Venerable entered the forest but never came out again.
That vanishing figure became the last image people would recall many years later.
When Xu Zimei and her group had traveled for half a month, they finally arrived at the base of Ragefire City.
The towering city stood silently between heaven and earth, its ancient walls covered with dense markings left by the passage of time.
It seemed to narrate its own legendary experience.
Even before entering the city, one could sense its liveliness.
At the city gate, there were people coming and going: peddlers with shoulder poles, soldiers in armor, and foot soldiers with cleavers at their hips.
After the group entered the city, with the women’s beauty and the men’s grace, they attracted quite a bit of attention.
As top disciples of the Holy Sect, they all had a unique bearing.
"The people here should be more familiar with the Misty Forest than us. How about we gather some information here before going in?" suggested Mu Zhoubai.
"Let’s make it quick. The Sect Gate is waiting for us," Liu Rufeng said, as indifferent as ever.
He added, "We don’t have much time to waste."
"Got it," Mu Zhoubai replied reluctantly.
Xu Zimei could tell that Mu Zhoubai didn’t seem to have much sense of belonging to the Holy Sect and wasn’t very concerned about its demise.
"Then let’s go to an inn. With the constant flow of people in and out of this city, the most informed place is still the inn," Huangfu Xianyue said after a moment’s thought.
The group grandly made their way to an inn beside the city gate.
The inn was quite old and didn’t have a single guest.
The innkeeper was listlessly dozing off at the counter.
Fang Xiang coughed softly a few times.
"What’s all this noise? Can’t you see that I’m sleeping?" the innkeeper stood up impatiently and cursed.
"What do you mean by this? We came here in good faith to have a meal. What kind of attitude is that?" said Yin Rong, unable to hide her indignation.
The innkeeper glanced up and stared at Yin Rong, but his eyes suddenly lit up when he saw Huangfu Xianyue and the other two women.
He stood there dumbfounded, his mouth drooling.
"Seeking death," Mu Zhoubai snorted coldly.
A flying knife from behind her sheath "clang" nailed to the nearby table.
The table split apart with a bang, and the innkeeper was jolted back to reality.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was just half asleep. Don’t mind me, honored guests," the innkeeper immediately changed his demeanor, grinning obsequiously.
"Prepare the best food for us," Mu Zhoubai tossed over a Spirit Stone and said indifferently.
As he spoke, he smoothly took a seat nearby.
Though the others originally intended to find another inn, after this scene, they could only reluctantly sit down as well.
"Sure thing! Just follow me. I’ll serve you all our specialties," the innkeeper said cheerfully.
"Come here, I have some questions to ask you," Mu Zhoubai beckoned and said.