Everyone assumed that Ren Feifan would go in, but he unexpectedly wrested his hand away from Annie, smiled, and said, "Annie, I don’t want to go in yet, you go instead."
Ren Feifan did not want to owe anyone any favors.
Moreover, he knew very well that Collins was in there as well, and if he were to go in, even if Collins didn’t target him, Annie would bear the brunt of Collins’ anger.
So, why should he go in?
Annie’s eyes widened in disbelief; she didn’t expect Brother Ren to refuse her. This was a golden chance to familiarize themselves with the terrain, but Ren Feifan turned it down without hesitation.
She knew Brother Ren’s temperament, stubborn as a bull, so she simply nodded and said, "Alright, just make sure you stay safe, Brother Ren. I’ll wait for you here in three days."
Ren Feifan merely smiled but didn’t respond. He walked towards a dangerous area.
The remaining individuals were dumbfounded. Ren Feifan seemed foolish to them.
Why wouldn’t he seize such an excellent opportunity?
In the chaos of battle, being familiar with the terrain and not knowing the terrain were completely different scenarios!
After a while, Zhong Yi was the first to react. He unfolded a sketch and pointed towards the direction where Ren Feifan had left, exclaiming, "This guy is going the wrong way! That’s not a resting area, it’s the Trapped Beast Area!"
Everyone turned pale when they heard the words Trapped Beast Area.
The Trapped Beast Area was usually reserved for the powerful experts of Ice Ghost Island to train. Although it was open, members like them participating in the contest would never choose to enter.
That’s because entering would mean a slim chance of survival.
At that moment, high-ranking officials in a secret base in Huaxia had naturally received news from Ice Ghost Island.
Ren Feifan had actually ignored all warnings and entered the Trapped Beast Area of Ice Ghost Island!
Upon hearing this news, an old man with white hair smashed another teacup!
"Nonsense! I said from the beginning that this kid is reckless, but none of you believed me. Look at him now, he’s courting death even before the contest has started. If he comes out alive, I’ll see a living ghost there,’’ he raged.
All present knew how temperamental the old man was, so no one interjected or echoed his words. Only the old leader sitting in the middle had slightly narrowed eyes, as if filled with anticipation.
Wang Zhen was mentored by him, hence he knew Wang Zhen’s character and his way of doing things.
He wouldn’t undertake anything without certainty.
"Ren Feifan, I’m rather curious about your impressive performance inside," commented the old man casually.
Unaware of the events unfolding in Capital City at that moment, Ren Feifan had now arrived in the Trapped Beast Area. Upon entering, he instantly regretted his choice.
This place, devoid of any human activity, was unbearably desolate. He refused to believe that no elite from the nation had arrived earlier!
Not only was there no one here, he was also assailed by successive waves of chilliness.
Suddenly, Ren Feifan took a step back. He was shocked to see a dark swarm rushing towards him. As he looked closely, he realized it was a massive swarm of pitch-black bugs.
The smell of these bugs was extremely foul. From a hundred meters away, he could smell the rancidness.
Ren Feifan could sense a hint of danger from these bugs, and they were all heading towards him!
However, Ren Feifan remained calm. He calmly activated the green pearl in his body and released his Corpus Eradication Bugs which started attacking the incoming bugs.
Swarm versus swarm. Ren Feifan discovered that his Corpus Eradication Bugs were practically crushing the swarm; the air was filled with a green mist.
In an instant, the bugs that had been surging towards him were all eliminated.
Ren Feifan smirked. He found that his Corpus Eradication Bugs had somehow become much stronger. Was it because he had broken into the Heavenly Rank?
That could be a possibility.
Subsequently, he recalled the Corpus Eradication Bugs and continued on his way unperturbedly.
While on his journey, Ren Feifan encountered some Monster Beasts. Their strength wasn’t particularly high and he crushed them easily, but to his surprise, the Monster Beasts of Ice Ghost Island had no spiritual nucleus. Thus, killing them brought little benefit.
Ren Feifan knew how dangerous it was the further he went in. Therefore, he activated his Spiritual Sense and X-Ray Vision to detect any potentially dangerous Monster Beasts around him. This allowed him to progress through areas with fewer beasts, reducing the number of battles.
Half the day passed in this way. While Ren Feifan’s strategy helped him avoid the Monster Beasts, he had not anticipated a bigger problem!
He felt a sudden strong pulling force, and before he realized it, he was stuck in a marshland!
The crucial thing was that the marsh was not like any other, it seemed alive. There was even a flow of True Qi emanating from beneath it!
Ren Feifan found that the more he exerted his True Qi, the stronger the pulling force from the depths of the marshland grew!
Clearly, this marsh was designed specifically for cultivators and would lead them into the same predicament regardless of strength!
"Damn! This is outrageous!"
Ren Feifan couldn’t help but uncontrollably curse. Upon scanning the area, he realized that the marshland was vast and seemingly endless. Most critically, the eastern part of the marsh was piled up with bones!
Presumably, these were the remains of the cultivators who were swallowed by the marshland!
Ren Feifan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm! Although he faced near-certain death, it did not mean that he had no chance of survival.
He had encountered a similar situation on Purgatory Island before.
He tried to enter the mystical space but soon realized every attempt to connect with it resulted in his body sinking rapidly into the marshland.
It seemed that this strategy wouldn’t work here.
Ren Feifan kept his mind clear, relying on shallow breathing to stay alive. Even though his body was sinking slowly, he knew that it wouldn’t be long before he was fully submerged in the marshland. Once fully submerged, he would either suffocate or die of starvation.
However, at that moment, his dragon tattoo began to move. Ren Feifan was overjoyed!
Even when True Qi couldn’t be used, the mysterious power of the tattoo on his arm could be!
He hadn’t thoroughly researched the tattoo on his arm before, but now was the perfect time to examine it carefully.
The Dragon Mother under the Heavenly Pool had once warned him never to expose the tattoo on his arm, no matter what happened. This was proof of how terrifying it was.
Now that the tattoo didn’t fear the marsh, Ren Feifan became even more intrigued!
He attempted to connect to his tattoo with True Qi, but the crisis promptly escalated!
"Splash!" His neck was about to sink into the marshland.
He couldn’t use True Qi in his arm anymore.
Ren Feifan clenched his fist tightly, feeling the power of the tattoo. He suddenly discovered that a forbidden restriction was hidden within the dragon tattoo on his arm.
He used his Spiritual Sense to slowly dive into the tattoo on his arm and was seized by a different sensation.
It felt so comfortable that each time his Spiritual Sense penetrated the tattoo, his strength seemed to increase slightly.
He had no idea if it was an illusion or not.
At the same time, he discovered that the Spiritual Energy under the marshland was extremely dense. This Spiritual Energy rushed into Ren Feifan’s tattoo, causing his arm to emit a faint red light.