Xiang Beifei and his team encountered two other teams along the way, both of which merely issued warnings before departing, not lingering for more than two seconds.
"It seems like a lot of student teams have come here, how could this be such a coincidence?" Ma Ziqian exclaimed in surprise.
Up to now, they had seen teams from Jingzhou University, Yangzhou University, and Yongzhou University, as well as the already scattered team from Qingzhou University. Together with their own Liangzhou University, five out of the nine universities had teams in this withered forest.
"Are you sure it's a coincidence?" Long Guocheng asked.
Some teams were after the Landmine Dragon in that field of thunder, while others, like Qingzhou University, were lured into this withered forest. Neither scenario could be considered a coincidence.
"Thank you for the reminder," a male student said from the side.
This was Yongzhou University's SSR, Cheng Xin'an, a refined young man who had awakened the "Vast Righteous Qi System." Whether he acted righteously or others did, this system would give him a significant amount of system value for any righteous deed occurring in his vicinity.
The system would give particularly large rewards for acts of righteousness he himself carried out!
Before encountering Xiang Beifei, Cheng Xin'an had also planned to cross the withered forest to reach the thunder field. However, after Xiang Beifei's warning, he immediately turned and followed Xiang Beifei's team.
Xiang Beifei was indifferent to the follow-up from Yongzhou University's team.
He could recognize Cheng Xin'an's system at a glance. This person was different from other cocky SSRs. He was polite without that air of arrogance, a powerful martial artist in his own right, who appeared very rational and not stubbornly self-righteous.
Xiang Beifei had a deep impression of Cheng Xin'an's system.
The presence of such a system implied that the person was upright and wouldn't engage in any schemes. Xiang Beifei judged people solely based on their system log, and since Cheng Xin'an's daily tasks were displayed in the system log, Xiang Beifei didn't repel Yongzhou University.
Ma Ziqian asked curiously, "Why would you believe what we say?"
Cheng Xin'an smiled and then turned to look back at the withered forest, saying, "I've always felt there's something off about this withered forest. It's too safe. It's so safe that it doesn't feel like we're in the outer domains at all. You say it's dangerous here, and I see no reason not to believe it."
He looked at Xiang Beifei and said with certainty that he trusted Xiang Beifei's actions.
The "SSR-level Vast Righteous Qi System" could measure the righteousness value of a target.
Whenever Cheng Xin'an encountered a situation, his system would evaluate whether it fell within the scope of righteousness.
His judgment of righteousness values was straightforward, with only "positive" or "negative" as the possible answers.
Upon encountering Xiang Beifei's team, who warned them to leave, his system interface displayed a line:
[Xiang Beifei's current behavior is judged as: positive]
With just a few words from Xiang Beifei, the Vast Righteous Qi System gave a "positive" evaluation, and Cheng Xin'an decisively gestured to follow without asking further questions, not even delving into the reasons, and quickly followed with his own team.
Cheng Xin'an could not have anticipated just how correct his instinctive decision was.
Certainly, much better than the indecisive students from Jingzhou University.
"What danger did you encounter just now?" Di Sheng from Yongzhou University asked.
Di Sheng, an SR who had awakened the "Splendid Rivers and Mountains System," had been defeated by Li Zimu in a tournament before. However, he accepted his loss with good grace and was not a sore loser. He even greeted Li Zimu with respect afterward.
"Ask Tang He; he's from Qingzhou University. His team was dispersed by a strange desolate beast. The fate of his teammates is currently unknown," Li Zimu said while leading the group and pointing to the pale-faced Tang He.
Tang He hesitated for a moment, then briefly relayed his encounter.
"Then our immediate priority should be to report this to the alliance," Di Sheng said.
"That's exactly what we plan to do," Li Zimu nodded slightly.
But at that moment, Xiang Beifei suddenly gestured for Li Zimu to stop.
"What's the matter?" Li Zimu asked.
"We've gone beyond the range."
Xiang Beifei stood atop a tree, looking into the distant expanse of the withered forest, which still had no end in sight, much like an infinite ocean.
"What does that mean?" Long Guocheng asked.
"I've calculated the distance. Since entering the withered forest, we've walked for roughly an hour and twenty minutes. After encountering Tang He, we immediately retreated, picking up the pace. By all accounts, we should have left the withered forest by now," Xiang Beifei said as he stared at the withered forest in front of him. Yet, they were still within the withered forest, as if—the withered forest had grown larger!
"Could we have gone in the wrong direction?" Xi Keyao asked.
Xiang Beifei turned his head toward the distant part of the forest, occasionally illuminated by purple lightning, and said, "If it were through the woods, indeed, we could be led astray, but we've been walking in the air, and I've corrected our course. The direction couldn't be wrong."
It is indeed easy to be led off course in the woods as the trees crisscross and sometimes one has to move around dense vegetation. However, traveling above the trees reduces the likelihood of going astray, as one only needs to use that field of thunder as a reference point for orientation.
Unless that field of thunder was a fake.
Xiang Beifei focused on the edge of the withered forest.
At that time, the sky gradually darkened, visibility decreased, and the fog around them seemed to be growing thicker.