Volume 2 Setting Out on the Journey Chapter 27: The Front Lines (Part 1)

Shen Feng's conclusion made Wang Jue nod slightly.

Although he was not entirely certain how much time would be devoted to universal martial arts cultivation in the future, one thing he was sure of was that as time passed, every human's physical fitness would gradually improve!

There would come a day when virtually all humans could become martial artists!

Of course, Wang Jue was also self-aware enough to realize that such a grand matter was not something for a lowly Spirit-Concealing Realm martial artist like him to worry about.

The group quickly finished their lunch, cleared away the dishes, and ordered some tea.

"Our cultivation levels have all broken through, and we've had a couple of months to get used to our new power," Shen Feng said, taking a sip of tea and looking around at the others. "Although the rat tide hasn't completely subsided, it doesn't affect our hunting in the surrounding areas. I think we should simply head out into the wilderness in the next couple of days. Does anyone have any objections?"

Under normal circumstances, he certainly wouldn't be in such a rush.

It was just that breaking through their cultivation levels had basically exhausted their savings. They needed to earn some money quickly now, or else they probably wouldn't even be able to afford basic healing medicine when the time came.

"Is it really that urgent?" Su Yu ventured hesitantly. "Captain, can we wait a few more days? At the very least, we should wait until the rat tide passes. Otherwise, if we actually run into them out in the wilderness, we'll probably end up as their rations."

They came to the border battlefield to hunt star beasts for money, not to serve as food for them. Compared to money, life was obviously much more important!

"Hmm..." Shen Feng mused thoughtfully. "We haven't been able to go out and hunt star beasts for over half a month, so there must be many martial artists who are already itching to go. Let's wait two or three days to see how things develop before making a decision."

"Captain, you shouldn't have that kind of mindset," Su Yu shook his head. "Look, if you have this thought, others surely do as well. If no one wants to stick their neck out first, we'll just keep stalling. As martial artists, how can we afford to waste so much time?"

"Since others don't want to be the first to make a move, let's do it ourselves. I actually quite like being the first to eat the crab. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. As long as everyone is careful and retreats immediately upon sensing danger, nothing should go wrong."

"Listening to you put it that way, it does make some sense." Shen Feng stroked his chin, thought about it for a moment, and gritted his teeth. "Alright, then we set off tomorrow morning!"

If it were just him, he would definitely take action immediately. But now they were a team; he couldn't let his own selfish desires drag the entire squad into danger.

"Tomorrow? Isn't that a bit too fast?" Su Yu blinked in mild surprise. "Captain, how about the day after tomorrow?"

"That sounds fine to me." Wang Jue nodded. "We can use tomorrow to make preparations for the trip and gather some intelligence along the way. As long as we confirm that the rat tide has indeed dispersed, we'll set out the day after tomorrow. But captain, where are we heading this time?"

"Hahaha."

Before Shen Feng could speak, Su Yu laughed heartily. "Our team is much stronger than before, so naturally we can't just hang around the supply camps dealing with those level-one and level-two star beasts."

Everyone in their team had broken through their cultivation, making their overall strength several times greater than before.

In the past, they rarely bothered with the star beasts around the camp, and naturally they wouldn't do so now.

Previously, the furthest they ventured was the outer and middle rings of the Misty Forest.

The recent rat tide had originated from the Misty Forest. Although most of the rat beasts pouring out of the forest had been largely wiped out, no one could guarantee what the current situation inside the Misty Forest actually was.

Much less would they dare to gamble with their own lives.

"Hiss..."

Shen Feng took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "How about this—let's be bold. Shall we venture to the front lines?"

"The front lines?"

Everyone present was startled.

The front lines!

What did that place represent?

It could be said to be the most terrifying region of the entire border battlefield!

It bordered the ocean, and numerous marine star beasts infested the various river channels.

It contained many human cities that had existed before the descent of the star beasts, and these cities were incomparable to the current safe zones.

The number of star beasts there reached a staggering figure. Star beasts below level six could be seen everywhere, level-seven star beasts were quite numerous, and there were even level-eight star beasts entrenched there. As for whether there were level-nine star beasts, that remained unknown.

At the same time, because it was a battlefield, it gathered countless humans and top-tier martial artists from all walks of life!

In short, this was practically the main stronghold where human and alien martial artists engaged in fierce combat against the star beasts!

"Are we going there?"

Both Jiang Yunyan and Jiang Yunxin were thoroughly shocked.

"Captain, isn't this a bit too hardcore? Isn't that step a bit too big?"

Jiang Yunyan couldn't help but say, "How about we head to the One-Line-Heaven Canyon first?"

Brave as she was, hearing the words "the front lines" still made her tremble slightly.

After all, that place was a genuine melting pot of dragons and serpents where behemoths roamed!

Shen Feng looked at them and smiled. "What, are you all scared?"

"What's there to be scared of? Anyone who dares to go to the front lines has something to brag about," Su Yu said, his eyes glowing. "We're going, of course we're going! Besides, the entire front line is massive—dozens of times larger than City Number One and our other cities combined. We can just infiltrate slowly from the periphery, what is there to fear?"

He had long wanted to see what the front lines were like, but had never been able to fulfill that wish due to insufficient cultivation.

Now that the opportunity had presented itself, he naturally wouldn't refuse!

Instead of making the decision arbitrarily, Shen Feng looked at the silent Wang Jue and asked, "Wang Jue, what do you think about this?"

"Uh..."

Wang Jue didn't answer immediately, frowning in deep thought.

Regarding the front lines, a place that could be described as a gathering place of winds and clouds, he had also seen information about it on the adventurers' internal network, and he had some understanding of just how high the danger level was!

Despite the existence of cities like City Number One, compared to the front lines, City Number One didn't even count as a village!

Whether it was the number of star beasts, human powerhouses, or experts from various races—while such figures were rarely seen elsewhere, seeing them frequently here, if not constantly, was entirely possible.

"Going is certainly feasible," Wang Jue nodded. "However, we must proceed slowly from the suburbs."

"Of course we'll advance slowly from the suburbs. Do I look like I'm tired of living? I don't want to die yet either."

Hearing that Wang Jue didn't object, Shen Feng broke into a wide grin. "Let me tell you, quite a few of my old friends are hanging around the front lines. Honestly, that's where the top powerhouses gather."

"In the past, our team's strength wasn't enough, so I could only envy them. But now... tch, tch... I never thought we'd actually get to go and make our mark there too."

Daring to operate on the front lines was a symbol of one's strength.

Because there were many behemoths and giants there, even the suburbs frequently saw level-three and level-four star beasts.

As for the hinterlands, there were plenty of level-five and level-six star beasts, and if one had bad luck, they might even run into level-seven or level-eight ones.

Therefore, martial artists without genuine strength wouldn't even dare to enter the suburbs if they went to the front lines.

Once they didn't dare to go in, they couldn't hunt star beasts; unable to hunt star beasts meant they couldn't make money; and if they couldn't make money, they might as well honestly return to their previous haunts.

That way, while they wouldn't make a fortune, earning enough for daily expenses wouldn't be a problem!

Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Shen Feng checked the time on his wristwatch and smiled at the group, "Alright, that's settled then. Everyone can go do whatever they need to do. Use these two days to properly prepare, and we'll set off for the front lines early the day after tomorrow."

"Alright, to the front lines!"

Wang Jue and the others couldn't help feeling their blood boil.

...

Time flowed onward.

Two days later.

Shen Feng and the other three rendezvoused with Wang Jue early in the morning. After a quick breakfast, they joined the powerful warriors returning from the front lines to provide reinforcements and embarked on the road toward the front.

As for the big shots with fighter jets, they had already departed long ago.

Those without fighter jets either drove or walked.

Most people chose to walk because the road from City Number One to the front lines was rough; heavy armored vehicles couldn't pass through certain sections, and their excessive noise easily attracted star beasts.

Therefore, even though most people knew that walking to the front lines was very slow, they still chose not to drive.

Wang Jue and his group walked alongside the large vanguard for five consecutive days. From an initial headcount of tens of thousands, the number steadily decreased each time they passed a supply camp.

Now, only a few thousand people remained in the entire contingent, and they were still at least two days away from the front lines.

During these days of travel, Wang Jue's team ate dry rations when they were hungry, and instead of setting up camp in the wild at night, they made sure to reach a supply camp for rest before dark.

After all, walking from City Number One to the front lines took at least half a month.

Especially during such times, no matter how high a martial artist's physical fitness was, it was impossible to march blindly without eating or sleeping.

Food was relatively easy to solve, as every martial artist carried some dry rations, but lodging was a major problem.

Every martial artist knew that the wilderness at night was the domain of star beasts.

Generally speaking, martial artists who chose to spend the night in the wilderness either possessed terrifyingly formidable strength or managed to find a relatively safe hiding spot.

In a situation like Wang Jue's current one, while their numbers were quite large, they still couldn't compare to the star beasts, so they had no choice but to spend the night at the supply camps along the route.

This allowed them to replenish their rations on one hand and get a proper rest on the other.

Naturally, battles were inevitable along the way.

However, because powerful experts were present to keep the situation under control, no martial artists had died so far, though injuries occurred frequently.

The senior experts paid little attention to these minor skirmishes; unless lives were in immediate danger, they rarely made a move.

Perhaps due to growing closer to the front lines, the level of star beasts encountered along the way became increasingly higher, shifting gradually from level one and level two to level three and level four, and occasionally even running into level-five star beasts, resulting in a considerable number of casualties among the vanguard.

After all, while many of the guiding experts leading the team were in the Yellow Star Realm, killing star beasts of their own rank in a short time was not easy.

As for the Crimson Star Realm martial artists, even combining forces to deal with a level-three star beast required extreme caution; asking them to take on a level-four star beast was tantamount to suicide.

Especially when battles broke out with star beasts, they invariably attracted other star beasts to join the fray.

Casualties among the personnel only ever occurred under such circumstances.

In the end, while the star beasts were either slain or put to to flight, the human martial artists fared no better.

"It seems what the network said wasn't exaggerated at all."

Having truly experienced this scene firsthand, Wang Jue couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Martial artists with low cultivation, even when led by powerful experts, still have very little guarantee of safety."