Chapter Fifty-Seven Entering Tianma Forest

  Tianma Forest, located in the central part of Luoyun Sect's territory, is approximately three thousand miles away from Luoyun City. It is a dense forest covering hundreds of square miles.

  Deep in the forest, there is a huge lake. The water in the lake is bubbling with hot air. The entire lake area emits a strong smell of sulfur.

  On the lakeside, there were over a dozen tall white horses. Unlike ordinary horses, these horses had extremely high physiques and had a pair of silver wings on their bodies.

  There is a fine horse running along the lake, suddenly excited, its wings lightly open and glide close to the ground, all the way to 100 meters away, before falling back to the ground.

  These fine horses are actually the Celestial Horses. And their existence is also the origin of the name of the Tianma Forest.

  In places farther away from the lake shore, there are also some exceptionally fine horses. These all-black horses keep a great distance from the heavenly horse, looking at it as if they were subjects looking at their king.

  These fine horses are collectively known as Hei Xuan horses, mounts of the heavy armored cavalrymen, and are indeed a type like this.

  ……

  How fast is Hei Dianma? On the second day of leaving Luoyun Sect, Lin Feng and others arrived at the edge of Tianma Forest.

  Here, a hundred-man squad of heavy cavalry in black armor is also stationed. Black-striped horses are forbidden objects within the territory of Luoyun Sect, and anyone who tries to take away black-striped horses without permission will be attacked by the heavy cavalry in black armor.

  Lin Feng and others directly arrived at the military camp on the edge of the forest.

  There were fifty-eight new knights who came to select their mounts this time. Of the ninety-seven places, thirty-nine went to veterans. In other words, out of sixty veteran soldiers like Yun Zhongyan who participated in the test, thirty-nine managed to retain their positions.

  Inside the barracks.

  "Listen up, you young ones!" shouted Gan Li, the centurion of the heavy cavalry stationed in this area. "I'll tell you about the rules for selecting mounts. Anyone who dares to disobey, don't blame me for being impolite!"

  Lin Feng and others listened intently, each person's hand holding a hand-painted sheepskin map, which marked the various regions of the Tianma Forest.

  "The entire Tianma Forest, surrounded by mountains on three sides, only this side is the exit. This is a treasure land of the sect, and also a forbidden land! Only when new knights select their mounts can they enter!"

  "Within two hundred miles of the forest's periphery is where the Black Whirlwind Horses roam, and also where you'll be selecting your mounts. Beyond that two-hundred-mile mark, however, are the true, legendary 'Heavenly Steeds'! Those are truly extraordinary creatures, with strength rivaling that of a Seventh- or even Eighth-level Tiger Fist practitioner! Even I wouldn't be able to handle such a Heavenly Steed!"

  "Don't enter that area at all costs! Otherwise, as a knight, you'll die here without even making it to the battlefield, won't that be laughable?"

  Everyone listened quietly and honestly.

  "Even if one could retreat unscathed in front of the heavenly horse, it would be pointless. The heavenly horse is proud and arrogant, and would rather die than become a mount. Therefore, entering that region has no meaning."

  Gan Li continued: "A mount is our second life, so we must choose carefully. However, choosing a mount also depends on fate, and the mount must have a good impression of you. Remember, you can only slowly cultivate feelings with the Black Whinny Horse, absolutely do not attack the Black Whinny Horse! Whoever disobeys will be dealt with by military law!"

  "You have ten days! Within these ten days, you can stay inside the forest. Ten days later, whether or not you've selected a mount, you must come out!"

  "Moreover, when choosing a mount, it's best to act alone. As long as you don't enter the area where the heavenly horses roam, with your strength, there is no danger. Black-striped horses are easily startled, acting alone will make it more likely for you to choose a satisfactory mount!"

  "Alright! That's all I'm saying, you can enter the forest now!"

  The heavy cavalry was divided into distinct ranks, and everyone was a new recruit. In front of the centurion, they had to maintain sufficient respect. Under him, all the people left the military camp in silence and entered the forest in a file.

  ……

  Entering the forest, all around are extremely tall trees. The trees here are tall and large, but not crowded, sunlight can easily shine from the treetops to the open space in the woods. The open space is covered with dense green grass, although other places have already entered winter, the forest is warm and spring-like.

  Such an environment is actually a very suitable place for wild horses to survive.

  Although Kaneki said it's best to act alone, since a small group will be serving in one place, most people from the same group chose to act together.

  "Let's go this way!" a tall and slender young man said, looking around and pointing in one direction.

  "Good." The two young men beside him also nodded.

  The three of them walked quickly in that direction and soon disappeared into the dense forest.

  "Let's go this way!"

  "There are fewer people going this way, let's go this way."

  The young men walked into the forest in groups with big strides.

  "Lin Ge, which direction are we heading?" Fang Qingfeng asked with a smile.

  Lin Feng had not yet replied when a voice suddenly rang out: "Qingfeng Miss."

  Lin Feng turned around, but saw a thin young man walking towards him with big strides.

  The young man was handsome in appearance, only slightly thin in build. From the aura emanating from his body, he was also a powerful sixth-rank practitioner of Tiger Form Fist.

  Lin Feng also recognized this person, his name was Liu Bai. There were only fourteen participants in the sixth level of Hu Xing Quan test, so it was easy to remember them.

  "Come on, Qingfeng! Let's go together!" Liu Bai walked up to Fang Qingfeng with a smile and said, "We were in the same group during the test, and we'll definitely be serving in the same city in the future. Now that we're getting to know each other better, we can work together more smoothly on the battlefield later on!"

  "No need, Bai Liu." Fang Qingfeng smiled slightly and said, "I'm going to serve with Lin Ge together, so we'll naturally go together."

  "You served with them? How is this possible? We were a group!" Liu Bai exclaimed in shock.

  "Goodbye, Liu Bai." Fang Qingfeng smiled slightly and turned to Lin Feng, "Lin brother, let's go! We'll head this way." As she spoke, she took a step in one direction.

  "Uh-huh, okay." Lin Feng nodded and gave a slight smile towards Liu Bai before walking over.

  Su Yan and Su Ying exchanged a glance, also quickly followed up.

  Liu Bai gazed at Fang Qing's beautiful figure, a hint of discontent on his face. His eyes shifted to Lin Feng, whose expression also turned gloomy.

  "Hmm!"

  Liu Bai hummed and turned around, striding into the woods, disappearing from sight.

  ……

  "Lin Ge, do you know why there are black donkeys here?" Fang Qingfeng asked as he walked.

  "I don't know." Lin Feng shook his head.

  "I don't know either." Qingfeng must have known, hurry up and tell us!" Su Yan said hastily.

  Fang Qingxue glanced at Su Yan and said, "Hei Cong Ma has a hint of Tianma bloodline. In fact, they are also the descendants of Tianma, but their bloodline is slightly weaker."

  "Originally, there were no black-striped horses in this forest. The most famous place here was the volcanic lake at the very center. Hundreds of years ago, the sect discovered the traces of heavenly horses around the volcanic lake and purchased a large number of high-quality mares to put into the forest, allowing the heavenly horses to mate with these mares, thus giving birth to the first batch of black-striped horses."

  “**？”

  Su Ying listened, and her delicate little face showed two red clouds.

  Fang Qingxue, however, was extremely calm and continued: "This batch of black horses has the purest bloodline, with half of it being Tianma blood. However, the quantity is far from meeting the needs of the sect, so for hundreds of years, the sect has been releasing healthy mares into the forest."

  "These mares were put into the forest, some with Tianma **, and some with Hei Dianma **, producing new Hei Dianma, the concentration of Tianma blood is naturally different. And there are also Hei Dianma, which are products of Hei Dianma between each other. So even if they are all Hei Dianma, their bloodlines are extremely complex."

  "The Tianma bloodline with the highest concentration is naturally the most powerful, while those with lower concentrations are closer to ordinary warhorses!"

  Su Yan said with a smile: "Then let's enter the forest and find the black donkey horse with the purest bloodline!"

  "Of course." Fang Qingfeng nodded, then shook his head and said, "But it's not easy to do. These black horses, from their appearance, are almost the same. And we're not allowed to attack them, so we can't see their limits. So choosing a mount is actually also about luck."

  "Since it can't be done, what's the point of saying these things." Su Ying muttered to herself.

  Lin Feng nodded, in fact, he naturally knew these things.

  Choosing a mount is indeed about luck.

  Once a mount is chosen, it cannot be changed. Of course, no knight would ever switch mounts either, unless the mount dies in battle. The relationship between a knight and their mount was always extremely delicate.

  Once a knight falls or retires, the warhorse will be released back into the Tianma Forest. When Lin Heng left Luoyun City, his mount was also returned here.

  Such war horses would never accept another person as their new master.

  Hei Mei Ma after all is with the Tianma bloodline, and also inherited a part of the Tianma's pride.

  Several people talked, but their feet didn't stop, and soon they entered deep into the forest for over ten miles.

  "Look quickly, Black Whirlwind Horse!" Su Yan suddenly cried out.

  Everyone looked back and saw that on the riverbank in front of them, there was a very tall war horse with its head lowered to drink water. Its shiny mane sparkled under the autumn sun.

  This horse is entirely black, its height more than double that of an ordinary warhorse. Standing there, it was filled with a powerful beauty.

  Everyone stood still, carefully sizing up the war horse as it approached.

  "What a fine horse!" Fang Qingxiang exclaimed after watching for a while.

  Lin Feng nodded: "Indeed it's a good horse!"

  Although it is impossible to determine the blood concentration of this horse, its height has already shown that it is absolutely not an ordinary black donkey.

  "Does anyone want this warhorse?" Fang Qingfeng asked.

  "I don't want it." Su Ying shook her head, "There must be something better inside."

  Su Yan said: "Since Qingfeng you like, then you go try to tame it!"

  "Lin Ge, what do you think?" asked Fang Qingfeng.

  Lin Feng smiled: "I'll take another look too!"

  "Alright, I'll give it a try!" Fang Qingfeng nodded and walked lightly towards the black horse.