Edited by Aelryinth

"Speaking of which, how are we supposed to climb up the mountains? Won't the winged beasts attack us if we tried to fly up?" Advisor Xu inquired.

The person they were looking for seemed to be at the Vine Canopy Layer, but from what Zhang Xiaohou knew, that did not necessarily guarantee that the person was still alive. The Vine Canopy Layer might be the lowest level, but it had a lot of powerful creatures, too!

"Come with me, I know a safer route. We will part ways when we reach the Vine Canopy Layer," Zhang Xiaohou said.

"Thanks for your help, General Zhang!" Advisor Xu said.

Zhang Xiaohou led the group to another mountain. The native creatures only cared about creatures at the same altitude or higher, and did not bother wasting their time on the creatures below them. The group had no trouble moving around in the woods beneath their territories.

"This mountain is covered in vines, we can climb along them. Remember, you can only fly as a last resort!" Zhang Xiaohou warned them.

The group followed Zhang Xiaohou along an extremely thick vine. The vine was so huge that they could even stand on it. Some of the vines even formed a path through the air when they were tangled up.

The vines did not cover only a single mountain. Some were a few hundred meters long, and extended to a greater height on another mountain, allowing Mo Fan and the others to walk across them to the next mountain while slowly climbing their way up!

"The vines end here." Bai Hongfei halted in his tracks. He had already reached the edge of a cliff.

They were currently at the top of a mountain, a relatively short one among the peaks nearby. It felt like they were still at the bottom when they looked up, as if they were not making any progress.

Mount Baiba had too many peaks soaring into the clouds. They were still a great distance away from the Vine Canopy Layer!

"Leave it to me," Ling Fei stepped forward. Her eyes emitted a strange blue flicker of light.

Ling Fei murmured softly, like she was communicating with nature. The vines that had stopped at the top of the mountain began to grow toward a taller peak nearby.

The vines wriggled along the mountain like serpents. They wove together rapidly and formed a long vine bridge connecting two peaks around four hundred meters apart. A deep canyon lay between the mountains, and they felt overwhelmed as they tried to walk on the swaying vine bridge.

The stronger Wind of Sorrow blew through the vine bridge. A Maga of the Violet Imperial Battalion immediately set up a shield of Light to protect the group.

A stronger gust of the Wind of Sorrow swept across the vine bridge when the group reached midway. The Light crumbled instantly, exposing the group to the fierce wind!

The sound of the beating wings became clearer. It only came from above at first, but the loud noise soon surrounded them. Most awkwardly, the group was stuck on the vine bridge with limited space to move around.

"Didn't you say they wouldn't attack creatures at a lower altitude? We haven't reached their altitude!" Zhao Manyan shrieked when the fliers showed up.

"These are only the lesser fliers. They are from below the Vine Canopy Layer!" Zhang Xiaohou replied.

"What should we do now?" Zhao Manyan asked.

"What else can we do? Screw them, I've tolerated them for too long!" Mo Fan rolled his sleeves up in annoyance.

There was indeed nothing else the group could do except engage the creatures!

"Can't we fight them after we reach the next mountain?" Zhao Manyan yelled.

"Sure, you can try negotiating with the creature with colorful feathers right above you!" Mo Fan replied agreeably.

Was he stupid? These creatures had obviously launched their attack now because they knew humans were unable to fly and were vulnerable to the Wind of Sorrow. How brainless was Zhao Manyan!?

"Telekinesis!"

Mo Fan made his move right away. He gathered his Will on the rocks nearby and forcibly dragged them out.

The mountain was some distance away, but the reach of Mo Fan's Will was impressive, and he continued to accelerate the rocks he had grabbed. The rocks were like missiles by the time they arrived!

The many different flying creatures about beat their wings rapidly. They were very nimble in the air, and the rocks only managed to hit a few of them. It was quite a surprise to Mo Fan, since his accuracy was on point most of the time.

"Brother Fan, they are more agile than ordinary Warrior-level creatures because of the Wind of Sorrow. You will have to limit their movements to land your attacks on them!" Zhang Xiaohou exclaimed.

Mo Fan's Telekinesis was more than enough to handle Warrior-level creatures, but he did not expect these flying things to be so quick after using the Wind of Sorrow.

Mo Fan had no choice but to use stronger spells to take them out!

"Space Rhythm: Time Stasis!"

Mo Fan cast a Space Spell again. A huge rhomboid loomed over the area.

The rhomboid greatly slowed down the creatures within it, like they were moving in a pool of mud. Mo Fan was quite adept at utilizing the Time Stasis. The Winged Beasts nearby were moving significantly slower, as if they were suddenly caught in slow motion.

"Try dodging this!" Mo Fan harrumphed coldly.

No one was more violent than Mo Fan in a fight. He pointed his finger at the sky after casting Time Stasis on the fliers, completing a Lightning Spell in an instant. A bunch of lightning strikes descended upon the area without any regular pattern.

The Wind of Sorrow boosted the fliers' speed, but it did not grant them sturdier flesh. The lightning strikes boosted by Mo Fan's Lightning Tyrant instantly turned them into ashes after he restricted their movements!

"Such a remarkably strong Lightning Element!" Ling Fei was a Lightning Mage too, but she was still shocked when she saw how Mo Fan was brutally slaughtering the various Warrior-level flying creatures.

She would need to land her Lightning Spell on the fliers a few times to kill them, but Mo Fan was able to kill the Winged Beasts instantly with only one shot. It immediately changed her impression of him. After all, even the highest-quality Soul-grade Lightning Seed was unlikely to kill the Winged Beasts with a single spell!

"He does have a few tricks up his sleeves," Li Dexin admitted softly.

Mo Fan was only able to handle the fliers from one direction. He managed to stop the ones coming from above, but the rest of the creatures began to attack the humans from different directions. These Winged Beasts were not small at all; the vine bridge would soon collapse if it took a few more hits from them!.

"Pick up the pace, they are trying to break the vine bridge!" Ling Fei led the way, waving her hands around. She was controlling the vines so they would grow toward the other mountain.

"Another bunch of them are coming from that direction!"

"Same here!"

The group was being flanked from all directions on the vine bridge. It was the worst possible place to be attacked. Mo Fan was already killing the creatures crazily fast, yet he still failed to fend off the others that had shown up in great numbers!

"The other side of the bridge is collapsing!" Bai Hongfei yelled.

A bunch of the more intelligent creatures were using their sharp claws on the thick vines extending out from the previous mountain. They were trying to cut off the vine bridge!

"It's fine, I can fly!" Zhao Manyan summoned out his golden Wing Magical Equipment. He was planning to fly to the next mountain after the vine bridge collapsed.

"Brother Zhao, don't! If you show your Wings, the creatures will treat you as a flying creature. You will catch the attention of the more powerful creatures at a higher altitude. If you cross the height they are at, they will chase you relentlessly!" Zhang Xiaohou blurted out.

"What the hell? Are you telling me that I can't fly around with my Wings?" Zhao Manyan complained.

"Winged beasts are very strict about their territory, like tigers on a mountain! One won't care about birds flying across its mountain, but it won't allow jackals and wolves to trespass into its territory! The same principles apply to these winged beasts. You can pass through the mountains and woods in their territory, and they will just turn a blind eye to you, like the Golden-Blue Sparrowhawk we stumbled into. But if you fly in their territory, they will assume that you're challenging them. The whole tribe will come after you, as you are defying the pride of their tribe!" Zhang Xiaohou stated.

Zhao Manyan immediately had a headache. The vine bridge was going to fall soon. Did he have no choice but to fall into the bottomless canyon if he was not allowed to use his Wings?

Even an Advanced Mage was going to fall to their death at their current height!

"I'll bring Lingling over first. The rest of you, hang in there," Mo Fan decisively constructed the Star Pattern of the Space Element when he realized the pinch they were in. He wrapped his arms around Lingling and Apas before casting Blink.

He could reach the opposite mountain by casting Blink twice!

"Damn you, bring me along too!" Zhao Manyan cursed when he saw the sprinkles of dust circling Mo Fan.

Mo Fan did not give Zhao Manyan the chance to tag along. Bringing another person along would greatly reduce the distance the spell could cover. He was only able to cast Blink twice in the time available!

Zhao Manyan cursed when Mo Fan left with the two young ladies. He had never seen anyone neglecting their brothers so thoroughly for the sake of women!

"Brother Zhao, you should withdraw your Wings first. Otherwise, we are going to be in serious trouble. You don't want the whole flocks of fliers chasing after you!" Zhang Xiaohou reminded him.

Zhao Manyan helplessly withdrew his Wing Magical Equipment. He glanced at the vine bridge that was being cut off when he realized he could no longer feel the vine bridge with his feet.

"Crap!… f**k meeeeeeeee!" Zhao Manyan screamed as they began to fall.

"Grab the vines! Hold on tight!" Ling Fei yelled.