Chapter 140: A test of strength. While Yao Jun was moving through the forest, heading towards the frozen wasteland in the distance, he gathered information about how much time had passed by using the insects that he had controlled with his mental energy. It took a few days for all of them to return to him, especially since he was currently on the move. One of the first insects that returned taught him that he had spent a little over 10 days inside the hollow mountain, meaning that carving the second channel went faster than carving the first one. Wei Zhong Jun had managed to escape from the hollow mountain, bringing with him Wei Yating and Lin Hanying. But Sito Yanyou and Jing Huo did not leave the mountain, so they were probably dead. Once all the insects returned, even those he had sent out to the different areas, he could not help but be disappointed. He had gotten reports about several dangerous Demonic beasts they had spotted, as well as several humans, but nothing about Guo Luo. Yao Jun gathered up all the information and then sent out the insects again, making them repeat what they did earlier. He placed more mental energy into them so they would be able to infect more insects, increasing the range at which he could gather information. After all the insects flew away, Yao Jun let out a loud sigh. He did not think that he was the type that got lonely so easily, but right now he was truly feeling lonely. He missed Guo Luo and the others. Yao Jun shook his head and threw the thought out of his mind. Now was not the time to worry about feeling lonely, now was the time to focus on getting stronger. Yao Jun continued moving through the forest, killing and eating any Demonic beasts that he came across that were weak enough for him to kill. He tried to weaken them enough and see if he could absorb them, but no matter what he tried, they could not enter his Demon God's Gate. It seemed like there was some sort of requirement for Demonic beasts from this hidden realm to enter his Demon God's Gate. As he started approaching the frozen wasteland, the air getting colder and the occasional snow falling from the sky, Yao Jun once more encountered other people. There were three people standing in front of him, blocking his path with weapons in hand. There were three people, all three clad in golden robes. The robes were tattered and torn, but Yao Jun could still see the insignia of the Peng clan embroidered on the chest, so they were clearly from the Peng clan. There were a few wounds on their bodies, but they did not seem to mind them. There were two men and one woman, with the two men obviously being twins. They had eyebrows that slanted sharply upwards, short black hair, somewhat murky brown eyes, and slim builds with long arms. The woman had long brown hair, clear blue eyes, soft features and smooth skin. “I do not believe that I have any enmity with you, so why do you block my path?” Yao Jun narrowed his eyes as he spoke to the three people, his sword already grasped tightly in his hands. The weakest among these three people was a person at the early stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth, while the strongest was at the late stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth. “Mistress Yi wishes for your death, so since we have been blessed with the great fortune to encounter you, we will bring your head to her and have her praise us.” The woman was the one with the highest cultivation, she was also the one who responded to Yao Jun, pulling out two daggers as she did so. The two men pulled out their weapons, one a halberd and the other a bow, and took up their positions. Yao Jun tried to figure out who this 'Mistress Yi' could be, but there were simply too many people with that name. He threw the distraction out of his mind and focused on the enemies ahead of him. They might be strong and felt that killing him would be easy, but Yao Jun only saw them as a chance to test his strength. He had yet to unleash his full strength and see how far it could take him. Yao Jun activated his armament, armor quickly covering his body, each piece of armor signifying one Demonic beast he had absorbed. The newest Demonic beast, Zhuyin, took the shape of a helmet in the form of a ferocious dragon's head. Now Yao Jun only needed two more Demonic beasts to complete his armor. He was actually looking forward to what would happen once the armor was complete. The man with the halberd and the woman with the dual daggers took up their stance in the front, with the man with the bow taking up stance a bit behind them. The man with the bow infused his Qi into his arrows and readied his shot, while the two others charged towards Yao Jun. The man with the halberd sent the halberd smashing down on Yao Jun, while the woman with the two daggers lowered her body and dashed towards him. Yao Jun moved to block, when he suddenly felt the gravity around him increase in strength, his feet sinking into the ground. Caught off-guard, three attacks arrived in front of his body. Yao Jun let out a low curse at himself. He had not activated his strengthening technique because he wanted to see how far he could go without it. But doing so without knowing the abilities of the enemies had been foolish. With the three attacks approaching him, he quickly activated both of the channels. Black Qi surged beneath his armor, only visible around his upper arms and thighs, and sank into his body. His cultivation rapidly soared, only stopping when it reached the late stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth. Had he only activated the first channel, he would only have reached the early stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth, which he felt would not be enough for this battle. Yao Jun forcefully resisted the increased gravity, twisting his body slightly. He raised his left arm and used it to block the descending halberd, used the sword in his right hand to block the two daggers, and let the arrow that flew towards him graze his left shoulder. When he blocked the halberd with his left arm, he felt a tremendous pressure push down on his left arm so it was clear that it was the halberd user who had increased the gravity around Yao Jun. The two daggers were blocked, but the woman simply let go of them and pushed both of her palms towards Yao Jun's abdomen. The skin on her palms split open as the bones in her hand turned into sharp spikes that aimed to stab into Yao Jun. Her power seemed to let her twist and control the bones inside her body. But it also looked like doing so hurt, as the woman furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her teeth. Crimson flames and violet lightning shot out from Yao Jun's body, the wind in the area getting violent as Yao Jun activated his own abilities. He tried to push away the halberd, but found himself unable to move his left arm, it was like he had suddenly lost control over it. Yao Jun slightly moved his eyes and saw that the man with the bow held his arm in the same position as Yao Jun. Could it be that he could control whatever he hit with his Qi? Yao Jun narrowed his eyes and released his own attacks. The wind turned into sharp blades that sliced open the area, while the flames and lightning that sprouted from his body turned into large javelins that flew at the three people. The trees in the area caught on fire from the high heat, but now was not the time to worry about it. Thanks to the fire javelins, the woman was forced to pull back her hands and dodge away from Yao Jun. The man with the halberd was also forced to dodge the onslaught of attacks. Yao Jun grabbed this chance and decided to go for the kill. His left arm twisted and grabbed hold of Yao Jun's throat, trying to choke him, but Yao Jun simply ignored it. His eyes locked onto the man with the bow, the man Yao Jun considered the most dangerous. The man flinched from Yao Jun's gaze and was going to put up a defense to defend against whatever Yao Jun was planning, but there was nothing he could do. The man's shadow rose up from the ground and swallowed him whole. The man was shocked to find himself suddenly reappearing right in front of Yao Jun, but before he could utter a sound, a sword sealed his throat and stole his life. With every increase in his cultivation, Yao Jun's control over his elements increased. And right now he had the cultivation of someone at the late stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth, bringing someone through the shadows and to his front was no problem, even if that person had a cultivation at the middle stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth. With the death of the bowman, Yao Jun regained control over his left arm. He quickly let go of his throat and took a few quick steps forward, his speed so fast he almost resembled a black blur. His left arm grabbed onto the head of the halberd, violet lightning dancing around him as he sent as much lightning as he could into it. The lightning traveled through the halberd and into the body of the man. Not only were the insides of the man fried by the high temperature, the lightning interacted with his brain and took over control of his body. The brain sent out electric signals to control the body, so with enough control from Yao Jun, he could do the same with his lightning, creating a strange form of mind control. The man used his own halberd to behead himself while his insides were getting roasted, leaving behind only the woman. Looking at Yao Jun, she could not help but tremble. They were the same cultivation level right now, but she was clear that his strength was leagues above her. The forest around him burned, lightning arced around him, the wind rage around him, and the shadows danced as he stepped forward. She had never seen a monster like this, and now she also realized why her mistress wanted him dead. If he were to grow up, he would become nothing but terrifying. “You helped me test my strength a bit, so thanks I guess.” Yao Jun's voice was nonchalant. He wanted to test his strength, and he had been pleasantly surprised when he saw the result. His strength had increased greatly from when he first entered the hidden realm. Yao Jun took another step forward, and the woman tried to take a step backwards to retreat. But the shadows beneath her turned into thick tendrils that coiled around her legs, causing her to fall backwards as she tried to retreat. She was scared and panicking, so there was no longer a way for her to think straight and put up a defense. As she fell backwards, the shadows beneath her turned into thick spikes. Once she fell on them, they started spinning and drilled into her body, reaping her life. Without putting up a defense with her Qi, her body was only a little tougher than normal people's. Yao Jun undid his armament and picked up the interspatial rings of the three people. They were filled with various medicinal herbs and pills that could restore Qi and cure wounds. There were some herbs there that Yao Jun had never seen before, so he looked forward to getting to plant them in his Demon God's Gate. Yao Jun looked at the fire that was raging around him, a cramped smile appearing on his face. He could only hope that it did not spread throughout the entire forest, angering whatever terrifying Demonic beast that certainly lived within it. He turned towards the frozen wasteland that was not too far away and once more started heading towards it.