Melinda was silent for a while. Finally, she understood in her heart that Xiao Tian had just saved her once again.

At that moment, Melinda also lowered her head and slowly said, "Thank you."

This thank you was truly sincere from Melinda.

If it weren’t for Xiao Tian this time, had she gone into the forest alone, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

This eerie fog could have taken her life without her even noticing.

Through the skills Xiao Tian had just displayed, Melinda had completely given up trying to attack Xiao Tian again. She now confessed, "To be honest, my true identity is ranked 22nd on the Dark List, and the purpose of my coming this time was to assassinate you."

Xiao Tian leaned against a nearby tree, not surprised at all, and said, "I knew that already."

"Yes, it’s ridiculous that I thought I had fooled you completely." Melinda sighed helplessly.

Through these days of interaction with Xiao Tian, Melinda realized that on the surface, Xiao Tian gives the impression of being easy to deceive.

For instance, Melinda had always thought Xiao Tian was following the traps she had designed, step by step.

But at the last step, she discovered that Xiao Tian had actually been in control all along, and she never had any real chance.

Now Melinda finally understood. The Huaxia Hunter truly lived up to his reputation!

Melinda continued, "However, you should be careful too. Ever since you reached the tenth position on the Dark List, it’s as if you’ve issued a challenge. Almost all the Dark List experts are eager to kill you and take your place. After all, a Hunter hasn’t appeared for years, and now suddenly taking the tenth spot, they naturally have doubts about your strength."

What Melinda said was true.

The tenth position on the Dark List is one that all the experts covet immensely.

Because once at this position, one can be called a strong person of this era, famous worldwide. Countless big families will try to befriend you; it can be said that you’ll have endless money to spend, and the world’s most beautiful women for you to choose from. This kind of allure of fame and fortune, who can refuse it?

That’s why every year when the Dark List is announced, it becomes the focus of global attention.

And countless people will fight to the death just for a name on the Dark List.

And countless people will lose their lives over a ranking.

The Dark List can bring glory to your family, but it can also leave you without a trace!

After hearing Melinda’s words, Xiao Tian appeared indifferent, saying, "Indeed, there have been a few Dark List experts who ambushed me before, were their names Hada, Pank?"

"Hada Pank?" Melinda was a bit surprised upon hearing this. Clearly, she was not unfamiliar with these two names.

Melinda quickly asked, "What happened to them?"

"One was slain, one was crippled," Xiao Tian said calmly, as if discussing something very ordinary. However, the information contained was enough to make Melinda’s beautiful eyes widen, her mouth forming an "O" shape.

One should know, as a duo, Hada Pank was extremely vicious, having roamed Europe for years, killing countless people with a tarnished reputation. Even some top 30 Dark List experts dared not provoke them recklessly. No wonder there had been no news of the two of them for so long; they had fallen at the hands of Xiao Tian!

At this moment, Xiao Tian also said coldly, "If they’re not afraid of death, they can come find me, but..."

"One comes, one dies!"

----

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in a rented apartment in Shanghai. Jin Feng and his elite subordinates were sitting quietly in the room, waiting.

Yesterday, Jin Feng had already selected a few elites from his subordinates to rush to Shanghai overnight. The aim was to find an opportunity to rescue his younger brother, Jin Zhan.

Jin Feng held a phone in hand, saying in a low tone, "Tomorrow, Jin Zhan will be escorted to the Shanghai court. We must rescue Jin Zhan during the transfer. After the mission is accomplished, each will be rewarded with a hundred thousand US Dollars. You’ll have your pick of border women!"

"Alright, no problem."

Seeing Jin Feng so generous, many of his subordinates cheered. Clearly, they were filled with anticipation.

---- 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

In the following three days, Xiao Tian and Melinda continued deeper into the forest.

Though Melinda had given up on assassinating Xiao Tian, she was still somewhat curious about the strange energy capable of enhancing her abilities. Wanting to explore further, Melinda did not leave and continued to follow Xiao Tian deeper in.

As they ventured further, some wild beasts occasionally appeared around them. The two mercilessly slaughtered them. Those poor beasts inevitably became food to replenish their strength.

After Xiao Tian and Melinda successively slew some wild beasts, they had a lingering scent of blood on them. Therefore, during the journey over the past one or two days, no beasts dared to come near.

At that moment, Xiao Tian and Melinda were walking in the jungle depths. Xiao Tian could distinctly feel that the energy fluctuation was very close, yet the surroundings were still full of trees and underbrush, with nothing else.

The only change was that the fog around them had grown denser.

Xiao Tian sensed the thick fog around and murmured to himself, "Strange, this fog doesn’t affect me at all. Could it be due to my gene recombination?"

While Xiao Tian was pondering, Melinda suddenly stopped, and Xiao Tian turned his head to ask, "What is it?"

At this moment, Melinda’s inner abilities seemed to be summoned by some energy. They were surging frantically.

And that energy was clearly not far from here.

Melinda immediately headed in one direction, and Xiao Tian slowly followed.

After taking just a few steps, Xiao Tian was shocked. In front of them, a massive structure emerged, looking like an ancient temple.

Stone pillars penetrated the surroundings, within which stood a huge palace, resembling a divine miracle.

Xiao Tian’s expression showed surprise, not expecting such a grand building in this forsaken place.

As the two approached, the mystical energy fluctuation Xiao Tian had sensed became more intense.

"My abilities..." At this moment, Melinda felt astonished.

Surrounded by the energy emanating from that temple, her own abilities were slowly enhancing!

Xiao Tian looked up at the temple and cautiously said, "It seems the entire forest’s white fog is emanating from here. There must be a huge secret inside this temple. Let’s go in and take a look!"

With that, Xiao Tian and Melinda proceeded towards the interior of the temple. They had only taken a couple of steps when they felt the grass around them rustling, and several figures suddenly emerged from it.