Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 456 – Entering White Bone Pass

Two and a half days.

Lin Fan deliberately kept her flight speed at what a seventh-rank initial stage cultivator should look like, stopping and starting along the way.

On the journey, she passed through the outer airspace of three Dragon Clan cities. She didn’t enter any of them, instead circling wide around each one.

Patrol squads circled above every city, their inspection frequency far denser than what she’d seen at Crimson Horn City.

The further east she traveled, the higher the concentration of Spirit Energy in the air became, and the darker the sky grew.

On the morning of the third day.

The terrain below had completely transformed.

Vast stretches of black rock layers had replaced the former woodlands—not a single blade of grass growing anywhere.

The ground was split by countless ravines, with faint gray miasma seeping up from the depths, its smell sharp and pungent.

In the distance, the mountain ridges looked as if something had gnawed on them—bare and stripped clean, nothing but jagged skeletal frames remaining.

White Bone Pass.

A name that fit its appearance perfectly.

Lin Fan hovered mid-air, slowly spreading her Mental Strength outward.

The next second, her brow twitched slightly.

Dense waves of Spirit Energy fluctuations surged toward her from ahead—so many that her Mental Strength’s perception nearly overflowed.

Fifth-rank and sixth-rank fluctuations stacked on top of each other, with the occasional seventh-rank aura interspersed among them.

She swept her senses across the area.

At least three thousand people.

And that number was still growing.

Small squads kept converging on White Bone Pass from every direction.

Long Hui’s information hadn’t been quite accurate.

Not two thousand—nearly double that.

The scale was even larger than she’d anticipated.

Lin Fan felt no unease whatsoever.

On the contrary, the corner of her mouth curved slightly upward.

The more fish there were, the more worthwhile it was to cast the net.

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She suppressed all her Spirit Energy fluctuations, leaving only the outward aura of a seventh-rank initial stage, then descended slowly.

The moment her cloth shoes touched the black rock ground, a rough, gritty texture pressed up through the soles.

About two hundred meters ahead stood the outer checkpoint of White Bone Pass.

Nothing like the shabby gate of Crimson Horn City.

Two black-iron fortress walls, each roughly twenty meters tall, stretched across the valley entrance. Every ten steps along the walls, a lighting stone powered by a third-rank Crystal was embedded, illuminating the entire checkpoint in brilliant light.

Behind the fortress walls stretched row after row of military tents—gray-black canvas extending all the way to the deep mountain hollow at the edge of sight, spread across the ground like an anthill.

A long queue lined up before the main gate.

Faces of every race mingled together.

Werewolves, tiger-kin, hawk-kin, with the occasional Collateral Dragonkin mixed in.

The atmosphere in the queue was heavy and oppressive. Few people spoke.

Most faces wore a numb expression of “well, we’re already here.”

The guards at the gate were on an entirely different level from those amateurs at Crimson Horn City.

Uniform black armor of fine craftsmanship, with the Dragon Emperor Hall’s emblem carved between the plates.

At their waists hung not ordinary iron swords, but standard-issue long blades forged from spiritual gold.

The Dragon Emperor Hall’s direct guard.

All at least fifth-rank.

The two officers standing on the high platforms flanking the checkpoint—one at sixth-rank late stage, the other at sixth-rank peak.

Both bore pure golden Dragon horns on their foreheads.

Pureblood.

Just as she’d expected.

They let the Collateral Dragonkin and Demi-human races handle the recruiting work, while the Purebloods personally oversaw the gate inspection.

Lin Fan stepped forward to the back of the queue.

Ahead of her stood an enormous bear-kin, at least three meters tall, carrying a stone axe across his back that was wider than Lin Fan’s entire body.

Fifth-rank mid stage aura.

The bear-kin glanced back at her, caught sight of the dark-gold Dragon horns on her forehead, and immediately averted his gaze. His body instinctively shuffled half a step forward, giving her more space.

The queue moved slowly.

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Everyone had to present their city’s expedition certificate and passage token at the checkpoint, after which a Pureblood officer would verify their Spirit Energy fluctuations and register them in the ledger.

Lin Fan waited about twenty minutes.

It was the bear-man ahead of her turn.

The fellow clumsily fumbled a wooden token and a crumpled beast-hide document from his belt, handing them to the Pureblood officer at the checkpoint.

The sixth-level peak Pureblood glanced over the documents, probed the bear-man’s cultivation level with his Mental Strength, and casually scratched a line into the registry.

“Iron Peak City, fifth-level mid-stage, Bear Clan. Assigned to the Seventh Company. Once inside, turn left and find your own tent.”

The bear-man nodded and bowed his way off.

Lin Fan was next.

She stepped up to the checkpoint and handed over the beast-hide document Long Hui had given her along with the dark red token.

The Pureblood officer lowered his head and flipped open the document.

“Red Horn City?”

His tone carried undisguised disdain as he leafed through the beast-hide.

“Red Horn City’s quota is ten people at fifth-level or above, and you’ve only sent one?”

“I don’t know about the others.”

Lin Fan’s tone was flat.

“I’m only responsible for my own slot.”

The officer looked up, his gaze sweeping over her.

Dark green long hair, dark gold Dragon horns, black-and-gold horse-face skirt.

Her features were decent, but nothing striking.

Collateral.

The officer’s expression relaxed a few degrees as his Mental Strength probed toward her.

The next second, his eyes changed.

“Seventh-level early stage?”

The sixth-level late-stage officer on the elevated platform beside them also turned his head.

Red Horn City, Collateral, seventh-level.

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Those three words together were as incongruous as a live fish suddenly leaping out of an ice pot.

“Long Ningshuang?”

The sixth-level peak officer read the name from the document.

“Never heard of her. When did Red Horn City produce a seventh-level Collateral?”

“Just gifted.”

Lin Fan gave a vague answer offhandedly.

The officer was clearly unsatisfied with that explanation, but he didn’t press further.

A seventh-level cultivation was right there—even as Collateral, she counted as upper-tier combat strength in White Bone Pass’s conscription system.

For Red Horn City to send someone like this already far exceeded expectations.

“Registering.”

He picked up his brush and wrote a few lines in the ledger.

“Collateral Dragonkin, Long Ningshuang, seventh-level early stage, Red Horn City representative. Assigned to…”

He paused, exchanging a glance with the officer on the elevated platform.

“Seventh-level goes to the First Company.”

The one on the platform said.

“The First Company is north of the main command area. Report there yourself. Find the First Company’s vice-commander for quarters and military supplies.”

Lin Fan nodded, retrieving her token and documents.

She had just taken a step when the sixth-level peak officer behind her spoke again.

“Wait.”

Lin Fan stopped and turned to look at him.

The officer pulled a sheet of paper from under the desk—it was that wanted poster.

A white-haired woman with black eyes, sanpaku eyes and a mean mouth, radiating killing intent.

“The Council of Elders has been hunting someone across the entire continent recently.”

The officer held up the portrait, his tone matter-of-fact.

“Take a look. Recognize her?”

Lin Fan glanced at her own portrait, which had been drawn in an extremely abstract fashion.

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“Don’t recognize her.”

“If you see anyone suspicious in the camp, report it immediately. A thousand third-grade Crystals for whoever captures her alive, half that for a kill.”

“Understood.”

Lin Fan turned and walked through the checkpoint.

Passing through the gate tunnel of the black iron fortress wall, the view suddenly opened up.

The interior of White Bone Pass was even larger than it looked from outside.

The entire valley had been transformed into a temporary military fortress.

Gray-black military tents were arranged in neat rows, marked with different camp zones labeled A, B, C, and D.

Between the tents ran paths paved with crushed stone, patrolled by roving guards.

The air was thick with the smoky aroma of roasted beast meat, the musky stench of hides and fur, and the distinctive restless surge of Spirit Energy that accompanied a large gathering of Evolved beings.

Lin Fan walked north along the main road.

As she passed the camps marked Second and Third Division, she glanced over.

The Second and Third Division camps were primarily composed of Sixth-Order combatants, with a mix of races, mostly Demi-humans.

The tents were packed tightly together, and the living conditions were average—though still considerably better than those of the Seventh Division further off.

The First Division was situated at the northernmost end, right next to the main command tents deep within the valley.

The tents there were visibly a grade higher in quality, with much more generous spacing between them.

Four Sixth-Order Collateral Dragonkin guards stood watch at the camp entrance.

Lin Fan presented her token and documents.

After verifying them, the guards let her through, and one of them called out toward the interior of the camp.

“Commander! A new Seventh-Order arrival—Collateral from Redhorn City!”

A young man in half-armor emerged from the depths of the tents.

He bore pure golden Dragon horns and emanated a Seventh-Order mid-stage Spirit Energy fluctuation.

His features were cold and stern, his gaze carrying that particular condescending arrogance unique to the Pureblood Dragon Clan.

He looked at Lin Fan, his eyes lingering for two seconds on her dark-golden Dragon horns.

“Collateral? Seventh-Order?”