Several months flashed by.
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Moon Pincer Peninsula, Highland Alliance.
Recently, near Descending Clouds City, every evening, the sky would be covered with red clouds. This magnificent phenomenon attracted a lot of attention, especially from Insect Control Masters.
Insect Control Masters knew very well that this was a sign of the impending opening of the Red Cloud Realm.
As soon as the news spread, a great number of Insect Control Masters traveled thousands of miles to Descending Clouds City, settling in early to avoid missing the opportunity.
“Sorry, esteemed guests, our inn has no rooms left.”
“Dammit! What did you say?”
“Sorry, sorry, truly sorry, respected sorcerer, it’s just that we’ve had too many people coming to stay, and our inn has no vacancies.”
In an inn within the sorcerers’ exclusive area, a middle-aged attendant was apologizing and carefully explaining to the sorcerer in front of him.
Hearing his words, the sorcerer, Hower, looked somewhat displeased.
“That’s enough, Hower, he wouldn’t dare lie to us. There’s no need to make it difficult for an apprentice,” Gavin, standing beside him, advised.
“Let’s go look somewhere else,” Hower nodded.
Gavin and Hower were also Insect Control Masters, who had specifically come a long distance to wait for the emergence of the Red Cloud Realm.
They went to another inn, where the attendant also indicated that it was fully booked.
Soon, they found that the larger inns in the exclusive area were all full. There were vacancies elsewhere, but the environment was much inferior, so they had no choice but to settle in.
“How can there be so many people? Isn’t someone selling potions disguised as the insect aura again?”
“I asked around just now, and it’s the people from Star Moon Academy who are selling them. That’s not the main thing; the main thing is that a piece of news is circulating,” Gavin said.
“What?” Hower asked, perplexed.
“Do you remember Dean Marichadon of Mongna Ant Land Cottage?” Gavin asked in return.
“Of course, he was the one who single-handedly broke the century-long contract with Mongna Ant Land Cottage, leading to more and more academies amending their own contracts, benefiting many sorcerers greatly, like you and me.” Mentioning such a powerful figure, Hower felt genuine admiration.
“Some say that the dean secured the first place in the Red Cloud Realm, obtaining something extremely precious, which caused his strength to skyrocket, allowing him to be promoted to a Level 2 Sorcerer in one fell swoop. Can you imagine the allure of such news?” Gavin said with a bitter smile.
Hower took a deep breath upon hearing this.
How could such news not attract people?
“But is it possible? Those who haven’t been to the Cloud Realm might not know, but Insect Control Masters who have been there know that it’s only a place that produces and cultivates insects,” he hesitated after a pause.
“But no one will listen, they’ll just think we Insect Control Masters want to monopolize the Red Cloud Realm,” Gavin sighed.
The two exchanged glances, both foreseeing that as time passed and the rumour fermented, more and more people would flood to Descending Clouds City, a good portion of whom were not Insect Control Masters.
Once the Red Cloud Realm opened, it would be a grand and chaotic scene.
Meanwhile, not far from the sorcerers’ exclusive area, some leased courtyards had become the first choice for many sorcerers.
Aside from the lack of a defensive array, from certain aspects, these courtyards offered better seclusion.
Inside one of the courtyards lived several winged individuals, with wings of similar structure but differing in feather color and pattern, appearing to be Bloodline Alterators.
“That person left the East Capital not long after the Red Cloud Realm showed signs of activity, heading this way.”
One of them spoke in a deep voice, completely wrapped up, with a mask covering even his face.
From their posture, it was not difficult to tell that they regarded him as their leader.
Such an outfit was not common among sorcerers, yet it did not draw much attention; in the world of sorcerers, there were always those who pursued uniqueness, and any bizarre attire and appearance existed.
“As expected, our long wait has been worthwhile.”
“A mere Level 2 Sorcerer, we’ve been carefully planning for so long, we will surely catch him easily.”
The others spoke one by one, their bodies giving off a subtle and profound murderous intent.
They were not here for something inside the Red Cloud Realm. Their only purpose was one: to kill a person, to eliminate a potential enemy for their tribe.
For this, they had been plotting for a long time.
…
Regarding the news of the Red Cloud Realm, when the first signs appeared, Ivan, far away on the Chanay Continent, received the transmission from the ant sentinels. He took his followers and once again left the East Capital, embarking on the journey back to the Moon Pincer Peninsula.
Skilled and bold, his return journey was even more rapid.
Days later, under the strenuous flight of the four-winged swamp king ant, Ivan and his company traversed the fierce winds beyond the Blood Plains, entering into the endless sea of clouds.
“Beyond this sea of clouds lies Lightning Cliff’s Slit of Sky. Last time, we even encountered bandits there,” the Silkworm Queen whispered.
“Haha, such foolish bandits, they’re just asking for bad luck,” Locke laughed after hearing this.
“Sorcerer Ivan didn’t even need to make a move. I just stepped forward and blew a breath, and the bandits were killed. The rest of them were too scared to even show their heads, hehe,” the Silkworm Queen said somewhat proudly.
“Impressive, impressive. I wonder if any bandits will dare to make a move this time,” Locke said with some anticipation.
Hearing his latter words, Jenny looked at him as if he was an imbecile, as if to say, “Who would look forward to being robbed? Must have been caught by a defensive layer on the head.”
The sea of clouds was home to element creatures, which sensed that they were not easily provoked and kept a wide berth, afraid they wouldn’t be able to escape quickly enough.
After passing through the sea of clouds came Lightning Cliff.
One could see thunder rolling in front, striking down on mountain peaks, with only the ‘Slit of Sky’ in the middle creating a peculiar path untouched by lightning.
“Swamp ants, slow down the flight.”
Approaching the Slit of Sky, Locke specially instructed.
At his words, the four-winged swamp king ant slightly slowed down and spread its wings to fly between the cliffs.
Locke couldn’t help but scrutinize the bare rocks around him; indeed, the jagged cliffs on either side were a good hiding place for bandits.
To his disappointment, not a single bandit emerged all the way through the middle section of the Slit of Sky.
Until he heard an uncommon sound of thunder.
“Everyone be careful!”
Locke’s expression changed.
Two streaks of lightning struck in front of the four-winged swamp king ant, a clear sign of provocation.
“Swamp ant, stop for now. Let’s see what they want,” Sorcerer Ivan said with a darkened expression, not expecting to encounter such fearless bandits, and in such large numbers—almost thirty of them.
After the display of thunder intimidation, a large number of bandits leaped out from between the cliffs. From their appearance, it was not difficult to tell that many were bloodline alterators.
“Boss, you don’t have to move; I’ll handle it this time. I’m not afraid of dirtying my hands,” Locke hurriedly said.
With the go-ahead, he immediately brandished his curved knife ‘White Blade’ and charged out, looking even more eager than if he were robbing others, despite the large number of opponents.
“Here comes an arrogant fool. Everyone, do me a favor and let me kill him.”
“Haha, whoever encounters him gets the kill.”
Watching the madman prepared to fight a hundred, many bandits laughed brazenly, completely underrating him.
Yet, some sensed something off about their enemy and quietly moved to the back of the group, ready to retreat at any moment.
Locke noticed all of this and muttered under his breath, “A bunch of rabble, let’s see them fall one by one to my blade.”
“Seems like a trick.” Not far behind, Jenny noticed something.
“Never mind.” Sorcerer Ivan gave her a surprised look, not expecting her perception to be so sharp in midair. “No matter what it is, we’ll be able to deal with it.”
Jenny didn’t say anything more.
In front, Locke began his slaughter, just as he envisioned. Where the curved knife went, lives were ended, and in an instant, blood painted the surrounding red.
Seeing the bad turn of events, other bandits started to flee desperately.
Locke, seizing the advantage, relentlessly pursued the bandits.
“This guy still doesn’t think things through,” Jenny couldn’t help but reproach as she saw how easily he was lured away.
Sorcerer Ivan didn’t deny it.
In fact, Locke wasn’t used to always being protected by others, nor was he accustomed to relying on someone else’s protection, especially with Jenny herself present. Locke probably didn’t think it would be useful to have him stand by.
Under their watchful gaze, Locke caught up to a bandit running swiftly, delivering two swift cuts that made the bandit shimmer with lightning.
There was something odd about the bandit’s body, enduring the two cuts and still lively as a dragon.
“Dammit! How can you be so fast?” Empowered by Thunder Power, the bandit believed his speed was unmatched, yet was overtaken and slashed twice by Locke.
“Hehe, won’t tell you,” Locke replied, shaking off his carelessness. His speed increased considerably, and the white edge on his curved knife grew even more intense.
The bandit also began to fight desperately, with wings and skin manifesting some kind of lightning pattern, making the Thunder Power around his body particularly dazzling. Yet in the end, he still fell to Locke’s curved knife.
“Boss, this guy doesn’t seem to be human.”
“It’s a Ze race member.”
With these words, some people around shouted ‘Attack’, and a massive amount of thunder was drawn in, flooding into the Slit of Sky corridor like a tidal wave, with thunder roaring incessantly.