Pillar of Yita

In Eteliria, only cultists would worship these ’pseudo gods’.

It seems the Dragonfire Guild has truly thrown their lot in with the cultists, or rather, with so many Heretic Priests, they’ve already become cultists themselves.

Fang Hong found it hard to believe because the Dragonfire Guild was different from the Rain Listeners. The Rain Listeners’ leadership disappeared, but the Dragonfire Guild seemed to have wholly embraced the Dragon Worship Sect.

With the Rain Listeners’ leadership acting this way, it could be said they were blinded by profit, but for the ordinary members of the Dragonfire Guild, what reasons did they have for this choice? Didn’t they know they would ultimately face the law’s punishment?

After the Dragonfire Guild took the front line against the spider swarm’s assault, they immediately dispatched two squads of Rangers and Nightingales to set more fires from the Panier Cunning Spiders’ left and right flanks.

Finally, Fang Hong understood how those Cunning Spiders died previously—no matter how fearsome, a giant spider is still a beast. Driven into panic by fire, they lost their wits, screamed and charged aimlessly, some dying in the inferno, while others couldn’t break through the Dragonfire Guild’s defense, slaughtered by the rear Archers, Magic Guided Conductors, and Elementalists.

Only a few giant spiders managed a hasty retreat into the forest depths.

But the Dragonfire Guild also suffered heavy casualties; after the battle, only a few people remained on the front lines, and all were injured. A Spider Guard breached the Mages’ and Archers’ formation at the last moment, causing the greatest rear-line casualties for the Dragonfire Guild since the battle’s start.

After the battle, Fang Hong saw the Dragonfire Guild members gathering the corpses of the fallen, letting them turn into points of black light, ascending skyward, eventually vanishing.

The process was almost identical to what he saw when Dragon Worship sectists died.

However, this was no mysterious ritual but merely a convenient method for uniformly recovering equipment after the bodies disappeared.

Despite the disarray after the battle, the Dragonfire Guild’s remaining members remained calm, first instructing Elementalists and Magic Guided Conductors to extinguish the fires to prevent wildfire spread.

The fire spread quickly below, but the Dragonfire Guild members acted with remarkable order; a few Elementalist spells later, it was swiftly extinguished.

Fang Hong and Hilveld exchanged a glance, both realizing this wasn’t the first time the Dragonfire Guild members had done something like this; rather, they were very proficient.

After extinguishing the fire, the Dragonfire Guild members began processing the giant spiders’ bodies, a process much as Fang Hong expected—simply cutting open the abdomen and extracting the glands.

As for the rest of the giant spiders, including the chitinous shells, they ignored them, tossing them aside.

Not long after, another large force appeared in the valley below, also Dragonfire Guild members. They joined with the earlier ’Big Sister’ team to form an even larger group.

Fang Hong scrutinized the numbers, realizing they weren’t the same ones revived earlier.

This indicated the Dragonfire Guild’s manpower in this gorge was far more extensive than what was visible.

Fang Hong almost immediately realized the Dragonfire Guild’s purpose in this place likely aligned with their adventure group’s—collecting Panier Cunning Spider silk.

And the only use for Panier Cunning Spider silk is in crafting sails for a Floating Ship. So why was the Dragonfire Guild collecting so much spider silk for Floating Ship sails?

Were they building ships?

Such a large-scale operation clearly wasn’t their first; why was the Dragonfire Guild building so many ships?

Also, the construction of so many ships couldn’t take place in a small locale. Yet, in Colin Ishurian, only so many shipbuilding docks and premium ports existed, as it wasn’t the Second World, a place of unexplored and undeveloped terra firma.

Fang Hong sensed he might be smelling a conspiracy—where was the Dragonfire Guild deceiving everyone with their shipbuilding?

And would their shipbuilding be related to that so-called great plan?

Only the Papalarians gazing at the grand scene of the Dragonfire Guild’s two groups processing giant spider carcasses below wistfully remarked, ”God, so much material; if only it were ours, we wouldn’t have to linger in this miserable place.”

The speaker was careless, yet the listener was attentive.

Fang Hong couldn’t help a subtle stir in his heart upon hearing this.

Newly joined Luo Hao, evidently intrigued beyond belief, listened, eyes shining, tentatively suggesting to the others, ”Fortune doesn’t favor those who seek safety, horses don’t grow fat without night grazing; I like this proposal, why not give it a try?”

But Elisa scoffed at the two, ”Fat? Luo Hao, you’re plenty fat already—and besides, are you crazy?”

She pointed downward, lowering her voice, ”Count how many of them there are, ten times our number, no less? And Luo Hao, can you withstand an adult Cunning Spider?”

Luo Hao thought for a bit, then shook his head.

He was only at Level nine, his level propped up by Experience Potion, needing significant time to consolidate actual combat strength; against adult Cunning Spiders, even three wouldn’t be enough.