Pillar of Yita

It’s exaggerated, so exaggerated that Fang Hong couldn’t help but blush—of course, it’s not as absurd as all that. The reason those teams didn’t send anyone out was simply because someone had been ambushed by Crystal outside earlier.

Actually, other Combat Artisans could also detect lurking enemies, just not as precisely as he could. But this had nothing to do with scouting efficiency; it was simply a matter of risk management.

But there’s no way to explain that. Otherwise, it would only make matters worse, and Fang Hong didn’t want to become a public enemy among other Combat Artisans. He just coughed lightly and said, ”Shall we get back to the main topic?”

Fortunately, his ’status’ as a great figure perhaps still held some authority in the eyes of the Life Profession Practitioners. Just a single sentence brought the conversation back to the main subject.

And since everyone was an Invoker, Fang Hong didn’t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point, inquiring about the situation at that time.

He had already learned some details from Cuiye beforehand. A few miners claimed to have seen those people, but the crucial point was whether both sides were talking about the same group of people.

He needed to discern this from the details.

The first to speak was still that Scholar. After a moment’s thought, he replied, ”We saw those people around mid-July, on the sixteenth or seventeenth, I’m not quite sure.”

”It was the seventeenth,” another miner replied categorically. ”I remember it clearly because we found a large Earth Origin Crystal the day before. It was that day. We were following the canyon downwards to find a better mining area, and then we saw those people in the crack below.”

At this time, someone else nodded, ”That should be right, I also remember the situation then. We were still a distance away from them, and they didn’t notice us immediately. Initially, Ten thought they were from the expedition team because that area below was still undeveloped, and for safety, Life Profession Practitioners generally wouldn’t go down. Old Ten and the others were prepared to greet them, but I stopped them.”

Fang Hong couldn’t help but ask, ”Why?”

”Because I’m a bit cautious by nature, and I felt those people weren’t with us. The expedition team is from another guild, and we mostly know their war robe styles, but those people were different. Moreover, they had weapons, and I was worried about unnecessary trouble.”

”And then?”

”Initially, we didn’t intend to cause trouble, but unexpectedly, they stopped. In that place, if we continued forward, we would likely be discovered by them, so we had to stop as well. It seemed they were talking—”

Fang Hong asked again, ”What were they talking about?”

The person shook his head, ”Too far, couldn’t hear clearly. But later, it seemed they got into a dispute, their voices rising, and we managed to catch a few sentences. Someone said, ’Rolin, that guy is good for nothing but spoiling things.’ I remember this sentence very clearly because at that time something was happening in Fanric, related to a Dark Giant Dragon invasion, and it was quite a commotion. I remember a Rolin was involved, not sure if it’s the same person.”

Fang Hong frowned, his instinct telling him that this Rolin was indeed the same Rolin, another Dragon Worshipper? He kept his cool and continued to ask, ”Anything else?”

”They also mentioned Door, Idus, Substitute, and such, but it wasn’t very clear; they didn’t discuss for long before leaving.”

”Which direction did they leave?”

”The other side of the crack, leading to an upward exit. We didn’t follow, and don’t know if anyone else saw them.”

”After that, you never saw these people again?” Fang Hong asked.

The others nodded together.

Fang Hong asked again, ”Did you tell anyone else about this?”

The Scholar answered, ”We told the Captain once, and the Captain reported it. They even sent people to search for these people, but it ended inconclusively. After that, not many cared because there are usually a lot of Free Summoners down here; we might have been mistaken.”

”Alright,” Fang Hong took a deep breath, feeling reasonably sure there was no mistake. Whether or not they were Dragon Worshippers, from the sounds of it, they were definitely Dark Followers. He thought for a moment and said, ”Do you still remember that place?”

”Of course we remember.”

”Can you help me draw a map?”

The group exchanged glances and nodded.

But just as the Scholar was about to speak, Gita, who was sitting nearby, suddenly stood up from her seat, looking around with a somewhat grave expression.

Fang Hong was slightly stunned and couldn’t help but ask, ”Gita, what’s wrong?”

”I feel an anomaly in the Ether flow in the air, Brother Ade, someone is gathering elements.”

The miners were dumbfounded, people could sense Ether flow? It was the first time they had heard such a strange statement, while the Scholar hesitated for a moment, his mouth agape as he looked at Gita: ”You, you are... a Natural, Natural...”

”Here?”

Gita nodded slightly.

Fang Hong raised his head abruptly, looking around. The Big Catfolk’s claws had also pressed on their sword hilt. Element gathering meant someone was casting a spell, and as the ancestor of spell disenchantment, the Natural Historian was highly sensitive to any magical energy flow, and Gita’s feeling was likely not wrong.

And the majority of elemental spells are offensive. For someone to chant such a spell in the ’Safe Zone’, in such a densely crowded place, what good could come of it?