At dawn, after a night of wind and rain, the air was particularly fresh, though the ground was slightly muddy. Five fine horses galloped out of the rundown village, heading swiftly toward Stan Town in the west.
Riding these horses were Ye Chui, Debbie, and the five from Windrock City. Ye Chui and Debbie shared one horse, while among the five, the only woman rode with one of the magic instructors, their closeness suggesting they were a couple.
To let Ye Chui and Debbie lead the way, the group had specifically set aside a horse for them.
Leaving the dilapidated village, though Ye Chui had never ridden a horse, his experience riding dragons made him manage well enough. He cautiously glanced back. After the storm, the wheat fields outside the village were heavily damaged. In the distance, he could see a few farmers tending to the fields. He sighed inwardly. Surviving in the wilderness was no easy task. Next time he passed through, he’d find a way to compensate them.
This place was over a hundred miles from Stan Town, likely requiring a full day’s journey to return.
The group rode in silence. At noon, they stopped briefly to rest and eat some dry rations and water.
During this break, one of the five, a magic instructor named Kom, approached Ye Chui and Debbie. He waved his hand, and a swirl of dust spun in his palm. As an earth magic instructor, he asked with a hint of pride, “Young man, you mentioned your guild leader yesterday. It sounds like he’s quite powerful?”
Having Ye Chui and Debbie guide them wasn’t just to avoid getting lost; it was mainly to gather information. From what they knew, besides the mysterious old magic instructor Merlin, the only notable figures around Cass were the leader and deputy leader of the three-star Random Magic Guild, which had recently emerged.
“Absolutely, our guild leader is incredibly powerful,” Ye Chui nodded eagerly, not shy about praising himself.
“Is that so?” Kom exchanged glances with the other two magic instructors, Kiraen, a water magic instructor, and Koyt, a wind magic instructor, whose names had been introduced that morning. Their eyes carried a hint of disdain. Kom pressed Ye Chui, “What kind of magic does your leader practice?”
“Our leader is a master of all nine elements,” Ye Chui said with an adoring look, his expression practically screaming, “Wow, I’m so awesome.”
“What? All nine elements?” The three magic instructors froze, then burst into laughter.
Even awakening three elements was rare among magic instructors. All nine? That was absurd.
Seeing their disbelief, Ye Chui put on an urgent expression and continued, “Not only is our guild leader a master of all nine elements, he’s also a summoner who can call forth terrifying dragon battle pets and powerful heroic spirit warriors.”
The three magic instructors froze again, their expressions growing even more contemptuous. To them, Ye Chui’s words sounded like a clueless villager boasting about someone from his hometown, the funniest joke they’d heard.
Koyt, the wind magic instructor, stifled a laugh and said, “Ha, you’re not going to say your leader also has the abilities of a believer, are you?”
Ye Chui’s eyes widened at Koyt. “Hey, how did you know? Our leader indeed knows how to use the power of holy chants.”
“By the Curse of the Magic Emperor!” Kom muttered under his breath, looking at Ye Chui. “Why don’t you just say your leader knows swordsman skills too?”
Ye Chui’s excitement grew. “Exactly, our leader can indeed use swordsman skills in certain situations!”
The three magic instructors’ faces turned angry. On the Castro Continent, swordsmen, magic instructors, believers, and summoners were the four major professions, and most people could only master one. Dual mastery was rare, yet Ye Chui claimed their leader was not only a master of all nine elements but also a four-in-one prodigy? Such a person had likely never existed on the continent.
Their anger stemmed from the realization that getting useful information from Ye Chui was impossible. To them, this young magic instructor’s admiration for his leader was so extreme it bordered on deifying him.
“Well, when we reach Stan Town, we’ll have to see your leader’s abilities for ourselves,” Kom said with a cold smile.
“I’m sure our leader will be thrilled to accept your challenge,” Ye Chui replied with a friendly chuckle.
The other two, the swordsman Leon and the female swordsman, had been listening to the exchange. They shook their heads, concluding no useful information could be gleaned from Ye Chui. However, the female swordsman, smiling charmingly, approached Debbie, who was chewing on a piece of dried meat.
“Little girl, tell me about your deputy leader. I hear she’s a summoner?” she asked with a grin. Her name, introduced earlier, was Camilla.
Debbie quickly swallowed her food, thrilled to finally be asked. “Yes, our deputy leader is a summoner. Not only is she a stunning beauty, she can summon powerful heroic spirits to fight, even a Valkyrie and a mighty swordsman with golden sword energy.”
“Valkyrie? Golden sword energy?” Camilla’s expression twitched. “I’m a summoner myself, and those two spirits are incredibly rare. If your deputy leader can summon both, she must be quite remarkable.” Her tone dripped with sarcasm.
“You’re a summoner too?” Debbie’s eyes lit up, sizing up Camilla. She smiled and said, “Our deputy leader is indeed amazing, both gorgeous and powerful, tsk tsk.” How am I so awesome?
“Then I’ll have to spar with her when the time comes,” Camilla said with a cold laugh.
“Our deputy leader will be delighted,” Debbie nodded.
Leon stood up, regretting having brought Ye Chui and Debbie along. They seemed clueless, offering no useful information. He mounted his horse. “Let’s move. We need to reach Stan Town before dark.”
The others mounted up, and as Ye Chui and Debbie climbed onto their shared horse, they exchanged a sly grin. They weren’t afraid of revealing their strength because no one would believe them anyway. They were eager to see the looks on these people’s faces when their identities were revealed.
After two more hours of travel, led by Ye Chui and Debbie, the group arrived at a desolate area. The Elf Prairie was already a wilderness, but this place was particularly barren, with brown earth, no grass, and no creatures in sight. In the hot weather, a chilling sense of desolation seemed to seep into their bodies.
Leon craned his neck, looking around with a slight frown. “We’ve been traveling most of the day. By our pace, we should’ve reached Stan Town. Where are we?”
“This place is called Emperor’s Slash Cliff,” Ye Chui explained with a smile, pointing ahead to a strange ravine stretching across the landscape. “It’s said to be a sword mark left from a battle ten thousand years ago between the God of Gods and the Magic Emperor, stretching hundreds of miles, bottomless. The area is filled with a cold, deadly aura, where no plants grow. It’s one of the strangest places near Stan Town.”
The five from Windrock City’s faces darkened. “Why did you bring us here?”
“Because Mayor Cass is waiting for you here,” Ye Chui said with a grin. Last night, through WeChat with Old Merlin, they’d planned to lure these people to Emperor’s Slash Cliff to deal with them.
“Damn it!”
Realizing something, Koyt shouted in anger. His magic book’s pages flipped, and a massive wind blade sliced through the air toward the horse Ye Chui and Debbie were riding.
With a crash, the wind blade struck, nearly cleaving the horse’s back. Amid its agonized neigh, the horse collapsed, but Ye Chui, holding Debbie, had already leapt off, boosted by the [Windwalk] spell, and darted toward a prearranged spot near the cliff.
The five from Windrock City chased after them, rounding a large boulder, and pulled their horses to a stop.
Ahead was a flat area near the cliff’s edge. A tall swordsman stood facing the cliff, clad in armour, with a greatsword planted in the ground before him, his hands resting on its hilt, as if admiring the view.
Ye Chui and Debbie had already joined him.
On the other side stood an old magic instructor, a nun, and a nervous-looking magic instructor.
The sun blazed overhead, and the wind howled fiercely.
