356 Black Rocky Plains

After leaving the underground guild, Shui went back to the area where he saw the idol, but she was no longer there so he went to an inn. Once he got a room, he entered it and went into a meditative position after setting up a quick barrier using talismans. There was no more progress he could make in his body and energy cultivation for the time being, so he tried refining his control over his divine force as he waited for night to fall.

When he got up to collect his information, Shui sensed a strange group of five leaving the inn and heading to the gate, but he didn't pay much attention to them. Shui focused on his own objectives and went to get the information he asked for. Like she said, when Shui arrived at the underground guild, his request was finished and waiting. After glancing at the jade plaque he was given, he pushed the payment across the counter and left while scanning the plaque with his spiritual sense.

At first he didn't spot anything surprising, but once he got to the 'recent news' section, he found something that made him frown. There was an incident dangerously close to his destination. If it was a scary incident then he could hope that there would be less of a chance of running into anyone, but although many had died because of this incident, there was something there that was worth the risk.

Shui lamented, "Miss Spirit, it seems we came a bit too late."

"If we did, it's obviously your fault. What happened?"

"Check this."

He knew it wasn't necessary, but Shui moved the plaque towards the red spirit. Soon after, she was brought up to speed and popped out of his pocket.

With her arms folded, she hovered in front of him.

"I told you to hurry up. Luckily this will only increase the difficulty of getting there, the elemental crystals will be fine."

In other words, it would mean more trouble on his plate. Although Shui could argue that it couldn't be helped that they were late, he was the one who would have to take responsibility anyway.

'Now that it's started showing signs, it won't be long before it leaves. We need to hurry.'

Elsewhere, another group of cultivators stepped into the Black Rocky Plains. Just like its name, the Black Rocky Plains was a dry, flat land where every landform came in a shade of black. Besides its colour, there used to be nothing special about this zone, but ever since the incident where a brief pulse of natural energy caused a pseudo-beast wave, rare mutated flora and evolved beasts began showing up in the area. This made the place much more difficult to traverse, but both locals and outsiders came here in search of valuable resources.

These treasure hunters could be split into two groups. One group searched for the rare resources that appeared, while the other group searched for the source of the brief pulse of energy from that day. There was no guarantee that whatever was there would be something good, but the possibility of riches was enough to make several teams search for days with nothing to show for their efforts.

The team that entered this time, belonged to the former group, and they had a specific target in mind. According to the information they gained from a trustworthy source, a certain herb had been discovered. This herb had little use when it came on to healing or cultivating, but the main use it did have, made it precious enough to cause brutal bidding wars whenever it appeared on auction.

"No matter what, I will have perfectly clear skin!"

Their leader was excited over something rather embarrassing, but the four expressionless men followed the chuckling young woman without any complaints. The five of them weren't workers, but the nature of their job wasn't that different. Even if it was for personal reasons, wasn't collecting rare herbs a standard worker quest?

Other teams glanced at them in confusion, some with worry. After all, the young lady might have been in proper gear, but she seemed out of place here. Like a noble daughter heading out on a field trip.

There were a few kind-hearted people who wanted to caution her, but the moment they got too close they were blocked by a harsh wall of killing intent that kept them frozen.

The team of five went unhindered on their search. At one point, a high beast in the form of a large wolf with poison needles for fur growled at them, but a moment later it flinched and flopped lifelessly to ground.

In a different location, one team searching for the source of the phenomenon on the day of the incident, finally managed to reach what they suspected to be the crucial location. They trembled in excitement as they stood in front of the cave that leaked a tempting amount of natural energy. None of them knew what they would find in the cave, but they were all certain that it would be something fantastic. However, their greed, which had given them the strength and motivation to come this far, became a liability. They were so ecstatic that they forgot the most basic rule of treasure hunting, 'don't count the gold before you escape with it'.

Of the four of them, with two being men and the other two being women, none thought about reminding their comrades to be careful. It would be one thing if they wanted their comrades to slip up and die during the exploration, at least with that mindset they might have realised when it was time to withdraw.

The team slowly entered the cave, but not because they regained their caution, they just didn't want to miss any treasure. They kept a steady pace through the dark cave, not noticing the fact that the area that could be investigated with their spiritual senses decreased little by little, until it was too late.

When one of them finally recognised this threat and was about to warn his team about it. he turned around only to notice that the path behind them was blocked. And that was where his memories ended, for then, all four of them were crushed by the suddenly falling ceiling.