Elven cultivators

Iron Hill State, deciduous forest.

Autumn has deepened, and withered yellow leaves cover the entire hillside, rustling underfoot, a thick layer like a soft blanket.

Una walked at the front of the group, pushed aside a clump of drooping vines, and squeezed sideways between two closely adjacent tree trunks.

Morric followed behind her, a long sword slung over his back, his footsteps making a soft rustling sound as he stepped on the fallen leaves.

The team members behind him also remained vigilant, their eyes scanning the surrounding trees.

"Captain," a cat-man boy walking behind suddenly spoke up, "Does this place really have that...spirit weapon?"

Without turning her head, Una said, "Weren't you there when we interrogated those guys? They said they found it in this forest, and that's all the information we have. We had no choice but to try our luck here."

The cat-man boy scratched his cheek and said nothing more.

After receiving their mission from Chengshitang, they also obtained information that the clan had gleaned from interrogating the smuggling gang.

The spirit weapon was acquired by a smuggling team at an underground trading point in the Iron Hill Kingdom.

After obtaining the intelligence, they rushed to the underground trading point immediately.

But when they arrived, they found that the place had already been raided.

Someone beat them to it and destroyed the underground trading point.

Moreover, they are not members of the Silvermoon Clan.

Fortunately, they did not give up. Instead, they waited in the same spot for two days and caught a few guys who had returned suspiciously to check the situation.

After interrogation, they finally managed to pry the source of these spirit weapons out of those people: this deciduous forest.

They just didn't know its exact location in the woods.

"Everyone, be careful."

Una walked forward while giving a low, somber reminder.

"According to those guys, the group that attacked the underground trading point was a pack of werewolves. They were also after the spirit weapons, and we might run into them here."

"Captain," Morrick lowered his voice, "you said those werewolves...could they be members of the Bloodclaw clan?"

Una shook her head: "It's hard to say. The wolf clan isn't just the Bloodclaw Clan. Besides, the Bloodclaw Clan is in the Vorn Plains, which is far from the Ironhill Kingdom. Logically, they wouldn't have gone that far."

"But in any case, we should try to avoid direct conflict with those guys, after all, there are Gold-level experts among those wolf descendants."

The team members' expressions became more serious, and they all nodded.

Morrick looked around, a troubled expression on his face. "This forest is so big, how are we going to find it? We can't just climb over every mountain, can we? That would take forever!"

Una stopped at the top of the slope and gestured downwards with her chin: "Don't worry, it shouldn't take too long."

Everyone followed her gaze downwards.

At the edge of a winding stream valley at the bottom of the slope, seven or eight people were walking slowly along the low, rocky bank of the water.

Judging from their attire and formation, they should be an adventurer team.

They walked and stopped intermittently, with some people squatting down to examine the ground as if searching for something.

"Another group of adventurers." Morrick frowned. "We've only been in the forest for a short time, and this is already the fourth group."

"There are no magical creatures here, nor any decent mineral veins or magical plants... Logically, adventurers shouldn't be coming here."

"Isn't it obvious?" Una shrugged. "Most of these adventurers are here for the Soul Weapon."

The group exchanged bewildered glances, their brows furrowing even more deeply.

Besides this reason, there seems to be no other explanation.

Weapons imbued with spiritual energy are far superior in performance to ordinary weapons, and they look almost identical to magical equipment.

Those adventurers probably didn't know what a spirit was, but the fact that it was just magical equipment was enough to attract them.

After all, not every faction or group is like the Silvermoon Clan, where even the warriors of their vassal races almost all have a magical piece of equipment.

For ordinary adventurers outside, magical equipment is already an extremely precious thing.

An unlucky adventure team might work hard for years to earn money, but still not be able to buy a decent magical weapon.

If a large number of spirit weapons were to emerge from this forest, it would be enough to attract adventurers from hundreds of miles around.

This is both good news and bad news for them.

The good thing is that the influx of a large number of adventurers has increased the manpower available to investigate the woodlands.

If there is something strange about this woodland, it should be discovered soon.

The downside is that the more people there are, the more variables there are.

However, they have no choice but to continue their search.

Una withdrew her gaze, took out a blue whistle from the leather pouch at her waist, and blew it.

The whistle was short and sharp, like the cry of some kind of bird, and it carried far through the open forest.

Not long after, a gray shadow swept across the treetops, then plummeted down and landed steadily beside her.

It was the Radiant Falcon kept by Una.

It folded its wings, its tiny claws landing on the gravel, tilted its head to look at Una, and its sharp beak slightly open.

Una took out a few pieces of beast meat from her spatial ring, spread them out in her palm, and handed them over.

The hawk lowered its head, pecked at the piece of meat, and swallowed it quickly, finishing it in a few bites. Then it nuzzled her arm with its head, flapped its wings again, circled twice in the high sky, and then glided diagonally towards the denser forest.

"Let's go, continue the investigation."

Una waved, signaling the group to continue.

Their advantage over ordinary adventure teams lies in having Kaguya Hayabusa as their informant.

If any movement occurs in the woods, Kiba Falcon will immediately alert them and lead them to the scene.

With the help of the Falcon Teruyu, their chances of finding their target have undoubtedly increased significantly.

The group moved through the undulating forest, passing through large ferns and low bushes.

The ground beneath our feet was gradually rising, and withered vines and moss were increasingly entwined around the roots of the tree trunks, the air filled with a damp, earthy smell.

About half an hour later, the hawk suddenly turned back, flew over Una and the others, and let out a short cry.

"A discovery!"

Una and the others immediately perked up.

The dog-woman took out a blue whistle and blew it a few times. The tip of the Radiant Falcon's wing snapped, and it flew rapidly to the north.

"Keep up."

Una said something and took off after him.

The others immediately followed.

The group ran for four or five kilometers through the forest before the hawk finally circled slowly above a cliff and stopped moving forward.

Una slowed her pace, parted the last clump of waist-high ferns, and her view suddenly opened up.

What comes into view is a rock wall that has collapsed halfway.

Grayish-white pebbles piled up at the bottom of the slope, the edges of the crack jagged, the exposed gap dark and bottomless, like the jaws of a beast waiting for an uninvited guest to enter.

At this point, no fewer than three or four hundred people had gathered in the open space around the rock face.

They were divided into more than a dozen teams of varying sizes, each occupying a spot, with a distance between them that was neither too close nor too far.

No one spoke loudly, but no one left either. Everyone looked at each other warily, their eyes occasionally falling on the crack.

Una and the others exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with joy.

With so many people gathered here, it's clear that the cave is no ordinary cave.

They might have found their target.

The arrival of Una and her companions immediately attracted the attention of all the adventure teams present.

Immediately, numerous wary, scrutinizing, and hostile gazes were cast upon them.

The atmosphere was stagnant and somewhat oppressive.

But soon, a series of hurried footsteps broke the oppressive atmosphere.

Several figures staggered out of the cave.

They were covered in dust and blood, their leather armor was torn in several places, and their bodies were covered with bleeding wounds, making them look extremely disheveled.

One of them was clutching a short sword tightly in his arms. The scabbard was broken in half, and the exposed blade gleamed with an unusual dark light.

Seeing this, the surrounding adventurers moved almost simultaneously, all crowding around those people.

The adventurers who had just come out of the cave changed their expressions drastically, instinctively taking a half step back and gripping their weapons tightly.

"What...what do you want to do? Don't do anything rash!"

"What's going on inside?" A burly man who looked like the leader of a mercenary group was the first to ask.

The others also stared intently at the group.

The adventurers' faces flushed red and then paled. They didn't want to answer the question, but under the intense gazes of the surrounding crowd, they finally gave in and gritted their teeth to speak:

"Inside... there was a huge battlefield, with broken armor and weapons everywhere, and undead monsters roaming around."

"Undead?"

A low gasp rippled through the crowd.

Many people's expressions changed.

On the Dawn Road, the undead are terrifying beings that inspire fear in all who hear of them.

However, the undead are very rare. Almost everyone present had only heard rumors about them and had never seen one in person.

Una, Morrick, and the others exchanged glances, their faces also showing surprise and doubt.

There are ghosts behind this cave.

After a moment of silence, someone quickly raised another question.

"How could there be a battlefield behind the rock wall? Judging from the terrain alone, it's highly unlikely."

"I'm telling the truth!" the adventurer exclaimed urgently. "If you don't believe me, go in and see for yourselves."

Seeing that the other party did not seem to be lying, the crowd fell silent for a while.

Someone whispered, "Could it be another dimension?"

This speculation changed the expressions of many people.

Other dimensions often represent extreme danger.

A bizarre environment unlike anything in the material world, monsters of unknown strength, traps that can kill... all sorts of dangers abound.

A slight misstep could cost you your life.

Upon learning that the cave might lead to another dimension, many adventurers immediately backed down.

In the silence, someone's gaze shifted and landed on the short sword in the adventurer's arms, and suddenly they spoke: "Did you also get this short sword from inside?"

The adventurer instinctively gripped his short sword, but still had to answer with a forced smile: "We killed an undead, and this sword came from it."

"Alright, enough nonsense. Leave your weapons, and you can leave."

The speaker was a scarred adventurer wearing a leather vest, who stared at the group with hostility.

The adventurer holding the sword changed his expression, angrily saying, "Why should we? This is the spoils of war we risked our lives to obtain!"

His companions also glared angrily at Scarface.

"If you don't know what's good for you, don't blame us for being impolite."

Scarface's face instantly darkened.

His companions around him also drew their weapons and took half a step forward.

Several other teams around them had their eyes darting around, as if they were hesitating whether to get involved as well.

Sensing the malice around them, the adventurers wielding short swords grew increasingly grim.

Just then, a voice rang out from behind the crowd: "Sell me that sword."