Elven cultivators

Chapter 90 Smuggling

A cold wind swept in from the northern wasteland, passing over the rugged ridgeline of the Thousand Rocks Hills, heading south until it crashed into the Dragon Ridge Mountains on the southeastern edge of the Eldron Plains.

The Dragonspine Mountains, formed by countless peaks and valleys, act like a giant stone wall, isolating the Eldorlon Plains from the outside world.

The terrain here is treacherous, with only a few natural passes available for passage.

The city of Cresolon built military outposts at these passes, guarding all routes in and out of the plains.

Iron Anvil Fort is one of them.

It sits atop a gentle slope, overlooking the main road leading south and north.

About a kilometer away, below the gentle slope.

In a shrub-covered hollow, five figures huddled among the withered vegetation and pebbles, almost blending into their surroundings.

Rough linen cloaks covered them, their surfaces covered with withered grass, fallen leaves, and soil gathered from the surrounding area, making them look from a distance like a few neatly shaped shrubs.

Without close inspection, you can't see the slightest clue.

Roblen lay prone at the edge of the ravine, his eyes warily fixed on the gray outpost atop the hill, motionless as a stone.

Reed, who had been curled up for a while, felt his limbs getting sore and numb. He couldn't help but move slightly and asked in a low voice, "How much longer?"

"Soon," Roblen glanced at him. "Just a little longer."

Reed grimaced, but obediently remained still.

The other three remained silent, breathing lightly, trying to stay still.

Their team was different from ordinary adventurers.

They do not hunt ferocious beasts or monsters, nor do they venture into ruins in search of rare treasures, nor do they accept commissions to escort caravans or guard manors.

They were involved in smuggling.

They traveled between Eldron Plains and Green Highlands to buy and sell local specialties, making huge profits.

Items like honeybee nectar, glowing moss powder, and swamp crocodile skin from Eldron Plains are not rare in the plains and their prices are not particularly high.

But once they cross the Dragon Tooth defense line and are taken to the Green Highlands outside the plains, their price can instantly increase several times or even ten times.

vice versa.

Wind copper ingots, thundergrass seeds, and rock antelope bone marrow oil from the Green Highlands are also extremely scarce and valuable resources in the Eldron Plains.

The profit margin here is astonishingly large.

A small smuggling team of five to six people can earn hundreds of gold coins on a single successful round trip.

If divided equally among everyone, it would amount to twenty or thirty gold coins.

What does this mean?

A seasoned adventurer of the Black Iron rank, risking their life to complete a hunting or escort mission, often receives less than a single gold coin as reward.

Smuggling, on the other hand, can earn them several months' or even a whole year's income in a single round trip.

It is precisely because of such astonishing profits that so many people are willing to join the ranks of smugglers.

Of course, this line of work is also very risky.

Once captured by the Dragonborn, death is the only outcome.

There are no exceptions.

Roblen and his companions had already smuggled goods several times, and having tasted success, they completely abandoned their previous adventurous work and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the smuggling business.

Iron Anvil Fortress is the target they recently selected.

This military outpost is garrisoned by a total of sixty or seventy dragonborn soldiers, and it is said that the officer in charge is a high-blooded dragonborn of the Silver rank.

In addition, there is a Greyscale vassal army of more than two hundred people at the outpost.

Looking at all the military outposts along the Dragon Tooth Line, Iron Anvil Fortress is not the weakest in terms of military strength, but its surrounding terrain is complex, making it relatively easy to hide.

As long as you scout the location beforehand, figure out the patrol team's passing patterns, and the approximate time when guards change shifts at the outposts, the success rate of smuggling is quite high.

After waiting for another ten minutes or so, there was still no movement from ahead.

The expected patrol team never showed up.

Roblen frowned in confusion: "Strange, according to past patterns, the patrol should have arrived by now."

"Something seems off," Reed suddenly said. "Look over at the outpost."

Following his words, everyone looked in the direction of the outpost and indeed noticed the unusual situation there.

The once solemn and austere Iron Anvil Fortress now had many figures moving back and forth on its walls, as if something had happened.

"Have some illegal immigrants been caught?" Reed frowned.

Roblen shook his head: "It doesn't seem likely. What kind of stowaways would bypass other routes and head straight for Anvil Castle?"

Everyone thought about it and agreed.

Reed asked, "What do we do now?"

Roblen hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "The situation has changed. We can't wait any longer. While Anvil Keep is in chaos, we'll sneak over there. Remember, don't cause any trouble. Don't pay attention to what's happening on the slope. Be quick."

The other four were also unwilling to give up so easily, and immediately nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

The group then silently emerged from the gully, crouching low, and moved forward along the bushes at the edge of the gentle slope.

As they got closer to the gentle slope, their pace gradually slowed, and eventually they came to a complete stop.

Even Roblen, who had initially warned against causing any trouble, didn't stop his companion at this moment. Instead, he stared in disbelief at the scene above the gentle slope.

The scene that unfolded before their eyes was completely beyond their imagination.

On the gentle slope, hundreds of gray-scaled people surged forward like a tide, their gray-brown scales forming a continuous expanse under the sunlight, like a gray torrent spreading across the hillside.

Such a frightening charge should have been invincible.

But the reality is that they are the ones who are slaughtered.

A silver-white sword light blocked their path.

The sharp, cold light transformed into a fierce arc, weaving through the gray torrent.

There were no screams, no clanging of metal, but wherever the sword light passed, the gray-scaled men's charge was as if it were being cut off by an invisible blade, and swathes of them fell silently.

The gray torrent was abruptly stopped by that silvery-white light, crashing like waves against rocks, shattering into countless corpses and pools of blood.

In just a few breaths, the number of gray-scaled people on the gentle slope had dwindled by more than half.

In this one-sided, bloody battle, a tall, slender figure stood out.

He walked up the gentle slope at a leisurely pace, as if strolling in his own backyard, his relaxed demeanor completely out of place amidst the surrounding carnage.

The silver-white sword light danced and leaped in front of him, like a precise strangulation machine, accurately and efficiently reaping lives one by one.

No matter how the gray-scaled man roared and charged, he could never get within ten meters of him.

When they came to their senses, they discovered that most of their companions had been slaughtered, leaving only a handful of twenty or thirty people around them.

In that instant, the remaining gray-scaled people all showed fear, let out strange cries, and scattered and fled.

Unfortunately, their two legs were no match for the lightning-fast sword light, and they were quickly slaughtered.

The sword light then returned to the mysterious man's side, transforming into a silvery-white light that enveloped him entirely. Like a shooting star chasing the moon, it instantly traversed over a hundred meters and disappeared into the Iron Anvil Fortress.

Soon, a new round of shouts of killing came from inside.

It was only then that Roblen and the others barely came to their senses, feeling their mouths dry and their hearts pounding.

Having traveled all over the country for so many years and seen many powerful figures, they had never seen such a bizarre and terrifying way of killing.

In just three or four minutes, more than two hundred Grayscale soldiers were wiped out. They were incredibly strong!

"Who...who is that?" a companion stammered.

Reed hesitated before asking, "The Meteor Dragon Society?"

The news that the Fallen Dragons were attacking the Dragonborn had already spread throughout the entire Eldron Plains.

However, the Meteor Dragon Society has always only operated within Azurewater Harbor, and there has never been any news of them attacking military outposts along the Dragon Fang defense line.

"They don't seem to be from the Meteor Dragon Society." Roblen's expression was grave. "As far as I know, the Meteor Dragon Society usually operates with two or three people, or more than ten. They have never acted alone, nor have they ever attacked a military outpost."

The crowd looked at each other, their faces filled with surprise and uncertainty.

If they're not from the Fallen Dragon Society, then who are they?

Attacking a military outpost is almost as bad as slapping Kreiselon in the face.

Wouldn't those dragonborn go crazy chasing down the attackers?

Besides the Meteor Dragon Society, who else would be so bold as to provoke Kreisor Dragon City?

"You tell me..." Reed suddenly spoke up, "Can that person handle the dragonborn in Anvil Keep?"

Roblen hesitated for a moment, then said, "The other dragonborn soldiers are one thing, but the sentry officer of Anvil Keep is a high-ranking Silver rank expert..."

The words were not finished, but the meaning was already very clear.

The others nodded subconsciously as well.

For adventurers like them, who are only at the white rank and have high-blooded dragon blood, high-ranking dragon blood is an insurmountable and terrifying existence.

Although that mysterious person possessed considerable strength and used unpredictable methods, to say that he could wipe out sixty or seventy dragonborn, including the sentry officer...

Before the five men could finish their thought process, their gazes suddenly froze, fixed on the main gate of the outpost.

A familiar, tall figure walked out from inside the door.

His steps remained calm, and not a single drop of blood stained his clothes.

Only then did Roblen realize that the sounds from Anvil Castle had completely disappeared, leaving only deathly silence.

Looking at the figure at the main entrance, the fate of the dragonborn inside is already obvious.

The five adventurers gasped in unison, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

At the top of the gentle slope, the mysterious man slowly scanned the surroundings before suddenly focusing his gaze on the direction where the five people were hiding.

At that moment, Roblen's heart almost stopped beating.

Fortunately, the person quickly withdrew their gaze, transformed into a streak of light, and disappeared swiftly from sight.

"call......"

Roblen breathed a sigh of relief, slowly loosening his clenched fist, his palms covered in cold sweat.

The other four also showed expressions of relief, as if they had just escaped a disaster.

Such a powerful being would leave them utterly powerless to resist if it attacked them.

Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to care about them, a few small fry.

Looking at the corpses scattered all over the gentle slope, Reed couldn't help but shudder: "The Eldron Plains are about to change."

Everyone remained silent.

The attack on Iron Anvil Fortress and the annihilation of its garrison were, in some ways, even more serious than the attack on the garrison at Azurewater Harbor by the Meteor Dragon Society.

It is foreseeable that the news will cause a huge sensation when it is sent back.

"We can't stay here any longer, we need to leave quickly."

Roblen took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his chest, and led the way forward.

The other four seemed to snap out of their daze and hurriedly followed.

The group quickened their pace and soon disappeared into the shadows of the pass.

Silence returned to the hillside.

Only the cold wind still howled, whipping up the withered grass and pebbles on the ground, whimpering and swirling among the corpses.