"When will you be back?" Carl asked William as they walked through the lobby of the Night Market.
"I don't know. A week, maybe two weeks?" William looked to the ceiling as he asked himself the same question. He didn't know how long it would take to gather his Alchemy ingredients that he needed.
"Where are you going next, then?"
William thought for a moment, using his mental map to plan out a route, "Well first I'm going to need to gather some Alchemy ingredients, and then I have to pay a particular group a visit. Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering. I don't mind leaving now, can I come with you?"
William's eyes lit up at Carl's recommendation, "Sure! But I do have to warn you it's going to be dangerous. I can't protect you all the time."
Carl nodded. He had already been through many dangerous situations, and he didn't think William could have any greater enemies to face than he and his bodyguards did in the Great Oasis. They fought against dozens of Nascent Soul Beasts, after all.
If only Carl knew about William's most recent encounter with Supreme Left, the number one person in the Azures Continent. For the man to survive such an elaborate assassination attempt, it was obvious how powerful he was.
William bade Tia and Gunther farewell at the entrance to the Night Market, while he and Carl went in a different direction towards the border of the Sect. On the way, Carl picked up a random mission with the Sect that would require him to leave, so his disappearance wouldn't be immediately obvious.
He didn't contact his family just yet, since they would probably send bodyguards to accompany him. It was better if he and William remained low-profile, considering the man was already wanted.
William used his Stealth Talent to briefly turn invisible, then exploited a weak point in the Sect's barrier Arrays to slip past unnoticed. On the other side, he waited for Carl.
They couldn't go through the portals the same way that William had done, since Carl had no way to conceal his presence. Even William's Illusion Affinity couldn't help them, being only E-Rank.
Considering Atticus still made a ripple when moving through portals, William knew that upgrading the Affinity would only be a waste of Potential Points. He opted to go the long route and return to the Hillvire Empire after he had gathered his Alchemy ingredients.
"Where to first?" Carl asked as he walked through the main entrance with a small satchel on his waist. It contained various Alchemical Pills that he could use in case of emergency, which he had purchased from the Alchemy Hall following his failure at the Great Oasis.
William led Carl further away from the Sect, then pulled out the map he had created long before and consulted a few of the points he had drawn. Carl leaned over to inspect the map as well, but with William's horrible drawing skills, he couldn't make sense of anything.
"Can you even read this?" he asked.
William nodded, "It's good enough for me."
He checked the topography on the map and asked the System a few questions, finalizing his route after a few minutes.
"We'll go here first." William pointed to a spot near the center of the map.
"That's...are you sure we can go there?" Carl asked nervously. He was beginning to regret coming on this trip with William already.
The location William had pointed to was just on the edge of the outermost ring of the Providence Zone. The most prosperous, and dangerous, part of the entire Continent. Entire World even.
There were many reasons why the Azures Continent was rated as the strongest Continent in the World, and the Providence Zone was one of them, while Supreme Left and Unbreakable Right were the others.
For a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator to go into the Providence Zone, wasn't that suicide?
"Relax," William waved his hand in dismissal. "We're only exploring the edges. At most, there will be peak Nascent Soul Magical Beasts. Anything in the Soul Formation Realm already has a territory in the Providence Zone."
"Let's assume you can fight Nascent Soul Beasts by yourself." Carl said with obvious worry in his voice. "What if one of the Soul Formation Beasts suddenly runs out of the Providence Zone and tries to kill us? Can you stop it?"
"What's got you so riled up, Carl? You're not usually ."
"Well..." Carl looked to the side for a moment. "The others don't know this, but I went to the Great Oasis with my family just a few weeks ago, and you know what I saw?"
"The entire desert...it...was all glass."
"Glass? Why would a desert be made of glass? Are you sure you're not going insane? Should I bring you back to be seen by the healers?" William asked.
Oh wait, I'm a healer. But I don't know any Magic Spells that can deal with the mind.
"I don't know why it was suddenly glass!" Carl shouted, "If you think I'm crazy, then fine. But I know for a fact that one second the desert was made of sand, and after a group of Magical Beasts passed by, it was all glass."
Sand turning to glass...is it a Fire-type Magical Beast?
-It seems your friend encountered an Elemental Beast Tide.
Elemental Beast Tide? What is that?
-Request requires 15 Potential Points. Yes/No?
-Sometimes when a region becomes too restless or too many Elemental Veins are absorbed, Magical Beasts associated with the particular Element appear in great numbers and wreak havoc on the surrounding area.
-Once they have completely destroyed a particular region, they roam other areas for hundreds of kilometers until their Mana is completely exhausted, where they eventually die.
-When you absorbed the Life Veins in the Livingwood Forest, the same thing happened, but the Liffox that spawned were too weak and killed instantly by Cultivators. Only the Wind Wolves were able to cause some damage.
The same thing happened near Thin Creek Village? Is everyone there okay? What about Misha?
-The village has been evacuated. Most of the residents now live in Blue Moon City. Your mother is with them.
William heaved a sigh of relief, but then he thought about the Foam Desert.
I absorbed an Earth Vein in the Foam Desert, is the same thing happening there?
-Request requires 5 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Confirm. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
-Yes, but at a slower pace. Only one of the seven Earth Veins were absorbed, so there was only a small increase in the number of Magical Beasts at the Foam Desert. However, the Foam Desert is much more powerful and has many more Beasts than the Livingwood Forest, so the scale of the disaster is still greater.
What's the current situation? William asked.
-Request requires 50 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Confirm. William had a foreboding feeling about this one.
-In about a week, a wave of ten thousand Magical Beasts at the peak of the Golden Core Realm will assault Blue Moon City, resulting in hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties. The Array Hall has already exhausted their guardian statues and can only defend with the help of the Cultivators at the Guild Hall.