The sun shone high overhead. In the vast forest, insects chirred without end, and beneath the murmuring stream, a few green fish swam.
Two figures silently arrived beside a stretch of grass bordering the stream.
"Did you find anything on your end?" The one who spoke was Xuan Zi, who had successfully quit drinking but had become obsessed with fruit juice.
Standing before him was an old woman in green robes—Elder Song.
Elder Song gazed at the glittering stream and shook her head. "I searched every place along the Star Luo Empire teams' return routes where people might be hiding. I found no traces of the Sun Moon Empire's army setting up defenses."
"I even checked some of the more concealed routes. Still nothing."
Xuan Zi lowered his gourd and said in a low voice, "Same for me. Looks like Yuhao guessed wrong. The Sun Moon Empire didn't station heavy troops to lie in wait for the returning tournament teams."
Elder Song glanced at him and said flatly, "That's not certain. Those sect forces from the Star Luo Empire couldn't have vanished for no reason. If it wasn't done by the Sun Moon Empire's army, then the only target left is them."
Xuan Zi's gaze narrowed slightly. "The Holy Spirit Cult."
"That's right." Elder Song nodded. "And I noticed something interesting. The teams that successfully returned to the Star Luo Empire all had, without exception, a strongest internal Soul Master who was only a low-level Soul Douluo, or even a weaker Soul Saint."
"As for the sects that disappeared, although they didn't have any Titled Douluo overseeing them either, the number of Soul Douluo experts within them far exceeded the former group's. The difference in strength between the two sides was severalfold. The weak ones went back, the strong ones