"This is truly a great thing!
Zabir Magic Gold had excellent properties and a wide range of uses. It could practically be considered a specialized category in itself.
To gain its knowledge and abilities out of thin air—how much time and effort studying and researching would that save?
But how exactly did this come about?"
Roy was pleasantly surprised, but suspicions soon arose in his mind. He could not help looking again at the object in his hand.
"Could it have caused this?"
"We don't know whether this thing grew from radiation contamination or was a Demonized Organ from Chalk Country. Be extremely careful."
The others watched him stare blankly and hurriedly reminded him.
That eye clearly could not have been produced by any normal creature. Even the aura it radiated was unsettling.
Roy waved his hand. "I'm fine."
He had learned about things like Demonized Organs in his general knowledge classes.
Whether refined into Enchanted Items or used for other purposes, they were quite valuable.
After looking at it for a while, he wrapped it in the hemostatic ointment he carried with him. This would temporarily preserve it and prevent it from rotting too quickly.
What a pity. Things would have been much easier with a Storage Artifact...
A thought flashed through Roy's mind, but he ordered, "This place isn't suitable for staying long. We'll study it slowly after we return."
Before leaving, Roy briefly examined the Merman Lord and the bodies of the merfolk around it.
Most of them were injured.
"Even the lord had several broken ribs. It was probably the work of a giant.
"Looks like we really got lucky. We took advantage of them both being badly injured and finished them off in one go."
As he spoke, his hair extended like iron needles piercing into the wounds in their hearts, sucking vigorously several times.
After being strengthened by Life Energy, the strands seemed to have grown tougher once again.
Not long afterward, the group emerged from the mountain valley, escaping the dangerous situation where they could easily be attacked from both sides.
Several more hours passed before they gradually reached the edge of the Great Wind Land Hills and prepared to find a place to spend the night.
It was already getting late, and everyone was tired. They needed to find somewhere to rest for a while.
"Sailen, check whether there's any danger above." Roy examined the surrounding terrain, then pointed toward a small mountain ahead.
The terrain here was fairly steep. Many magical beasts and monsters would have difficulty climbing it due to their body shapes, but for a team whose members were all Intermediate Knights, it was no challenge.
He intended to find the team a place to spend the night.
Sailen nodded and released a Bird Puppet to scout the area for a while. Then she concluded, "There's no problem."
"Good," Roy said. "Hide the Necromancer Warhorses and climb up there."
Before long, everyone successfully reached the small mountain Roy had mentioned.
It offered both offensive and defensive advantages. They could survey the surrounding situation while also finding shelter from the wind, rain, and monsters. It was an excellent place to spend the night.
"We really struck it rich this time. We got several Fish Pearls just like that!"
"Picking up someone else's leftovers feels amazing!"
They briefly calculated the benefits they could exchange for, and could not help feeling excited.
"Including the Merman Lord's share, we have four Fish Pearls in total. The miscellaneous items are counted separately.
"But opportunities like this don't come often. If several more Lord-level monsters like the one just now showed up, we'd end up defeated and wiped out."
Roy remained calm and reminded them.
"This place isn't safe either. Don't let your guard down."
Everyone's expressions turned solemn at his words.
They all said they would listen to him, stay more vigilant, and keep an eye on their surroundings.
But just as his voice fell, Sailen spotted several dark figures moving in the distance and hurriedly warned them.
Roy quickly took out a telescope and looked. Soon, his expression turned grave. "Is that person chasing the people ahead?
"Wait, is that Olinda?
"She and her companions are being hunted..."
He had not expected to encounter someone familiar here.
Roy saw that Olinda had somehow found several Intermediate Apprentices to form a team with and had come nearby to investigate. They all appeared to be quite experienced.
Yet under the pursuit of the person behind them, they were completely unable to resist.
In the blink of an eye, two of them fell one after another.
Olinda looked back anxiously, seemingly saying something to beg for mercy.
But that person showed no mercy at all. With a wave of his arm, what seemed to be the Apprentice-level Witchcraft "Acid Splash" shot out.
Even from quite a distance away, Roy seemed to hear Olinda's scream.
Her body convulsed violently as multiple areas of her body rapidly corroded and melted away, leaving her skin ulcerated.
Roy hissed and sucked in a cold breath.
"What a ruthless man!"
He recalled what he had seen and experienced over the past year or so, and suddenly remembered who that person was.
"Is he Oren? One of the few remaining elite tower members, like Sophia, according to the rumors?"
"What, Senior Apprentice Oren?"
"What he specializes in is producing corrosive and highly toxic substances. He can even be called a Poison Wizard!"
"That senior isn't someone you can afford to provoke!"
The others were surprised as well when they heard this.
Elite Apprentice.
In essence, they were also Advanced Apprentices.
But they were the cream of the crop among Advanced Apprentices.
Whether in cultivation stage or Combat Ability, they far surpassed ordinary Advanced Apprentices.
They could be said to command awe throughout the lower three levels of the Witch Tower. How had Olinda dared to provoke him?
While everyone was puzzled, Oren wore a cruel smile and approached Olinda unhurriedly, as if he were toying with his prey.
Olinda sobbed and clawed at her own face several times.
As a result, her flesh became a bloody mess, and even her eyeballs seemed unable to remain in their sockets, spilling out like the parts of a puppet.
Before long, blood poured out in torrents, and she collapsed limply.
But just as Roy and Oren both thought she had died,
With a bang, her body exploded, and smoke billowed in all directions.
A figure shot out from within and accelerated toward them.
"Damn it! Why did she have to run this way..."
The others noticed this as well and were instantly furious.
But sometimes, the more you feared something, the more likely it was to happen.
Olinda failed to notice Roy and the others hiding nearby. As she passed them, she did not even turn her head, simply running straight through and continuing away.
But Oren's footsteps paused slightly. He had noticed something. "Who's there? Come out!"
"Senior, don't misunderstand. We just happened to be here!" Roy cursed his bad luck inwardly and had no choice but to stand up and respond.
"Just happened to be here?" Oren sneered, then suddenly moved his lips.
"Run!" Roy realized something was wrong and shot out of their hiding place.
He trampled over rocks, grass, and trees along the way, sliding down the steep slope. When only a few meters remained, he leaped straight down.
The others followed close behind, fleeing desperately downhill.
Not long afterward, a figure abruptly appeared above them.
It was a humanoid puppet formed from damp soil and scattered chunks of stone. Its lower body, however, took on an abstract, smoke-like shape and radiated the aura of Witchcraft Energy.
It pursued them at an astonishing speed and soon appeared in full view of the group.
Before you continue