Ma Qiu's eyes narrowed. Then, realizing something, he abruptly turned to look at the small hill behind him. There, atop the hill, stood two Wizards in black robes. They had clearly been the ones who acted.
After killing more than ten strong men with spells, the two Wizards swooped down like great birds and landed several meters away. One of them looked at Ma Qiu and said expressionlessly, "Raven."
"Blue..." Ma Qiu caught his breath before replying, "Blue Magpie."
It was a code phrase, a way to verify identities.
"Correct answer." The Wizard who had asked the question relaxed considerably after hearing Ma Qiu's reply. He stepped closer and asked, "You're Number Nine from Sha Lin City, right? What happened? According to the agreement, weren't you supposed to leave the city and meet us three days ago? Why are you late? And the others who entered the city—why have they all lost contact?"
"Forget that for now." Thinking of something, Ma Qiu waved his hand and said with utmost seriousness, "Quick... contact headquarters. Yesterday, I just confirmed the news. Ash Forest City and several other cities are about to launch a new attack. The danger level may be Raging Disaster Level!"
"Raging Disaster Level?!" The Wizard froze upon hearing this.
Under Shalin's evaluation system, attacks from enemies of the New Era were divided into three levels: Ferocious Beast Level, Raging Tide Level, and Raging Disaster Level.
Ferocious Beast Level was relatively common and fairly easy to deal with. Raging Tide Level was rarer, and handling it generally required specialized troop deployments.
As for Raging Disaster Level, that was the highest level. It meant that every city in the Sha Lin System was in danger and had to respond with the utmost seriousness. The use of Black Sun Weapons was inevitable.