A brilliant beam of blue light shot skyward from the stone platform, piercing the clouds and bathing everything before them in azure.
The light was so dazzling that Lin Qing could not help narrowing his eyes.
It lasted only a few breaths before abruptly contracting.
The eight people on the platform vanished along with it.
Silence settled over the square. Only the Source Runes on the stone platform continued to circulate slowly, their radiance gradually fading.
The ten Supreme-Grade Source Crystals and more than a hundred high-grade source crystals had crumbled to dust, scattering into the twilight with a gust of wind.
Yue Shanhe stood beside the platform with his hands behind his back, silently watching the spot where everyone had disappeared.
Zhao Shuai stood behind him without a word.
The two simply stood there, gazing at the empty stone platform.
Just then, Yue Shanhe suddenly frowned.
His perception was extraordinarily keen. In that fleeting instant, he had caught a prying gaze directed from a corner at the edge of the square.
It had lingered briefly when the teleportation formation lit up, then swiftly withdrawn.
He did not turn around. He merely shifted slightly, sweeping his peripheral vision in that direction.
At the edge of the square, near the barracks, a garrison soldier stood with his head lowered, apparently arranging the blades and spears on a weapon rack. Yet his movements were noticeably stiff, and his breathing had quickened.
The soldier wore the standard armor of the Ancient Baleful Fort. Of average build and unremarkable appearance, he would have been impossible to pick out in a crowd.
But Yue Shanhe noticed that his right hand remained hidden in his sleeve, as though clutching something.
This man... has a guilty conscience.
Yue Shanhe was certain of it, but outwardly made no