Meeting an Old Friend
In the crowd, a small group of about seven people stood out.
They were all dressed in the same black bodysuits, four women and three men, and what caught Li Wei's attention was one of the women.
Looking at that familiar figure, many past scenes flashed through Li Wei's mind. The image of the stubborn girl who loved throwing knives appeared in his mind and overlapped with the figure of the woman in front of him.
"Xue Yan, that girl, seems to have grown up quite a bit!" He then smiled and got up to walk over.
Xue Yan is furious.
A month ago, a level 5 magic crystal was stolen from the auction house in her town. This incident had a huge impact on the town's reputation. Although Xue Yan didn't understand the so-called 'market' and even scoffed at it, Zheng Yutong had once said something to her that made her realize the importance of this matter.
In this era, everyone's survival depends on towns and cities, and developing towns and cities requires sufficient resources. It is simply impossible for a few people or a few dozen people to collect these resources.
Therefore, we can only rely on the power of the masses. It can be said that since the birth of human society, the market has been everywhere. If we want to develop towns, we must form a virtuous market cycle within the town. Only in this way can we create a prosperous scene. In this prosperous market environment, towns will obtain the resources needed for development through various channels.
Several large towns of level 3 and 4 in the surrounding area are doing the same thing. Even if those city lords don't understand these things, they can recruit talented people and wise men from the Old World to offer advice and strategies. Otherwise, it would be impossible to develop to this point in such a short time. However, things are never smooth sailing.
From the very beginning of humankind, another thing emerged: competition.
Indeed, in order to vie for dominance, those level 3 and 4 city lords are fighting openly and covertly. Some brainless fools only know how to solve problems with violence, but many more intelligent people use subtle means to harm others.
This subtle tactic is used to disrupt the market of a town.
When no one trades, no one sells handicrafts, and no one has restaurants in a town, then no one will use magic crystals to exchange for these handicrafts and food. Over time, people will choose to move to better towns, and the original town will inevitably perish.
This time, several ambitious city lords from the surrounding area joined forces to hold an auction in Zheng Yutong's town. The level 5 magic crystal was the item that these city lords entrusted to be auctioned.
At that very moment, the level 5 magic crystal was stolen.
It doesn't matter who the mastermind is anymore; this is clearly a trap. If the level 5 magic crystal isn't found, it will undoubtedly be a slap in the face to City Lord Zheng Yutong.
Currently, those city lords are taking the opportunity to deliberately spread rumors. Many merchants and demon hunters have decided to move to more 'powerful' towns to live. After all, times have changed. People are not fools. Only by relying on powerful towns can they live better.
Therefore, catching the thief as soon as possible, recovering the level 5 magic crystal, and executing the thief in public to stabilize the situation has become a very important matter.
The person in charge of this matter was Xue Yan, who was known as the 'King of Assassination'.
Today's B3 level powerhouse.
The remaining six members of the team were all skilled fighters in the city. With their abilities, capturing a thief should have been a piece of cake. However, after searching the level 3 Illusion Realm for several days, they found nothing.
Clearly, the information obtained earlier was incorrect.
"Aubrey, I need you to explain immediately why the target suddenly went to the Level 4 Illusion Realm. Do you know that if this mission fails, we will have no credibility whatsoever? At that time, the city lords of the other towns will definitely take the opportunity to cause trouble. They might even spread rumors that we secretly swallowed the Level 5 Magic Crystal. Then, we won't be able to explain ourselves!" Xue Yan reprimanded the man in front of her with a frosty expression.
The man named Aubrey dared not utter a word, but judging from the glint in his eyes, he did not seem to accept Xue Yan's accusations.
It had been a year since I last saw Xue Yan, and she had grown quite a bit taller, though she still had that baby face. The biggest change was in her demeanor; she now exuded a womanly charm. Naturally, quite a few men around me were stealing glances at this beauty, but they were intimidated by her reputation and only dared to look.
Li Wei walked over and confirmed that he hadn't mistaken the person for someone else.
However, he didn't know how to bring it up. He looked completely different from a year ago; would Xue Yan recognize him?
Xue Yan, clearly sensing that someone was watching her, turned her head with a frosty expression and looked at the source of the gaze.
However, when she realized that the person looking at her was just a teenager, she looked away.
"This person... looks familiar." Somewhat puzzled by her own thought, Xue Yan shook her head. She didn't recognize the person; perhaps it was just her imagination.
Aubrey, who had been reprimanded by Xue Yan, finally had a chance to speak, "According to my intelligence, the thief was indeed in the Level 3 Illusion Realm, but I don't know why he suddenly went to the Level 4 Illusion Realm. Judging from that thief's personality, he must have discovered a bigger target to do so."
"A bigger goal?" Xue Yan pondered for a moment before murmuring uncertainly, "As far as I know, many experts have recently been inexplicably heading towards the Level 4 Illusion Realm. There are rumors that an abandoned town will appear there in a few days... Could it be because of this?"
This was the first time Xue Yan had ever heard of such a town within the Illusion Realm.
"Then, should we go take a look?" Aubrey asked tentatively, his eyes darting around.
"Yes!" Xue Yan nodded.
She absolutely had to go; if she didn't bring the thief back, there would definitely be a lot of trouble in the town.
Having made her decision, she stopped talking and simply stood there quietly, waiting for the teleportation array to activate.
Suddenly, she felt that gaze again. Xue Yan was a little angry. She turned her head and saw that it was still that boy.
"Hey kid, what are you looking at?" Her already bad mood was further amplified by a sharp, murderous aura.
Her plan was simply to scare the boy, but to her surprise, he remained unmoved by the murderous aura, seemingly oblivious to it.
"Huh!" Feeling greatly surprised, Xue Yan took a step forward and walked over.
The adventurers around Li Wei were so frightened that they pushed back. Many of them had heard of the woman opposite them, and even those who hadn't were terrified after learning a little about what she had done.
She has assassinated three city lords, all of whom were B-level experts, and killed countless C-Rank experts. In particular, her special skill, "Rain of Flying Daggers," is a nightmare for many.
What's even more terrifying are her two other sworn sisters.
One is the lord of a level 4 town and a level 1 powerhouse; the other is Vampire queen, a level 3 vampire. All three are human beings, but unfortunately, no man dares to make a move on them.
Because anyone who was blind to their own strength would have died at their hands long ago. Without their ruthless methods, these women could not have achieved their current status.
Seeing Xue Yan walking over, Li Wei thought to himself that this girl's aura was really strong, but obviously, she didn't recognize him.
Should I reveal my identity now, or wait for another opportunity?
Li Wei hesitated.
At that very moment, something changed at the teleportation array; it was clear that the teleportation array to the level 4 Illusion Realm was about to open.
Xue Yan glared at Li Wei and stopped in her tracks. She knew she had to catch the thief as soon as possible, and she would ignore the boy in front of her for the time being.
Watching Xue Yan leave, a smile appeared on Li Wei's lips.
It's best not to reveal my identity for now. After all, my appearance has changed too much, and even if I tell her, Xue Yan might not believe me. Besides, this girl seems to be in some trouble, so it's better to help her secretly.
"Brother, you're amazing! Facing this female demon without even breaking a sweat, I admire you!" A young man dressed as an adventurer walked over and laughed at Li Wei.
"She's not a tiger, why should I be afraid?" Li Wei pretended to be nonchalant.
"That's right, hehe, brother, my name is Meng Tian, these are my companions. By the way, what are your names?" Meng Tian pointed to the dozen or so people behind him and introduced them.
"Li Wei!"
Li Wei glanced at the person behind Meng Tian and had already made up his mind. This person's surname was Meng; could he also belong to the same faction as Meng Ting?
"Brother Li, I see you're traveling alone, why don't we go together? I suppose you've come here to see that level 4 Illusion Realm town too!" Meng Tian said in a low voice, as if he understood.
Li Wei found it very strange; how did these people know that a level 4 Illusion Realm had appeared in the main city?
Upon further inquiry, Li Wei learned that someone had already spread the news, otherwise so many people wouldn't be crowding here waiting for the teleportation.
Everyone had the same idea: to see if they could get anything out of it. Even if they didn't, they could still broaden their horizons. Besides, there were countless treasures in the Level 4 Illusion Realm. If they were lucky enough to get one or two, they would make a fortune.
Meng Tian's efforts to befriend Li Wei stemmed from this reason. The Level 4 Illusion Realm was fraught with danger, and having an extra companion meant having more security. That's why he spared no effort in winning over Li Wei. After all, judging from Li Wei's composure when facing Xue Yan, the Queen of Assassination, he was no ordinary person.
Li Wei did not refuse and gladly joined the temporary team, after all, an unexpected person would be too conspicuous.
Soon, the adventurers walked one after another onto the stone platform of the teleportation array.
The teleportation array in this level 3 Illusion Realm is several times larger than that in level 1 and 2 Illusion Realm, and it can easily accommodate hundreds of people.
Li Wei followed Meng Tian to the teleportation array and secretly glanced at Xue Yan's group. It seemed that she was indeed quite famous among these adventurers, so much so that her group was surrounded by empty space, and no one else dared to approach.
With a helpless smile, Li Wei continued his casual conversation with Meng Tian. In less than two minutes, the teleportation array emitted a white light, activating the level 4 Illusion Realm.