Many-Eyed, Strange-Pupiled

"They really aren't here! Not at their posts or in their homes!"

After leaving Red Maple Forest, Yin Ming searched all of Hell Valley.

Apart from the old wizard Roda Manhart and Robert Kava, whose meditation rooms made their whereabouts impossible to confirm, he was certain the other eight councilors were not in Hell Valley.

There had been no supernatural incidents. Every trade was developing steadily.

Among the newcomers was a green-robed figure wearing a wooden mask. His aura was strange, but he was not powerful.

There were plenty of oddities among wizards. Zero-Ring Wizard Apprentices used as experimental subjects were often disfigured or mutated, and a preference for a particular color proved nothing.

Did they take the money and run?

Surely not. They had already divided up the spoils!

Even if they had incurred a huge debt!

But to rulers, what was debt? Just a string of numbers that would never be paid.

The association offered the councilors a steady stream of resources. As for their Second-Ring president, Robert Kava, he needed the added value that came with an organization. None of them had any reason to run.

Did they sense danger and flee? But what danger would lie dormant for this long?

Two and a half months had passed without anything happening, so the danger could not have been imminent.

And what harm would there be in bringing along an alchemist who doesn't fight for power, doesn't compete for profit, and has a high success rate when making potions?

Yin Ming frowned. It had been hard to find a peaceful place to cultivate, and he was reluctant to give it up unless he had no choice.

The Flame-Burners Association extended countless feelers to gather intelligence across the Prime Material Plane. Valuable intelligence might be hard to obtain, but