Spirit Hall's forces advanced with incredible speed. Other Soul Masters they encountered along the way hastily stepped aside upon seeing their standardized light armor and platinum bishop robes.
Those independent cultivators and mercenaries might dare fight over medicinal herbs and Soul Beasts in the forest, but no one was foolish enough to block Spirit Hall's path.
They penetrated the central region of the Star Dou Great Forest. After confirming that there were no abnormalities in the movements of the Soul Beasts within, they did not linger and swiftly withdrew from the forest.
Afterward, the Three Sects Alliance and Star Luo Empire forces arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest.
They did not possess intelligence channels like Spirit Hall's and had no idea that the nine-colored pillar of light signified the descent of a god. They merely assumed some rare heavenly treasure had appeared. Thus, after entering the forest, they scattered in every direction and began a carpet search toward the previous anomaly.
The killing in the Star Dou Great Forest did not cease with Spirit Hall's withdrawal. Instead, it grew ever more intense with the arrival of the Three Sects Alliance and Star Luo Empire forces.
After seeing people from Spirit Hall, the Three Sects Alliance, and the Star Luo Empire, those independent cultivators and mercenaries became even more convinced that something extraordinary was hidden within the forest.
If it held no value, why would powers like Spirit Hall send people there?
The logic was simple and crude, yet it spread through every town surrounding the Star Dou Great Forest in a very short time.
In the days that followed, the number of Soul Masters entering the forest did not decrease. It increased instead.
There were lone hunters, entire mercenary companies, expedition teams assembled by small families that had poured