Chapter Sixteen: Strange Light

  The hunt is still on, it's just gone deeper.

  In fact, the current income is enough for Ji Ran and Lydia's tuition fees even if it's divided among six people... Not to mention that the Bone Blade Sword and the Flying Boots are worth more than 1,200 gold coins. Of course, these two items already have owners, so there's no need to sell them.

  The remaining materials are not few, and if they are pieced together, Ji Ran can also make two or three ordinary magic artifacts... The properties are not that good, but they can be used. Even so, selling them for tuition fees is definitely no problem, and there will still be a lot of living expenses left over.

  But Ji Ran didn't want to piece these materials together, for a master-level artifact refiner like him, it would be utterly shameful. Even if he were to make low-grade artifacts, they had to be perfect!

  So even Beckett's cheerful request was refused by him.

  "Don't worry, once I find the right materials, I'll definitely craft a top-notch magical artifact for you!" Ji Ran promised solemnly.

  Baker couldn't help it, although his desire for magical equipment was extremely strong, but since they said they would make a better one for themselves, what else could he complain about? Anyway, the current weapons and armor were barely usable, it's just a matter of time, let's wait.

  A group of people ventured deeper, already entering the hinterland of the third-level demon beast area, and soon approaching the fourth-level demon beast area. But when they got here, Lais decided not to advance any further. Fourth-level demon beasts were too powerful, after all, there was a big difference between the Silver Rank and Bronze Rank, it wasn't that easy to eliminate them. Self-preservation was no problem, but what about others?

  He decided to hunt here, and when the time was almost up for the entrance exam of Tenryu Academy, he would return to the town. This place is not too far from the commercial city of Perth, and there is enough time to prepare on the road.

  Originally, if he had continued according to his idea, it would have been a fairly stable and smooth operation. But on a certain day, things suddenly changed.

  Just hunted a third-level magic beast, the giant-eared ostrich, and everyone was eating the bird meat feast made by Ji Ran. Suddenly, in the not-so-distant forest, a white light suddenly burst out, with a height of over 100 meters. The white light flashed and disappeared, like a flash of lightning, without leaving any trace.

  If it were in the forest, with the shelter of leaves, it would be difficult to spot this white light. But Ji Ran and his friends chose a picnic spot by the river, where the white light was in plain sight.

  "What's that?" Everyone looked up, and Beck was even more puzzled as he spoke out loud.

  Lais gazed at the white light, his eyebrows furrowed: "That's not ordinary light... it feels like some kind of interdimensional summoning spell. The demon beast definitely doesn't have that ability, it must be a human or some other intelligent species that did it. And I also have a familiar feeling..."

  Ji Ran didn't make a sound. He really knew too little about this world, at times like these, it was better to let people with more experience judge.

  "I sense a presence that goes against the will of nature from over there. Although I'm not a druid, my elven instincts make me detest that place." Ailin put down the chicken in her hand and also gazed at it with a serious expression.

  "Going against the breath of nature? Then my feelings might not be wrong after all...... Aileen, take everyone and leave this place, head back on the road." Lais heard Aileen's words, suddenly seeming to have made some kind of decision, stood up, picked up the bone sword by his side.

  "What's going on? Uncle Lees, you're letting Irene take us away? What are you planning to do, join the commotion over there? No way, how can I miss out on this excitement!" Beck heard Lees' words and was the first to jump out before anyone else could react.

  "Yes, Uncle Leis. What's the matter? Let's discuss it together and solve it together. If it's a strong enemy that we can't handle, we can also leave together, you don't have to go alone." The relatively calm and steady Ben also advised Leis.

  "What's going on, exactly? You're not making it clear, and you expect me to just take these people and run away with them? You think I'm that easy to fool? There's a limit to how much contempt you can show me." Aileen's expression also turned icy - well, actually, her expression was usually like that most of the time.

  Uncle Leis saw the three of them stand up, lower their heads, and take a deep breath: "This matter has nothing to do with you all, it's my own business. You don't need to go on this adventure with me, just hurry to a safe place instead. Sorry, Ji Ran, I might have to use this sword first, whether or not I can return it to you is uncertain. However, that share of the spoils will be yours, you can refine your own magic weapon... consider it my loss, and a small labor fee for you."

  As he spoke, Lais prepared to walk towards the direction of the light pillar.

  "Wait!" Ji Ran shouted at Uncle Lees. Seeing Lees turn his head, Ji Ran revealed a big smile.

  "I'm a person who gets anxious easily. Once I heard that we can't get the labor fees, I couldn't put my mind at ease no matter what. How about this, I'll follow you and we can go see together what's going on over there. If it really doesn't work out, we can run away together, which is much better than me staying here with a worried heart."

  "Y-" Uncle Lees hadn't finished speaking when Beck beside him also spoke up.

  "It's more fun if everyone goes together! Is it because there's something good on the other side that Uncle Lai is worried we'll fight with you over, so he doesn't let us go?"

  "I..." Uncle Lai was about to explain when Classmate B spoke up again.

  "Uncle Lees, we've been together for so long, don't you trust us yet? Even if we're facing danger, can we just abandon you and run away with our own lives? If that's the case, I'm afraid you wouldn't have formed a team with us in the first place, right?"

  Lai Si looked at everyone, his lips moving, unsure of what to say.

  "Come on, Uncle Lees. Don't think that your solo suicidal behavior will move us, it'll only make us think you're an irresponsible person. If you have the courage to go die alone, don't you also have the confidence to bring everyone back with you?"

  Aileen was still as sharp-tongued as ever, but everyone else thought that what she said made a lot of sense...

  "That's... that's it! Uncle Lyle, you saved me back then and brought me out to earn tuition through adventure. I... I won't run away on my own!" Even Lydia puffed out her chest and showed off her courage.

  "You... Ah, it's not that I must abandon you, but this matter has nothing to do with you, and it's also very dangerous. I have old grudges with them, turning back is not my style. But you all don't need to follow us to take risks..." Uncle Leis continued to try to persuade the crowd.

  Aileen listened to his words and waved her hand: "No need to say more. If you think there's danger there that will put our lives at risk, then leave with us together. If you have an unavoidable reason to go, don't think about abandoning us. I think, having us follow you, you might consider us a little when you're acting impulsively and irrationally."

  This time, Uncle Leis didn't say much, he just lowered his head and remained silent for a while. Then, he suddenly raised his head: "I understand. Since you all said so, then let's go together. However, I must make it clear beforehand that you all must listen to my command and cannot act arbitrarily. Because over there, it might be very dangerous, extremely dangerous!"

  He spoke very solemnly, and the others listened with great attention. But that guy Beike, on the other hand, was grinning curiously: "Very dangerous? How dangerous, more ferocious than a fourth-level magical beast? Or... is it equivalent to a fifth-level magical beast?"

  "It's even more serious than that. With monsters, we can at least target their weaknesses and come up with a fixed strategy to deal with them. But this time, our opponent is likely to be someone just like us... or rather, an intelligent being." Lays looked at Beck with a serious expression.

  "...intelligent life form?" Everyone was shocked.

  Actually, during this period of time, they also encountered other adventure teams. The Blue Pine Forest is not one of the largest adventure sites, but it's vast, with moderate monster difficulty, making it attractive to adventurers whose strength lies between bronze and silver. Among the adventurers who hunt here, they are more or less familiar with each other, and when they meet, they will greet each other.

  Of course, according to Uncle Leis, adventurers are not always on good terms with each other. From time to time, there will be news of an adventurer team being completely wiped out during an adventure, and a large part of it is done by other adventurers. Rivalry, plundering prey, old grudges, greed... too many reasons can lead to adventurers attacking each other.

  Of course, if the teams are evenly matched, it's hard to produce a fight between them... after all, killing 1,000 enemies while losing 800 of your own is not a cost-effective thing to do. But if there's a huge gap in strength, or one side is in danger and the other is hiding in the shadows... then no one can say for sure what will happen.

  Far away from cities, far away from laws, the dark side of human nature is exposed. Moreover, even in cities, such ugly things still happen frequently.

  It's okay, there aren't any particularly strong adventurer teams around Blue Pine Forest, and Uncle Lays has good relationships with people, so we didn't have any conflicts with other adventurers along the way. But now Lays says our opponent is an intelligent creature...

  "I'm not too sure either, let's just go and take a look first. Hopefully it's just my imagination running wild." Uncle Lais forced out a smile, but everyone could see the worry etched on his face.

  A line of people proceeded in the direction where the white light rose up.

  As they got closer and closer to the location of the white light, Lays Uncle and Irene's faces became increasingly heavy.

  "Look at the marks around here, they're clearly man-made. There must have been a lot of people gathered over there..." Uncle Les looked around at the broken branches and trampled grass, as well as the footprints on the ground.

  "That eerie aura grew thicker, as if some malevolent being not of this world was emerging......" Aileen furrowed her brow and gazed into the distance.

  "Look out! Take cover!" Uncle Rees suddenly shouted in a low voice, himself dodging behind a thick tree trunk.

  Others had already gotten used to finding hiding spots in the forest, and even Lydia quickly found a bush to hide behind. Others climbed trees or lay down on the ground, instantly disappearing into their surroundings.

  At this moment, from far away, a group of people were slowly walking over.