Toward evening, Wu Youren and his two companions reached the area of abnormal Guizu aura. On the way, they had obtained a single Guizu relic.
It had come from a Guizu-transformed flying squirrel—a green bead that Manna suspected might be a water-attributed relic.
Regardless of what it was, walking away with a gain was always uplifting.
Yet the moment they laid eyes on the sky filled with Guizu aura, their good mood evaporated. "What the hell? It really is abnormal!"
The Guizu aura here went beyond ordinary strangeness.
A mass of Guizu aura half a kilometer in diameter radiated a formidable presence as it surged straight into the sky, forming a towering pillar of Guizu aura.
It was at least at the level of a grand knight.
Meanwhile, the surrounding clusters of Guizu aura were slowly drifting closer to the pillar.
Whether their sluggish pace was due to the domain's inner workings or the aura clusters' own resistance was impossible to tell.
Around the clusters, shadowy Guizu-transformed creatures could be seen circling the pillar back and forth.
"Is that... a Xuanling pillar?" After his initial shock, Rossi could not help but grumble.
The oppressive feel of this colossal mass of Guizu aura was indeed reminiscent of Mount Xuanling.
Manna could not resist cursing as well. "Damn it all. The intelligence from Marquis Tanyong's Estate is a total trap... Who would dare get close to this!"
All three fell silent. After a long pause, Rossi finally spoke up. "Aren't we going to record it?"
With Great Liang's technological capabilities, producing video recording equipment was not difficult, though such devices rarely found their way into ordinary hands.
"It's recording," Manna answered offhandedly. "We won't be able to turn it in to the authorities, though. Plenty of people are filming this—it won't just be Marquis Tanyong's Estate."
"It's fine as long as it enriches Red Pine's data," Rossi remarked evenly. "With a situation like this, are two Guizu domains about to merge?"
"Whether they merge or not is hard to say," Manna said in a heavy voice. "Still, if it ties up our attention, that alone counts as helping Suotu Town."
The moment she finished speaking, both of them turned their heads in unison to look at the youth from Jin.
"Looking at me won't help," Wu Youren said with a wry smile, throwing his hands out. "If you two want to step forward, go right ahead. I won't stop you."
"Understandable," Rossi nodded. "In the end, it's only Liang's problem."
*Playing that guilt-tripping card?* Wu Youren cast a casual glance his way. *Just you wait!*
"We can't make a move," Manna said, shaking her head. "Going by what's visible on the surface alone, the three of us are no match."
Never mind the three of them—even if Grand Instructor Hong were here, she would have had to quietly withdraw before a sight like this.
Running in circles around the pillar of Guizu aura were easily dozens of Guizu-transformed creatures. Slaying them would undoubtedly yield a harvest.
Whether they could make a clean getaway in time, however, was the real problem.
Did anyone truly believe a pillar of Guizu aura that thick was just for show?
Hearing that, Rossi also nodded slightly. "Then shall we observe for a few days before pulling back?"
"I think one day is enough." Manna looked toward Wu Youren, her eyes gleaming. "Xiao Wu, what do you think?"
"It makes no difference to me," Wu Youren answered crisply. "There are four other places with abnormal Guizu aura anyway."
In his view, observing for a while was fine, but shouldn't they take in the big picture before making their choice?
"It's settled then," Manna made the call decisively. "We'll observe until tomorrow morning. If nothing develops, we move on."
"Senior..." Rossi still could not hold back. "Can't we try taking down one or two Guizu? Even one further out would do."
"That way, we can see how the rest react."
Manna waved a hand and cut him off cleanly. "Drop it. You don't understand!"
Rossi had more to say, but he was stopped dead in his tracks by those four words.
He could not help turning to complain to Wu Youren. "At least back her up with an explanation!"
"I don't understand either," Wu Youren replied with total frankness, his gaze clear. "I just feel something isn't right here."
*What kind of logic is that?* Rossi nodded. "Fine, fine, fine. You're both wealthy, and I'm the only broke one. I just want to fight Guizu to earn some money."
Yet both of them waved their hands at the same time. "Don't. This isn't money you can earn!"
"You two..." Rossi swallowed his frustration with an effort. "Can you at least give me a reason?"
Wu Youren ignored him, and remarkably, Manna ignored him as well.
After all, Rossi's very first interaction with the youth from Jin had been delivering Hong Da's order on Manna's behalf, and he and Manna shared a close rapport. Now that even Manna was not taking his side, Rossi was thoroughly left without words.
Yet precisely because of that, his head cleared—greed was indeed a difficult thing to rein in.
That night, the three camped not far from the pillar of Guizu aura.
Rossi simply dug a shallow cat-ear dugout and pitched a makeshift rain tarp over the entrance to keep out any overnight drizzle.
Wu Youren merely set up a few basic tripwire mechanisms, primarily intended as early warnings.
With such a massive pillar of Guizu aura drawing all the threat, as long as the three of them did not go looking for trouble, they would be perfectly safe.
Yet reality defied their optimistic hopes. True to form, the night did not pass without an incident.
They had originally agreed to take turns on watch, but being so close to such a powerful mass of Guizu aura kept all three on high alert.
Around daybreak, Rossi drifted into a brief spell of deep sleep. After about half a minute, his breathing began to grow heavy.
On watch, Manna could not tell if the fellow was about to start snoring, so she lashed out with a kick.
"Hm?" Jolted awake, Rossi let out a soft grunt.
Even that faint sound startled Wu Youren awake. He instinctively reached out with his perception, then sucked in a soft breath of cold air.
Hearing him, the other two let out low grunts in unison, keeping their voices at an absolute minimum. "Hm?"
"An owl," Wu Youren whispered, keeping his voice barely audible. "It's nearby!"
"It's all your fault!" Manna muttered under her breath. "Why did you have to snore?"
She was no stranger to night owls; not only did the creatures possess exceptional night vision, but their hearing was just as sharp.
Rossi was genuinely exasperated. *Dammit, I know how to control my own snoring!*
At this moment, however, he could hardly argue the point with an owl lurking outside.
The two knights also extended their perception one after the other.
Though doing so risked detection, they had to understand what they were dealing with, so they carefully regulated their sensory reach step by step.
They were quite close to the powerful mass of Guizu aura; if it was merely a Guizu-transformed owl, the danger should not be severe.
Before long, they located the bird, perched less than thirty meters from their cat-ear dugout.
"Looks like a sand owl," Rossi identified it.
Manna pushed her perception further and took a light breath. "It looks Guizu-transformed as well. Why is it lingering without leaving?"
"Sand owls stalk their prey," Rossi murmured softly. He gritted his teeth, a flicker of doubt creeping into his thoughts.
*Did I really snore just now? That shouldn't be possible.*
With such a creature right beside them, none of the three dared rest.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour slipped by. The sand owl took flight twice, circled through the air, and promptly landed back in the same spot.
"It's locked onto us," Manna said in a low voice. "Forget about sleeping tonight."
A sand owl stalking its prey had immense patience; waiting an entire night was perfectly normal for one.
A thought stirred in Wu Youren's mind. "Should we consider taking it out?"
"Huh?" Both knights were taken aback.
After nearly half a minute, Manna finally whispered, "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I'd like to... see what kind of Guizu relic it drops," Wu Youren answered after a brief hesitation.
He was recalling how the pouch eagle he had previously slain had yielded that pale green honeycomb stone.
A treasure capable of altering an object's size had to involve the laws of space.
He leaned toward believing that the pouch eagle had produced such a relic largely because of its enormous crop.
Even so, there was a chance other birds might drop similar items.
Hong Da had always treated him well, but he obviously could not show his own spatial treasure to anyone.
In that case, taking the opportunity to test other flying creatures was somewhat necessary.
"Isn't your curiosity getting a bit out of hand?" Manna could not help but complain. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
Ever since entering the Guizu domain, she had followed the youth's lead, but that did not mean she would do so blindly.
"A sand owl..." Rossi, however, was growing tempted.
He was somewhat greedy for coin, but his reasoning was sound. "Not only can it fly, but it usually only comes out at night."
Hunting Guizu-transformed birds was exceedingly difficult, typically requiring archers to coordinate, and even a single archer was rarely enough.
A bird that only emerged at night was harder still, as nighttime granted Guizu an extra boost in power.
"I still object," Manna insisted.
"Do you know the real reason why disturbing the Guizu aura clusters in this domain is forbidden?"
"What?" Both Wu Youren and Rossi were stunned. There was an inside story? "Care to elaborate?"
Seeing that there was nothing else to do and resting was out of the question, Manna began filling them in with hushed tones.
As it turned out, most of the Guizu aura clusters in the Mount Xuanling Guizu domain shared an evident connection and mutual resonance.
She did not know the exact mechanism, but when someone attempted to purge one aura cluster, the target could suddenly receive reinforcements.
Other clusters joining the fray was merely one possibility; what was far more terrifying was that a cluster could jump in rank in an instant!
If you set out to purge a knight-level cluster and it abruptly upgraded into a grand knight in the middle of battle, how were you supposed to handle that?
Worse yet, if it ascended to the level of a Divine Might Knight, anyone below the rank of grand knight would find it difficult even to run away!
That was the true reason martial artists were warned against touching the aura clusters!
After hearing her out, Wu Youren and Rossi were struck speechless. To think there was such an underlying reality?
After a long pause, Rossi asked, "Did you get this information from Hong Da?"
"I guarantee it's true," Manna said, avoiding a direct answer. "In any case, those martial artists who secretly broke the rule brought their fates upon themselves."
Information barriers truly were an objective reality! Wu Youren pondered for a moment before asking, "Then what about hunting Guizu-transformed creatures?"
"That isn't much of an issue," Manna answered offhandedly. "For all these years, hasn't everyone come here precisely for the Guizu relics?"
She paused briefly before adding, "Though with the aura cluster mutating here, it's hard to say for sure."
"Then forget it," Wu Youren said, intending to drop the idea.
Yet now Manna's interest was piqued. "Why the sudden impulse?"
In her impression, this young hostage from Jin had always operated with exceptional maturity and caution.
Wu Youren thought it over and decided there was no harm in speaking. "Hong Da gave me a few instructions, which was why I wanted to give it a try."
*Damn...* Now it was Manna and Rossi's turn to be struck dumb.
Bringing up the big boss like that made things exceedingly difficult for them!
Chapter 124