Under the gaze of eyes that struggled to believe what they were seeing, Shalo's body vanished from where she stood. Where her feet had been moments before, two distinct depressions now marred the ground!
To shatter the hard stone floor in an instant—what kind of explosive power was that?
Just as everyone stood frozen in astonishment, a series of "boom-boom" sounds echoed in the distance, kicking up vast clouds of dust. Through the haze, one could vaguely see trees snapping in succession.
"Wha—what just happened?" Cai Ni managed to stammer, finally shaking off his stupor.
As the swirling dust began to settle, the scene in the distance finally became visible. But upon witnessing it, Cai Ni and the others sucked in a collective, sharp breath of cold air. What stood before their eyes was a chaotic mess of downed Wind-Wander Wolves—the broken trees were clearly their doing!
Even more unbelievable was the sight of Shalo, standing there leisurely, counting the wolves!
The group nearly suffered system failure again; this far exceeded the limits of their psychological tolerance. They knew exactly how formidable the Wind-Wander Wolves were; a hundred of them could easily devour them all within minutes.
Yet, the current reality was the exact opposite. In just over ten seconds, these terrifying Wind-Wander Wolves all lay sprawled on the ground. Their incessant twitching proved they weren't dead, just completely incapacitated!
What in the world had happened?
Everyone's minds went numb as they looked at Shalo, feeling an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity wash over them!
Was this truly the Captain they once knew? How could she have become so terrifyingly powerful?
While waves of turmoil churned in their minds, Shalo finished counting the wolves: one hundred and thirty-seven in total. This was truly a great haul. She had judged her force perfectly, merely stripping these Wind-Wander Wolves of their ability to fight, not killing them. This meant each wolf would yield her six points!
A captivating smile immediately bloomed on Shalo’s face, and she inwardly rejoiced at having chosen the right path this time!
Hehe, this time I won’t be in last place. Acting independently was the correct choice after all!
Feeling triumphant, Shalo took out a palm-sized tablet. This was what Zhong Shenxiu had refined specifically for everyone to collect magical beasts.
As Shalo formed the necessary hand seals, the tablet emitted a green light and flew towards the felled Wind-Wander Wolves. Any wolf touched by the tablet was instantly absorbed into it!
This was Shalo’s first time using this magic artifact, and her handling appeared somewhat stiff, her speed certainly lacking. If she were proficient, she could have absorbed them all instantly! The artifacts refined by Zhong Shenxiu were all top-grade treasures!
After completing the collection work, Shalo walked back in high spirits! Cai Ni and the others stared at her with expressions of utter bewilderment!
It wasn't surprising; in Cai Ni's view, the way Shalo had collected the Wind-Wander Wolves seemed no different from casting dark sorcery, completely surpassing their understanding!
"It's all taken care of!" Shalo said with a smile, as if she had just performed a trivial little task! In truth, for the Little Ethereal Mercenary Group, such matters were genuinely inconsequential! (Sweat!)
"Th-then... then..." Cai Ni stammered for a long time before managing to utter a coherent sentence.
"Oh, right, you still haven't told me why you're here? Are you on a mission?" Shalo inquired.
After a solid half-day's pause, Cai Ni finally calmed down slightly, but his voice still held a tremor: "W-we came here to try our luck, hoping to find some crystals..."
After briefly explaining the purpose of their trip, Cai Ni abruptly changed the subject, asking, "Shalo, w-what did you just do?"
He was not only curious about the event but deeply affected by it; if he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, he would never have believed any of it was real!
"Nothing much, I just rounded them all up!" Shalo replied casually.
"R-rounded them all up?" Cai Ni’s eyes widened considerably; he certainly didn't look relaxed!
"En," Shalo nodded, then added a sentence that nearly made everyone faint, "It would have been great if there were a few more!"
Heavens above, that was over a hundred Wind-Wander Wolves, and that wasn't enough?
Cai Ni looked at Shalo with an expression utterly beyond words; not just him, but everyone behind him couldn't find adequate vocabulary to describe their current shock!
After another long silence, the group finally managed to grudgingly accept the fact that the Shalo before them was no longer one of them.
During the rest period, Cai Ni asked again, "Shalo, what kind of mercenary group is the Ethereal Mercenary Group you mentioned? Are you the strongest member there?"
He could no longer gauge the level of power required to take down a hundred Wind-Wander Wolves in mere seconds!
This question made Shalo smile somewhat awkwardly. After a long pause, she finally said, "Do you remember the little boy we met in Gulu City? Well, this Ethereal Mercenary Group was established by him..."
Cai Ni's body visibly trembled, but he soon settled down. They had witnessed the mystery surrounding Zhong Shenxiu back then; him establishing a mercenary group was perhaps not so surprising.
Furthermore, Shalo had been inseparable from the little boy when they were together, which explained why Shalo suddenly left the Cloud-Tearing Mercenary Group!
Just as Cai Ni was drifting off in thought, Shalo’s next statement nearly made him cry out.
"Actually, my strength doesn't even rank in the top five in the Ethereal Mercenary Group!" Shalo stated plainly. (In truth, if specified accurately, her strength ranked precisely sixth!)
Shalo's words hit Cai Ni like a bolt from the blue. With Shalo possessing such monstrous strength, she still didn't rank in the top five? Just how terrifyingly powerful must the Ethereal Mercenary Group be?
"Actually, aside from the top four, our strengths within the Ethereal Mercenary Group aren't vastly different," Shalo added.
The effect of this sentence was enough to make Cai Ni's brain completely shut down. Good heavens, were all the members of the Ethereal Mercenary Group monsters?
Recalling the power Shalo had just displayed, Cai Ni felt a chill run down his spine. To be enemies with such a mercenary group would surely mean dying without ever knowing how! One second you might be laughing, and the next, you'd be reporting to the underworld!
"Oh, right, why are there so many Wind-Wander Wolves here? Aren't they mostly found deep within the Forest of No Return?" Shalo suddenly remembered something and asked curiously.
Cai Ni looked at Shalo, slightly astonished, and countered instead of answering, "Shalo, you don't know that many forests have undergone changes? The Forest of No Return is not the same forest it used to be!"
"What happened?" Shalo became interested. She had only just emerged from seclusion, so her knowledge of external changes was limited.
"Now, large numbers of Magic Insects have appeared deep within many forests. Some weaker magical beasts, driven by the need for survival, are forced to operate near the edges. It’s not just Level Six beasts; you can even see Level Seven and Level Eight magical beasts. This is common knowledge now," Cai Ni said, giving Shalo a strange look, as if asking why she wouldn't know something like this.
Shalo's reaction was somewhat unexpected. When she heard the words "Magic Insects," a passionate light sparked in her eyes once more.
"Magic Insects? Do you know specifically where the Magic Insects are?" Shalo pressed urgently.
One Magic Insect counted the same as a Level Fifteen magical beast for points. This meant capturing one Magic Insect would yield fifteen points—what an irresistible lure! Shalo was already starting to salivate again!
"A mercenary group I encountered not long ago mentioned seeing one fly past about fifty li in this direction, and they warned us to be careful!" Cai Ni said, pointing toward the southwest. "Why are you asking—"
Before Cai Ni could finish his sentence, Shalo had already darted away, her voice drifting back from a distance: "I have an urgent matter to attend to, I'll go ahead! Take care of yourselves!"
Cai Ni stood there like a wooden statue, completely failing to notice that over twenty more Advanced Magic Scrolls had appeared at his feet! Just selling a few of those would make these people rich!
The scene shifts to a different location, yet still within the Forest of No Return. A great battle between humans and magical beasts is unfolding!
It is a mercenary group composed of over thirty individuals, split evenly between men and women. Judging by their age, most of them appeared to be recent graduates from an academy!
They were currently besieging a Level Eight magical beast, the Steel-Armored Rhino!
This particular Steel-Armored Rhino was clearly not an adult; judging by its size, it was likely only a few months old, recently born! A truly adult Steel-Armored Rhino would have a physique comparable to a tank, while this one was about the size of common cattle!
It was precisely because this was not an adult Steel-Armored Rhino that these young mercenaries could deal with it so easily!
"We are so lucky; we didn't expect to run into a lone, young Steel-Armored Rhino," exclaimed a girl holding a staff happily.
"Jaimie, don't lose focus! Keep your binding spell active. Although it's a juvenile, it's still a Level Eight magical beast, so we must not be careless," stated a woman wielding a greatsword with a solemn expression.
Judging by her demeanor, she appeared to be the leader of this team!
"Got it!" Jaimie playfully stuck out her tongue before chanting another spell, "Spirits of water in the air, heed my summons! With your power, bind the body of my foe, halt the steps of my enemy!"
"This Steel-Armored Rhino won't last much longer. Let's put in a bit more effort; we absolutely cannot let another mercenary group snatch our prize!" shouted a man, ceaselessly attacking with his longsword.
"Shut your crow's mouth! Last time, because of you..." Before Jaimie could finish her sentence, two figures suddenly burst from the thicket.
Upon closer inspection, they were none other than Angelia and Leng Xiangxue!