Under the incredulous gazes of the crowd, Charlotte's body vanished from where she stood, leaving behind two distinct depressions in the ground where her feet had been! To shatter solid stone in an instant—what terrifying burst of power was that!

While everyone was stunned into silence, a series of "boom boom" sounds echoed, stirring up massive clouds of dust in the distance, where trees could faintly be seen snapping one after another. "Wh-what just happened?" Cai Ni finally managed to regain a sliver of his composure.

As the dust gradually settled, the scene in the distance finally became clear. But upon seeing what lay there, Cai Ni and the others sucked in a collective sharp breath. What greeted their vision was a chaotic sprawl of "Wind Howlers"—the broken trees were entirely their doing! Even more incredible was the sight of Charlotte standing there leisurely, counting the wolves!

The crowd nearly froze again; this utterly surpassed the limits of their psychological tolerance. They knew exactly how formidable the "Wind Howlers" were; a hundred of them could easily devour all of them within minutes.

Yet, the reality before them was the complete opposite. In a mere dozen seconds, these once terrifying "Wind Howlers" were all sprawled on the ground. Their constant twitching proved they weren't dead, just unable to rise! What in the world was going on? Everyone's minds felt numb as they looked at Charlotte, feeling utterly unfamiliar with her. Was this truly their former leader? How could she... how could she have become so powerful? As these turbulent thoughts churned in their minds, Charlotte had already finished counting the wolves: one hundred and thirty-seven in total. This was a massive haul this time; she had exercised perfect restraint, only disabling the wolves' ability to fight without killing them. This meant each wolf would earn her six points!

A captivating smile instantly spread across Charlotte's face, while she secretly rejoiced that she had chosen the right path this time! Heh heh, this time I won't be at the bottom. Acting alone was definitely the right choice!

While feeling pleased, Charlotte pulled out a palm-sized plaque. This was specially refined by Zhong Shenxiu for each person to collect magical beasts!

As Charlotte executed the necessary hand seals, the plaque emitted a green light and flew toward the fallen "Wind Howlers." Every "Wind Howler" that the plaque struck was instantly absorbed into it!

This was Charlotte's first time using this magical artifact, and her movements were somewhat clumsy, her speed hardly commendable. If she were practiced, she could have swept them all into the device instantly! (The artifacts refined by Zhong Shenxiu were all premium quality!)

After completing the collection work, Charlotte walked back in high spirits! Cai Ni and the others were staring at her with expressions of utter bewilderment!

It was no wonder; in Cai Ni's eyes, the way Charlotte had collected the "Wind Howlers" seemed no different from casting dark magic, completely beyond their comprehension!

"It's all taken care of!" Charlotte said with a smile, as if she had just completed a trivial chore! (In reality, for the 'Ethereal Mercenary Group,' this truly was insignificant! Sweat!) "Th-then..." Cai Ni stammered for a long time without managing a complete sentence. "Oh right, you haven't told me why you are here? Are you on a mission?" It took Charlotte a good while before Cai Ni managed to calm down slightly, though his voice still trembled. "We... we are here... to try our luck... to see if we can find some crystal stones..."

After briefly explaining their purpose for being there, Cai Ni abruptly shifted the topic. "Charlotte, what... what did you just do?"

He wasn't just curious; he was deeply concerned. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it was real! "Oh, nothing much. I just rounded them all up!" Charlotte replied casually. "R-rounded them all up?" Cai Ni's eyes widened considerably; his expression was utterly blank. "Mm!" Charlotte nodded, then added a statement that nearly made everyone faint again: "I wish there were a few more!" Heavens above, those were over a hundred "Wind Howlers"—wasn't that enough?

Cai Ni's look toward Charlotte was truly beyond words; let alone him, everyone standing behind him couldn't find suitable vocabulary to describe the shock they felt!

After some more time passed, the group finally managed to reluctantly accept the fact that the current Charlotte was no longer the same class of person as them!

During a pause, Cai Ni asked again, "Charlotte, what kind of mercenary group is this 'Ethereal Mercenary Group' you mentioned? Is your strength the strongest in that group?"

The sheer power Charlotte displayed in dispatching over a hundred "Wind Howlers" in mere seconds was something Cai Ni could no longer fathom!

This question made Charlotte smile somewhat awkwardly, and after a long pause, she replied, "Do you remember the little boy we met in 'Gulu City'? Actually, this 'Ethereal Mercenary Group' was established by him!" Cai Ni’s body visibly stiffened, but he relaxed after a moment of thought. After all, they had personally experienced Zhong Shenxiu's mystery; it wasn't strange that he could establish a mercenary group. Furthermore, Charlotte had been reluctant to leave the boy when they were together back then, which explained why Charlotte suddenly left the 'Cloud Splitting Sky Mercenary Group'! Just as Cai Ni was lost in thought, Charlotte’s next statement nearly made him cry out. "Actually, my strength doesn't even rank in the top five in the 'Ethereal Mercenary Group'!" Charlotte said lightly. (To be precise, her strength ranked exactly sixth!)

Charlotte’s words hit Cai Ni’s ears like a bolt from the blue. With Charlotte possessing such monstrous strength, she still didn't make 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 drastically different!" Charlotte added another sentence.

The effect of this sentence was to completely crash Cai Ni’s brain. Great heavens, were all the members of this 'Ethereal Mercenary Group' monsters?

Recalling the power Charlotte had just exhibited, a chill ran through Cai Ni. To be enemies with such a mercenary group would certainly 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 so many 'Wind Howlers' appearing here? Don't they usually frequent the depths of the Forest of No Return?" Charlotte suddenly remembered something and asked curiously.

Cai Ni looked at Charlotte with some surprise, and instead of answering, he countered, "Charlotte, don't you know many of the forests have undergone changes? The current 'Forest of No Return' is not the old 'Forest of No Return' anymore!" "What's going on?" Charlotte became interested; she had only just emerged from seclusion and knew little about external changes.

"Nowadays, large numbers of magic worms have appeared deep inside many forests. Some weaker magical beasts, pressured by survival, are forced to forage in the border areas. It's not just Rank Six beasts; even Rank Seven and Rank Eight magical beasts can be seen. This is common knowledge!" Cai Ni looked strangely at Charlotte, his expression seeming to ask why she didn't know such a thing?

Charlotte’s reaction was somewhat unexpected. When she heard the word "magic worm," her eyes once again flashed with intense fervor. "Magic worms? Do you know exactly where the magic worms are?" Charlotte pressed eagerly.

One magic worm was counted the same as a Rank Fifteen magical beast, meaning capturing one worm would yield a massive number of points—how tempting! Now Charlotte was already starting to drool...

"A mercenary group we met not long ago mentioned seeing a magic worm fly in that direction, about fifty li away, and advised us to be careful!" Cai Ni said, pointing southwest with his hand.

Cai Ni hadn't finished speaking before Charlotte had already shot away, her voice drifting from the distance: "I have an urgent matter to attend to, I’ll be leaving first. Take care of yourselves!" Swoosh!

Cai Ni stood there like a wooden statue, completely failing to notice that over twenty 'High-Grade Magic Scrolls' had appeared at his feet! (Selling just a few of these would make them rich!)

It was still the 'Forest of No Return,' but in a different location. A grand battle between humans and magical beasts was unfolding here!

It was a mercenary group consisting of over thirty people, evenly split between men and women. Judging by their age, they looked young, likely students who had just graduated from the academies!

They were currently surrounding and attacking an Eighth-Rank magical beast, the 'Steel Armor Rhino'!

This 'Steel Armor Rhino' was clearly not yet an adult; it looked like it was only about a month old, judging by its size! (A truly adult 'Steel Armor Rhino' was the size of a tank, whereas this one was about the size of an ordinary domestic cow!) It was precisely because this was not an adult 'Steel Armor Rhino' that these young mercenaries could deal with it so easily! "We are so lucky! We didn't expect to run into a lone juvenile 'Steel Armor Rhino'!" shouted a girl holding a staff happily. "Jamie, don't lose focus! Keep your binding spell active. Even though it’s a juvenile, it’s still an Eighth-Rank magical beast; you absolutely cannot be careless!" a woman wielding a greatsword said with a grave expression. Judging by her appearance, she was the leader of this team!

"Received!" Jamie playfully stuck out her tongue, then began chanting her spell again: "Spirits of water in the air, heed my call! With your power, bind the body of my foe, halt the steps of my enemy..."

"This 'Steel Armor Rhino' won't hold out much longer. Let's push harder; we absolutely cannot let another mercenary group snatch our prey!" A man continuously attacked, swinging his longsword. "Shut your crow mouth! Last time, it was because of your..." Jamie hadn't finished speaking when two figures suddenly burst out of the thicket.

Upon closer inspection, they were none other than Angellia and Leng Xiangxue! (To be continued. For future developments, please log on to... More chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!) F