The night draped oppressively over the wilderness.
After days of tense travel, Jie Ming’s convoy had reached the depths of the wilderness, hundreds of miles from Golden Harbor, and set up a temporary camp.
The air was thick with the earthy tang of soil, the acrid scent of burning wood from campfires, and a faint, lingering trace of blood.
Jie Ming showed no signs of fatigue. Alongside General Brandon, he had scouted every potential campsite before sunset, ultimately choosing an open area backed by a small hill, elevated and defensible.
The carriages were ordered to form a circle, creating a makeshift defensive barrier to shield the nobles at the camp’s center.
Campfires crackled throughout, their flickering light casting the nobles’ weary and anxious faces in shifting shadows.
They huddled inside their carriages or clung to the fires, their ornate clothing unable to mask their disheveled and despondent air.
Count Reinhardt, once a respected elder noble, sat by a crude campfire, struggling to cut a piece of roasted meat with his silver utensils.
His face was pale, his eyes filled with worry for the future.
Nearby, Baron Fabio’s corpulent frame sank into a simple beast-hide cushion, his chubby fingers nervously rubbing a worn token at his waist.General Brandon sat alone, gripping a gleaming short sword, his sharp eyes occasionally glancing toward the capital, brows furrowed.
“Count, though Lord Jack is peerlessly valiant, and the beastmen and magical beasts in this wilderness are mere rabble before him…” Baron Fabio lowered his voice, nearly whispering into Reinhardt’s ear, his fleshy face brimming with concern.
“But once we reach the capital… my distant cousin has long coveted my title and Golden Harbor’s assets. Now that our lands are lost, with only these remnants left, I fear those kin in the capital won’t let us off easily…”
Reinhardt paused his cutting, letting out a soft sigh.
He understood the dark and ruthless nature of the capital’s noble circles better than Fabio.
A bitter smile crossed his weathered face. “It’s not just titles and assets, Fabio. My grandchildren have been vying for the family inheritance for years. With the family’s heavy losses, if we elders meet an ‘accident’ on the road, those collaterals and younger generations could rightfully divide our entire legacy.”
General Brandon, overhearing, interjected, “Count Reinhardt speaks true. My worthless nephew has long eyed my military authority. Knowing his character, he might even collude with outsiders to orchestrate an ‘accident’ for a legitimate claim to the inheritance. The capital’s noble circles are far more treacherous than the jackals and tigers of this wilderness.”
A faint chill flashed in his eyes.
Baron Fabio shivered, his bulky frame instinctively inching closer to the fire. “Heavens, General! Are you saying… they’d send assassins to intercept us on the road?”
Brandon didn’t answer directly, only casting a cold glance at the scattered nobles nearby.
As nobles themselves, they knew all too well the filthy deeds that could lurk beneath a noble’s command.
In this perilous wilderness, that fear was magnified infinitely.
Once lofty rulers, they now felt like helpless lambs.
They spoke in hushed tones, their words laced with desperation for power and wealth.
In a nondescript tent at the camp’s edge, Jie Ming was not asleep.
He sat cross-legged, his Eye of Detection capturing every detail of the camp.
The nobles’ whispered schemes, their fears, anxieties, and veiled suspicions transformed into strands of mortal aura, silently absorbed by the seal in his dantian.
“Not bad samples,” Jie Ming chuckled lightly.
He knew the nobles both revered and feared his immense power, relying on it yet wary of it.
This conflicted mindset was exactly the “samples” he needed.
Ignoring their murmurs, he turned his attention to another matter.
Earlier, he had summoned a few mercenaries who had shown quick wits during the day and held him in awe.
Compared to the soldiers, these men respected strength and would obey his orders, at least until greater profits tempted them.
Having traveled for days, the surroundings had left the beastmen’s sweep range, and signs of human settlements—small towns and villages—began to appear.
However, these villages were more conspicuous targets, so the nobles preferred enduring harsher conditions to camp in the open.
Jie Ming’s task for them was simple: gather intelligence from nearby villages.
Though he had the Eye of Detection, he lacked detailed knowledge of frontline situations or nearby towns, needing information to avoid blundering into beastmen-controlled areas.
Hours later, in the deepest, darkest hour before dawn, the mercenary captain returned, panting.
“My lord! I’ve got news!” The captain knelt outside Jie Ming’s tent, his voice trembling with excitement. “The beastmen are indeed gathering. With supplies from Golden Harbor, their vanguard has massed in several northern towns near the capital. They could launch a major offensive at any moment!”
Jie Ming nodded calmly; the beastmen’s movements were within his expectations. He gestured for the captain to continue.
“There’s not much specific intel, but… there’s a rumor about those foreign demons.” The captain’s tone grew hesitant.
“Oh? What rumor?” Jie Ming’s interest piqued at the mention of wizards.
The captain took a deep breath. “Last month, several kingdoms united to slay a powerful foreign demon named ‘David’! They say this wizard was extraordinarily strong. Months ago, after arriving in this world, he razed several beastmen tribes and then stormed into elven territory, unmatched! If not for… if not for a divine miracle and countless warriors sacrificing themselves, he could never have been defeated!”
The captain’s eyes gleamed with gossip-fueled excitement. “My lord, you don’t know! They say that battle was earth-shattering! Space itself was torn apart, mountains reduced to dust, rivers rerouted! After David died, his soul turned into a vengeful spirit, cursing many of the nobles and priests who fought him, afflicting them with strange diseases that led to gruesome deaths!”
Jie Ming listened with apparent amusement, but his heart jolted.
“David?”
Many wizards bore the name David, but among the newly arrived wizards, the most famous “David” was likely the level-ten genius from Noren Academy.
He dismissed the captain and sank into thought.
“A divine miracle… something like an angel? If a third-tier being led a group of second-tier beings in an ambush, they could indeed take down that genius.”
As a level-ten genius, David’s trump cards wouldn’t be far inferior to Jie Ming’s.
But, like Jie Ming’s own past encounters, a third-tier being leading an attack could kill before those trump cards were played.
“No, the rumor suggests a massive battle.”
Jie Ming searched his memories, recalling the latest contribution leaderboard.
While secluded in Golden Harbor for research these past two months, the leaderboard had updated regularly.
With little contribution, Jie Ming’s rank had slipped two spots to sixth.
Other wizards’ contribution growth had also slowed, suggesting they, too, were lying low.
“David…”
Jie Ming scanned the leaderboard’s records on David.
Initially, David consistently ranked in the top three.
By the second month, his rank slipped, even falling to fifth, indicating slower contribution gains.
Likely, he had cleared out nearby beastmen tribes, ran out of targets, and then moved to the elven kingdom.
There, facing many enemies, his ranking surged back to the top three.
“Then last month… David shot to first place, suggesting a major battle.”
Jie Ming’s fingers twitched unconsciously. “It seems David was indeed killed… No, this only confirms he fought a great battle last month, not that he died. I need to check this month’s leaderboard changes…”
Though he said this, Jie Ming knew that surviving such an ambush would require immense luck.
“For an incomplete planar war to cause such losses? Could a level-ten genius like David really die so easily? Wizards are cunning; they wouldn’t choose a reckless fool as an heir, would they?”
Jie Ming appeared to be meditating, but his mind churned with thoughts.
Finally, he sighed deeply. “No use thinking now. I’ll gather more concrete information in the capital.”
Pushing these thoughts aside, Jie Ming sat cross-legged, meditating before dawn.