Chapter 1939: Chapter 1932: They’re Getting Too Arrogant, Aren’t They?
The news about being able to leave the Endless Land spread like a storm throughout the entire region. Except for those who grew up here and have developed an affection for this place, almost everyone chose to leave, especially those who had been trapped for a long time, some even nearly burst into tears; they had waited too long for this day.
Zhang Menglong and his group did not return immediately. He gathered the remaining people in the Endless Land into Illusion City; at least here, they could avoid the persecution of the Phantom Profound Beast. Perhaps Zhang Menglong might, someday, use this Endless Land as his martial artist training base, leaving some roots here.
After completing these tasks, he took over 8,000 disciples of the Sunset Sect and left the Endless Land. Calculating the time, they had been here for nearly three years.
...
With a dazzling light, Zhang Menglong and his companions arrived at a valley filled with the scent of burnt air.
Though the incident with the bald man had passed for some time, during Zhang Menglong’s last stay, there were people who again returned through the Endless Gate to the Endless Land, bringing some intelligence with them.
Passing through that gate did not lead back to the entrance of the Endless Land but would randomly teleport to some corner of the continent. Hence, Zhang Menglong and his companions were prepared for the worst; if luck was particularly bad, they could be teleported right in front of a warcraft, or even in front of the Divine Profound Hall’s Hall Master.
But this place seemed evidently unfamiliar to them.
The valley was vast and seemed to have been inhabited once, as at a glance there were many wooden houses built around.
Now, however, it seemed the valley had suffered a fire; all plant life was nearly burned, with traces of scorched earth, yet some plants had begun to sprout anew.
"This fire must have occurred at least half a year ago, and it burned fiercely," Zhang Menglong observed casually.
Suddenly, he crouched down, digging out a potato-like thing from the soil.
"This isn’t an ordinary plant!" A trace of Strange Fire flashed across Zhang Menglong’s palm, and soon the potato-like object was burned and refined into a crystalline liquid.
Upon further inspection, he unearthed several more of these objects from the soil, noting the plants’ fixed intervals and evidence of artificial irrigation.
"This is the root of a Spiritual Medicine!" Zhang Menglong announced, "Someone must have planted these here; this seems to be a medication field!"
"Boss, look at this!" At that moment, Wu Yang received a half-burnt token from someone nearby, handing it to Zhang Menglong, "This is the identity token of a core disciple of Shennong Valley, half-burnt."
"This is Shennong Valley!?" Zhang Menglong felt that something drastic must have changed on the continent during his absence.
Shennong Valley was one of the 18 superpowers and was known for its wide connections and many strong acquaintances. Its comprehensive strength ranked among the top three, yet how could it end up in this state?
"Everyone, search for clues!"
Zhang Menglong started inspecting the valley, and indeed, from the many damaged buildings, he found signs linking to Shennong Valley. The scorched structures indeed confirmed it was Shennong Valley!
"Boss, I found Shennong Valley’s storeroom; almost all the elixirs were looted and torched, leaving some low-grade ordinary ones on the ground. It seems someone breached Shennong Valley."
"But Shennong Valley is a superpower; how could it be breached? Where are the elders and sect master?"
"Boss, we discovered evidence of a battle." From another direction, more clues were found.
"Can we discern anything from the battle traces?"
"Half of them are traces of Shennong Valley martial artists, mostly training fire-attributed techniques, typically leaving burn marks in battles. But the other side... No, actually there are several sides. I found traces of Divine Profound Hall’s attacks, and signs from the Intercept Sect, even Yujian Villa or other superpowers left martial arts techniques traces."
"How could this happen? Did other superpowers join forces to rob Shennong Valley? It doesn’t make sense! They might have offended one or two, but how could they offend so many, leading to an alliance against them? Something’s not right!"
"Yeah, what happened during our absence?"
"Even if something occurred, it couldn’t be that not a single soul was left, could it? Did Shennong Valley disappear overnight?"
"Continue searching!" Zhang Menglong found the situation increasingly bewildering.
In Shennong Valley, from planting bases, alchemy areas, training centers, to living areas, it was all deserted, anything of value had been looted, and Zhang Menglong couldn’t even reach the Valley Master of Shennong Valley.
"Clan Leader! We found people!" Just when everyone was puzzled, signs of human presence were discovered.
Zhang Menglong rushed over and saw a group of martial artists in Shennong Valley attire, drenched, standing before them.
The number was small, only a hundred or two, and their faces were pale with expressions of nervousness, constantly observing their surroundings as if danger might arise any moment.
"Are you disciples of Shennong Valley? I am Gu Xiao of Sunset Sect, along with disciples from our sect." Zhang Menglong tried to communicate with them.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing the name Gu Xiao, several Shennong Valley disciples immediately emanated a sense of killing intent.
"You’re Gu Xiao? You’re the cause of all this!"
A seventh-grade Divine Cultivator, manipulating flames, rushed at Zhang Menglong, with the intensity suggesting a deep-seated vendetta.
But his skills were insufficient to breach the encirclement formed by Sunset Sect disciples.
A youth from the Funeral Love Family knocked him down, about to strike, but was stopped by Zhang Menglong.
"What are you talking about? I’ve been away for a long time; how could I have harmed you?" Zhang Menglong pursued, "Have you been traumatized? No need to panic, take your time and speak when ready."
Zhang Menglong distributed some elixirs among them, particularly those for calming minds, and they gradually regained their composure.
"Brother Gu Xiao, sorry, our senior was a bit impulsive earlier; it’s actually not related to you," a female disciple from Shennong Valley explained, "Though the cause has ties to you, you couldn’t have foreseen such events."
"Tell me then, who did this?" Zhang Menglong asked.
"It was Divine Profound Hall!"
"Divine Profound Hall?" Zhang Menglong’s eyes narrowed, "Have they become arrogant during my couple of years away?"
