Chapter 417: Catastrophe
"Beast," The branching expert called, her voice full and powerful, causing echoes through the clearing, "Leave. I do not care for killing you today."
It sounded stupid to use words with a magical beast, but branching experts were beyond the world in power and sheer existence. They were true superior beings, each of their actions transcending common understanding.
As proof of that, the huge bear stared daggers at its opponent for a few seconds before releasing a low, muffled growl. The cubs reacted to that, leaving the shallow cave and reaching their mother, pressing against her giant body while she began to leave.
It was slow, and the level three magical beast kept tilting its head at the branching expert in the sky, but the four eventually left the clearing, heading for the mountain’s peak through a path unoccupied by cultivators.
The woman’s brown eyes followed that departure even after the magical beasts were no more, the sole nature of her presence keeping the area tense. Then, when she felt satisfied, she looked at the elevation again, inspecting those empty holes.
"No one leaves," The branching expert ordered, knowing that some cultivators around the clearing had already shown intentions of running away.
There was no opposing a branching expert’s orders. Everyone just froze, their eyes glued to the small but immense figure, suppressing gulps.
The branching expert never once inspected those surrounding cultivators. She kept looking at the elevation, her eyes and perception capturing a far larger area. Nothing stood out, but her frown deepened.
Despite not knowing what it was and having no clue to go by, the woman felt that something was off. It was an instinctive sensation stemming from her superior standing as a living being, a sort of foreboding she couldn’t explain.
Many might dismiss that sensation, but not a branching expert. Achieving a higher cultivation stage wasn’t just about obtaining apocalyptic power. It was an elevation of their very being, their sheer species, becoming lifeforms who possessed otherworldly abilities more in tune with their greater existence.
There was no physical explanation or source, but it was an extremely reliable sixth sense, no different than a far greater version of animals predicting bad weather.
But the answer didn’t arrive, no matter how much the branching expert looked, so she decided to mess with the playing field to see if anything stood out.
"Report!" The branching expert stated, and five rooting experts in brown left the clearing’s edge, forming a line in the open and bowing politely.
"Lady Jessica, we surveilled the area as planned," One of the rooting experts exclaimed, his anxiety leaking out despite forcing himself to raise his voice. "No one came close to the ingredients."
"Why are they gone then?" Lady Jessica coldly asked.
A series of gasps resounded around the clearing. Jessica’s arrival and the exchange with the level three bear had been so magnetic that no one had looked at the elevation, but everyone soon became aware of its state.
The five from the Mercenary Guild looked the most shocked of them all, and for good reason. It wasn’t just about that surprising development. They even had to account for having failed their superior directly.
"L-lady-" The rooting expert began to say, only for Jessica to silence him by raising her hand. She floated down, landing on the elevation, taking a second look at the holes before a harmless, spherical wave of Qi blew from her figure.
The wave washed over the entire clearing and beyond without causing a single tremor. Even the leaves on the surrounding trees stood still, but Jessica’s displeasure became more evident.
That wave had been a rank 1 perception technique, but one deployed by Jessica’s superior Qi. However, nothing had stood out.
Truth be told, Jessica had no time to waste. She had shaken off her opponent at no small price. She might hide it well, and things weren’t as tragic as they sounded, but she had to hurry before more branching experts reached the area.
And Jessica knew they would come. Rank 3 ingredients were items close to every branching expert’s heart. They were what they needed to grow even further, or at least what they had to consume to avoid withering.
"All of you," Jessica announced. "Come out."
The suffocating feeling intensified at those words, as if hinting at what Jessica would do if someone didn’t comply. The remaining cultivators could only leave their hiding spots, stepping into the clearing and performing polite bows.
Things weren’t all bad. The group in the area only had members from Guilds and Demonic Sects. While not all righteous, there were hierarchies at play. Jessica wouldn’t just engage in a wanton slaughter. It would be demeaning to her status and position inside the Mercenary Guild, and it could create headaches in the future.
Still, Lucas had to hold back a cold remark when he felt Jessica and many others browse past him and Troy. Everyone was inspecting each other and had been since arriving at the clearing, meaning someone might notice their missing companion.
Troy wasn’t suitable, so it fell once again to Lucas to play the clown.
"Senior, are you truly the famous Lady Jessica?" Lucas gasped, daring to straighten and take a step forward. "The rumors don’t do you justice. You are by far the most enchanting woman I have ever seen!"
Achieving higher cultivation stages did improve appearances in an otherworldly manner, but Jessica knew better than to believe those words.
"Junior, your Elders won’t come to save you," Jessica commented, believing Lucas was trying to buy time. "I’m astonished they haven’t killed each other yet."
"Screw the Heavenly Sword Cult!" Lucas dramatically shouted, getting down on one knee, stabbing his sword into the ground. "Senior, I’m hopelessly smitten. I vow that I shall not rest until the entire Kingdom addresses you as Fairy!"
Jaws dropped all around. Some felt the urge to hide their faces behind their hands, but Jessica actually arced an eyebrow in interest. As good-looking as Lucas was, she didn’t care for such things, but adding a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Cult to her Guild would undoubtedly be beneficial.
However, catastrophe followed.
"Wasn’t there another with them?" The black-haired woman from the Demon Heart Cult who had argued with Lucas earlier whispered under her breath. She had meant that question for her companion. It was so soft that no one else heard it, no one but Jessica.
Jessica’s eyes went wide, stomping her foot on the elevation. The structure exploded in a storm of soil that blew everywhere across the clearing, violent enough to tilt and uproot trees.
The rooting experts did their best to oppose it, making themselves small on the ground while covering their faces, but some lost their footing, blown away by the gales.
Jessica didn’t care for the rooting experts’ fate. She wasn’t trying to hurt them anyway. Her brown eyes darted left and right, checking all over the storm until the slightest unnatural event stood out.
A flick of Jessica’s hand was all it took for the chaotic storm to change course, condensing into a single, huge gale that blew in a specific direction, carving a groove into the ground and snapping any tree that dared stand in its way.
Shattering noises resounded, almost impossible to hear in that storm, but Jessica did, flicking her hand again. The winds suddenly stopped, becoming nothing more than harmless air.
Then, among the vast groove, colors began to appear, eventually taking the shape of a young woman. Grace had one knee on the ground, her floral sleeves in tatters, her crossed arms full of shallow, bleeding cuts, her life-saving earrings broken.
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