That scene was breathtakingly beautiful, even Odin, with his usual expressionless demeanor, paused to admire it for a moment.

After that, the mountain's incline further decreased, and the vegetation gradually became denser. As they ventured into the valley, it seemed they had entered the lowlands — streams of melting snow trickled over the pine needle-covered ground, winding along, eventually converging into a deep river at the valley's exit.

The river surface was quite wide, seemingly slicing through the valley, dividing the mountain into two. Odin led the way, winding along the river, and soon, the forest parted, revealing an open expanse, with sunlight seemingly streaming in from outside the brown-red trunks—

Prompting Fang Hong to instinctively raise his hand to shield his eyes.

There lay a lake.

Deep blue, as smooth as a mirror, was vast enough to encompass the reflection of the mountains, inscribing the sky and clouds upon the water surface, like a sheet of glittering glass, flowing with colors belonging to nature. Fang Hong stood by the woods, momentarily entranced by the sight.

This was Long Lake.

It nurtured the Southern Region, Fanric, Silver Tower City, and Idus along the golden route. While Idus, to the west of the Dragon Speaker Mountain Range, had long since been reduced to ashes under the wings of the Nikopolas dragon, the other two cities still prospered to this day.

It also nurtured many noble families of the Southern Region, the ancient land of legendary Alchemists; Rose Workshop and Emerald Bird Workshop both originated from this soil, and the emerald bird, one of the symbols of the Southern Region, perched upon this lake.

The climate here was pleasant, never freezing year-round, and it was the most vibrant area for adventurers.

Due to the various strange legends and treasures hidden within the forest, along with the countless wise sages who resided here, this place has always been the most popular area for various adventures—it has also birthed numerous legends. Here, Invokers strategize and battle against underground ogres and rat people, and although the Southern Region lacks large guilds, it actually fosters a more liberal atmosphere—

Indeed, this region has long been one of the three major Holy Lands for Invokers, alongside Rainbow Bay in the northern Kingdom and the Far South Nogness.

Fang Hong paused and stood for a long while, finally realizing he had truly arrived at the Southern Region. He couldn't help touching a nearby tree, the brown-red bark unique to this place—Brown-Red Forest.

Suddenly, he remembered Atira and everyone else, trekking with Mr. Greyrock, although not suffering as much, but missing numerous experiences—his trek across Holy Bow Peak this time had surprisingly enhanced his physical fitness.

Though not enough to alter his physical assessment, it was better than nothing. However, he had missed out on significant amounts of reading time, indicating gains were accompanied by losses, lacking substantial cognitive experience.

Earlier, he sent a message to Tianlan, informing them that he was relatively safe but needed to head south ahead and asked them to depart later. Unsure of where he was now, Fang Hong watched the shimmering lake, feeling somewhat melancholic.

From Dulun heading south for about a week and a half.

In fact, quite a few things occurred over the last half month.

He and Odin had been outdoors all along, but Invokers, after all, still had communities, not entirely severing from society, hence they got wind of some happenings.

Post-Dulun battle, the south had plunged into chaos, as three 'guilds,' including Song of Ash, formally declared a break with the Super Competitive League, facing off with its southern representative, the BBK Alliance, halting the latter's operations in the Southern Region nearly completely.

Enraged, the Super Competitive League's higher-ups immediately revoked the legal rights of Song of Ash and other guilds, canceling their points and qualifications—not unlike plugging their ears, as those guilds, like Song of Ash, were nonexistent anyway.

Given that the guild no longer existed, what rights could it hold?

The Super Competitive League had little else to offer, bearing no comparison to Stargate Port, where only guilds and organizations fell within its jurisdiction, while ordinary Invokers were managed by the government.

Finally, the league targeted Ye Hua and other renowned Invokers, yet for everyone else, with no points, no rankings, and no participation in any events, any punishment was insignificant.

Hence, the southern Invokers officially plunged into a state of division.

However, Stargate Port's stance was rather perplexing.

During the Dulun battle, it was later confirmed that Stargate Port intervened in the forum, but after that, the military took no further action. The foreign ministry spokesperson merely expressed grave concern regarding the southern chaos and reserved the right to intervene.

The undertone implied respect for the league's autonomy but hinted a sense of watching a show.

In simple terms, it was non-cooperation.

Stargate Port's non-cooperation further fueled the fermentation of the Southern Region's situation.

As for whether the Super Competitive League's higher-ups felt troubled by this, Fang Hong didn't know, but community support overwhelmingly favored Stargate Port's decision.

On the other hand, the natives were subtler in their actions—for on the surface, it seemed the conflict was just between Invokers, while deeper intricacies were being concealed—the noble families of the Southern Region appeared uncharacteristically quiet, with the Alchemist Alliance having no further actions post their fake operation under the guise of Rose Workshop.

This suggested nobles were expressing dissatisfaction but weren't genuinely intending to break away from His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister.

Following that, Dulun's situation seemed to affirm this fact—after Enan Modkaiser was branded a rebel and left, Duke Modkaesar stood out to stabilize the southern chaos.

On the surface, the Modkaesar Family appeared to reconcile with the Praetor, and both sides began methodically steering Dulun back on track.

Yet, anyone could see this was merely superficial calm.

As for where the next eruption point would be, none could say for sure at the moment.

...

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