Chapter 2131: Chapter 2132: The Shadow Reappears

Tree Spirit, out of curiosity about what happened after Culori returned from the ruins three hundred years ago, took the Chronicles from Angel’s hands and started reading without hesitation.

Tree Spirit initially had a mindset of "snooping on legendary gossip," but he was stunned after just two pages.

In Culori’s Chronicles, he unexpectedly saw information about Audric and Marisha?!

Tree Spirit repeatedly reviewed the records Culori made of Audric and Marisha, emotions flickering in his eyes.

Having lived a very long time, Tree Spirit witnessed the ebbs and flows of the Barbarian Cave. Nearly every talented individual from the Barbarian Cave grew up under his witness, including Audric and Marisha.

Especially Audric; as the former Controller, Tree Spirit had a particularly close connection with him.

Because Audric possessed a rare affinity with nature, Tree Spirit had been paying attention to him since he was a young boy. Later, Audric became the Controller, and almost every reform and policy of his was executed by Tree Spirit. Their collaboration reached a point where they could understand each other’s intentions with just a glance.

However, there is no such thing as a feast that never ends. After Audric broke through to become a Legend, he left the Barbarian Cave to seek his future path.

Since then, Tree Spirit has almost never heard any news about Audric.

Unexpectedly, he saw his old friend’s name in Culori’s Chronicles this time.

Tree Spirit gazed at the names of Audric and Marisha for a long time before abruptly closing the Chronicles: "I believe Lord Rhein would also be very interested in Audric’s news. I shall go and tell him now."

Angel was a bit surprised that Tree Spirit, after only reading a page or two, was already planning on finding Rhein without finishing the whole book.

Angel could not grasp or empathize with Tree Spirit’s sentiments, but since Tree Spirit had decided, Angel would not interfere.

Angel: "I sensed two hours ago that Lord Rhein had already entered the Wilderness of Dreams and hasn’t left yet. If you wish to find him, you should go there."

Tree Spirit nodded, preparing to put on a monocle. However, he did not activate it immediately and instead looked at Angel: "Can you use the Dream Conch to drag this Chronicles into the Wilderness of Dreams?"

Angel: "It’s possible, but it’s actually not necessary to complicate things. I can recreate the Chronicles using an illusion technique just as well."

Tree Spirit realized this too; he intended for Rhein to read the Chronicles, and recreating it with an illusion technique would suffice. With this in mind, Tree Spirit said no more and directly entered the Wilderness of Dreams.

Angel followed Tree Spirit inside as well.

Because Rhein was currently near the Colosseum in the southern city, Angel and Tree Spirit appeared in a deserted alley outside the Glorious Cathedral adjacent to the Colosseum.

Tree Spirit looked towards the magnificent architecture of the Stone Pillar Colosseum in the distance, puzzled: "Why would Rhein go to the Colosseum, could there be another duel with a Demon Hunter?"

"Lord Rhein is not alone; there are others with him." Angel paused: "The Stone Pillar Colosseum is a high-magic area; Rhein should be bringing them to familiarize themselves with the virtual magic power."

Dumatin, Kaylar, Nightsevil... these were names Angel recognized, and there were a few powerful wizards he hadn’t met but knew of by reputation.

They must be the newcomers Rhein was bringing into the Wilderness of Dreams this time.

"I see." Tree Spirit came to understand and, without further thought, walked towards the Stone Pillar Colosseum.

Angel followed Tree Spirit, but after only a few steps, Angel’s expression suddenly froze.

A special alert message echoed in his mind: "Attention, a marked individual has entered the Wilderness of Dreams!"

The message blinked three times before disappearing.

By the authority of the Gate of Dreams, Angel had marked several specific individuals. Since Rhein, Ironclad Granny, and Tree Spirit were all still in the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel knew without investigating who this marked individual was.

Sanders had entered.

Sanders had been away for several days and, though he had entered several times, Angel had always missed him.

Now that they were simultaneously present, Angel decided to first check on Sanders’ situation.

Angel conveyed his plan to Tree Spirit, who nodded indifferently but requested Angel to recreate Volume 14 of the Culori Chronicles before departing.

Angel recreated two illusionary Chronicles and handed them to Tree Spirit, then summoned a gust of wind to fly towards the Sky Tower.

Upon arriving at the Sky Tower, Sanders was in Frode’s office, writing something with a pen.

Perhaps sensing the wind outside the balcony, Sanders raised his head.

His previously tense expression eased slightly upon seeing Angel.

He set down the pen and welcomed Angel inside.

"You came at the right time. I was contemplating leaving a message or asking Ironclad Granny to find you," Sanders said as he returned to his desk, casually gesturing with the paper he had been writing on.

Angel could clearly see his name written on it, indicating that Sanders did have something important for him, even to the point of leaving a message.

Could it be that the mentor had already encountered Sumishe and needed to use the Nightmare Domain of the Wilderness of Dreams to help Sumishe repair the crumbling Nightmare?

Angel voiced his query.

Sanders, however, shook his head: "I haven’t met Sumishe yet, but it should be soon. I’ve already picked up a trace of them. I came to find you for another important matter."

When Sanders spoke of this, his expression was extraordinarily serious, making Angel also become more solemn.

"Not long ago, I passed through Chaos City Market—this is a wizard market east of the White Eagle Principality," Sanders paused: "In Chaos City Market, I obtained a piece of information through a secret channel, suggesting that in the past couple of days, unusual individuals have been frequently appearing near the Void of Sky Mechanical City. Based on the informer’s description of these people’s attire, I’m almost certain they are Budding followers."

"Currently, after the Star Observation Day, major wizard organizations are conducting secret searches for Budding. However, most are finding some Budding followers on overseas islands, and they are mostly mortals."

"Those who can stand in the Void and target Sky Mechanical City are very likely extraterrestrial Budding followers. Their strength is unknown, but since they dare not directly attack Sky Mechanical City, it’s inferred they likely don’t exceed the energy level of Second Level True Knowledge."

"My concern isn’t Sky Mechanical City; I’m worried that since these Budding followers have revealed themselves, the time they’ve targeted you is also approaching. After all, in Dororo’s prophecy, it’s clearly stated that Budding followers will eventually come to the Barbarian Cave. So, you must be careful."

Angel responded solemnly, "Understood. I will be cautious."

After a pause, Angel asked, "Since Budding followers have already appeared, has City Lord Rosen received any news on this matter?"

Angel was well aware that the Sprout Cultists’ greatest hostility was directed at City Lord Rosen. In the entire matter, he barely had a presence. Even if they intended to deal with him, they would certainly try to tackle City Lord Rosen first, regardless of success or failure, before turning their attention to him.

Sanders: "The market at Chaos City already has the news, Rosen couldn’t possibly be unaware. You don’t need to worry about the Sky Mechanical City; their foundations are no weaker than the Barbarian Cave, and the mysterious methods they can employ far exceed your imagination. Once Rosen makes preparations in advance, repeating the same mistakes is absolutely unlikely."

After Sanders finished speaking, he added: "Previously, we deduced that, even if the Sprout did intend to deal with you, they wouldn’t go as far as using the Arrow of the Defeated. But even so, you can’t be careless, and also try to improve yourself as much as possible."

In Sanders’ view, facing these cultists who fearlessly faced death and followed one attack with another horde, the best approach for now was to temporarily avoid them. However, even if they had to avoid for now, they shouldn’t completely give up resistance. If they truly had to face the Sprout Cultists, they should still fight when necessary.

Therefore, Angel’s strength needed to be as strong as possible to ensure absolute safety.

However, Angel had not long broken through, and was still settling his power, so it wasn’t easy to make significant improvements in a short time. But it wasn’t entirely impossible; for instance, he could start with external objects.

"Previously, I mentioned to Lord Rhein about the Seed of Distortion, asking him to help find a puppet body that could be parasitized by the Seed. I wonder if there’s been any progress, remember to inquire about it later."

Angel nodded in agreement.

Sanders and Angel both conducted research on the Seed of Distortion, but unfortunately, they didn’t make any breakthroughs, probably because this Seed was a progeny. Since the research yielded no results, using it might be the best choice for now.

After finishing his explanation, Sanders conversed with Angel for a while longer.

He mainly inquired about the hidden room.

Angel did not hide anything and roughly explained what he saw and heard. At the same time, he used illusion techniques to recreate several books he found in the bedroom.

After hearing it, Sanders also displayed some sentiment.

"These books can just stay here for now; I’ll come back later to look at them. There’s still some business in reality that I must attend to first." Sanders paused for a moment, as if recalling something: "By the way, when I came in yesterday, I happened to see Frode returning from the New City; he seems to have some matters to discuss with you."

Angel perceived Frode’s location and found that Frode had returned to the New City.

"I understand, I’ll go find him shortly."

Sanders nodded and said no more. Just as his figure disappeared, he said: "Be careful."

...

After Sanders left, Angel sighed softly, and his figure vanished from the Sky Tower.

When he reappeared in the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel found himself on a vast plain.

In the distance on both sides of a long river, a cluster of buildings could be vaguely seen. But currently, these building clusters weren’t many and were devoid of any color, appearing drab and gray.

This was the site of the New City.

Angel started walking toward the building clusters, under the respectful gazes of many demon hunters, he arrived at a wooden house with a style completely contrasting with its surroundings.

This two-story wooden house with a small garden was the Mana Hut, crafted through a Magic Rune Scroll, hence it did not match the stone building style around it.

Passing through the small garden, Angel opened the door and unsurprisingly saw Frode.

Frode was standing by the window, looking into the distance, and hadn’t noticed Angel.

Angel walked up beside Frode and followed his line of sight, only to discover Lianna, holding the New City’s construction plans and speaking with Baruba on the distant plain.

After a while, Lianna stepped to the side, and Baruba took a Magic Rune Scroll from the box, beginning to raise buildings out of thin air.

"When did Lianna get here?" Angel murmured.

"Lady Lianna came with me on a dirigible yesterday..." Frode was halfway through his words when he suddenly froze; who was speaking to him?

Frode turned around in surprise.

Seeing it was Angel, Frode exhaled in relief, then showed a pleasantly surprised expression: "Sir, why are you here?"

Angel casually sat on the sofa nearby: "I came to see the construction of the New City."

Frode: "The city planning for the New City was just completed yesterday with Lady Lianna’s help. Today we are only starting the trial construction using ordinary stone. Once the plan is finalized, the construction will be torn down and rebuilt in a few days, so it looks somewhat primitive for now."

Angel nodded indifferently: "Lord Rhein should send people over in a few days with demonic materials for construction; he’ll also send people to help build the New City. By then, the pace will accelerate."

After pausing for a moment, Angel continued: "By the way, I just heard from my mentor that you were looking for me?"

Frode nodded and pondered: "It’s about a few small matters."

"Go ahead."

Frode hesitated for a bit, then slowly said: "It’s about Adar, Shanni... and some personal matters of mine."

As Frode narrated the details, Angel also understood why Frode would seek him out.

Ever since Frode settled in the Nightmare Orphanage, though he spent a long time in the Wilderness of Dreams, he hadn’t forgotten his cultivation in reality.

By utilizing the illusion game set by Angel — Dead by Daylight: Nightmare Orphanage, as a trial for Talented Ones, he accumulated quite a number of Magic Crystals.

So, he purchased many spectral spirit stones from the Ashen Time Trade Caravan for cultivation in reality.

Over time, Frode’s soul force had reached saturation.

Not only him, but even Adar and Shanni had reached the upper limit of their soul absorption capacity.

The upper limit of soul force absorption can be expanded; it only requires an increase in the soul’s energy level. However, Frode wasn’t planning to embark on the path of the soul because he wasn’t a Soul Sect Wizard, and pursuing this path would be nearly suicidal.

Frode had his own plans and wanted to eventually revive physically, even if it was just as an Alchemy Golem.

However, the future was distant, and even reviving through an Alchemy Golem would require Angel to achieve True Knowledge and collaborate with him.

Frode’s immediate concern was another matter: the issue of soul force piling up to its limit.

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