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"Just watch carefully, this thing is controlled by me." Yu Jin noticed Paimon's actions, stopped talking, and began to observe the surroundings.
Although the place where the golden tree emerged was close to the campfire, there were no human figures around, as if the fire was only to illuminate the darkness and did not serve anyone.
"Ember, can you move forward a little?" When Dain saw the purple abyss rune floating above the campfire, he knew that the core area was ahead.
These runes suspended above the bonfire are, on the one hand, an important source of energy to keep the bonfire burning, and on the other hand, they are also conveying certain information.
If they really set a fire underground like this, the apostles might be fine, but the abyss mages would die of suffocation.
"Okay, since you seem so familiar with this, I'll listen to you." Upon hearing this, Yu Jin let the golden tree drill back into the ground.
"It's dark again!" Paimon shouted in surprise.
"What a fuss! Have you never seen a hole dug in the ground?" Yu Jin complained and began to sense the surrounding environment.
The camp of the Abyss Cult was very empty. The bark of the golden tree once again wrapped around the eyeball at the end, wriggling rapidly under the ground.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the campfires ahead became visibly denser, and the light became brighter accordingly.
The roots of the golden tree emerged from the ground again. It tried its best to shrink the golden light on its body, and under the cover of the campfire, it blended perfectly into the background.
“Lots of bonfires!”
"Look ahead, the Apostle of the Abyss is coming!"
As soon as Dain finished speaking, the space in front of him fluctuated, and then a space crack much larger than an ordinary abyss passage was torn open.
The little starlight it emits looks like star fragments in deep space.
"So big?! Could it be that the Abyss Cult has cultivated powerful Abyss Apostles?!" Yu Jin said in shock when he saw the space crack that was three or four times larger than an ordinary Abyss passage.
He compared the size difference between the Abyss Mage and the Abyss Apostle, and felt that if the Abyss Apostle evolved again, it would be about this size.
"Strong Apostle of the Abyss? What is that?" Ying was confused when she heard what Yu Jin said. Can strength be divided into a separate level?
"Don't listen to him, there is no such thing." Dain refuted Yu Jin's statement about the so-called "strong apostle of the abyss."
He had been fighting the Abyss Cult for so long, but he had never seen such a thing as a "strong abyss apostle".
The appearance of the Abyss Apostles is exactly the same as that of humans. Dyne also recognizes the Abyss Apostles by their aura.
He took a closer look at the huge Abyss Cult and said in a serious tone, "This means that a large number of apostles will be sent. It seems that the Abyss Cult has made a big move recently."
"Om~"
As soon as Dain finished speaking, the abyss ahead began to fluctuate violently. Then, twisted and crazy monsters came out one after another.
Those are the Abyss Apostles and the Abyss Chanters.
It seems that there are no less than a dozen apostles of various types coming out!
The apostles walked out of the space crack, but they did not leave. Instead, they stood on both sides of the passage, as if they were welcoming some important person.
When all the abyss apostles came out, a figure also emerged from the abyss passage.
A person among the monsters of the abyss, a man with the same blond hair as Ying and Dain.
Kong, Ying's long-lost brother.
"elder brother!!!"
"It's over, Dain, hold her down! Paimon, come on too!"
Ying let out the most inappropriate scream since she woke up. The sound was so loud that in Yu Jin's opinion, only Ba Che's scream could rival it.
So he "held down" Ying without saying a word. In fact, it was not a question of whether the consciousness was held down or not. It had no entity, so how could it be held down?
Yu Jin only used part of his will to wrap Ying tightly. The latter suddenly felt as if a mountain appeared out of thin air in her chest and mind, pressing her so hard that she couldn't breathe and couldn't recover.
"Senior...senior..."
"Okay, calm down... Never mind, you can yell as much as you want!"
Yu Jin originally wanted to persuade Ying not to lose her composure like that, but when he saw that he had attracted Kong's attention, he gave up struggling.
In fact, Kong is very powerful, and it is very troublesome to catch him.
So, just think of it as pruning the branches of the golden tree.
"It seems that Osel has really been released and the target has been lost. Everyone, go to other countries to see if there are any sealed demons."
In the distance, Kong was arranging the members of the cult to search for traces of other demon gods, but he suddenly felt a throbbing sensation in his heart.
He couldn't tell what it was. Maybe it was a sign of crisis, or a foreshadowing of something important, or maybe it was Ying's longing?
As if he had sensed something, Kong suddenly turned his head and looked in a certain direction. Then he saw the eyeball hidden in the dim background, and the familiar branch below it.
Well, it seems that the throbbing feeling was a premonition of crisis.
"Boom——"
The dim underground suddenly became bright, and then quickly dimmed.
"It's not safe here anymore, let's go somewhere else." Kong glanced at the dark purple pit and said lightly.
Afterwards, the huge abyss passage reappeared, and the apostles who had just arrived here followed Kong's footsteps and left.
"Oh!"
The abyss passage closed, and the flickering flames dissipated. The underground fell into complete darkness.
……
"Hiss..., that's quite powerful." Yu Jin was the first to wake up. Recalling the moment when he just freed his hands, the fierce elemental force seemed to penetrate into his body through the golden tree.
"Not just a little bit, it's very strong!" Dai Yin woke up with a sigh, his face still showing some palpitations.
My former travel companion has become stronger again.
"If he wasn't planning something, few of the seven gods on earth would be able to defeat him." Dain muttered. He now felt that time was more and more urgent.
"Humph, what's the big deal? At worst, I'll just cling to Yu Jin when he comes to attack me!"
Paimon also woke up. When she thought of the lightning that she couldn't see clearly, she felt a dull pain in her body again.
"Ying will cry her heart out, okay? You actually abandoned her when she needed you the most, and she still spends 300,000 Mora every month to support you."
Yu Jin pointed at Ying who was silent and had sluggish eyes and said, "It seems that Kong is a member of the Abyss Cult and it has dealt a heavy blow to her."
Paimon also reacted. When she saw Ying's expression, she immediately flew to her and started psychological treatment.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong with you? Don't you still have me?"
"Since your brother is hanging out with the Abyss Mages, then forget about him and let him find an Abyss Magus to be his sister!"
"What? You still recognize this brother, then you should become stronger and bring him back!"
……
Paimon circled around Ying, talking nonsense all the time.
"Paimon, I'm fine now." Seeing Paimon so lively and anxious, Ying felt a lot better.
She pulled Paimon down from the sky, held him in her arms, and began to rub Paimon's little face.
Paimon's face suddenly became unhappy, but considering that Ying needed her comfort, Paimon let Ying knead and flatten him.
"Senior, where were we just now?" Ying raised her head and asked Yu Jin.
"Underground in the sea, but I guess he has run away." Yu Jin said, touching his chin.
"Is that so..." Ying's face darkened a little, but she soon regained her spirits.
"No matter what, I have to find my brother!"
Chapter 352: Reputation Max Level
2023-12-14
"So, where are you taking me?" Dain and Yu Jin asked helplessly as they walked on the edge of the Wolf Territory.
After "spying" on the Abyss Cult, Yu Jin took Dain away, saying that he wanted him to meet some people and tell him that he was not alone.
"A place that you are definitely interested in."
"I am not interested in anything except the Abyss Cult."
Dain refused decisively. He had indeed been interested in many things before, but they had all disappeared. Now, he only wanted to thwart the conspiracies planned by the Abyss Cult.
"Do you want to see that tree?" Yu Jin pointed at the huge tree that reached the sky on the Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain and added, "I relied on it to spy on the Abyss Cult just now."
"..."
"I admit that I spoke a little loudly just now. Take me there. I am also interested in this tree."
A trace of embarrassment appeared on Dain's face. He didn't expect to be slapped in the face so quickly.
In fact, Dain wanted to make a few excuses to save his face, but he changed his mind and thought that Yu Jin, this guy, probably didn't know what face was.
Fortunately, he immediately let go of his reserve.
"Very good, but unfortunately the target this time is not it, but a person at the foot of its tree." Yu Jin choked Dain with just one sentence.
Dain clenched his fist and exhaled, "Let's go. Even if we go to the foot of that tree, I can get a lot of information."
As for the "that person" that Yu Jin mentioned, Dain had no expectations for him.
There are very few people in this world who can attract his attention. The appearance of a single ember is enough to surprise him, but if there is another one...
Dain estimated that he would have to classify Mondstadt as a "high-risk area".
"No need to spoil the fun. That guy is no ordinary person." Yu Jin patted Dain's shoulder and walked towards the Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain with his head in his hands.
……
The Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain was originally a barren land, but now it seems to be full of vitality.
The biting cold wind had been stripped of its bones, and it felt more like a ball of soft cotton when it hit my face, rather than the sharp ice blade it had been before.
The first to sense these changes are always the unknown green plants on the earth. They are more sensitive than any animals, and once conditions permit, they will expand their territory to any place where they can grow.
In short, the Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain is beginning to turn green.
Such a noticeable change naturally attracted the attention of everyone in Mond.
Most people would just treat it as fodder for after-dinner gossip, but for many adventurers and alchemists in Mondstadt, the Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain is now a huge unexplored treasure trove.