Dragon Heart Island — the surrounding waters.
Over a thousand vessels dotted the islands ringing Dragon Heart Island, every single one of them flying the War Blood Adventure Team's emblem on its sails. Any ship that passed through Dragon Heart Island's waters was subject to inspection by War Blood. Combined with the fact that the entire island was enveloped by a boundary-sealing magic formation — cutting off all communication in and out and rendering teleportation magic unusable — the whole of Dragon Heart Island had effectively become War Blood Adventure Team's territory.
"Damn it! War Blood is getting way too greedy. We're not even members of Skyblade, and they still want three magic crystals and twenty ancient silver coins just to let us leave the island!" A Level 114 Tier 2 Berserker at the helm of a small boat glared furiously at the War Blood speedboat pulling away in the distance.
"Keep your voice down — they haven't gone far yet!" A Level 120 Tier 3 young Elementalist sitting beside him quickly clapped a hand over the Berserker's mouth, whispering a warning. "Right now, War Blood runs the entire Dragon Heart Island. Even the major superpowers have to watch their every mood and play along. We're leaving the island to sell off some goods — if War Blood sets their sights on us, we're finished."
"Still don't get what Skyblade did to provoke War Blood. They're still hunting down Skyblade members after all this time — the moment they spot one, they grab them and hand them over to the NPC wardens. Won't let any of them set foot on the island." A Level 117 Tier 2 female Oracle nearby gazed at the War Blood speedboat, now more than three hundred yards away, a note of curiosity in her voice.
"What's there to wonder about? They just want Skyblade's plots near the World Tower," the Tier 2 Berserker said dismissively. "More and more underground treasures are being discovered inside the World Tower, especially on the Fourth Underground Floor. The exotic energy down there is too intense — recovering through food and drink costs a fortune. The only way to recover quickly is to rest in that special zone around the World Tower. That's where the real value is."
"And Skyblade bought five plots — including the only large plot and a medium-sized one near the Tower. With War Blood aggressively expanding like they are, how could they possibly let that fall of meat slip by?"
"Exactly. The plots around the World Tower are insanely hot right now. They've practically become the benchmark for whether a major power on Dragon Heart Island can exploit the Fourth Underground Floor. Now that War Blood has crushed Skyblade, of course they're not going to let those plots go. Grabbing Skyblade members is just pressure to force their leader to capitulate." The only Tier 3 young Elementalist on the boat nodded. "Though getting Skyblade to submit won't be easy. As long as they hold those five plots, they can rebuild anytime."
The group's talk turned to the plots around the World Tower, and a collective wistfulness settled over them.
After all, before anyone on Dragon Heart Island had ventured into the Fourth Underground Floor, those plots around the World Tower hadn't been worth a second glance — exorbitantly priced and nowhere near Dragon Heart City's central commercial district, nobody wanted to buy them.
Now, though, they had become the number one prize every superpower in the Divine Realm was scrambling to grab.
And there were only thirty-four plots around the World Tower in total — a number so limited that even the island's local factions couldn't get enough, let alone the outside superpowers.
For a single adventure team like Skyblade to occupy five of them, including the best one? No wonder every major faction and War Blood had gone crazy.
Deep within the Fourth Underground Floor lay the inheritance grounds for advancing to Tier 4!
But just as the small crew on the speedboat was chatting, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from nearby, its shockwave reverberating for thousands of yards. Every player in the area whipped their heads toward the sound.
They saw fewer than thirty players clad in black cloaks who had somehow summoned two flying mounts. The two peak Tier 3 leaders at the front joined forces to swiftly cut down twenty of War Blood's Tier 3 experts. Then one leaped onto each mount, taking roughly a dozen people with them, and charged straight for the edge of War Blood's encirclement.
"It's the Skyblade remnants!"
"Form the formation! Don't let them escape!"
The surrounding War Blood members sprang into action the instant they saw what was happening.
Dozens of War Blood speedboats near the two flying mounts swiftly deployed a sealing barrier — clearly they had anticipated exactly this kind of breakout from Skyblade's members.
Before the two mounts had even climbed two hundred yards into the air, they were trapped inside a massive magical barrier with a radius of over a thousand yards. The faintly glowing runes and magic formations visible through the translucent wall of energy marked it as an advanced sealing array.
Even a Tier 4 Legendary monster would need considerable time to break out from the inside — let alone Tier 3 players.
"Damn it!" The leading female knight saw the barrier close around them, fury and unwillingness flickering in her eyes. She turned to the man beside her. "Vice Leader Shenying, what do we do? Breaking this barrier will take at least two or three minutes. That's more than enough time for War Blood to mobilize reinforcements."
Standing atop the floating serpent, clad entirely in black, Shenying's brow was deeply furrowed. It was clear he hadn't anticipated War Blood pulling out something on this scale.
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"There's no other way — we fight through it. In a moment, I'll activate Burst Mode. I should be able to break the barrier in under a minute. Once it's down, I'll hold them off. You all find a way to get out of here." Shenying glanced at the War Blood elites closing in from the distance, then looked at the female knight, Fan Muran. "Remember — even if you're the only one who makes it out, it'll be worth it. You are Skyblade's last hope!"
"Understood!" Fan Muran's expression turned solemn.
Skyblade had already disbanded, and War Blood was hunting their former members across Dragon Heart Island. If the surviving members of Skyblade were to have any chance of survival, their only hope was to seek help from the outside world. After all, she still held the land deeds — at a price, it would be possible to recruit an outside super-guild to intervene.
But before Fan Muran could even turn to control the flying serpent, a booming voice echoed through the minds of every Skyblade member.
"Think you can run? Not so easy!"
"Not one of you is leaving today!"
Before Shenying and Fan Muran could even react, a figure materialized before them — a man wearing dark crimson robes, his eyes tinged with blood-red, gripping a blood-soaked wooden staff. An indescribable aura of malevolence radiated from him.
Just hovering in midair, this sinister-looking man oppressed everyone present with an almost suffocating pressure, as though an entire mountain sat upon each of their shoulders. The ambient magical elements pressed down on them ceaselessly.
"Caomu Yiqiu!" Shenying stared at the man, astonishment flashing through his eyes. "How is this possible?! You're supposed to be leading the expedition to the Fourth Underground Floor!"