Chapter 2301 Observation
Fang Heng remained unseen, silently observing from the shadows.
Currently, one-on-one, Duke-level vampires are not yet capable of instantly killing Leaf tribe guards, but they can effectively suppress them.
Given no surprises, victory should be achievable with a little time.
Princes of the vampires, at King-level, can overwhelm Leaf tribe guards, easily handling them one-on-one.
At present, the Princes of the vampires still could not deal with Leaf tribe elders.
No matter.
He would take it slow.
Abe Akaya"s main body and dimensional levels were far from reaching their limits.
Soon, the entire Temple of Incantation was cleared by the vampires.
A prompt refreshed on Fang Heng"s retina.
[Hint: The player clears the Temple of Incantation, gaining 500,000 reputation points with the tree spirit tribe.]
"Your Majesty, the Temple of Incantation has been completely under our control," Prince Carl of the vampires respectfully approached, kneeling before reporting, "As you instructed, we did not let any of the tree spirits escape."
"Good job."
Fang Heng entered the Temple of Incantation and looked towards the magic array in the central hall.
"Let"s begin. There"s still some time before the Leaf tribe arrives. a.s.sist me in setting up the magic array!"
"Yes! Understood!!"
Together, they collaborated to set up Abe Akaya"s summoning magic array inside the temple.
...
Leaf tribe.
Great Elder Senzo was currently gathering all the elders for a meeting within the tribe.
Currently, the Leaf tribe was facing significant troubles.
The sapling of the sacred tree had been destroyed, several elders had perished, and the overall strength of the Leaf tribe had been greatly diminished. They had even lost a large number of sacrificial jars.
The future looked bleak.
"We have reached a trade agreement with the Soul tribe. They are willing to exchange three sacrificial jars for our two Nature"s Heart Crystals. Elder Vannes personally went to oversee the transaction and is now on his way back."
To be honest, Senzo was very reluctant about this trade.
During this period, they focused their efforts on the Inner World, searching day and night. They had finally managed to obtain two Nature"s Heart Crystals after much hardship.
Now, these two crystals were being sold cheaply to the Soul tribe.
There was no other way.
They were desperately short of sacrificial jars.
Trading these three sacrificial jars with the Soul tribe could alleviate their immediate crisis, preventing them from falling too far behind other tribes.
They had no choice but to proceed with this.
However, even with this trade, it only temporarily delayed the Leaf tribe"s impending defeat.
If they could not come up with another solution soon, they would have to consider withdrawing early from the sacred tree cultivation battle.
"Report!"
"Great Elder, we have just lost contact with a Temple of Incantation on the periphery," a tribesman hurriedly reported.
Upon hearing this, the faces of those present couldn"t help but darken.
The last time they seized a Temple of Incantation from the Wood tribe and failed to benefit from it, the four major tribes had agreed not to attack Temples of Incantation already occupied by other tribes.
Which tribe was so shameless as to openly violate this treaty?
"Do we know who did this?"
"Not yet."
Senzo furrowed his brow.
Perhaps the situation wasn"t as bad as imagined; it could just be an isolated communication failure.
"Rudyard, immediately take a team to investigate. If you encounter enemies, avoid direct conflict for now."
"Yes!"
Rudyard nodded and swiftly prepared to lead the investigation.
Before they could depart, another Leaf tribe member rushed in.
"Report!"
"What is it?"
"Great Elder, we"ve just discovered a problem with the teleportation pa.s.sage inside the Prayer Temple located in the Inner World. It"s currently unusable."
The Prayer Temple?
Senzo"s heart skipped a beat as a strong sense of unease began to creep over him.
Two incidents nearly simultaneously happened.
What conspiracy was this?
Who was targeting the Leaf tribe?
"Rudyard."
"Yes!"
"You take Elder Renzo and Elder Dexi with you to investigate the Temple of Incantation. Be cautious. The temple is not our top priority right now. If you encounter danger, prioritize your own safety. I will personally go to the Inner World to a.s.sess the situation."
"Understood! I know what to do."
Rudyard also sensed that the situation was precarious. He nodded in acknowledgment and quickly led Elder Renzo and his subordinates to investigate the Temple of Incantation.
Elders Renzo and Dexi were newly appointed and far less experienced than Elder Vannes. In this urgent situation, they had no choice but to accept their orders.
Rudyard led over fifty Leaf tribe members through the teleportation pa.s.sage into the outer periphery of the primeval forest, heading swiftly towards the Temple of Incantation.
It was Renzo"s first mission outside the tribe, and he felt uneasy. He asked, "Elder Rudyard, who do you think could be behind all this?"
Rudyard shook his head.
He wasn"t sure either.
The Wood tribe seemed the most likely given their strained relations with the Leaf tribe, but they had suffered significant losses recently. If Rudyard were in their position, he might wait for a better opportunity.
The Leaf tribe was in crisis, but they still had their resilience.
Delaying action would favor the Wood tribe more and more.
"Now, remember the Great Elder"s orders. Avoid direct conflict at all costs. You know the state of our tribe; we cannot afford further losses."
"Understood, Elder. We know."
Suddenly, as they moved forward, Rudyard sensed something and looked ahead.
What was that?!
In the distance, where the Temple of Incantation should be, a dark red beam of light shot up into the sky.
The pillar of light lingered for a moment before slowly dissipating.
"Elder?"
The Leaf tribe members couldn"t help but pause and turn to Rudyard.
His expression turned serious.
From what he had just witnessed, it seemed someone from another tribe had reactivated the imprint of the Temple of Incantation.
But...
Who could it be?
The dark red power fluctuation didn"t seem like something released by the other three major tribes.
What could this mean?
Could it be the Soul tribe?
Among all the tribes, the Soul tribe wielded the most mysterious power and conducted the deepest research on the sacred tree. Their actions were often the most enigmatic.
Could they have made a new breakthrough in their research on the sacred tree?
"It might be someone from the Soul tribe. Be cautious, let"s proceed."
"Yes!"
They continued moving towards the temple.
As they neared the temple and entered its outer periphery, Rudyard"s unease grew.
The periphery of the temple seemed unnaturally quiet.
There were no guards in sight.
The exterior of the original Temple of Incantation was now covered in dark red climbing vines.
The entire temple emitted a disturbing aura.
"Is there no one here?"
They exchanged glances.
Rudyard and the two newly appointed elders tried to sense any presence around the temple.
Strangely, they detected no aura fluctuations whatsoever.
"Stay vigilant. Let"s proceed inside the temple to investigate."
They had come this far; turning back was out of the question. They needed to find out what was going on.
Rudyard reminded everyone and took the lead as they stepped into the temple together.