And it was at this moment that Fang Hong felt someone grabbed him, dragging him out of the water and onto the sandy beach, where he struggled to open his eyes and then saw Parker's plump face.

And a Chuuni teen beside him.

He didn't know how the latter managed it, though Xiaya seemed soaking wet as well, the thick clothes he wore seemed untouched, even his hat was still in his hand. He turned his pointed hat upside down, poured out the water and a fish, and then put it back on his head.

Fang Hong felt like a dead fish lying on the beach, gasping for air for a while before he gradually regained some strength. He turned his head to look around and realized that they had moved out of the underground river, arriving in a spacious underground cavern.

The environment here resembled the eighth layer a bit, with some Mushroom Forests growing around and glowing crystals hanging from the rocky ceiling above, and scattered on beaches near and far were many others lying like him.

They were all members of Silver Weslan. Some people were busy retrieving others who were drifting down the river, some of whom were breathing their last breaths due to severe injuries. Healers could do nothing but watch as they took their final breaths and turned into points of light.

Seeing these people, Fang Hong felt his luck wasn't too bad.

He also saw a canoe beached on the riverbank, probably the last one to leave, only thanks to these people that they managed to escape, otherwise, they might have continued drifting down the river to an unknown destination.

But obviously, the luckiest was Parker, who seemed to be completely unharmed, instead tinkering with a short sword in his hands.

Fang Hong looked closely at the sword, which clearly wasn't his workmanship. The short sword's design looked ancient and more like a Ritual Knife, likely something left by the Xinsas Serpentfolk. He glanced weakly at Xiaya and asked, "What is that?"

"My spoils of war, don't get any crooked ideas," Parker quickly replied, "I found it on the beach, I was the first to reach this place, so it's mine."

"Alright, alright, no one's bothering you." Fang Hong didn't want to argue with him. He glanced at the direction of the underground river just in time to see Tainaric helping Xi come up from below.

The girl was clearly injured from the previous combat. The Lizardman Prince politely asked for her permission before setting her down on the beach. Xi clenched her teeth and covered her abdomen, with blood seeping through her fingers intermittently.

Seeing this, a healer from Silver Weslan immediately ran over to treat her.

Meanwhile, Fang Hong also received information brought back by Sophie. After asking around in her team, she learned about the general extent of casualties and said, "Apart from Aliya who is missing, three others are missing, and two have died. Overall, we've gotten off reasonably well—"

Aliya was the Elementalist girl they mentioned earlier.

Through the window, Fang Hong saw her quietly walking out from under Roman's Holy Icon, approaching nearby and silently standing beside her. Sophie affectionately patted her shoulder as a form of encouragement, but the latter remained silent, looking downward.

"That's Glacial Heart," Sophie added, fearing he might misunderstand. She introduced the girl's ability, "It's a Talent Skill Aliya obtained from the mission which boosts one ice magic effect by four times, but can only be used once a week. I told her not to use this ability unless absolutely necessary."

Fang Hong nodded his head. He wasn't that harsh; she had already done well enough, and besides, had Aliya not acted in time, he probably wouldn't have had much chance of survival.

However, Sophie's frankness made him grow quite fond of her. His brief interaction with Silver Weslan left a very good impression, different from any Grand Guild he had known before, even altering his past perceptions of these Guilds.

However, he also understood that the information the other party had told him would definitely have some distortions, such as the ability of the Glacial Heart might not be limited to just once a week, after all, that was an internal mechanism of the Silver Weslan. However, such a powerful ability must have a long cooldown period, which was what Sophie was trying to convey.

Initially, he thought it was a skill attached to a necklace, but on reflection, it made sense; legendary equipment wasn't that common, whereas talents, special skills, and blessings were more so.

Just like the Ritual Effect he had acquired from the Lizardman, in Eteliria, everyone had the chance to gain some special abilities through different tasks and experiences, some lasting only a brief period—like Parker's Cursed Mark—while others could be permanent, like Loofah's Son of the Thunder God lineage, a talent many in the Grand Guild coveted.

His Ritual, however, belonged to a special category; these effects often had long durations, and through different choices, could be strengthened or permanently fixed—just not everyone had such an opportunity.

Like reversing the extinction at the Shining Sea, it was something to be merely thought about, as it was not something one person could achieve.

But as for everyone in this world having their own serendipities, sometimes being lucky—was also a formidable ability in the New World.

The three people Sophie mentioned as missing were probably more unlucky than not, perhaps they just hadn't been revived yet, but this time, Silver Weslan had brought a team of nearly thirty people, a loss of five or six people truly wasn't significant.

Even the Princess of Silver Weslan didn't say much, after all, any level below the eighth in the Dragon's Trial could encounter unknown dangers, something beyond human prediction—Fang Hong's command in her view wasn't problematic, even quite excellent.

Fang Hong was also a bit amazed at the quality level of Silver Weslan; in such a sudden crisis they had only lost six people, while a typical Adventure Group under those previous conditions would probably have been annihilated.

Surviving under such conditions only showcased extraordinary individual abilities.

"We should have reached the lower floors by now," Sophie looked around: "but we need to check which floor this is, I wonder if the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team has also reached this place, we need to look for any traces they might have left after resting."

"It seems like the Undead didn't follow us out?" Fang Hong asked.

"I don't know if those Undead are related to that boat we encountered before," Sophie answered, "theoretically, that Dragon Boat couldn't have passed through the underground riverways, but we haven't seen any sign of them along the way, and there's also that black river water..."

"The Undead are just aggregates of Negative Energy driven by negative emotions, their forms can change endlessly, only related to the Dark Forces lingering in this land," Fang Hong answered, "but their not following us out is indeed a good thing for us."

Sophie nodded.

"However, theoretically speaking, the deeper we go, the more pronounced the influence of the Dark Forces mentioned by Toragotos might become," Fang Hong continued, "before we confirm any connection between that boat and this situation, we'd better still be cautious."

Sophie was about to speak when she suddenly saw one of her knights approaching; he didn't know she was there and just spoke somewhat sternly to Fang Hong, "Mr. Xiaya, our people have spotted someone fighting ahead, do you want to go and take a look?"

Someone fighting ahead?

Fang Hong and Sophie exchanged glances.

...

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