The site of Dragonspine Ridge, the remnants of the Blood Lake, or the Great Basin of Beinz—no matter what it was called, these names indicated the tremendous changes after that earth-shattering catastrophe. Now more than two months later, the witnesses who caused these changes had returned. They were expecting to be shocked by the great changes there.
As the halo of teleportation faded, Hao Ren and the others appeared on the mountains of Dragonspine Ridge. The MDT had recorded the coordinates from when they last left the Plane of Dreams, so they were sent directly back to the same spot. Nangong Sanba felt a little dizzy after the teleportation, but soon after, he looked at the surrounding mountains curiously. "Oh, this is a good place. You explored this place the last time?"
Surprised, Hao Ren glanced at the half-baked demon hunter. "Yeah, you recovered pretty quickly, eh! Didn't you feel a bit dizzy from the long-distance teleportation?"
Nangong Sanba smiled proudly. "I've been trained since young."
Hao Ren thought Nangong Sanba meant that he had been practicing the teleportation skills of a demon hunter from an early age. But Nangong Sanba glanced at Nangong Wuyue and said, "My sister liked to swing me around with her tail when I was a child, like a fan spinning at the highest speed..."
Nangong Wuyue's face darkened like the underside of a wok. "Brother, you must miss the 'Big Windmill'?"
At this time, Lily suddenly shouted not too far away, "Wow! Look at that, Landlord!"
Hao Ren quickly ran over to check it out and his jaw dropped to the ground.
There was a massive pit in front of him. The entire land that used to be surrounded by Dragonspine Ridge had become a bottomless crater. The region where Beinz Blood Lake and the Gnarled Grove used to be had disappeared. They could not recognize any traces of the previous landscape from the crater. On the steep cliffs surrounding the crater, there were cracks in the rocks, which were still spewing with hot air. There were large black crystals hanging from the mountain on the west side of Dragonspine Ridge. They formed out of a kind of glass substance, which had melted, then solidified. And in the lower part of the huge crater, in the smoky haze, there was what looked like a large, overgrown piece of light-blue crystal, which seemed to be a newly-formed crystal jungle.
The entire Beinz region had become a super giant basin. The former sacred lake and the Gnarled Grove had all disappeared. It was now covered with sprawling a crystal jungle as well as volcanic glass, and dotted with steam vents and geothermal springs. There had been a geological change.
"The First Born's activity hollowed out the rock formations in the Beinz area and the Petrachelys' cannon blew the land into a crater," the MDT so analysed how the landscape formed. "The crystal jungle below must be a by-product of the psionic shelling. Hitting a source directly with psionic energy could fundamentally change the structure of matter and even laws within a certain range. Those crystals don't occur naturally in the universe. They are normal rocks that have been through a process of metamorphosis."
"Are they psionic crystals?" Hao Ren asked, worriedly. "If they are, then they're highly radiative."
"Relax, unless they're specialized radiative weapons, ordinary psionic artillery have no radiative residue. Radiation in the vicinity of the point of bombardment will fall to a safe level within a fraction of a second after the bombardment," replied the MDT as it observed the crystal jungle below. "After all, it is a hassle to clean up the battlefield. An apostle of the Xi Ling Disciples doesn't do things sloppily."
"It looks like something's moving underneath." Lily had sharp vision. She spotted some shadows and a few man-made objects. "There are houses too?"
"Someone must be mining the crystal." The MDT had already discovered movements earlier, but it did not think it was a big deal. "There isn't much radiation, let them be. The locals may have found some uses for the crystals. Although this sort of thing isn't very common, it does happen. Psionic energy can react with conventional materials, and change them into a variety of bizarre products. Depending on the laws of each world and the specific properties of the materials, occasionally it will produce some strange things. So, every time the Imperial Army finishes a war, there will be a bunch of insterstellar privateers sending in their mining ships to mine the battlefield. Sometimes, fights will break out just for the sake of securing some pits. Fortunately, since the establishment of the provisions for the past two years, the situation has become better."
Hao Ren listened in surprise, thinking that those had to be fights between immortals. Nangong Sanba was as clueless as a dimb bulb. He was tagging along, but he had no clue what Hao Ren and his company were doing. He wanted to find someone and ask, but before he could do so, Nangong Wuyue pulled him away and said, "Brother, wait until we get home before you ask. Just tag along for now."
"This place has completely changed... I'm not even sure if the Royal Knights are still around," said Hao Ren, who had only realized that after the terrifying events in the Beinz region, Holletta may have undergone tremendous changes. The Church and Royal Knights may also have experienced great changes. "Where do we even find Marshal Ophra?"
Just as Becky was about to give a suggestion, footsteps were suddenly heard approaching. "Wait a second, someone's coming."
The MDT suddenly hid in Hao Ren's pocket, while Lil Pea jumped inside Hao Ren's collar. As it turned out, the figure who emerged from the mountain road was not a stranger, but an acquintance. It was the elderly werewolf who had fought alongside them for some time. It was Marhsal Ophra's general, Elson Ebben.
The elderly werewolf was apparently not there by coincidence. He had spotted Hao Ren and his gang from afar. He smiled and said to them, "You lot really came back, the strange fellows from the alien country."
"I didn't know we had another nickname." Surprised, Hao Ren was in a good mood as he met his acquaintance. He greeted the elderly werewolf with a smile. "Have you been waiting for us here?"
Apparently, Elson was waiting for them, but he was still surprised when he saw Hao Ren and the others. He looked curiously at the group, who had reappeared just as suddenly as they disappeared the other day. He was very curious about these people, who had performed a lot of incredible things, but he managed to hold back his questions as he replied Hao Ren, "Ophra instructed it. She expected your reappearance in this place. And to prevent unnecessary troubles, we specifically cleared out the area around the main peak of Dragonspine Ridge, where the Royal Knights are stationed. We have been expecting you."
Nangong Wuyue suddenly chimed in, "Isn't it a waste of manpower for a general to wait here?"
"The Beinz Basin is now the focus of the continent. Both the kingdom and the western tribe are drooling over this place, so it's necessary to have a general stationed here." Elson shrugged. "I've been conveniently waiting for all of you here. As you know, werewolves have very good senses. We can spot things the first instant they appear in the mountain."
Lily happily nodded as she heard this. She was proud of her werewolf bloodline. Speaking of the girl, her identity switched seamlessly between husky and werewolf. When she needed to be fashionable, she would say that she was a werewolf. When she was hungry, she would identify herself as a husky. She had been doing it so perfectly, and conveniently.
"I'm not sure if our 'identities' are okay here," Hao Ren asked with a smile. "Let me just be honest with you, we're here for a mission and we have to go around a lot. But we don't want to get into trouble."
Elson nodded. "Everyone has seen what you all have done in Dragonspine Ridge... Well, Ophra and I had witnessed it for a while. With the guarantees of the four masters, I know you wouldn't have any problems. Before leaving, Ophra had instructed that if you come back, I will arrange for you to go to the king's capital to see her. She has an arrangement. But then again... Why didn't the four masters join you?"
"They are kind of busy catching wild rabbits," Hao Ren shrugged. "We're here just to show our face, as we had just helped transcend a race in another place."
Elson could make of what he said, "What?"
"Ahem, thst's just jargons of my profession, forget about it what it means," Hao Ren quickly explained it away as he felt Vivian pinched his back. "Well, if there's no problem...then first take us to the hotel, we shall chat as we walk."