Chapter 5: Fellow Countrymen (Part 1)

Li Ran’s team approached quickly and soon saw clearly that it was two people fighting. About a kilometer away, they stopped in their tracks—the combat between the two covered several hundred meters, and their movement speeds were extremely fast. They were shocked inwardly because they realized the two opponents were extremely powerful; they couldn’t even gauge their true strength.

Guo Shier was somewhat emotional. It had been a long time since he’d fought, and yet here he was witnessing a fierce battle during the Star Sacrifice. Their group had experienced countless battles and could be considered seasoned warriors, each with formidable combat skills. Even the weakest among them, Halechi, was a skilled fighter not to be underestimated.

Yet the battle before them still filled them with awe. By now, they could clearly see the faces of the fighters.

One was a middle-aged man with gray hair, his entire body surrounded by lightning. He wore a strange set of armor that resembled a mantis clinging to his body, looking as if it were alive, with claws and limbs moving as if in motion. The armor was black, with streaks of lightning flashing across it from time to time. In his hands were two huge, bizarre knives that resembled scythes, with hooks at the tips, also colored black, matching the armor’s hue.

The other was an old man with white hair that reached his waist, fluttering as he moved. His face was covered in deep wrinkles, his eyebrows sharp like swords, and his eyes like lightning. He wore simple gray clothes, moving casually amidst the flashing blades, appearing indifferent. He could move freely even under the other man’s fierce attacks, unarmed.

Guo Shier whispered, “That old man is extremely strong—really strong!”

Yao Zebusong said, “That middle-aged man isn’t weak either. I think I could fight him evenly, but I’m not confident I can defeat him.”

Both fighters noticed Li Ran’s team a kilometer away, yet their attacks remained fierce, unaffected by the team at all, even accelerating in pace.

The gray-haired middle-aged man’s attacks were extremely dramatic, each strike accompanied by lightning and thunder. His two strange knives stirred the air, emitting shrill whistling sounds along with booming crashes.

The old man merely dodged, not attacking in return.

After a while, the two suddenly stopped fighting and flew over side by side. Li Ran’s expression changed slightly, and he and Qi Wu Zhen stepped forward together. The others followed, confident that with their team’s strength, they were no match for these two.

The gray-haired middle-aged man carried two giant swords and muttered a few words. It wasn’t the language of the Spellworld, nor the language of any other small world they had visited—it must be a local language. Li Ran asked, “What?”
The old man’s expression changed, showing clear surprise. He said, “You’re from the Spellworld?” In standard Spellworld language.
Hearing their native dialect, everyone was overjoyed. It went without saying that this old man came from the Spellworld; even if not, he was related to it, otherwise he wouldn’t speak such pure Spellworld language.
Li Ran replied, “Yes, we indeed came from the Spellworld.”
The old man sighed and said, “It’s been a very long time since I last saw professionals from the Spellworld. Hehe, I’m Ying Bei, also a professional from the Spellworld. He is Bo Rijigong, the great envoy of the Nanrong tribe and a good friend of mine here.” Then he whispered a few words to Bo Rijigong.
Bo Rijigong bowed. His arms trembled slightly, and the two giant swords disappeared, replaced by blade-like structures on his armors, like miniature versions of the swords. Then he made a sound, and the armor suddenly contracted. With a crackling noise, a three-meter-long black mantis appeared beside him. He placed his hand on the mantis’s head, and in an instant, the black mantis vanished.
Ying Bei explained, “The Nanrong tribe’s unique combat ability is to merge with parasites to create protective armor and weapons. Bo Rijigong’s Lightning Black Mantis is a level-9 demon insect with extraordinary strength.”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but exclaim, “That’s fucking amazing!”
Ying Bei glanced at Guo Shier and said, “There’s a common language here. I’ll pass it on to you.” Soon, everyone received the language inheritance. As professionals, they weren’t afraid of languages from different worlds. Besides inheritance, they could also steal languages directly from others’ souls and learn any language quickly.
The group exchanged words for a while and gradually became familiar with the local common language.
Li Ran couldn’t gauge Ying Bei’s strength. After hesitating, he asked, “Elder Ying, you’re a professional from the Spellworld. What’s your profession level…”
Ying Bei replied, “Are you still using the old professional system? The Nine-Level Altar System?”

Qi Wu Zhen’s expression remained cold, though a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. Li Ran asked, “Ancient? Is there an even older way of classification?” In truth, he wasn’t concerned about the classification method itself; what mattered was that changes in the classification often meant the original system was no longer applicable after one’s strength improved, indicating there was still much room for growth for professionals.

Bo Riguang stood calmly to the side, his face devoid of any smile. Ying Bei seemed accustomed to it and appeared happy—meeting professionals from his hometown in such a place made him feel fortunate. The projected starry sky was vast; even if someone from the Spellworld came here, it would be hard to encounter them, let alone meeting these people right after they arrived from the Spellworld.

Ying Bei said, “Well, in the Spellworld, the highest level for classifying professions is the ninth-tier altar. Hehe, but here it’s different—here, the highest can reach the eighteenth-tier altar…”

Everyone was shocked. Li Ran exclaimed in astonishment, “This… this is impossible!”

Ying Bei smiled slightly and said, “Nothing is impossible. This is a world where stars are worshipped, and professionals here represent the ultimate combat force.”

Bo Riguang snorted. He didn’t refute it, but clearly showed disapproval.

Guo Shier sighed, “Eighteenth tier…” He shook his head repeatedly. In the Spellworld, the basic understanding was that the highest tier was the ninth-tier altar, and adding another layer was extremely difficult. Yet he also had some doubts—after arriving here, they had all advanced effortlessly, with Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen reaching the eleventh-tier altar. It seemed reaching the eighteenth-tier altar might not be impossible after all.

Everyone was puzzled, but more so excited. If Ying Bei wasn’t talking nonsense, they could continue to improve. In the Spellworld, it was basically impossible for them to advance any further.

Ying Bei smiled and said, “Eighteenth tier… It’s different from what you’re used to. Hehe, it’s not based on the concepts of the Spellworld. Well, come to my residence first, and we can talk slowly.”

Bo Riguang said, “Ying Bei, take care of the guests. I’m going back first. We can spar again when we have time.”

Ying Bei nodded and gave a casual bow. Bo Riguang gave a slight nod to the group before disappearing instantly from his spot. Moments later, he reappeared a few hundred meters away, flashed several times, and then vanished completely.

Ezek said, “That man is strong…” As a super-aberrant spellbeast, he instinctively sensed Bo Riguang’s threat.

Yinbei turned to stare at Ezekiel, a powerful aura pressing down on him, scaring Ezekiel into letting out a shrill cry as he suddenly vanished, appearing a hundred meters away. He shouted, “You! You…!”
Meili swiftly appeared beside Ezekiel, and the couple both looked as if facing a formidable enemy.
Yinbei chuckled and said, “Don’t be nervous… You’re not even human.” He was both amused and surprised because he had heard that mutated rune beasts could take human form, but that was just a legend—he had never seen it with his own eyes. In that brief moment of focus, he had already seen Ezekiel and Meili’s true forms.
Ezekiel said, “We are human!”
Meili added, “We are beautiful orcs!”
Yinbei replied, “It doesn’t matter. I’m not looking down on you. There are occasionally people like you here. Well, in this world, what matters is your strength, not your race.” He then explained a bit more.
This world had experts from countless smaller worlds, all sorts of people or other intelligent beings. Strangely enough, they got along fairly well. Of course, there were also fights, but as long as one recognized the other’s strength, they could earn respect.
If one was weaker and got beaten or killed, it was due to lack of strength, not discrimination. What surprised Yinbei was how Ezekiel and Meili could mix with professionals and seem to have a good relationship—this was very different from the traditions of the Rune World. In the Rune World, professionals specialized in hunting mutated rune beasts, making it difficult for them to get along.
Yinbei owned a huge manor, whose layout was similar to that of the Rune World, so everyone felt comfortable there. The manor was located in a forest, with dozens of small villages nearby. Yinbei explained that there were no countries or cities here; the strong would build manors as residences, and the surrounding villages were inhabitants dependent on those manors, essentially self-sufficient small tribes.
Here, rune gates were used extensively. Most strong individuals would build a teleportation rune gate leading to their friends’ manors, mainly for trading among themselves. The land in this world was vast and worthless; as long as one had the ability to settle down, they could claim any piece of land as their territory, and no one would interfere. Of course, if land was already occupied by a strong individual, it could lead to conflict, with the winner still able to keep it.

This forest produces plenty, and Yingbei’s manor is quite famous among the powerful. There are many ordinary people here, most of whom live under the protection of the powerful as vassals. They must work for them, providing various goods, while the powerful offer them protection; they are interdependent.
Yingbei’s manor is Yingbei’s home.
The buildings of the manor were simple, but Guo Shier noticed that the structures were blessed with runes, and runes also glowed on the walls surrounding the manor. After a brief inspection, he realized that the entire manor was equipped with one or several large rune arrays, of a very high level—by no means ordinary arrays.
As Guo Shier walked along the path, he found that the trees planted by the roadside were plants unique to the Spellworld—trees with natural runes. He asked, “Are these trees native to this place, or were they brought from the Spellworld for cultivation?”