The group cast helpless, disgusted glances at Priest Lang Jiao. Though they had no way to refute his words, their unease only deepened.
Zhu Yao did not join the conversation, nor did she stare nervously toward the Sea of Monsters.
She stood in silence with lowered eyes, her lips moving as she repeatedly ran through the mental shifts required for the Spatial Guidance Art.
Although she had mastered the highly difficult spell half a month ago, she worried that the tension and chaos of real combat might disrupt her mental focus. Even now, she ceaselessly cycled through the 365 shifts of the Spatial Guidance Art, determined to familiarize herself with it so thoroughly that the casting process would become second nature.
She absolutely refused to fail at a critical moment in battle.
Just then, Guo Kao approached her with a stack of data.
"Priest Yao, these are our readings on the Sea of Monsters over the past two days. There are some anomalies. Would you like to take a look?"
Zhu Yao raised a hand to stop his approach. "There's no need. Just give it to the Director."
Guo Kao started to protest, but Zhu Yao lowered her hand and ignored him. Her lips resumed their silent, ceaseless movement; it was clear she wouldn't entertain another word.
Guo Kao held up the files with a helpless smile. "Do you want to take a look? The situation really is a bit strange. Today is supposed to be the day with the fewest monsters all year, but our latest readings show that the numbers on the periphery haven't decreased at all. I'm worried something has gone wrong deeper inside the Sea of Monsters."
Tail waved a dismissive hand, showing absolutely no intention of coming down. "I'm not looking at that. I wouldn't understand it anyway. Just show it to the Director; he seems like the most scheming one of the bunch. Leave the thinking to the people who like using their brains."
Guo Kao shook his head. "Alright, I'll go find Allen."
Tail watched Guo Kao leave, an unreadable expression on her face. She then glanced down at Ming Kai, who was standing silently on the other side of the tree with his arms crossed.
"Why are you suddenly willing to join the operation?"
Ming Kai spoke in a hoarse voice, "Priest Li He of Yongge Camp has always been cautious. He didn't even participate in the last operation organized by the priests of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, yet he's actively joining this one. If a big shot like him is heading into battle, I definitely can't miss this chance. Plus, with the vice-captain here... for someone like me, who isn't a priest and doesn't have any special abilities, this might be my only opportunity."
Tail scoffed. "Cautious? You might as well just say he's afraid of dying."
"Ahem." Ming Kai coughed lightly. "Watch your words. You don't want to make yourself a target."
Tail curled her lip. "Isn't it the truth? I'm afraid of dying too. What's there to be mad about?"
"You're awfully aggressive today." Ming Kai rubbed the back of his neck, which seemed a bit stiff. "You're not usually like this."
Normally, Tail was a bit more aloof. She rarely spoke to them, and when she did, she acted relatively normal. Around the black dragon Dila, she even acted like an ordinary, cute young girl. Today, however, two out of every three sentences she spoke dripped with sarcasm. She was lashing out at everyone indiscriminately.
"Are you nervous?" Ming Kai probed.
"Nervous?" Tail scratched her ear with her fingernail. "Maybe a little."
She didn't tell Ming Kai the whole truth.
She wasn't just nervous.
She felt an overwhelming sense of unease.
It felt as though a massive hand were tightly squeezing her heart, making it difficult to even breathe.
As a Cat Girl, her innate intuition was much sharper than a normal human's.
Even so, it had never been exaggerated enough to predict danger every single time.
Today, however, a premonition that something terrible was about to happen pressed down on her like a mountain, so clear that she even entertained thoughts of giving up.
Those thoughts had only intensified after Li Ban entered the Sea of Monsters.
Staring at the distant sky as another flash of silver light illuminated the black-and-red Sea of Monsters, Tail knew giving up was impossible.
All she could do was flare out her spikes like a hedgehog to resist the immense pressure.
"It'll be fine," she muttered silently. "Even if I really do die today, I'll die in the Sea of Monsters!"
Tail, who had never once yielded to the threat of death, was inexplicably thinking about her own demise today.
She curled up into a ball, deciding to temporarily give up on thinking altogether.
If she didn't think, she wouldn't be afraid.
"Boom!"
After releasing another Silver Lightning Arrow, Priest Hao Yang lowered his arms, his hands trembling slightly.
His face was deathly pale and drenched in sweat. "I can't cast any more Silver Lightning Arrows for now. I need some time to recover my mental strength."
Although he still had plenty of White Seeds on hand, casting spells required intense mental focus, resulting in an enormous drain on his psyche.
After firing ten Silver Lightning Arrows to allow the assault team to advance over a thousand meters, Priest Hao Yang absolutely needed to rest.
Even though Li Ban had also been fighting constantly, he remained full of energy and was still capable of casting spells.
However, Li Ban lacked the powerful, large-scale area-of-effect attacks that Priest Hao Yang possessed. If they tried to force their way through with frontal combat, not only would they face an ever-growing horde of monsters, but their rate of advance would slow to a crawl.
Every creature in the Sea of Monsters possessed a specific alert radius. Once someone got too close, it would draw the attention of every other monster in the vicinity.
That was why, the moment Priest Hao Yang carved out a path with a Silver Lightning Arrow, they would immediately use Shrinking Ground to an Inch to teleport to the end of that path.
This prevented them from agitating any monsters along the middle of the route.
Meanwhile, the monsters that had previously been fighting Li Ban would lose track of them as the cleared path was swiftly blocked by other creatures, forcing them to gradually stop their pursuit.
Now that they lacked the ability to carve out new paths and advance quickly, Li Ban and the group proceeded with their plan to rest in place.
Beside them, Octopus quickly spread all of his arms, enveloping Li Ban and Hao Yang within.
Li Ban then rested a hand on Hao Yang's shoulder and cast "World Without Me," erasing both of their presences simultaneously.
After spending half a year at the Recycling Station, he had finally learned how to take other people into this state of nonexistence with him.
With their presences erased, their bodies concealed by Octopus's arms, and Chao Lu keeping watch outside, the two priests were finally able to catch their breath.
The spatial rules within the Sea of Monsters were highly unusual. Everyone could move freely here, completely ignoring gravity.
At the same time, however, it was extremely difficult for anyone to hide their presence.
In the past, a priest had tried to sneak in using the "World Without Me" spell. He discovered that while casting the spell in place was fine, the moment he started moving, the monsters would instantly lock onto him.
It was as if the space itself had detected his existence.
Yet, while staying perfectly still delayed detection, it meant they couldn't get any closer to the rift. This tactic could only be used for temporary breaks.
And even when remaining perfectly still, a priest's presence would still slowly be uncovered.
Later on, their predecessors realized from experience that casting "World Without Me" while remaining stationary, and simultaneously concealing their bodies through physical means, could maximize the time before they were discovered.
Li Ban had learned these invaluable lessons from the Director and the leaders of the Five Major Camps, and he was successfully putting them to use today.
Furthermore, they had even improved upon this method. By having the Bottle People—who possessed monster bodies—shield them from view, they extended their hidden duration even further.
Unfortunately, no matter how much they prolonged it, they could never remain hidden for more than half an hour.
Twenty minutes later, Priest Hao Yang, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and nodded to Li Ban.
He was still ghastly pale, but he knew there was no point in waiting any longer.
The enormous toll he had taken would require at least two or three days for a full recovery. This brief rest was merely to suppress his splitting headache so he could continue casting spells.
Li Ban nodded and reached out to tap one of Octopus's tentacles.
Hao Yang stood up, drew his bow, and began gathering his energy once more.
The moment he began to cast, the surrounding monsters were instantly stirred into a frenzy. Even before their figures were fully revealed from beneath Octopus's grasp, the massive fluctuations from the spell drew the enemy's attention.
Li Ban flicked his wrist and tightly gripped his Iron-Eating Sword. Twisting his arm, he slashed the blade diagonally as he launched himself toward the massive monsters in front of him.
Although he didn't have to unleash ultimate moves constantly like Priest Hao Yang, he was still under immense pressure.
To fight more effectively and avoid injuries or severed limbs, he continuously cycled through his spells, utilizing almost every technique he had learned in the past as well as those he had acquired from Zhu Yao.
Nevertheless, his mental state was still much better than Priest Hao Yang's.
Because he was entirely focused on the battle, he completely failed to notice the starlight occasionally flashing through his pupils.
This starlight flickered silently, without placing any strain on him whatsoever.
As the two set out once more, venturing ever deeper into the Sea of Monsters, the path they had previously carved out was quickly reclaimed by the agitated swarm.
Those on the outside could no longer see a trace of the silver light within, leaving them completely blind to the pair's progress.
The brief rest hadn't been enough for Priest Hao Yang to fully recover, so the number of Silver Lightning Arrows he could release consecutively continued to drop.
After taking three such breaks, Priest Hao Yang reached his limit. Unable to fire another Silver Lightning Arrow, the two completely swapped roles.
He tossed aside his bow and pulled out a massive trident instead, helping Li Ban draw the enemy's fire.
Li Ban, hiding behind Priest Hao Yang, waited for any distant opening before rapidly executing his most proficient spell, Shrinking Ground to an Inch.
If the spatial layout of his destination was unclear, the Shrinking Ground to an Inch spell would fail, potentially even backfiring with dangerous consequences.
Because the dense horde of monsters completely blocked their line of sight, they could only rely on Priest Hao Yang to lure the beasts away from the front before advancing in short, several-meter bursts.
Such rapid, short-distance movements weren't enough to shake off the monsters they had previously attracted. As a result, after advancing just a hundred meters, they had accumulated a massive tail of pursuers. If they stopped for even a moment, the furious horde would completely overwhelm them, dragging them into a bitter struggle for survival.
Beside them, Octopus and Chao Lu watched with bated breath. However, it wasn't time for them to officially join the fray yet, so they could only anxiously blend into the mob of monsters and follow along as the pair pushed toward the center.
Finally, after advancing another five hundred meters with a long trail of monsters in tow, they spotted it through the gaps in the shifting horde: a massive black rift hanging suspended in the sky ahead.
"The Northern Continent Spatial Rift!" Priest Hao Yang blurted out.
Li Ban looked up, breathing a sigh of relief from the relentless casting. "Three hundred meters to go."