Chapter Eighty-Three: A

Outside the cave, the wind howled like ghosts and wolves, plunging the world into darkness. But inside, with one side of the cave blocked, the wind was but a faint whisper. Luo Yuan turned to the others and said, “The gale outside is terrifying. It will be very difficult to get another Wind Horn Stone.”

Earlier, there had been a Wind Horn Stone on the cave floor, likely blown in by sheer luck from the storm outside. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been only one inside. Such occurrences depended entirely on chance.

“What about the remaining Wind Horn Stones?” Thor asked anxiously.

“It’s too dangerous out there, and lightning could strike at any moment—enough to reduce even a Domain Lord to ashes. We’d better stick close to the canyon and use our mental force or origin power to snatch up any Wind Horn Stones swept near us by the wind. It’s tricky, but much less risky. It’ll take patience. Or—kill other teams that have stones and take them by force,” Luo Yuan mused.

The others nodded in agreement at Luo Yuan’s analysis.

So, they settled into a “waiting for the rabbit” routine, lingering at the cave mouth, ready to snatch any Wind Horn Stones blown close. It took both luck and skill: the howling wind made it impossible to see clearly, the air thick with flying rocks, and only rarely would a Wind Horn Stone be among them. And when one flew past the cave, it was only for an instant.

You had to grab it in a flash—miss it, and you might have to wait a long time for another chance.

But the wind was infused with the energy of the universe’s very fabric. Any attempt to extend one’s mental force was instantly shattered and dispersed. Luo Yuan’s “Hand of Mental Force” could only reach about a meter outside the cave before dissipating.

Yet, to their delight, the “Moyun Vine” at Luo Feng’s side, now at star-level rank four, could, when shrunk, send out a tendril tough enough to lash two meters into the gale and retract at lightning speed. Though the vine would be covered in scars, its rapid regeneration allowed it to sustain these two-meter strikes again and again.

In Wind and Thunder Canyon, most teams adopted this “wait and snatch” approach to gather Wind Horn Stones. Occasionally, some would drive slaves or bodyguards to risk their lives at the canyon’s peak, but such teams were rare—after all, even a single loss among their fighting force could be catastrophic.

On the third day in Wind and Thunder Canyon, Luo Yuan’s team secured their second Wind Horn Stone.

On the fifth day, they claimed a third.

On the ninth day, they obtained a fourth.

This was mainly thanks to their favorable location. Most other teams would spend a year or more just crossing half of the Thunder World, then another year trying to collect the stones. Taking years over the task was normal. Luo Yuan’s team was extraordinarily efficient by comparison.

“All right, we have four Wind Horn Stones. Time to leave,” Hong said with a smile.

The fourteen of them soared from the cave, ready to begin their return.

Suddenly, the whole of Thunder World began to shake violently—without warning, the earth trembled!

All the teams were stunned.

“What’s happening?”

“Is this world collapsing?”

“Heavens!”

Across the thousand kilometers of Wind and Thunder Canyon, tens of thousands of star-level adventurers looked up in alarm, eyes wide as they scanned the trembling mountains and quaking world. Luo Yuan’s team was no exception.

“What’s going on?” Everyone stared around in confusion.

“Look over there!” someone shouted hoarsely.

Anyone on the mountains saw it almost at once: a fissure splitting the range, a pitch-black rift appearing as if torn through reality—half exposed on the mountainside, half within, the surrounding space ripped and warped in a most uncanny way.

“What is that?” Thor cried, eyes wide as he pointed at the distant black hole.

Tens of thousands of adventurers stared at the gaping darkness. Suddenly, a voice rang out: “A world within a world! That’s probably the entrance!”

“Yes, the world within the world!”

“That’s it!”

“Hurry!”

The star-level youths from every family and faction of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire—men and women of every appearance—were seized with frenzy. One by one, they turned into streaks of light, tens of thousands shooting toward the black rift.

“So this is the world within the world? What a spectacle,” Luo Yuan remarked, eyeing the rift that had torn through the sky, not rushing in immediately.

“What should we do?” Luo Feng asked at his side.

“No rush. Let’s wait and see,” Luo Yuan replied calmly with a smile. The rift was still unstable—it was best to let the eager teams test it out first.

“Uh, Third Brother is saying things we don’t understand again,” Luo Feng muttered.

After a while, seeing no one come to harm, all fourteen of them shot into the darkness at full speed.

Inside the world within the world.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Thousands upon thousands of star-level adventurers poured from the rift, each team scattering in all directions, filling the sky.

“Third Brother, which way do we go?” Hong asked.

“We can’t waste any time,” Thor added urgently.

“Follow me,” Luo Yuan called from the air.

Luo Feng, Hong, Thor, and their ten followers formed up and sped low over the ground. Though the adventurers had entered in a dense mass, after just a few minutes of flight, Luo Yuan’s team saw no one else nearby. This world within a world… was vast beyond measure. Tens of thousands of people were like a drop in the ocean.

“Third Brother, are we just going to keep flying like this?” Hong asked, glancing at Luo Yuan.

“It’s all we can do,” Luo Yuan replied. “The world within the world is enormous—who knows where anything valuable might be hidden? All we can do is search blindly, like fishing for a needle in the sea. Fortunately, we can scan a range of twenty kilometers. If any treasure is within that radius, we’ll find it immediately!”

The world within the world was eerily silent—no fierce beasts, only quiet.

“So quiet,” Luo Feng remarked.

“That’s to be expected. The beasts in Thunder World were brought by the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance specifically to test and weed out apprentice mercenaries,” Thor grumbled. “Without any beasts, flying here is honestly a bit boring.”

“Stop!” Luo Yuan’s mental command thundered in their minds.

“Damn,” Thor muttered, covering his ears. “Third Brother, could you turn it down?”

But Luo Yuan ignored him, his mind sweeping the area. Scanning the surroundings, he barked, “Everyone, be careful. Let’s find a spot and start digging!”

“Dig?” Luo Feng, Hong, and Thor were momentarily stunned.

“Yes. There’s something good 4,800 meters underground,” Luo Yuan replied with a mysterious smile.