Published: February 13, 2025
Star Eye stood in a place, gazing into the distance.
From their vantage point, they could see the brightly lit Dark Strip City far away and the huge, quiet Cloud Summit Manor not far from the city.
"Leader, where are we going?"
After the defeat of the bronze shadow and the red dress guard, the leader's guard could not hold their heads high, and when the two leaders of the Star Eye Clan said they would take everyone away, no one hesitated.
In that battle, the opponents had advantages in equipment, a wait-and-see approach, and a slight numerical superiority. However, these were not the reasons for the leader's guard's failure; their average fuleira was dozens of times higher than that of the opponents, yet they lost.
Yes, although the two leaders of the Star Eye Clan later said that if the battle had continued, and if those Long Void Water Clan members had not intervened, the leader's guard would have won. After paying a certain price that led to increased casualties on the opposite side, their opponents would have collapsed at some point.
Many might die, but they would definitely win.
Of course, if the Long Void Water Clan members had intervened, then it would have been a different situation altogether.
It was easy to say, but the leader's guard knew better than to comfort themselves with such thoughts; the result of failure was something they had to bear silently.
"Don’t call us leaders anymore," the Star Eye members said in unison.
They had already relinquished their titles and all authority to their daughters. As for Lord Yan's son, who was completely absorbed in his work and following the path of a technical official, they let him be.
For the two of them, they were indeed failures, and failures had to pay the price.
The distance from where they made the wrong decision was the price they needed to pay.
"Leader..."
"I said, don’t call us leaders anymore."
As the tone of the two Star Eye members became stern, no one dared to say anything further.
Lord Xing moved her hand, and something appeared in her palm.
The Dark Tide Sacred Stone!?
The members of the leader's guard behind them were very excited.
This was the sacred object of the Star Eye Clan, said to hide the great secret of the Star Eye Clan.
This object was originally on Luo She, but later, to gain the trust of the two Star Eye members and ease their hearts, Luo She temporarily entrusted the Dark Tide Sacred Stone to them for safekeeping and research.
Now that Luo She was dead, this item naturally remained with them.
"About my master..." Lord Xing started to say but did not continue. However, everyone else understood what she meant.
Previously, they had witnessed the process of Ye Zhongming and Luo She from conversation to battle and saw the tragic state of several companions they had been with day and night; it was impossible for them to not feel a psychological impact.
Only now, with Luo She dead, they no longer had to face any difficult choices.
Their complex emotions made them better understand the two leaders.
"His return shouldn't be that simple. Those... things in his heart, you all saw them; I don't believe that is the purpose of his return. Even if it were, why are our sacred objects, which have been missing for so many years, in his hands? How did he obtain them? Where has he been all these years? Why is he only coming back now?"
"Where was the Dark Tide Sacred Stone last seen before it went missing?" Lord Yan asked.
Immediately, someone answered, "At the Billmont Ancient Battlefield, it went missing after a senior from our clan died in battle. The clan was in turmoil at the time, so by the time someone was sent to search, it had already disappeared."
Lord Yan nodded. "In that case, let us start our search from the Billmont Ancient Battlefield."
………………
Ye Zhongming settled his backyard at the Star Eye Clan, and the back and forth took several days. Upon his return, he found the rookie battlefield surprisingly calm.
Due to the large hunting area, even with so many people, it did not feel crowded. Everyone was hunting with all their might, increasing their points.