Chapter 1094 - 889: Demigod Level Rodrick (2)

Byron withdrew his hand and turned to glance in the direction of the settlement, adding gruffly, "Since there’s a temporary truce, have your people send me some medicine. Your ancient Array Master left rune barbs on the light screen, poking into my shoulder, and I haven’t gotten them all out yet."

The Clan Leader of the Black Stone Tribe looked at him expressionlessly, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly before he turned towards the settlement.

The other clan leaders also dispersed, leaving the area around the collapsed mining zone once again in silence, only the sound of the wind brushing over the rubble.

Duke didn’t stray far from the mining area, circling the wind-eroded stone pillar cluster around the collapse zone before finally choosing a vantage point atop one of the pillars as a temporary hiding spot.

The aura of the World Tree clung to him like a thin green film, suppressing his spiritual power fluctuations, the presence of rules, and even his breath and heartbeat to blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment.

He crouched on top of the rock pillar, leaning against a wind-eroded, pockmarked gray rock, his eyes scanning the mining area below through the gaps between the pillars.

The clans were moving faster than he had anticipated.

In just one day, they had completely re-planned the patrol routes around the mining zone, each patrol team led by a Level 3 and above warrior, trailed by a young sentry carrying a signal horn.

The number of guards at the mine entrance had increased from a few scattered individuals to two entire teams of fully armed veterans, and even within the tunnels, one could vaguely sense several Level 3 Peak energy signals moving back and forth.

Even more troublesome were the Level 4 clan leaders, who had arranged a rotation schedule, with each one on duty for a period while the others stood by in their territories, ready to support at any time.

Duke crouched atop the rock pillar for a day and a night, witnessing Byron patrolling the edge of the collapse zone three times with a totem pole in hand, and saw that tall, thin man with the giant longbow standing on a rock ledge at a high point in the mining area, his hawk-like eyes repeatedly scanning every wind-eroded pillar shadow through the entire second half of the night.

It wasn’t the right time to act; Duke adjusted his position against the rock wall and went over the current situation in his mind once more.

These tribes had just suffered a heavy loss and were on high alert. The patrol net in the mining area was impenetrable, and acting rashly would carry a significant risk of exposure.

Duke needed to wait for the right moment and didn’t think that the alliance between these tribes was particularly reliable.

As soon as any of them became tempted by the Wise Stone Ore Vein, this fragile defensive line would show its first crack.

As he was concentrating on his observation, his spiritual power suddenly detected several extremely subtle energy signals.

These signals were quite well concealed, nearly merging with the background noise in the outskirts of the mining area, where the energy remnants of the Philosopher’s Stone lingered, but under Duke’s current Life Rule Perception, the flow of life force itself could not be completely hidden.

He tilted his head slightly, focusing his perception in the direction of the signal sources.

In a section of ruins from abandoned shallow mine tunnels on the northwest side of the mining area, seven or eight figures were crouching low behind several toppled mine support columns, seemingly engaged in whispered discussions.

Duke quietly stood up and slipped down along the shadow of the wind-eroded pillars, landing in a naturally formed crevice above the ruins of the abandoned mine tunnel, just a few dozen steps from those figures, separated by several fragments of granite, their whispered conversations reached him clearly.

"I’ve known about this mining area for three days, but those tribes were at war back then, and the defenses were much looser. If I had known it would come to this, I should’ve taken advantage of the chaos to make a move," said a short and stocky young warlock, wearing bloodstained leather armor and a short-handled warhammer on his belt, with obvious regret in his tone.

Beside him, a tall, slim witch clad in a dark blue magic robe gave him a cold look: "Who was it that said they were afraid of being discovered by a Level 4 powerhouse and absolutely refused to go down? What’s the use of regretting now?"

The short and stocky warlock blushed, about to retort, but was interrupted by a more composed voice behind him: "Shut up, now’s not the time for blaming each other. The defenses of the mining area are indeed more stringent than before, but we still have opportunities. As long as we find gaps in their rotations and create a diversion, with our concealment skills, we can slip into the depths of the mine without alerting the Level 4 powerhouses."

Duke’s gaze fell on the warlock who had just spoken.

The man was tall and lean, with deep skin, high cheekbones, prominent brow bones, a stern and rugged face, and eyes as sharp as drawn knives.

He wore a dark red short robe with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing arms covered with dense, old scars.

His whole aura was cold and dangerous, and the nearby Level 3 mages instinctively kept a step or two away from him.

Duke had seen this man’s profile before, recognized his name from the points leaderboard.

Roderick, Demigod Level, from Bloodthorn Castle on the Scavvy Continent.

"Lord Roderick is right." The short and stocky warlock quickly nodded in agreement, his tone tinged with overt flattery, "As long as we find their rotation gaps, with your strength, infiltrating the core of the mining area would be no trouble. At that time, you can have the meat, and we’ll be happy with just the broth."

Roderick did not respond to this flattery, simply scanning the faces of everyone present with those knife-sharp eyes, then raised two fingers, starting to assign tasks.

His expression was cold, each word carrying immense pressure: "You two, keep an eye on that hammer-wielding Level 4 clan leader’s movements. I’ve already figured out his daily patrol times and routes, but I need you to create some disturbance at critical moments to divert his attention. You, take care of the patrol team at the mine entrance. No need for annihilation, just rendering them temporarily unable to fight will do. As for the Philosopher’s Stone at the core of the mine, I’ll fetch it myself."

After speaking, his gaze lingered on every person’s face momentarily.

No one dared to voice any objections, nor did anyone dare to meet those blade-like eyes directly.

The several Level 3 mages merely nodded vigorously, silently repeating their assigned tasks.

These individuals were internally lamenting; they certainly didn’t want to be stuck with Roderick, this killing god.

But this second layer seemed much smaller than the first, and upon being discovered, they were caught by Roderick and made into laboring lackeys.

"Also, let me ask you a question, who here has seen Duke?" Roderick suddenly remembered something and inquired.

The individuals exchanged looks, and after a moment, a wiry warlock in a gray cloak cautiously raised his hand, "Lord Roderick, I’ve seen him. He’s about this tall, black-haired, the genius who developed the Automatic Meditation Potion."

"Automatic Meditation Potion?" The short and stocky warlock was momentarily stunned before realizing, "The thing that allows a Level 1 Mage to automatically increase their spiritual power while walking, eating, and sleeping? That invention’s gone crazy on the entire Scavvy Continent; I even bought a batch at a high price through the Commerce Association. Duke is the developer?"

"That’s him." The wiry warlock nodded, "Black Sails origin, a commoner mage from the West Coast, without even a surname. Heard that during the second phase assessment at the Central Islands, he defeated Audric, and the Bloodgold Family still regards that event as a massive disgrace."

The short and stocky warlock inhaled sharply, then quietly murmured to his companion, mentioning that Audric was a Golden Dragon Bloodline, and those high-and-mighty folks from the Golden Continent weren’t easy to handle; if Duke could defeat such a beast, wouldn’t that mean he’s even more formidable than Audric?

The companion whispered back that if he’d seen the leaderboard, Duke’s score was nearing twenty million, with the second place nowhere close to even ten percent of his, and all the participants together on the Path of Divine Revelation probably didn’t add up to Duke alone; did it need any more proof of his formidableness?

The wiry warlock couldn’t help but chip in, saying his score surge happened just recently; previously, he stayed steady at hundreds of thousands, but suddenly jumped to over 1.8 million, an absurdly large leap.