Chapter 1041 - 863: Elderlands

Leon stood at the outer edge of the group, gently nudging Edmond with his shoulder, lowering his voice as he spoke: "Look over there, there’s at least dozens of meters between Annabelle and Valentine, with a large crowd between them, yet there’s a palpable tension between them."

Edmond did not respond, merely adjusting his glasses, his gaze quickly sweeping back and forth between the two groups.

The light from the teleportation array continued to intensify.

A silver-blue beam shot up from the center of the array, piercing through the central opening in the dome, and directly into the never-dimming silver-blue sky above the Central Islands.

The space surrounding the beam began to exhibit minute folds, a sign that the cross-plane teleportation channel was about to open.

Everyone in the hall focused their gaze on the levitating figure before the teleportation array.

It was an elder with hair and beard both white, wearing a simple dark gray robe, his face gaunt and dignified, his brow carrying an air of authority without anger.

He released no pressure, evidently not wanting to burden these young ones.

Quietly hanging in mid-air, hands behind his back, his gray-white hair gently fluttered in the residual energy of the teleportation array.

Without any aura of flying magic beneath his feet, he remained motionless in the air, as if space itself was actively supporting him.

This person was none other than Alfred, a Level 5 Mage and Level 6 Arcane Master, a senior elder of the Six-Ring Tower, and formerly Black Hand Morgan’s mentor, currently Helena’s tutor.

Throughout the Wizard Plane, his prestige was second only to few Level 6 individuals like Speaker Albert.

Once he spoke, the entire hall quieted down.

"You are about to enter the Elderlands, once a top-tier plane that birthed Level 9 Life. Now deceased, its remnants are still far more vast and dangerous than any plane you’ve been to so far.

For every wizard entering, this is both an opportunity and a test.

The exploration area of Elderlands is divided into five layers, the deeper you go, the higher the grade of resources and the rarer the opportunities, but the dangers increase accordingly.

From layer one to five, each layer has a passage to the next layer, but these passages are sealed by Rule Power, only by obtaining the corresponding keys can they be opened.

Keys are scattered throughout each layer, possibly hidden in unremarkable ruins, guarded by powerful native races, or maybe located near the point where one of you enters the plane.

Acquire a key, find the passage, and you can enter the next layer. If not, you must continue searching within the current layer or wait for the keys to refresh. The number of keys far exceeds the passages, but competition will still be intense."

He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, then continued.

"Entry into Elderlands is by random teleportation, all will be evenly dispersed across various regions of the first layer at the moment of entry. Pre-grouping cannot alter this rule, nor can your escorts; each entrant will be individually teleported.

Whether you can reunite with each other in the vast expanse of the first layer depends on your abilities."

Duke and Vera exchanged a glance, Leon and Edmond likewise shared a knowing look.

The random teleportation had indeed arrived; the team strategies and tactical combinations they spent considerable time discussing were all rendered meaningless at this moment.

The only course of action was to locate each other as soon as possible upon entry, which meant they needed to agree on a gathering plan before entering.

Alfred continued: "The Plane Rules of Elderlands differ from those of the Wizard Plane, and we have carried out special modifications; some communication methods will be limited, teleportation witchcraft artifacts and teleportation magic will fail.

However, the role of the Divine Revelation Mark remains unaffected; it will record your actions in full and accumulate points. Every point accumulated on the Path of Divine Revelation will directly affect your ranking at the end. Points can be exchanged for resource rewards provided by the council, and more importantly, those ranking higher will have greater influence in the allocation plan for the New Continent."

After saying this, he paused briefly, once again sweeping his gaze over everyone in the hall.

This time, his speech slowed slightly, his voice deeper than before.

"A final piece of advice. The native races in the Elderlands are dangerous. You are the future of the Wizard Plane, helping each other will take you further, now go."

The silver-blue glow of the teleportation array surged at the instant Alfred’s last syllable fell, enveloping the entire hall in a blinding silver-white light.

The obsidian tiles beneath emitted a subtle tremor, runes along the edge of the teleportation array began to light up circle by circle.

Duke felt a massive pull originating from the center of the array beneath his feet, everything around him—the dome of the hall, the crowds on both sides, the strand of hair as Vera turned her head—were all elongated into indistinct streaks of light, then the world shattered violently.

...

The dispersal of teleportation light was faster than Duke had anticipated.

A moment ago he was in the grand circular hall of Watch Island, consumed by silver-blue teleportation radiance, and the next moment he was suddenly grounded, a rush of entirely different air from the Central Islands invaded his nose.