The Arnadu Forest Road was enveloped in a profound, unnatural stillness, a silence that reigned supreme as a heavy shroud draped over the stunned convoy. For several interminable minutes, kinetic energy seemed to desert the physical plane, leaving the disciplined soldiers of the Merry Andro Temple frozen like sculpted marble statues, their gazes transfixed upon the azure void where a billion-year-old legend had stood but a moment prior. The abrupt excision of the Ancient Ruins was not merely a geological anomaly; it was a catastrophic fracturing of their perceived reality, as disorienting and impossible as if the solar orb itself had been extinguished without warning. The paralysis would likely have endured for hours had it not been shattered by a singular, mellifluous resonance emanating from within the luxurious carriage. "Captain," the voice intoned, soft and melodic, yet carrying an undercurrent of absolute authority that contrasted sharply with the chaotic internal states of the guards. The Captain of the Guards snapped to attention with reflexive immediacy, his armor clinking as he bowed toward the conveyance, perspiration beading upon his brow. "My Lady! I beg forgiveness for our unsightly disarray; the phenomenon... it caught us entirely off guard."
"The irregularity is inconsequential; center your focus upon the immediate present, for the anomaly has deposited a remnant," the Lady replied, her tone unbothered by the cosmic shift. "A remnant?" the Captain queried, blinking as he turned his gaze skyward just as the laws of physics reasserted their dominion with a vengeance. WHOOSH. High above, the suspension holding Xan Li Fang failed, and gravity claimed him, sending his unconscious form plummeting not towards the safety of the road, but deep into the verdant abyss, drifting towards a depression shrouded in viscous webs and vibrating with the sound of a million clicking mandibles. The Captain's complexion drained of color as he calculated the trajectory. "That sector... it is the Crimson Ant and Black Spider Nest! It is a zone of absolute fatality where flesh is stripped from bone in mere seconds!" It was a nightmare realm where Red Fire Ants swarmed in millions, their bites burning like magma, and massive Black Spiders spun webs capable of ensnaring steel; even a cultivator would hesitate to trespass. "He will be consumed before he impacts the earth," a soldier muttered grimly.
"Retrieve him," came the command from the carriage, concise and brokering no argument. The Captain hesitated for a fraction of a second, driven not by cowardice but by sheer disbelief. "My Lady, that is a death zone; is the life of an unknown stranger worth such a perilous gamble?" "He survived the obliteration of the Ruins, which renders him far from ordinary," the Lady's voice floated out, tinged with intellectual curiosity. "Bring him to me immediately." "As you command!" The Captain turned to his men, his hesitation evaporating to be replaced by the cold efficiency of an elite warrior. "First Squad! Formation Delta! We are retrieving the target with immediate effect! Move!" BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The soldiers of the Merry Andro Temple exploded into kinetic motion, blurring out of visibility as bursts of cultivation energy erupted from their meridians, their boots pulverizing the forest floor as they launched themselves into the dense treeline.
Xan Li Fang crashed through the canopy, branches snapping futilely against his defensive robes, before landing heavily in the center of a biological nightmare. THUD. Around him, the ground roiled with a sea of fist-sized Red Ants hissing aggressively, while massive Black Spiders descended on thick silk threads, their multiple eyes glaming with predatory hunger as they lunged toward the fresh meat. However, before a single mandible could graze Xan's epidermis— SLASH! —a wave of golden Qi swept through the clearing with surgical precision, decapitating a dozen arachnids in a single, fluid breath. The Temple Guards landed in an impenetrable protective circle around Xan's unconscious form, releasing a suffocating aura that caused the Red Ants to freeze in terror and sent the Black Spiders retreating hastily into the shadows. "Target secured," the Captain announced, glancing down at the man in the strange black hat and multicolored robes. "He remains alive, though unconscious." He hoisted Xan effortlessly by the shoulder. "Let us depart, for the Lady awaits." With a single, coordinated leap, they vanished from the nest, proving that to elites of their caliber, the so-called "Danger Zone" was nothing more than a trivial inconvenience.
Following the surgical extraction of the stranger from the arachnid-infested abyss, the sentinels of the Merry Andro Temple reconstituted their formation with a practiced nonchalance that belied the lethality of their recent excursion; they were consummate professionals to whom a brief detour into a death zone was merely a trivial fluctuation in their itinerary. As the convoy resumed its steady, rhythmic progression along the forest thoroughfare, the interior of the luxurious carriage returned to an equilibrium of tranquil silence and subtle fragrance. Lady Agnes, having commanded that the comatose stranger be deposited upon the plush upholstery beside her, reposed with the innate grace of high nobility. She was draped in a voluminous, flowing gown of reddish-pink silk that cascaded around her frame like the hues of a breaking dawn, radiating a soft, distinctly feminine elegance, while her cranial adornment—a hat that harmonized emerald verve with blush delicacy—spoke of a refined and meticulous sartorial intellect. Although her visage was shrouded behind a delicate veil of gossamer fabric, effectively obfuscating her features from the mundane world, the barrier could not suppress the intensity of her gaze; through the sheer material, her eyes burned with a sharp, piercing intelligence that cataloged every detail, missing nothing as she scrutinized the unconscious man clad in the bizarre, polychromatic robes.
Eventually, the convoy ruptured the suffocating botanical membrane of the Arnadu Forest, emerging into a dramatically divergent topography where the claustrophobic density of the ancient woodland abruptly surrendered to the vast, undulating expansion of the steppe. The thoroughfare stretched forward like a scar across the plains for approximately three kilometers, a linear vector bisecting the tall, swaying grass toward the horizon where a silhouette of civilization began to manifest against the skyline. Oktavira City stood as a defiant fortress of order amidst the untamed wild. By the geopolitical standards of the Lindao Republic, it was categorized as a minor settlement, the smallest node on the cartographic network; yet, to the uninitiated eye of a commoner, it was a monolithic metropolis housing a population of nearly two million souls. Encircled by towering cyclopean walls constructed to repel the monstrous denizens of the adjacent forest, it served as the primary habitation for the Mulvars, the resilient indigenous race that had cultivated this terrain for generations and constituted the demographic majority of the region.
The carriage wheels rumbled rhythmically over the paved stones as they breached the city gates, where the sentries, instantly recognizing the heraldry of the Merry Andro Temple, executed deep bows and cleared the path without a syllable of protest. Navigating the wide Central Street that bisected the city's heart, the convoy remained impervious to the filtering cacophony of the bustling crowds and the vibrant shouts of Mulvar merchants, maintaining a singular, unwavering trajectory toward the Northern District. Finally, the conveyance decelerated to a gentle halt before their ultimate destination: looming before them stood a grandiose, serene edifice that visually divorced itself from the chaotic urban architecture surrounding it—the Merry Andro Temple.