Chapter 521: Exploring the Dark Canal
Soon after they landed in the Dark Canal, everyone broke off. The Elders of both factions rushed in all directions—stepping on the wind, teleporting, or running on four legs—while even the Overlords parted space and disappeared. Soon, the only ones left were the B-Grade disciples—eighteen people in total—and their accompanying Elders.
Jack inspected these Elders. Each faction had sent one middle A-Grade and two low A-Grades. It was a considerable force, enough to deal with most threats the Dark Canal could throw their way—assuming they didn’t push their luck. To Jack’s disappointment, Elder Puerto wasn’t present. Elder Owlhead was. He stood with his muscular arms crossed and face looking straight ahead as if cosplaying some ancient Egyptian god.
Besides Elder Owlhead, who was the leader of their faction’s side at the middle A-Grade, Great Silver had sent two early A-Grade Elders: a shapeless brown blob with limbs and eyes swimming over its surface, and a scantily-clad, female double devil. Jack wondered if she also possessed two sets of genitals, but he didn’t want to find out.
On the other side was a four-legged beast wrought of shadow. Darkness made up its body, dancing over it like flames, while wicked red eyes shone from within. It was the middle A-Grade Elder of the Fiend King faction, flanked by two early A-Grade Elders resembling the classical devil of Earth mythology—curved horns, bat wings, triangular-tipped tail, trident in hand. Their body was bulky, red, and covered in black fur. Surprisingly, one of the two was short and chubby.
These six Elders came together to oversee the eighteen disciples headed by Strawpin and Fiend Prince.
“We will now head towards the Hall of Trials,” Owlhead said in a neutral voice. Jack liked this guy. He seemed impassive but fair. “As you all know, its location changes every delve. We will wander in its general direction until we Elders sense the Dao ripples it gives off, then we’ll make a beeline for it. This is not a resource-gathering trip—the Dark Canal is too dangerous for Barons. Just follow us, stay in line, and pray we don’t run into anything too strong.”
Jack raised a brow at that. He leaned towards the nearby Strawpin, whispering, “Does that really happen?”
“Sometimes,” she whispered back. “Even late and peak Autarchs can disappear in the Dark Canal. It’s not unheard of for the entire disciple group to go missing—though it’s certainly rare.”
“I wish something was easy for once.”