Affinity:Chaos

Grey hastily left the area, heading in the direction Ellis was located. Since Ellis has the advantage of flight, then it was preferable to leave the search of the bamboo forest to him.

He would explore the forest while heading deeper into it. His present plan was to try to get to the Ninth stage of the Origin Plane, and the best way to do that was through battles or obtaining treasures. If not for the irregularities in the forest recently, then he would've been searching for beasts at the Peak of the Origin Plane to fight against.

'Looks like searching for a treasure is my best bet,' He decided.

He started slowly moving through the forest, dodging all the Overlord Plane beasts he sensed on the way while searching for treasures. Whenever he encounters any Origin Plane beasts in areas where he doesn't sense any Overlord Plane beast, who would go all out in fighting against it.

Later that day.

The sun had already set and Grey searched for a place to cultivate through the night.

He hasn't seen anything of interest since coming into the Magical Beasts' forest, and only fought against three beasts during the day since he couldn't stay for long.

He took out the crystal orb Ellis gave to him while sitting in the cave.

The orb soon gave off a dim light and Ellis' face appeared in it.

"Can I help you with anything?" Ellis asked.

"No, I wanted to see how your search is going," Grey asked.

"Well, not so good. I've seen three bamboo forests so far, but none has that liquid you're searching for," Ellis replied hastily.

Grey noticed Ellis was occasionally looking behind him while he was talking to him.

"Is anything wrong?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Not really, this is a bad time… Shit!" Ellis exclaimed at the end of his statement before freaking out and glowing with blue light.

Roar! Boom!

"I'll talk to you later!" Ellis said before the light in the orb died down.

The orb went dark and the image of Ellis disappeared from it. Grey couldn't help but wonder what would make Ellis look that freaked out. But given how Ellis managed to speak with him even before going off, it was safe to say that he wouldn't die, hopefully.

Grey took out the wooden plaque, it was the best way to find out if Ellis died or not. As long as his light dot doesn't move, then it could mean that he was dead, but if it continues moving, then it means that he's alive.

On looking at the plaque, Grey was stunned at the speed at which Ellis' light dot was moving.

"Okay, he's alive. Guess I should focus on cultivating then. I'll check on him later," He mumbled before shutting his eyes.

He had already set up arrays around him, and even went as far as setting an array to notify him if anything were to move within five hundred meters of where he was located.

That night ended with nothing happening. Grey cultivated all through the night, he would occasionally check the plaque to see where Ellis was located if he was alive or dead.

There was a time when Ellis' light dot didn't move for over two hours. Just when Grey was thinking of contacting him, he noticed he had started moving again.

The next morning.

Grey started moving forward once again. He couldn't stay in one place, and according to Ellis, he would be leaving the next day. If Ellis doesn't find the bamboo forest before then, he would be forced to continue the search on his own.

For some reasons though, he didn't feel too confident in being able to locate the bamboo forest. The reason he felt this way was because the forest was just too big. Even if he decided to dedicate his time to searching everywhere, it would take him countless years before he could travel around it.

'*Sigh* Void, it would be great if nothing happened to you.' He thought while walking away from where he passed the night.

After walking for a few hours, he encountered people. There was at least a group of six or so, and each group contained a minimum of seven people and a maximum of fifteen people. In front of them was a cave, just like the one he entered with Ellis and that group.

The people noticed him and looked in his direction. Luckily, he had his robe on so none of them knew what he looked like. If they knew he was a youngster, some of them might want to attack him or pressure him to leave the place, but now, they let him be.

He stared at the cave, although he couldn't really sense anything inside, he decided to wait here with the others. After all, all these people wouldn't stay here if there wasn't the chance of there being a treasure here. This cave was also relatively bigger than the one he entered previously.

What he noticed was that of the multiple people here, only two were in the Eighth stage of the Origin Plane, the rest were either in the Ninth stage or at the Peak of the Origin Plane.

'They must be the top people who explore this place, well, below the Overlord Plane.' He thought.

There are also groups in the Overlord Plane who come into the Magical Beasts' forest, but since Overlord Plane Elementalists aren't as many as those in the Origin Plane, it's difficult to encounter them.

Even with the beasts coming this far out, those groups would still venture deeper inside the forest.

After almost an hour, the first group walked into the cave.

The others stood up and followed behind them. Grey also didn't stay behind, walking at the back of the groups.

From their cautious looks, Grey knew none of them had entered the cave before, so they didn't know what to expect inside it.