"Lord Beloc is dead! Lord Beloc is dead! Retreat quickly..."
As Beloc fell, terrified shouts erupted.
The last vestiges of resistance within the squad crumbled, and they immediately scrambled towards the tomb entrance.
Beloc was their strongest member, and his easy defeat by Dawn proved Dawn's terrifying power.
Continuing would only lead to their deaths. The tomb entrance represented their only hope for survival.
If they could escape, they could scatter and live to fight another day.
However, less than ten minutes later, silence had fallen within the tomb.
The thought was good, but incredibly difficult to realize. With the three women of Blue Moon obstructing and pursuing, the less than a hundred meters to the entrance was a near insurmountable distance.
"Let's clear the battlefield. Don't miss the Qiankun bags on them."
Seeing that the Bright Hall squad had been eliminated and the three women were unharmed, Ye Cangtian spoke calmly and was the first to leave the tomb.
...
They returned to South Wilderness City.
Ye Cangtian went directly to the branch alone and explained the details of the operation to Xing Yuan.
"..."
Listening to Ye Cangtian's account, Xing Yuan was dumbfounded, utterly speechless.
What made him uncomfortable was that he had only intended for Blue Moon to collect supplies, never imagining that the Nan Yan Sect would dare to play such a trick.
Most astonishing was the Nan Yan Sect's connection with the Bright Squad. It was this connection that led to Dawn annihilating the Bright Squad.
He had led a large army to pursue the Bright Squad but had failed.
He had expected a protracted cat-and-mouse game, but it had ended like this!
This genuinely made him feel overshadowed by Dawn, and he was immensely frustrated.
But regardless, the elimination of the Bright Squad had resolved a significant problem for him, allowing him to fully focus on other matters.
With that thought, he glanced at Dawn and said, "Dawn, you did well this time. Your reward is noted, and I will ensure you are satisfied in the future."
"This is all I should do."
As he spoke, Ye Cangtian changed the subject. "If Lord Xing Yuan has no further orders, I shall take my leave and proceed directly to the eastern region with my people!"
"Go, I await your good news."
"If you require anything, send someone to notify me. I will definitely support you!"
Xing Yuan waved his hand and said.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian cupped his hands in farewell and withdrew from the room.
...
The entrance to the tomb in Nantong City.
Two figures flickered in succession. Two men wearing dark gold masks appeared at the entrance.
"This should be the place!"
"Yes, let's go in and take a look!"
The two were confidants of Kong Ling, Xue He and Gu Hai.
They had been tailing Dawn from a distance, but fearing discovery, they had maintained a considerable gap.
Therefore, after Dawn and his group entered the forest, they had largely lost track of them, only finding this tomb now.
However, upon entering the tomb and seeing the dried bloodstains everywhere, as well as the corpses of the Bright Squad members scattered haphazardly on the ground, their expressions turned grim.
They had arrived too late. The Bright Hall squad had already been dealt with by Dawn! This accomplishment would be recorded in Dawn's ledger.
"Damn it, how did Dawn manage this?"
"He just arrived in Nantong City, and he already tracked down and annihilated the Bright Squad. Anyone not knowing the details would think he could divine their location!"
Xue He said indignantly, looking at the scene before him.
In fact, when they had discovered Dawn entering this area of forest, they had felt something was amiss, suspecting the opponent might have found the Bright Squad's trail.
However, in his opinion, the opponent could have at most found a few of the Bright Squad's scouts.
But seeing the uniforms on these corpses, he realized Dawn had found the entire Bright Squad, a result that was truly unbelievable to him.
"Heh heh, there's no need to be angry. Even if he wiped out the Bright Squad, won't the credit eventually fall to us brothers?"
"Don't forget, the Dark Association is currently controlled by Lord Kong Ling. Whoever he says the credit belongs to, that's who it belongs to!"
Seeing Xue He's fury, Gu Hai beside him smiled faintly.
"Uh..."
Xue He paused for a moment at his words, and an insidious smile appeared on his face in the next instant.
Gu Hai was correct on this point. As long as Dawn did not pledge allegiance to Lord Kong Ling, he would be a target for Kong Ling's suppression.
For someone who didn't know his place, Kong Ling would not grant him any substantial rewards.
It was even possible that Dawn's achievements would be credited to them.
Such a thing was not impossible, as they had followed Kong Ling for a long time and were aware of his character.
Kong Ling was not a wise ruler, but he was extremely resolute and fiercely protective of his subordinates. To achieve his goals, he would absolutely resort to any means and would not care about anyone's judgment.
With this thought, Xue He's expression turned serious. "Let's let this go for now. Next time, we must get ahead of him, otherwise, we'll seem too useless!"
"That's for sure."
Gu Hai readily agreed. In his view, while having Kong Ling's backing was good, it was not as satisfying as earning true recognition.
...
Dongjiang City.
In the Dark Ruins, the easternmost city in the eastern region, separated from the ancient battlefield and the demon beast habitat by only a river, it was later renamed Dongjiang City.
After several days of rapid travel, Ye Cangtian, accompanied by the three women of Blue Moon, finally arrived at Dongjiang City.
They had not rested along the way, only gaining a preliminary understanding of the conditions in the various cities they passed.
Ye Cangtian focused his attention on Dongjiang City.
The reason was simple: the Bright Hall's ultimate goal was to find the Dark Seal, but they lacked specific direction within the Dark Ruins.
Therefore, no matter how the Bright Hall maneuvered, they would eventually have to pass through Dongjiang City and take a ship into the eastern perilous lands for exploration.
This was their necessary route.
Upon entering Dongjiang City, they did not immediately head to the branch of the Dark Association but first found an inn to stay.
Along the way, with Kong Ling's rise to power and his crackdown on various factions, many powers were grumbling about the Dark Association.
This information was overheard by Ye Cangtian and his companions during brief rest stops.
While such sentiments were expressed openly, it was impossible to say whether various powers were secretly forming alliances to resist the Dark Association.
However, Ye Cangtian had no time to concern himself with this. These disgruntled factions were not significant, and even if they united, they would be unable to contend with the Dark Association.
Unless these individuals dared to cooperate with the Bright Hall.
But the possibility of this was very small. Although these factions belonged to the eastern region, they were still quite far from the border, and the Bright Hall's objective lay beyond the border.
Given the considerable distance, Ye Cangtian felt the likelihood of the Bright Hall cooperating with them was slim.
Dongjiang City, however, was different. Across the great river lay the unexplored eastern region.
The Bright Hall might well foster a local faction here to obstruct the Dark Association's pursuit.
Therefore, Ye Cangtian chose not to head to the branch for the time being but opted to stay in an inn and observe the situation discreetly.