Upon hearing this, Nina was truly shocked.
She hadn’t expected that this so-called Black Water City was the same one she and Daniel had passed through a few years ago—Black Water Town.
Back then, it was just a prosperous little town.
And now… it had turned into a massive city. Even the streets outside Black Water City had become this bustling and prosperous?
Nina couldn’t understand why everything had changed so drastically after just five years of her absence.
She had lived in Riverside City for over ten years, and even though she hadn’t left in all that time, the changes there hadn’t been nearly as huge. So, what exactly was going on?
In contrast to Nina’s complete bewilderment, Daniel didn’t seem as surprised. Everything happening around him was pretty much within his expectations.
The arrangements he had made before leaving Crossbridge Academy were now coming to fruition.
It was because of the plans he put into place that Crossbridge Academy had reached its current state. All of this was developing according to his wishes.
However, there was still something about it all that felt faster than anticipated.
Some changes even surprised Daniel himself.
But overall, it was a good thing—the increasing population was a sign of growing potential.
As more and more people started flocking toward Riverside City, or rather, spreading outward from it, the potential was clear.
After all, with such a large population, talent would surely emerge, right?
What’s more, with Daniel’s methods, Crossbridge Academy would never lack for talent.
When the time came, who would care about Karea Academy?
“By the way, aren’t these people afraid of spell beasts attacking?” Nina asked, looking at the elderly man who had earlier introduced them.
“Spell beasts? Hahaha, little girl, you must be joking. A few years ago, the spell beasts in the mountains stopped coming out. And once in a while, powerful mages would enter the mountains.
Now, the spell beasts… we don’t even see them anymore.”
“Ah, I see…”
“Elder, let’s continue on our way. With my iron token, we should be able to find a nice place to settle outside the holy city,” Kaylyn suggested, looking at Daniel.
“An iron token can get us a good place? Just how big of a place can it buy?” Nina asked, taking two silver tokens out of her storage crystal.
Seeing the silver tokens in Nina’s hands, Kaylyn wasn’t as surprised as before.
Instead, she hurriedly said, “Please put them away, don’t let anyone see them.”
At first, Kaylyn had indeed been shocked. But after thinking about it, she realized that Nina seemed to know very little about sanctuaries and had asked her about things like the Death Legion.
But then the question arose: how did Nina come by these silver tokens? The Death Legion never gave them out. How could Nina have two of them?
Kaylyn started to put the pieces together and guessed that Nina had probably seen her own dark gold token and used some special ability to forge two identical silver tokens.
However, this didn’t help her much. After all, someone would eventually inspect the tokens.
Two silver tokens… were you the death goddess of the Death Legion or something? How could anyone have so many?
Kaylyn figured the tokens were likely fake, which is why she was so eager to advise Nina to put them away.
If someone from the Death Legion saw them, they might take action. Forging tokens—especially silver ones—was a crime almost impossible to survive.
“Nina, please put the tokens away. Let’s see what’s going on first,” Daniel said, causing Nina to reluctantly store the tokens. She had wanted to tell Kaylyn about the tokens’ origins, including a colorful one above the silver ones…
Daniel was planning to personally experience what challenges an outsider would face when trying to integrate into this world. Observing from different perspectives would give him a more well-rounded understanding.
If he just showed up at Crossbridge Academy and relied on others’ reports, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.
The group continued onward from Black Water City and into the outskirts.
At this point, Ryze suddenly gasped. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing! He had never expected Black Water City to be so formidable.
Ryze was holding a formation plate in his right hand.
They were now in a relatively remote area of Riverside City, and he had intended to use the formation plate to remotely observe the city.
But upon looking, he was completely taken aback.
Before, when he had studied under his teacher, he used Winterkeep Citadel as a reference for practice, constantly monitoring its trends.
At that time, he had seen some trends related to Winterkeep Citadel, including the Winterkeep Guild and others.
But now, when he looked at Riverside City through the same lens, he was utterly stunned.
Ryze admitted that he had been blind.
When he saw the trajectory of Riverside City, it was as if he had been blinded by its brilliance. He had never seen such an extraordinary sight before.
Even Winterkeep Citadel had never had anything like this. Riverside City truly deserved to be called the holy city—it was something else entirely.
Now, Ryze felt like a young man from a small town who had just arrived in a big city.
“This place… it feels like the perfect location to plant the Tree of Origin…” Ryze muttered unconsciously.
This remark made Daniel nod. Initially, Daniel had planned to plant the first Tree of Origin at Crossbridge Academy. frёewebnoѵēl.com
The Tree of Origin’s purpose wasn’t just to expel the foreign forces corrupting the world, but it had numerous other benefits as well.
Planting it at Crossbridge Academy would only bring positive results.
Now, Daniel had accumulated 100,000 colorless forges, and the tree-planting project could begin at any time.
When Ryze saw Daniel nod, he froze for a moment.
He had casually commented about planting the Tree of Origin, never seriously considering it, but now Daniel seemed to be acknowledging it. Was this saying the tree could really be planted now?
“My lord, didn’t you say we’d need more time to prepare?” Ryze asked, confused.
“This has already been several days. Even if it were slow, everything should be ready by now,” Daniel replied with a tone that almost sounded like a joke.
Ryze stood frozen in place. Everything seemed so effortless. Had Daniel really been preparing for this for so long? It felt so surreal.
If only his teacher had met someone like Daniel years ago, perhaps things wouldn’t have ended the way they did.
Ryze had been the teacher’s disciple from the beginning.
He often heard the elder speak about the legacy and responsibility of the Oracle, a heavy burden to bear.
It was to protect the Tree of Origin’s growth, ensuring that their world would not be destroyed.
Every time the elder spoke about it, his tone was solemn, and Ryze could feel the weight of that responsibility.
Now, as Daniel made his preparations to fulfill this very mission, Ryze couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of lightness, as if this monumental task was no longer as heavy as it once seemed.
“No need to rush. It won’t be long before I take care of this matter. I don’t plan to spend too much time on it,” Daniel said.
“Understood…” Ryze responded, still in shock.
At the gates of Black Water City, Nina glanced up, a bit disdainful. “It doesn’t look very impressive.”
At that moment, a loud, gruff voice came from behind: “Who do you think you are, walking around here like you own the place? You outsiders think you can act however you want? This is Black Water City! The outermost part of the holy city!”
Upon hearing this, everyone turned around to see Kaylyn in a confrontation with someone.
The man, dressed in authoritative clothes, seemed to be a high-ranking official of Black Water City, exuding a domineering presence.
What was going on?