Toby heard that Tree Spirit wanted to separate him from Angel, and immediately chirped in protest. It’s not stupid; how could it not see that Tree Spirit wanted to divide and retaliate?
However, upon hearing Angel say that he would personally deliver him to Greya, Toby finally calmed down a bit.
Greya was also family to him, and he believed that with Greya around, Tree Spirit wouldn’t torment him! Toby was full of confidence, but he forgot that lately, Greya and Angel played roles where one was the bad cop and the other the good cop, and Greya was the one playing the bad cop...
After finishing his conversation with Tree Spirit, Angel was ready to take his leave and head to Illusion Demon Island to hand Toby over to Greya.
However, before leaving, Angel suddenly thought of something.
"Lord Tree Spirit, do you know what’s going on with Dangross at the moment?" Angel took Dangross out from his bracelet. It looked perfectly fine as a whole, and its internal flames were quite active, but it was inexplicably in a dormant state.
Tree Spirit glanced at it and said gruffly, "It’s absorbed too much life energy and is now digesting it."
After a pause, Tree Spirit squinted its eyes: "Those two followers of yours have gained quite a harvest this time. It’s just a pity that my Life Pool was exploited like this."
Seeing Tree Spirit’s slightly off mood, Angel quickly said, "I’ll forgo the compensation from those patients and consider it a gift to Lord Tree Spirit. I’ll take these two away now and ensure I won’t return here anytime soon!"
Tree Spirit: "What do you mean by ’won’t return here anytime soon’? Are you implying you want to bring them back?"
Without responding, Angel swiftly ran up the spiral staircase.
The Life Pool clearly benefitted Toby and Dangross immensely; how could they not return? However, any return would have to wait until after Lord Tree Spirit’s anger subsided.
Standing by the Life Pool, Tree Spirit watched Angel quickly departing, sighed helplessly.
Tree Spirit had left Angel alone by the Life Pool with the intention of nurturing him, but the biggest winners turned out to be those two followers.
Tree Spirit turned back and gazed at the Life Pool, which was still shimmering gently, and waved a hand lightly.
With a rush of water, in a short time, the previously visibly shallower pool was restored to its former fullness.
"Sigh, there goes another five hundred years of savings," Tree Spirit said, looking slightly pale.
"Another five hundred years of savings? It’s not five hundred years of cultivation. For you, it’s just a small portion of Life Force. With your thousands of years of accumulated life, what does this amount to?" a deep voice resonated from behind Tree Spirit.
Tree Spirit turned to see a pure white dove fly into the space, landing on a wooden post.
As the pure white dove landed, it transformed into a tall, elegant figure—Rhein.
"Since you think it’s no big deal, why don’t you compensate me?"
Rhein: "Angel just said that the reward for treating those patients would be transferred to you. Among them, there are a few hidden tycoons, enough to cover your losses."
Tree Spirit frowned: "The materials that group of Wizards can offer are insignificant, and someone like Duncan is destitute; as a summoner, all he can summon are skeletons."
Rhein: "Duncan is indeed specialized in Skeletal Summoning."
"Then you admit Duncan is poor?"
Rhein fell silent. Regarding other Wizards, he couldn’t speak with certainty, but Duncan he knew well. Summoning Wizards are among the most costly professions; each summoning consumes either their blood or costly casting materials. The combat power is strong, but the expenses are like running water. This also leads many Summoning Wizards to be forced to become Black Wizards, summoning in blood sacrifices, eventually being hunted by major Witcher Organizations...
Rhein: "Don’t talk about Duncan; you should focus on Bodeia."
Among the six Wizards treated by Angel, there was one Wizard Angel wasn’t very familiar with, the one Rhein had just mentioned—Bodeia.
Tree Spirit: "’Blood Medium’ Bodeia? Are the rumors about him true?"
Bodeia’s reputation in the Barbarian Cave isn’t prominent, his strength is average, but behind him stands a very ancient family—the Lips Wizard Family.
The Lips Family has always been a vassal of the Barbarian Cave, producing quite a few renowned Wizards, the most famous of which is Rhein’s mentor and the former Controller of the Barbarian Cave: "Touch of Nature" Audrich.
And regarding Bodeia, there’s a widespread rumor that he passed the Lips Family’s internal assessment and entered the treasure trove left by Audrich.
If this rumor is true, perhaps Bodeia has a treasure that can be... no, that can be exploited.
Tree Spirit, pondering over this, was already thinking about how to strategize with Bodeia.
Rhein: "Angel has agreed, right?"
Tree Spirit: "You specifically came with Illusory Spirits just to ask this? Didn’t you hear earlier?"
Seeing Rhein silently looking at himself.
Tree Spirit sighed and nodded: "He agreed."
Rhein breathed a sigh of relief: "That’s good. Make arrangements for him to leave as soon as possible, preferably today."
Tree Spirit frowned: "Are they coming so urgently?"
Rhein: "It’s Dororo’s prophecy; when they come, snow will have already covered the entire plateau. I estimate it’s around these two days. The sooner he leaves, the sooner he can avoid those people."
"Anyway, when they come in groups, we kill them in groups; why does Angel need to leave?"
Rhein shook his head: "Killing them is easy, but what if they have tools like the ones used against City Lord Rosen? The best strategy is to make sure they can’t find Angel."
Tree Spirit thought about it and agreed; those lunatics were reckless and fearless, plus there was that terrifying arrow that could rend the void. If anything went wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable.
To avoid such a scenario, it would be best to avoid confrontation temporarily.
Conveniently, Esos had brought up an alchemy task, which could be seamlessly assigned to Angel.
"This time, I’ve notified City Lord Rosen and the Extreme Church. Once any trace of the Seed group is found, we’ll be able to pinpoint their locations. No matter where they hide, even if it’s in the endless void, we can destroy them! At least, for the short term, we won’t let them dare invade the Southern Domain again!" Rhein spoke with immense confidence.
"Let’s hope to suppress them as much as possible, but it needs to be controlled," Tree Spirit wasn’t too optimistic, as having read the "Culori Chronicles," he knew that even in the Origin World, they couldn’t fully eradicate those who worshiped Seed. So, with the Seed arriving this time, they could only try to suppress them without fully exterminating them, because once this wave is eliminated, more Seed followers will come to aid. Future Seed followers may not just be ordinary apprentices or Wizards; legendary Seed followers might appear, hence suppressing them and driving them away without obliterating them requires precise control.
Making them fear the Southern Domain, or at least reluctant to contaminate it in the short term, is their ultimate goal.
As for whether leaving hidden threats will harm Angel, that’s not much of a concern, since Angel was implicated by City Lord Rosen from the beginning. Once the major Witcher Organizations start taking action, these Seed followers will naturally divert their attention from Angel, the "pawn," which in turn provides the safest protection for Angel.