"Purge! Exterminate every presence in the Whispering Forest except for the five of us!"


    "By the queen''smand!"


    As the strongest of the elves, even though ria had passed the throne to Elowen, she still retained the right to summon spirit warriors until he was fully matured. That was enough!


    "ria, isn''t an indiscriminate attack a bit..."


    "John, on this matter, I won''tpromise. I must make those people pay."


    ria turned to face John, her light green eyes filled with sorrow and anger, but unwavering in their resolve.


    Seeing this, John realized he couldn''t dissuade ria, so he gave up the idea.


    From ria''s perspective, Johnpletely understood her feelings. He certainly wouldn''t jeopardize his rtionship with her by helping the intruders.


    "I''ll help you."


    "It''s okay. If you feel reluctant to act against your own kind, you don''t have to force yourself."


    "Don''t worry, ria, we will definitely help you punish those invaders!"


    This time, before John could speak, Lily answered her first.


    Thus, the once-quiet Whispering Forest suddenly became restless.


    The yers hiding in the shadows began to realize something was wrong. The soul monsters that shouldn''t have detected them suddenly seemed to have a tracking system, urately pinpointing their locations. Even the slightest noise couldn''t save them from certain death.


    These soul monsters couldn''t be significantly damaged by physical attacks and were immune to most magical attacks. The only effective type of magic was holy magic. However, in this phase of the game, the early to mid-stage, very few sses had the qualifications to learn holy magic.


    "Damn it, what''s going on?"


    "If it gets too bad, we should retreat! If we live, there will always be another chance. This Whispering Forest is clearly not right, and if we stay, we might all die!"


    "I don''t care about you all, I''m leaving!"


    Seeing theirpanions'' souls torn apart, leaving only hollow bodies, some yers finally cracked under the pressure and wanted to leave the Whispering Forest. But it was then they discovered that the area had restricted the use of teleportation scrolls.


    To leave, there was only one way: fight their way out!


    But that was clearly impossible.


    In less than half an hour, the entire Whispering Forest was devoid of any life except for ria and herpanions. After confirming this, ria slowly opened her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek.


    "Ancestors, you can finally rest in peace..."


    "ria, should we return to the elven habitat to inform Elowen and have him send some people to guard the area around the Whispering Forest?"


    "No need. From this moment on, any creature entering the Whispering Forest will awaken the ancestral spirits. Only after confirming their identity as an elf will the Whispering Forest ept them. John, I believe this is what you came for?"


    ria turned, and with a thought, vines erupted from the ground, lifting several irregrly shaped stones into her hands.


    "That''s right. We came for these. They can help us be stronger."


    "No wonder... so many humans resorted to extreme measures to enter the Whispering Forest. These are for you, John. Let''s leave this ce."


    John sighed softly, taking the second ss change stones from ria. He took the stones usable by warriors and priests, leaving the rest behind.


    Seeing this, Qing approached and poked John on the shoulder, puzzled. "John, aren''t you going to change ss?"


    "No need. Take them. Let''s leave here first. It''s gettingte, and we can''t waste any more time."


    ...


    Meanwhile, in Calia City.


    opened the forum and checked his messages, frowning.


    "Strange, we''ve already agreed on the time and ce for the transaction, so why hasn''t anyone shown up? Could it be a double-cross?"


    The problem is, even if it were a double-cross, the person has to show up first, right?


    Now, the goods haven''t been delivered, and no money has been exchanged, so what''s the point of a double-cross?


    As his thoughts churned, S. noticed a forum post titled "Incident in Whispering Forest: Over Thirty yers Mysteriously Dead" rapidly gaining attention. He clicked on it and was instantly chilled to the bone.


    The yers who had gone to Whispering Forest in search of the second ss change stone had their rankings erased almost simultaneously. No one knew what had happened in the Whispering Forest, but after this incident, it was unlikely anyone would dare to sneak into the Whispering Forest anytime soon.


    "It seems this route is no longer viable... looks like I''ll have to spend a fortune on the ck market."


    As a yer-initiated trading market, the ck market was now located in the open space behind the Thor Tavern in Calia City.


    yers could trade items, equipment, and even captured ves there.


    After all, the auction house''s highmissions and the winner-takes-all system were not appealing to every yer.


    The ck market became the best alternative.


    As long as you weren''t worried about being double-crossed and had enough confidence in your strength, the ck market was a far more cost-effective ce than the auction house.


    With this in mind, S. went to Thor Tavern, downed a ss of strong liquor, and kicked open the back door, stepping into the crowded open space behind the tavern.


    The area was bustling with yers engaged in various trades. The goods on offer were diverse and bizarre.


    even noticed a few human girls in an iron cage, their cheeks stained with tears, clearly NPCs captured from somewhere to satisfy certain people''s disgusting fetishes.


    Although S. never considered himself a good person, he found such despicable actions utterly repugnant.


    However, as the saying goes, disrupting someone''s livelihood is akin to killing their parents. S. had no interest and certainly no inclination to meddle in these affairs.


    After wandering around, he finally came across a vendor with decent goods. He approached and asked in a low voice, "Do you have any second ss change stones?"


    "Just one left, a second ss change stone for the rogue ss. Are you interested?"


    The vendor rubbed his hands together, his beady eyes gleaming with shrewdness. He then held up four fingers and grinned, "Forty thousand silver coins, fixed price, no haggling!"


    "Forty thousand? Are you insane? The market price is only twenty thousand. You''re doubling it! Do you not want to do business in the ck market anymore?"


    "Customer, it''s not my fault. I''m sure you''ve seen that post too. Whispering Forest is a death trap now, and no one knows when it will return to normal. Second ss change stones are extremely valuable now. Forty thousand is already a friendly price. The vendor next door is selling it for forty-six thousand.


    If you don''t want it, don''t waste my time!"


    "Fine, damn it, just my luck! This had to happen now!"


    cursed a few times, pulled out a money bag from his backpack, and tossed it onto the vendor''s stall, saying in a low voice, "Forty thousand, all in here. Check it, and if it''s good, give me the stone."


    "Of course, I''ve been in this ck market for months, always dealing honestly."


    The man smirked, picked up the money bag, weighed it, and smiled even more broadly.


    "No problem! Here''s your item."


    Taking the second ss change stone from the vendor, S. immediately ced it into his yer backpack, unaware that his forty thousand silver coins had just gone down the drain.


    Watching S. walk away, the vendor grinned, quickly packed up his stall, and disappeared into the crowd.


    "Well, well, well, who would''ve thought a fake could pass for real! Looks like I made the right choice bing an Alchemist! But I''ll need toy low for a while; if they find me and seek revenge, it wouldn''t be worth it.


    Forty thousand silver coins should keep mefortable for quite some time!"