Read Novel Full Chapter 874: That Group [1]
Chapter 874: That Group [1]
Meanwhile, outside the ship in the forest clearing, several groups from different factions had already gathered.
They stood at various distances around the massive portal at the center of the clearing. The surrounding trees had been pushed back many days before and, in recent days, attendants from various factions had further cleared the area. Despite the large number of people present, the space remained very orderly. A wide open field surrounded the portal, and the ground beneath it had been reinforced with layered formations.
At the moment, the portal itself trembled.
Ripples of unstable spatial energy spread across its surface like disturbed water. The circular gateway that had once appeared stable now flickered repeatedly, its edges distorting as though they were slowly being torn apart from the inside.
The gathered figures watched in silence.
Some stood with their arms folded.
Others whispered quietly among themselves.
Everyone present understood what the trembling portal meant.
One of the mages responsible for maintaining the gateway suddenly stepped forward from the formation array carved into the ground. Sweat ran down his temples as he studied the unstable energy patterns.
"The realm inside is becoming increasingly unstable," he said after a moment.
His voice was not loud, but many of the nearby factions immediately turned their attention toward him.
"It cannot remain connected to the main world for much longer."
The mage raised a hand and adjusted several glowing runes floating in front of him before continuing.
"The spatial structure is already beginning to withdraw on its own. The realm is rejecting the connection."
A murmur spread through the gathered groups.
That outcome was not unexpected.
Most pocket realms had limited stability once opened. They would eventually collapse back into their own isolated space.
The mage glanced toward the trembling portal again.
"Soon the realm will forcefully expel everyone still inside."
He wiped the sweat from his brow before finishing his explanation.
"When that happens, the participants who entered earlier should appear here shortly."
His words caused several groups to shift slightly.
Just as the mage finished speaking, the trembling portal suddenly convulsed.
The surface of the gateway twisted violently. The ripples across it exploded outward like a storm tearing through water.
Then the portal erupted.
A violent pulse of spatial energy blasted outward, forcing several people near the formation to instinctively step back.
The next moment, dozens of bodies shot out of the portal.
They did not step through.
They were thrown out.
Figures tumbled through the air before crashing onto the reinforced ground around the gateway. Some rolled across the stone while others slid several meters before coming to a stop.
Gasps erupted throughout the clearing.
"What just happened?"
"Those are the participants!"
"Quick, check them!"
More bodies continued to spill from the portal in rapid succession. Within seconds, the clearing was littered with unconscious youths wearing the insignias of different factions.
Several elders and attendants immediately rushed forward.
People began turning over the fallen participants, checking their breathing and pulse.
"They’re alive!"
One of the attendants shouted in relief after placing two fingers against a participant’s neck.
"He’s only unconscious."
Another elder quickly inspected one of the bodies before nodding.
"Their life force is stable. They are simply drained."
The same conclusion was soon reached by others.
None of the returned participants showed signs of fatal injury. Most of them appeared exhausted, their auras extremely weak as though their energy had been violently consumed by something.
It was strange.
But the most important fact was clear.
They were alive.
Relief spread through many of the gathered factions. Several elders quickly located the youths belonging to their own forces and began carrying them away from the portal to safer areas.
Many of them were simply grateful that their talented juniors had returned safely.
However, the relief was not shared by everyone.
As the groups counted the returned participants, many soon realized something unsettling.
A number of people were missing.
Some factions had only half their members return. Others had lost several entirely.
The clearing slowly grew quieter as that realization spread.
No one immediately knew what had happened to those who did not appear.
They could still be inside the collapsing realm.
Or they might already be dead.
Unlike the imperial family, most factions did not possess a treasure capable of tracking a person’s life cycle.
Without such an artifact, they could only wait and hope.
Fortunately, when the elders and attendants began checking the belongings of the unconscious participants, they discovered something that quickly lifted the mood of many factions.
The treasure bags carried by the youths were not empty.
On the contrary, most of them were filled with various materials gathered from inside the realm.
Several elders opened the storage pouches and carefully inspected the contents.
Inside were numerous rare herbs, fragments of strange crystals, and metallic ores that emitted faint spiritual fluctuations. Some of the materials clearly did not exist in abundant numbers in the outside world.
But what truly caught everyone’s attention were the strange orbs.
Several of the unconscious participants had collected them.
They were small spheres roughly the size of a fist, their surfaces smooth and translucent like polished glass. Within each orb floated faint symbols that drifted slowly as though alive.
The symbols constantly shifted and rotated.
The objects clearly contained a form of energy.
However, no one present could determine their exact function.
Several elders exchanged uncertain looks.
"These must be treasures unique to the realm," one of them muttered.
Another nodded slowly.
"If the participants gathered them, they must have some value."
Even if the elders did not fully understand what the orbs were, the fact that the youths had risked their lives inside the realm to collect them suggested they were worth something.
At the very least, they were likely precious materials.
That realization eased the atmosphere slightly.
Even the factions who had lost several members found some consolation in the materials recovered by the survivors.
Meanwhile, the unstable portal continued to convulse above the clearing.
Every few moments another pulse of spatial distortion erupted from its surface.
Each time it did, more figures were violently expelled.
Some crashed onto the ground in awkward positions. Others slid across the reinforced stone before coming to a stop.
All of them were unconscious.
The elders quickly moved to retrieve them.
Gradually, the number of returned participants increased. The clearing grew more crowded as the rescued youths were carried away from the unstable portal.
Then, after another violent surge of spatial energy, something different happened.
Another figure shot out from the portal.
But this time, the person did not crash motionlessly onto the ground.
Instead, the figure landed roughly, stumbled forward a few steps, and barely managed to stay upright.
A low murmur spread through the surrounding factions.
Someone had returned while still conscious.
*
A/N: Some readers might complain about the pacing, but I think one issue that causes dissatisfaction is the Chapter length and the number of Chapters released per day. When Chapters are shorter or fewer, everything tends to feel slower than it actually is. So let’s try a different method for a while. I’m about to start uploading more frequently, similar to how my friend Awespec does it.