Moments later.

Richard appeared in a clearing within the mountain woods, feeling the surrounding space was extremely unstable.

He reached out, piercing the air before him, and surging energy flowed out. In the next instant, a large purple arc erupted from his palm, expanding outwards like frenzied snakes.

After a few seconds, the arc converged towards the center, forming a purple "mirror" with a diameter of about 1.2 meters, which was a space jump point of this world.

It was still relatively easy... He thought as he regarded the space jump point he had generated. So far, he hadn’t explored much alongside Orange Catman Husky in this plane, yet had encountered a space jump point, indicating a considerable number of such points in this world, possibly far more than in Little Girl Lv Xi’s plane.

Overall, this plane indeed developed better than Little Girl Lv Xi’s plane.

Although not much trace of the Ancient Wizard Civilization was left, at least there was civilization with its own distinctive evolution.

According to Orange Catman Husky’s description, there were no wizards or spells in this plane; instead, there was the peak-evolved Qi.

Indeed, Qi.

This Qi, in individuals like Orange Catman Husky, as Richard observed, essentially involved absorbing external energy and applying it roughly with swordsmanship, like slightly increasing one’s strength, endurance, and speed.

Simply put, it equated to the effects of several Zero-Circle Magic spells.

This resulted in weak individual combat power in this plane, completely inferior to the Test Plane.

The swordsmen here—Tiger-man Tyson, Ratman Heitu, the male and female swordsmen—were merely equivalent to the First-level Wizard Apprentices of the Test Plane.

Like the sword master Orange Catman Husky, merely equivalent to a Second-level Wizard Apprentice.

Higher up, the sword grandmasters equated to Third-level Wizard Apprentices.

At the top of the entire power system, the Holy Land Masters—the Sword Saints—barely reached the First-level Wizard threshold.

Overall, this plane is a standard low-magic world, indicating both its backwardness and its potential for exploitation.

If time permits, thoroughly modifying this world might make it comparable to the Test Plane.

However, speaking of which, Richard’s current idea is simple—to utilize the space jump points continuously, seeking a plane still holding traces of Ancient Wizard Civilization, aiming to gather more information about the White Light Catastrophe, and eventually explore the planes swallowed by the white light to understand everything clearly.

Thus, he had no leisure to linger in this plane, which served merely as a transit station, with Orange Catman Husky and the group being passersby he would likely not engage with further.

Then let’s part ways here.

Richard turned to seriously glance at the current plane, stepping towards the activated space jump point, mentally calculating the number of transfers required to likely encounter a suitable plane.

As he walked, Richard got closer and closer to the space jump point, seemingly about to enter, when suddenly his raised foot halted, his brow furrowed, and a second later he slowly withdrew his foot.

Hmm? Something seemed to have happened, he realized he had overlooked it...

What was it?

Richard paused in place, revealing a contemplative expression. A few seconds later, he flipped his right hand to take out the silver leaf given by Lv Xi, and flipped his left hand to produce the red bead given not long ago by Orange Catman Husky.

A strange phenomenon occurred; the silver leaf and red bead seemed to attract each other, flying from his hands and quickly drawing close—what he sensed earlier was precisely this attraction.

As he looked on, the two converged and seemed to resonate, rapidly vibrating. Amidst the vibrations, melting marks appeared on the edge of the metallic silver leaf, with silver liquid flowing down to envelop the surface of the red bead.

Then Richard heard a sound resembling the flow of water coming from within the encapsulated silver bead.

Focusing intently, he listened carefully, as the sound transformed into a summons, spoken in the Ancient Wizard Civilization’s common language: "...find me... come to find me... if you feel confused, seeking the meaning of life, the secrets of ancient civilization, the truth of the world, come find me...

...I’m waiting for you where ancient civilization began... waiting for you... strive to find the beacons I’ve left; they will guide your way... the more beacons you find, the quicker you’ll reach me..."

Hmm?

A message?

A message seemingly left specifically for him or someone like him?

Richard narrowed his eyes, gently grasping the bead turned silver, cautiously approaching the space jump point, visibly witnessing a part of the originally purple transfer point suddenly dyed in the bead’s matching silver hue.

Richard stopped before the space jump point, clearly sensing its path had deviated somewhat; entering now would transport him to somewhere different than before. If once it was the First Plane, now it became the Second Plane.

However, this influence was not stable, nor had it reached an equilibrium with the space jump point, so rashly entering might produce unforeseen consequences. Perhaps his upper body would be transported to the altered Second Plane, while his lower half remained stubbornly in the former First Plane.

Self-dissection?

Was it due to the beacon... i.e., there being too few silver leaves and red beads... Richard pondered... the summoning from within the bead mentioned that finding more beacons sped up reaching the summoner...

As for the silver leaf... currently lacking clues for a second piece... however, some of the silver leaf remains, despite melting a portion to cover the bead—it visually could wrap at least four more beads...

Regarding the beads, he had expended the only one... though, if remembered correctly, Orange Catman Husky had previously mentioned that it came from their settlement, passed down many years, having several pieces, not particularly valuable, given as a keepsake.

In that case, perhaps returning to ask Husky about the current location of the remaining beads is feasible?

Alright then.

Richard’s brow twitched slightly as he made his decision internally.

Without hesitation, he put away the bead and silver leaf, waved away the activated space jump point, and began retracing his steps.

...

Time’s almost up.

A small mountain within the woods.

Hundreds of towering wild wolves could be seen scattered about the mountain, vaguely encircling the peak.

These wolves, tearing apart the carcasses of several dead wolves on the ground, intermittently raised their heads to howl at a mountain cave on the summit.

At this moment, Male Swordsman Ruth and Female Swordsman Ellie stood vigilantly at the cave entrance, holding their longswords, fully alert to thwart any sudden wolf attacks.

Inside the cave, the elderly Orange Catman was leaning bloodied against the rock wall, breathing weakly, with Tiger-man Tyson, Ratman Heitu, and Little Fox Boy Pike standing beside him, nerve-wracked.

Not long ago, after Richard’s departure, Husky and his group suffered a massive attack by ghost wolves. If not for timely discovering a cave to hide and repelling the first ghost wolf assault by relying on the terrain, they would likely have become ghost wolf prey by now.

Despite this, Orange Catman Husky, who was core to their fighting capacity, had sustained multiple injuries and was in poor condition. When the wolves outside organized for another assault, the surviving group faced bleak odds of survival.

Little Fox Boy Pike, full of concern, eyed Husky, whispering, "Elder... how do you feel, can you stand up to charge out with us?"

"Charge out?" Husky, leaning against the rock wall, heard this and gently shook his head, smiled wryly, "I fear... cough cough... I fear that I cannot move at all now; what happens next relies on you."

Honestly, we... underestimated the Ghost Wolf King; it is the most vengeful beast leader out there. Since our settlement killed its offspring, its pursuit wouldn’t cease until every runaway of ours was destroyed, even if our settlement falls.

Before... cough cough... after its subordinates died, it seemed to disappear. Not that it surrendered or feared, but was instead rallying all its minions. Thus, leading to our current predicament, surrounded by hundreds of ghost wolves.

... Frankly, I heavily suspect the Sword Saint who accompanied us might have noticed this and abruptly left to avoid trouble. Ultimately, a Sword Saint, however mighty, is still human and would feel dread facing hundreds of ghost wolves."

"So Elder, are we doomed?" Ratman Heitu, with a grim face, inquired, bearing the aftermath of having an ear bitten off by the ghost wolves during the fight, the bleeding wound presenting a pitiful sight.

"Cough cough..." Husky coughed twice again, responding in extreme weakness, "What fate holds, I cannot advise... cough cough... You must strive yourselves. As for me, I am truly old and weary—I cannot continue accompanying you on this journey... Do your best..."

As he concluded, Orange Catman Husky’s voice faded into a whisper, and he slowly closed his eyes.