Ch. 3531..3540
Chapter 3531 Problematic Woman
If Levi and the others were to find out about Gloria’s thoughts, they would be mind-blown.
No one would’ve expected her to think so far ahead and come up with such an elaborate scheme.
Pretty quickly, the people Gloria sent had already discovered plenty of small and medium spiritual ley lines.
Naturally, she started devouring everything like crazy.
Although none of the spiritual ley lines were enough to make her incredibly strong, her strength was increasing bit by bit.
Meanwhile, Levi was keeping an eye on those two super-spiritual ley lines and investigating West Pavilion at the same time.
This time around, Levi was looking into every one of them thoroughly and meticulously. Although it wasn’t a smart plan, it was his only plan.
It was because his opponent was that good at hiding.
Among the tens of thousands of people in West Pavilion, they were all ordinary people who didn’t seem to have much presence.
However, his opponent understood him in and out. Not only that, my opponent knows everything about the outside world and Yartran. How could that be? How is that possible? After those few confrontations, I think this person knows me better than anyone else! This person even knows me better than Mr. X, Bruce, and all my other opponents! Furthermore, it seems my opponent is aware of my personal habits and ways of thinking. At this point, it’s as if my opponent is fighting against me like he has eyes in the sky! How am I supposed to overcome that? How is my opponent capable of that? How does he know me so well? Does he have a spy camera on me? I feel like he can see through me entirely. This is scary.
Levi was utterly perplexed. Although his method of investigation was tough, he was still able to slowly narrow down his search. He was sure that he could get to the bottom of it soon.
At the same time, Levi was under immense pressure because he had to care for the people around him. This opponent knows too much about me, so he could easily ambush me. Apart from me, Evie is the strongest individual we have at this moment. Still, she won’t be able to handle everything on her own. Hence, we need to rely on the underground defensive base. If the location of our underground defensive base is exposed, we’re doomed. Considering the fact that the opponent knows so much about me, he might know already know about the defensive base. With that being said, judging by the previous encounters, I doubt that’s the case.
With that in mind, he felt slightly relieved.
Azure Dragon and the other four felt better after hearing Levi’s comforting words.
After that, Phoenix told them the suspicions she had about Floyd, and how he had been acting strange.
Also, she told them about the information she found.
The four of them were shocked. Phoenix is a girl, all right. She’s so meticulous.
Indeed, she had been keeping tabs on Floyd, and her findings were the complete opposite of the Floyd they knew.
“Does it mean that Gloria is playing hard to get?”
“Could it be that Floyd had been lying to us? In hindsight, that’s possible!”
The rest of them began to analyze.
Phoenix nodded and answered, “It’s possible. However, something about today weirded me out. I think this woman is a big problem, and she could be a member of the unknown force!”
The four of them looked at Phoenix and asked, “Why do you say so?”
“Well, when someone was trying to divert Boss’ attention, why was the God Crusher aimed at Floyd instead of anyone else?”
As soon as those words fell, comprehension dawned on them.
“That’s true. When that happened, Floyd was almost at the end of the line! Zoey and the others were in front of him. Wouldn’t they be better targets to divert Boss’ attention?”
“Also, Floyd is much stronger, so the assailant took a risk by targeting Floyd! No matter what, Floyd wasn’t the best, nor was he the easiest target. In fact, the assailant took the most risk by attacking him!”
“Yet the assailant picked Floyd. Something’s up here…”
Chapter 3532 Part Of Her Plan
Phoenix nodded, as that, too, was how she thought about it.
Given that Floyd, who was supposed to be the riskiest choice, was targeted by the woman, it was evident she was trying to assassinate him.
By combining the news that Floyd had provided—Gloria had recently abandoned him again and again, there was a high chance she wanted Floyd dead.
Previously, they had suspected that something was wrong with Floyd and considered the possibility he had been cheated.
But now, they were sure that he was related to that faction, just that he wasn’t aware of it.
Thus, they wondered how they should connect Floyd with that faction and came to realize the answer lay with the woman from West Pavilion—Gloria.
Levi’s conclusion that the faction was in West Pavilion further cemented their belief.
Nonetheless, Azure Dragon reminded, “This remains conjecture on our part, as we do not have a single shred of evidence at all.”
“That’s right. If we speculate without basis and tell Boss, we might be accused of trying to sow discord.”
“All this while, we never had a case of betrayal or anything even close to it. Thus, we can never raise this matter unless we have solid proof. Until then, everyone is forbidden from mentioning it.”
Cognizant of the rationale behind it, Phoenix and the rest agreed, “You’re right. Evidence! We need irrefutable evidence!”
“From now on, we won’t sit idly by and do nothing. We have to investigate!”
“Our investigations should focus on nothing else other than Gloria. We should find out everything about her. Until we find any proof, we have to keep this a secret, especially from Boss and Floyd.”
With that, everyone came to a consensus.
“Hmm? What about me?”
At that moment, Floyd arrived coincidentally and heard his name mentioned by Azure Dragon and the other four.
Azure Dragon smiled. “We were just worried about you and wanted to see if you were shocked.”
“I’m fine. I, too, was equally worried and came to check on you guys.”
After both sides made some idle chatter, Kirin thought of something and asked, “By the way, did you manage to get a clear look at the assassin?”
“Huh? About that…”
The images from that moment flashed across his mind.
In that instant, he could see Gloria’s blurry shadow viciously bearing down upon him with God Crusher in hand.
It must have been a hallucination. How can it be Gloria? Of all the people trying to kill me, Gloria would never be among them. I must have thought of her in the face of death. After all, she will be among the regrets I’ll have in the event of my death.
“How is that possible? Given how strong the attacker was, there’s no way I could’ve gotten a good look.”
Floyd laughed awkwardly.
Kirin asked in a solemn tone, “What if the person piercing you with the sword is the one you love the most?”
Swoosh!
Floyd’s expression drastically changed.
He hadn’t expected Kirin to bring up what he was just thinking about.
This is too much of a coincidence.
“Haha, I’m just joking. Look at how nervous you are! I was just trying to test you to see if you were still traumatized by the sword attack.”
Kirin broke into instant laughter.
“You have given me a fright. And here I was, thinking that you knew something.”
Floyd patted his chest.
After going their separate ways, Floyd continued with his training.
Having assumed that Gloria was disappointed in him, he endeavored to double his efforts to strengthen himself.
I don’t want to feel useless or be a burden! Instead, I want to be Master’s right-hand man!
He hoped that the next time he met Gloria, he would no longer be the same man.
However, he was oblivious that igniting the motivation for his relentless training was also part of Gloria’s plan.
Her ultimate goal was to sow discord between him and Levi so that he would see the latter as his enemy, and at the crucial moment, stab Levi to cause him grievous injury.
In order to assassinate Levi, she not only needed someone close but also someone powerful.
Floyd, in his current condition, was far from enough.
For the plan to work, he had to grow stronger.
That was the reason why Gloria needed to trigger him into training hard.
Chapter 3533 Locating The Minister
Meanwhile, Gloria, with Xylas in tow, was traversing between all kinds of spiritual ley lines.
She was devouring them and training Xylas at the same time.
By then, the small and medium spiritual ley lines didn’t make a big difference to her.
All she could do was accumulate her strength slowly.
In contrast to her, a small spiritual ley line was as powerful as the sun for someone who had just begun to devour them like Xylas, to the extent that he was incapable of devouring it in its entirety.
Instead, all he could manage was the leftovers from Gloria.
Even then, his strength progressed by leaps and bounds.
Within a short period of time, he had elevated himself to another level.
It was something that he didn’t even dare imagine before.
After obtaining the elemental spiritual bone, he felt that he possessed an exceptional level of talent, which was unprecedented since ancient times.
Once he began training, the explosive progress he made bordered upon the divine, filling him with ecstasy.
Nevertheless, it was still nothing compared to the devouring technique.
In fact, they couldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath.
The devouring technique was unimaginably violent and terrifying, which brought Xylas unparalleled elation.
I have to follow this master.
“Based on the speed of your progress, you’ll be invincible in a month’s time as long as Levi doesn’t interfere.”
Gloria was proud of his progress, as the devouring technique that Xylas was training in was personally modified by her.
Even though she had lowered the limit of its power, it allowed its user to devour at a terrifying pace in a very short time.
As a matter of fact, it was ten times faster compared to when she had first begun wielding it.
Obviously, she had no consideration for Xylas’ future, as all that mattered to her was taking down Levi.
Therefore, she had frontloaded all of Xylas’ improvements by burning through his life essence, enabling his progress to skyrocket.
However, it was done at a cost to the future growth of his skills.
After all, she couldn’t risk him betraying her later on.
Oblivious to Gloria’s intentions, Xylas couldn’t be any happier.
After all, his progress had exceeded even his wildest dreams.
Considering that it bordered upon a miracle, there was no reason for him not to feel elated.
Alongside Gloria’s increasing strength was her elevation in terms of influence.
The Bone Grandmaster had been working hard to covertly recruit members of the Ecclesiastic Order to join the Glorian Order.
Within a short period of time, the Glorian Order snowballed into a massive network that enveloped the Ecclesiastic Order.
It grew so powerful that it was capable of swallowing the Ecclesiastic Order at any time.
In the meantime, the Ecclesiastic Order was monitoring the situation closely for fear of being annihilated.
Since the enemy was not just powerful but hiding in the shadows, it had no one else to rely on other than Levi.
Even then, they were still in an untenable position given that they were leaderless and were on the brink of extermination.
“No! We have to find the Minister and get him to take charge.”
“If the Minister still doesn’t return, the Ecclesiastic Order will be finished!”
“Everyone, we have to pull out all the stops to find him!”
Consequently, the Ecclesiastic Order made a momentous decision—to find the Minister.
It was unprecedented but necessary due to the risk of being wiped out.
Despite how low the chances of locating the Minister were, they had no choice but to try.
If the Minister was to return, there was no need for them to rely on Levi anymore.
Furthermore, they didn’t need to fear the faction lurking in the shadows.
“What if the Minister has discovered the world beyond and gone there? How are we going to find him?”
“Precisely. There’s also another possibility—he might have discovered the world beyond but was killed by a greater power inside.”
“Nonetheless, as long as there’s a sliver of hope, we still have to try.”
“We also can’t discount the chance that the Minister has become stronger after finding the world beyond.”
Meanwhile, Phoenix and the rest had infiltrated the Ecclesiastic Order for their investigation, which was in a different direction from Levi’s.
They had one clear objective—that was to find out everything about Gloria.
Even the most trivial of rumors would be investigated in full detail.
Consequently, they were shocked by what they learned, as no one had expected such a revelation.
Chapter 3534 Is Gloria The Real Mastermind
There was a lot more to Gloria that met the eye.
Only those from West Pavilion knew of her terrible reputation.
In fact, she was ostracized by them to the extent of no one wanted to be associated with her.
They were filled with resentment for her and even accused her of being a slut.
This was also taken into account by Gloria in her plan to eradicate the Ecclesiastic Order. Other than West Pavilion, who would be mercilessly slaughtered, the other factions were allowed to join the Glorian Order as long as they submitted to her.
That was how much she hated those from West Pavilion.
Upon learning that Gloria was infamous for seducing men, Phoenix and the others realized that they had made a monumental discovery.
Even though she had seduced countless men, there were plenty of others who willingly subjected themselves to her manipulation despite being aware of her infamy.
Among them was Callahan, son of the West Pavilion’s master.
Moreover, she had even seduced her master’s husband before and was almost killed by Linda for it.
Even though all the incidents were true, they were kept under wraps for the sake of the West Pavilion’s dignity.
In addition, there was also another rumor—Gloria had even seduced the master of West Pavilion.
If Callahan hadn’t protected her then, she would have been ripped to shreds by him.
Her reputation was so bad that she would be scorned every time her name was brought up, to the extent that it felt like she had a history with eighty percent of the men within West Pavilion.
That number didn’t even include those outside their faction, where rumor had it that countless other men were also involved with her.
As a result, the revelation gave Phoenix and her companions a tremendous shock.
She’s such a terrifying woman! If the rumors prove to be true, manipulating Floyd would be a walk in the park for her.
“Floyd, you would never have guessed that you’re just one man among the thousands she has had!” Kirin lamented while Phoenix and everyone else felt bad for him.
From the way he behaved a few days ago, it’s clear that Floyd has fallen head over heels in love with Gloria, so much so that she had penetrated the core of his being. And yet, she turned out to be such a wretched woman.
Even if she hadn’t done anything, they were still going to look for her.
But from her actions alone, she had obviously betrayed Floyd and the hopes he had placed on her. Moreover, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had been blatantly cheated.
Unfortunately, poor Floyd was oblivious to Gloria’s true colors and still thought that she was someone loyal in love.
“She just gets on my nerves!” Black Tortoise ranted, as everyone was obviously upset.
At that moment, they realized that Gloria was just playing hard to get when she ignored Floyd in the beginning.
Her true objective was to have him eating out of her hand.
“Should we tell Floyd?” White Tiger asked.
The few of them shook their heads. “Considering how blinded he is, he would think that we’re trying to sow discord instead of believing us.”
“Precisely. Even though we now know who she really is, we have nothing but unsubstantiated rumors.”
“If we were to tell Master and Floyd without proof, we might alert the enemy instead.”
“Therefore, we have to obtain solid evidence. Perhaps we can gather the men who were connected to her and start from them.”
Phoenix added, “I’m just worried that Floyd would still refuse to believe us even if we show proof.”
After deciding to investigate further, they began to speculate if Gloria was the mastermind Levi was searching for, as there were many clues pointing in that direction.
Gloria was a nobody who didn’t come from an influential family nor had a powerful patron. Also, she wasn’t skilled or had the luck of an extraordinary encounter.
In fact, there was nothing remarkable about her other than being able to manipulate men.
If she is the true enemy, how did she manage to grow stronger? How could she have made so much progress that she can go toe to toe with Levi? This doesn’t make sense at all regardless of how one thinks about it. Even with a miracle, the gulf between them is simply too big!
Chapter 3535 Gloria Is Wicked
Even though Levi was exceptionally strong, it took him a long time to get to where he was.
If even he couldn’t have achieved it, how is it possible for anyone else? This is just too unrealistic.
The only one who could make similar progress in such a short time was Forlevia.
Her skyrocketing strength was there for all to witness.
She had improved so fast that everyone was left speechless.
Even at the pace she was growing, she was still incapable of reaching the heights of Levi’s power.
Therefore, it was clear that at the rate the enemy was growing, it was impossible for Forlevia to catch up.
It was such a baffling phenomenon that no one could comprehend.
If she was the cream of the crop of the Ecclesiastic Order, there was still a sliver of hope.
After all, they wielded tremendous resources and might have some secret technique to help her achieve the heights of power.
But how did a nobody like her do it? This is impossible! Could it be that she had an extraordinary encounter? Given the number of powerful characters within the Ecclesiastic Order, plenty of them had special encounters. Even then, this doesn’t look like one of those situations.
At that moment, none of them could figure out how the enemy managed to grow so strong.
Hence, they knew they had to dig deeper in their investigations.
This time, they would focus on whether Gloria had any extraordinary encounters or if anyone had ever seen her training before.
Perhaps the answer could be found there.
Subsequently, they widened the scope of their probe by including other major factions beyond West Pavilion, hoping to find a connection to Gloria.
At the same time, they drilled down further in their investigations into Gloria.
The way they carried out their inquiry was different from Levi. He was doing it from a macro perspective, while they were solely focused on Gloria.
I don’t care whether you are the mastermind, Gloria. I insist on investigating you, for you have become our target. If you are indeed the perpetrator, the evidence will be procured to prove it!
Even though there were still many unanswered questions, they had plenty of clues that pointed at Gloria that they needed to follow up on.
Truth be told, they could inform Levi directly about Gloria.
However, doing so would be the equivalent of falling out with Floyd, and they would also put Levi in an awkward position.
It wouldn’t be a problem if the enemy turned out to be Gloria, but what if she isn’t? How would Floyd or even Master see us then? The fallout could be so severe that it would break the team up.
As a result, they would never say anything that could threaten the team’s solidarity until they had proof.
After all, they were like a family, and it wasn’t worth rocking the boat with some baseless accusation.
Thus, their lips were sealed until there was sufficient evidence.
In spite of that, one thing was certain—Gloria was an evil woman who specialized in manipulating men.
Without a doubt, Floyd was eating out of her hands.
Even though they had agreed not to reveal their suspicions to him, they would still remind him to keep his distance from her.
In the event Gloria turned out to be the enemy, Floyd would by default become a time bomb that might explode anytime with devastating consequences.
In order to prevent such a scenario, they had to keep a close eye on him.
Subsequently, Phoenix and her companions intensified their investigations.
Under normal circumstances, Gloria would already have been aware of their plans.
But this time, she just wasn’t bothered, as it wasn’t worthy of her attention.
Besides, it was just a matter of time before her identity was exposed.
Chapter 3536 Countless Super Spiritual Ley Lines
So what if they find anything? It makes no difference since I’ll be revealing myself to everyone sooner or later.
Otherwise, Gloria would definitely have been alerted to Phoenix’s investigations.
Without a doubt, this was a God-given opportunity for them, where they could avoid being in a precarious position.
Within a short period of time, Gloria had devoured seven medium spiritual ley lines and nineteen small spiritual ley lines.
Even Xylas’ strength was increasing by leaps and bounds.
At that moment, he had already surpassed Solocus and was approaching Eusof’s level.
The rate of his progress had exceeded that of Gloria in her early stages, let alone Forlevia.
He had grown so much that he could devour a small spiritual ley line all by himself.
Moreover, his power continued to increase.
“Hmm. I’m happy with the pace of your progress and don’t think you need an entire month. In the next few days, you can venture out and kill some men to show Levi’s subordinates who’s boss.”
Gloria felt satisfied.
In a few days, Xylas will be so strong that no one other than Levi would be a match for him, unless many of their elites banded together.
Even then, Xylas wouldn’t have trouble withdrawing unscathed.
She didn’t need him to massacre her enemies.
Instead, she just required him to reveal himself to them, to not only let them know that he was alive but to also demonstrate that he had grown so powerful that they had no hope of revenge.
Her goal was simple—to upset Levi and his men while making everyone else feel disgusted.
“Levi, you must be painstakingly awaiting my appearance, aren’t you? There’s no rush. Just wait for a little longer. Once I’ve become powerful enough to thrash you, I will naturally show myself.”
Gloria burst into an insidious laughter.
Based on the records of the Ecclesiastic Order and the reports of her scouts, there were still a hundred and twenty-three small spiritual ley lines and thirty-four medium spiritual ley lines left.
Once she had devoured them all and a few other energy sources, she would be ready for the big reveal.
When the time comes, Levi would no longer pose a threat, and she could easily overwhelm him.
That was what her actual plan was, instead of a grueling battle that would only end up with a pyrrhic victory on her part.
Meanwhile, Levi was still closely monitoring the two super-spiritual ley lines, as they were, after all, the source of the enemy’s rapidly growing strength.
If the enemy had intended to make a significant leap in power and be strong enough to crush him, the two super-spiritual ley lines had to be devoured.
It was just that over the last half month, those two ley lines were still left untouched.
Something’s wrong. There has to be a problem somewhere.
Levi furrowed his brows.
Oh no!
He slapped his forehead all of a sudden.
Didn’t I already know that the enemy is someone that understands me very well, to the extent of knowing how I think? In that case, the enemy must also be aware that I’ll be observing the two super-spiritual ley lines. Cognizant that it would be like walking into a trap, he or she would, of course, never show up. Therefore, the enemy must have some other plan other than these two ley lines. I’ve just been wasting my time here. That said, if the enemy wants to continue growing more powerful, the only sources of power capable of granting that are the ley lines, for nothing else would work.
Levi set off for the Holy Guild at once.
“Do you know how many spiritual ley lines are there within the Ecclesiastic Order? Including the small and medium ones,” Levi questioned.
Even though the crowd had no idea what he was up to, they had all the ancient manuals that contained the records of spiritual ley lines brought to him.
“What? There’s that many?”
Levi was shocked after going through the information, his face filled with disbelief.
The Ecclesiastic Order’s records stated that there were four super-spiritual ley lines.
But as of now, only one had been discovered, which was the one currently used by the Ecclesiastic Order.
Chapter 3537 Waiting For The Enemy
As for the other three, they definitely existed, albeit had yet to be discovered.
Even among spiritual ley lines, they, too, varied in quality.
For example, the super-spiritual ley line beneath the South Pole glacier was considered to be more potent in terms of power.
Even the ones within the Ecclesiastic Order or Yartran couldn’t compare.
In fact, they didn’t even qualify to be classified as super-spiritual ley lines.
Furthermore, the records described the existence of ley lines—there was even a class of them.
They were labeled as dragon ley lines, earth ley lines, and even divine ley lines.
It was just that members of the Ecclesiastic Order had not encountered them before.
Nonetheless, rumor had it that the Minister did notice their presence and went in search of them. The powerful spiritual ley lines that he discovered were located in a mythical world that no one had any idea of. Unfortunately, he was never heard from since, and there were no further records of it.
Levi, too, hadn’t expected that there was still so much more knowledge out there on spiritual ley lines.
There’s even a mythical world? Is it a small one? Or is it just a massive area that feels like a small world?
Subsequently, he focused his efforts on researching the small and medium spiritual ley lines within the Ecclesiastic Order’s records.
In total, there were at least hundreds of them.
Due to the presence of the super-spiritual ley line, the Ecclesiastic Order neglected their development.
As a result, most were left untouched, as there was no use for them.
If one is unable to fully absorb all the power of a spiritual ley line, the spiritual energy emitted from the super-spiritual ley line is more than enough for one’s usage.
“All right then, I’ll keep my eye on these small and medium spiritual ley lines,” Levi sneered.
Before he left, Levi reminded them, “You have to strictly keep this secret and not allow anyone else to find out. Do you understand?
“Understood. Our lips are sealed, as this is a matter of life and death.”
With that, Levi led his men to investigate the small and medium spiritual ley lines.
If we get lucky, we might run into the enemy while they’re devouring them.
Levi speculated in his mind.
If the enemy is absorbing spiritual energy from the super-spiritual ley line, he or she must be doing so from the lesser ley lines.
“Hmm? Oh no…”
Upon arriving at a medium spiritual ley line, he was stunned to see that it had been sucked dry.
Someone has devoured every single bit of it, to the extent that there’s nothing left.
From the residual scent, he could tell that the event was very recent.
It is as I have predicted. The enemy isn’t drawing energy from super-spiritual ley lines but chose to do so from small and medium spiritual ley lines instead. Even though he or she might not be able to move to the next level in one go, the cumulative effects are still equally terrifying. After all, they are still spiritual ley lines. Despite their smaller size, the energy they contain isn’t to be underestimated at all.
“Continue with our search. I have a hunch we’ll run into them!”
Levi finally saw hope.
With so many spiritual ley lines available, the enemy would need time to devour them all.
Thus, there was a chance they would encounter the enemy if they continued looking.
Subsequently, they found another one that had just been devoured clean and were reinvigorated by their discovery.
As long as they continued on the trail of withered spiritual ley lines, they were confident of locating the enemy.
Since devouring all the spiritual ley lines was definitely the enemy’s objective, all Levi had to do was to find one that was untouched and wait.
Having decided on his strategy, Levi continued with his search.
As some time had already passed, most of the spiritual ley lines had been sucked dry.
The subsequent six to seven spiritual ley lines he found were all in a withered condition.
Nevertheless, he didn’t despair, for he knew that there he still had a chance as long as he didn’t give up.
After pressing on, Levi was finally rewarded for his efforts when he found a medium spiritual ley line that was untouched.
It was clear that the enemy had yet to arrive.
If it was a small spiritual ley line, chances of the enemy making an appearance were slim.
But since this was a medium one. Levi, delighted by his discovery, was confident that the enemy would undoubtedly come.
When they did, he would be waiting.
Chapter 3538 Singled Out
Levi stopped searching for other spiritual ley lines.
He decided to lie in wait, more certain than ever that his enemy would show up.
Levi’s predictions were proven right.
Gloria was determined to devour all the spiritual ley lines.
Even medium and small spiritual ley lines were not spared.
She would continue to devour them all.
It was only a matter of time until she tracked Levi down since he was guarding a medium spiritual ley line.
All he needed to do was to wait.
Meanwhile, Phoenix and the others had made significant headway in their investigation, discovering more and more people associated with Gloria.
The results had given them a shock as well.
They did not expect her to have so many men under her spell.
Despite her reputation, she had seduced about eighty percent of the men in West Pavilion.
Their limited investigation already revealed that Gloria had hundreds of men from various large factions under her control.
In actual fact, she could have thousands of victims.
One thing was clear—Gloria was extremely shrewd.
None of the men she had seduced had even managed to hold her hand, yet they were more than willing to worship her like a goddess.
While the people in West Pavilion knew all about Gloria’s reputation, the other factions were ill-informed about it, let alone the men she had seduced.
Many of them even believed Gloria to be an innocent woman.
Phoenix and the others clicked their tongues in disapproval. Nonetheless, they had to admit, “Her tactics are brilliant. We’re impressed!”
No wonder Floyd had fallen victim to her tactics.
Few would be able to resist her tricks.
The men Gloria had seduced came from a variety of backgrounds as well, and there were even elders in the mix.
All were loyal to her to a fault.
Azure Dragon and a few others lamented, “Gloria’s too good! Even we would’ve fallen victim to her wiles. Only someone of Boss’ caliber could resist her seduction!”
Alas, they only had rumors instead of hard evidence to substantiate their suspicions.
The men seduced by Gloria hardly qualified as evidence, seeing as they would never trust Phoenix’s group.
After all, they viewed Gloria as their deity, and they would not believe anything that sullied her character.
Naturally, they would not provide any evidence against her.
Additionally, Azure Dragon and the rest had guessed that if Gloria was truly the enemy, all her co-conspirators would have been dead by now.
After all, they had heard of the Esoteric Guild killing off many theurgists who were believed to be traitors.
Thus, it was likely that all of Gloria’s co-conspirators, if any, were dead.
The ones who were still alive were probably not considered threats by Gloria.
That meant it was impossible to get any evidence from them.
It would be too far-fetched to label Gloria the enemy just because of her acquaintance with these people.
Of course, Levi’s subordinates had been investigating the connection between Gloria and the dead people as well.
The investigation findings merely increased the likelihood of Gloria being the culprit.
Abilities aside, Gloria had an extensive network, which was crucial.
She had access to all the information held by the Ecclesiastic Order and more intel from her control over Floyd.
Hence, it was easy for her to gain information at the speed of light.
However, it was more difficult to ascertain the extent of Gloria’s abilities, and they had to investigate further to reach a conclusion.
Nonetheless, they believed they would eventually find some clues.
They were confident they had located a crucial hint to solving the puzzle.
While they were busy with their investigation on Gloria, Floyd was busy cultivating.
The Fiends were all serving Levi, who would not allow Floyd to uncover his whereabouts.
Phoenix and Azure Dragon were under Levi’s command as well.
Floyd felt as though he was singled out, wholly unaware of everyone else’s activities.
They seemed to be deliberately avoiding him.
Chapter 3539 Tricking Forlevia
Absorbed in his cultivation, Floyd was blissfully unaware of the goings-on in the base.
When he emerged from his isolation, he realized the base was near-deserted, save for Forlevia and a few others.
Everyone else was missing, and he had no idea where they had gone.
It was also around that time when Floyd noticed that those left in the base camp were deliberately avoiding him.
Something was obviously very wrong, even if no one had deigned to inform him about it.
Everyone was wary toward him, that much he was clear, especially Phoenix and the others.
Are they worried about Gloria? Maybe they think something’s off about her, but they don’t want to tell me about it. That means they won’t tell me about their plans. Master won’t tell me about it either. I’m being singled out and kept in the dark!
The thought upset Floyd to no end.
What did I do wrong? Why is everyone acting like this? Worst of all, Phoenix and the others are wrapped up in the idea that Gloria is problematic.
Floyd eventually decided his best course of action was to focus on cultivation and achieve a level befitting Gloria’s status. He wanted her to change her impression of him.
Alas, his determination was weakened by how everyone at the base treated him.
He was simply too upset to cultivate properly.
Even after several days of silent observation, he failed to figure out what they were doing.
That merely fueled his curiosity about what his master and fellow disciples were up to.
What the heck are Phoenix and the others doing?
One day, Floyd’s patience snapped.
He had to find out what Levi and the rest were doing.
Mainly, he was worried they would investigate Gloria and cause an unnecessary mess.
Floyd did not wish for them to wrong and even kill Gloria. It would be a horrid development.
It was a time of heightened tension, and paranoia was widespread.
If Master knew about Gloria’s existence, he would surely strike as soon as he could. She might be dead before I’ve even realized anything.
Thus, Floyd knew he could not rest easy until he knew what Levi and the others were doing.
Alas, there was a wrench in his plans. With everyone deliberately avoiding him, how could he figure out Levi’s whereabouts?
Oh right! Evie!
Forlevia was overseeing the day-to-day affairs at the base.
Floyd believed she definitely knew what Master, Phoenix, Azure Dragon, and the others were doing.
He bore down on Forlevia while she was busy cultivating.
Noticing his odd expression, Forlevia asked curiously, “What’s wrong, Floyd? You don’t look too well.”
Floyd sighed and explained, “Don’t you know why, Evie? It feels as though everyone has deserted me. Phoenix and the others are deliberately avoiding me, and now, even Master is doing so. I don’t even know where they’ve gone or what they’re doing.”
He vented his frustrations in a bid to gain Forlevia’s sympathy.
After all, Forlevia was strong, but she was as innocent as a child.
Plus, she had nothing but the utmost respect for her senior disciples like Floyd.
Naturally, she revered them deeply and would never think of them in a bad light.
As expected, Forlevia coaxed, “Don’t think that way, Floyd. Why would everyone leave you behind? That’s impossible!”
Floyd sighed and moaned, “Why wouldn’t they? I don’t even know where they are or what they’re doing! All I know is that they’re busy, but I want to help them too! It’s my duty to share Master’s burden, yet how could I be so clueless about his whereabouts? Isn’t it obvious now that they’re singling me out?”
Alas, Forlevia could not see through Floyd’s scheme. She piped up innocently, “I’m sure they didn’t single you out, Floyd. I’ll tell you where my father is right now.”
Determined to prove Floyd’s suppositions wrong, she said, “Dad is looking all small and medium spiritual ley lines in the Ecclesiastic Order! He thinks the enemy is absorbing spiritual ley lines to strengthen itself!”
Chapter 3540 Prey
“If you see someone using spiritual ley line, they’re most probably the people we’re looking for!”
Floyd was stunned by Forlevia’s words. Devouring spiritual ley line? That’s frightening! I hope this has nothing to do with Gloria. Otherwise, it would be troublesome.
“How about Phoenix and the others?” Floyd asked.
“Phoenix and the others have gone to find Xylas. They’ll surely seek revenge! They couldn’t take it anymore, so they sought approval from Daddy to look for Xylas,” Forlevia answered.
Indeed, Phoenix had gone to seek approval so that no one would know they had actually gone to investigate Gloria.
Needless to say, using Xylas as an excuse was a good move because that would stop people from getting suspicious.
Floyd was convinced.
“Carry on with your cultivation, then. I need to cultivate as well so that I can be of help when we’ve found Xylas! I shouldn’t just rely on Master.” With that, Floyd left. At the same time, Forlevia didn’t get suspicious.
After all, she thought Floyd was just keeping them in his mind, and he was just trying to help.
After Floyd left, he bumped into Phoenix and the others.
When Floyd saw them, he said, “Let me know when you guys have found Xylas! I’m going to cultivate so that I’ll be prepared for revenge!”
“Sure! No problem!” Everyone nodded.
White Tiger couldn’t help but utter, “By the way, Floyd…”
White Tiger wanted to tell Floyd that he could actually go to the Ecclesiastic Order to investigate Gloria so that he would understand what was going on. However, he stopped talking when he noticed the looks the others were giving him.
“What is it, White Tiger? Is there a problem?” Floyd asked puzzledly. Something’s off. Why do I feel like they know something?
“Concentrate on cultivating, okay? Don’t think about women! Apart from Boss and Evie, you’re someone we need to rely upon!” White Tiger immediately changed the topic.
Floyd smiled when he heard that.
“That’s right! You have a long future ahead of you! Once you’ve strengthened yourself, you can get all the women you want, right? By then, you don’t have to just focus on one!”
“Once you become stronger, you’ll meet better women in the future! You’ll then realize what you have now is incomparable…”
Everyone urged.
Since they couldn’t tell him as it was, they tried to deliver the message indirectly so that he would stay away from Gloria.
“Okay. I understand,” Floyd answered.
Meanwhile, Levi was still guarding the medium spiritual ley line, regardless of the circumstances.
That was because he was sure that his opposition would show up.
In fact, he was getting more and more convinced. I’ll wait and get rewarded!
Meanwhile, Gloria and Xylas were consuming all the small and medium spiritual ley lines one by one.
By then, they were almost done consuming all the ones on the list, and only a few were left.
“There are still two medium spiritual ley lines here! Let’s go here!” After going through the map, Gloria picked a medium spiritual ley line that was closest.
Coincidentally, that was the spiritual ley line Levi was guarding.
Gloria and Xylas headed out right away.
Soon, they both arrived at the medium spiritual ley line, and they could feel the strong energy waves of the spiritual ley line.
“Oh? Someone’s here! Yes!” Levi was filled with excitement because he never thought the wait could actually turn out fruitful.
He then immediately concealed everyone’s aura so that no one could sense their presence.
From afar, he could feel the presence of the incomers. There are two people. One of them is quite strong. Although that person is trying to hide their aura, I can still feel it. On the other hand, the other person’s aura is faintly discernable. All I know is that there’s a person there, and I can’t tell how strong that person is. It seems like they’re trying hard to hide their auras.