Chapter 126: The difficulty is off the charts!

The rain had lessened considerably.

It was a drizzle, but unusually cold.

In the darkness, Ta Ke held up his shield, moving swiftly in the form of his Shadow Form.

Behind Ta Ke was the fourth-stage André Fan.

As a fourth-stage Demon Hunter, he had begun trying to condense his own Transcendent Form.

Plus, as a Demon Hunter he naturally possessed Dark Vision, and his own mobility.

Keeping up with Ta Ke in his Shadow Form was still easy.

"We're almost there!"

As Ta Ke slowed his speed, he lowered his voice.

André likewise immediately restrained his transcendent aura.

Soon, in a corner of the mountain ridge forest, Ta Ke stopped.

"Come out!"

As Ta Ke's words fell,

In the rain-soaked treetops, a third-stage Shadowflame Demon Wolf Leader leapt out.

"A Shadow Demon Wolf Leader?"

André let out a low exclamation, and with a clang, drew his fourth-stage rune-etched Demon Hunter Silver Blade.

Silver pupils, gleaming brightly.

And the Demon Hunter Silver Blade grew brighter as the halo around its silver pupils intensified.

A third-stage Shadowflame Demon Wolf, being a leader-level transcendent beast, would naturally not yield to the opponent.

It immediately lowered its stance, coldly eyeing the fourth-stage Demon Hunter, a growl rolling in its throat as its fangs gradually showed.

"Put away your blade; it's too bright. If the hidden enemies in the valley spot us, we'll lose the initiative."

Ta Ke glanced at André, and while beginning to set up a small altar, he said,

He looked at Ta Ke's Shadow Form, then at the Shadow Demon Wolf Leader.

André, somewhat enlightened, slowly put away his Demon Hunter Silver Blade.

Sure enough, as he sheathed his blade, the Shadow Demon Wolf stared at him for a moment, then also lowered its combat stance, running to Ta Ke's rear and squatting down.

Just the height of that squat was already much taller than the already sturdy and tall André.

"Damn it, you have a third-stage leader-level pet—why didn't you say so earlier!"

"Tsk tsk... a third-stage Shadowflame Demon Wolf Leader, a leader-level creature!"

Having put away his blade, André gazed with great interest at the burly, robust Shadow Demon Wolf before him.

"Who knows how many have wanted to tame a leader-level creature, but none succeeded, ultimately meeting their end in the beast's jaws."

"If I could contract a powerful leader-level creature, that would be great—I'd even be willing to trade a Steam Core for it, but..."

André Fan shook his head.

"I have no ability for summoning or contracting."

As he said this, André still wanted to step closer for a better look.

But the third-stage Shadowflame Demon Wolf Leader glared back at him.

"I really envy you wizards."

André Fan, feeling somewhat envious, restrained his expression.

However, from his occasional glances at the Shadowflame Demon Wolf Leader, it was clear he wanted to test its strength.

This way, he could to some extent gauge the true strength of that Steam Wizard Ta Nilu, whose level he couldn't even see.

Soon, Ta Ke opened the sacrificial rite of the Dim Sun Altar.

Then, he laid the Dim Sun Faith's meridian onto the Dim Sun Meridian extending from the hub region over there, beginning to probe the situation inside.

The SSS-rank Precision-Correction combined with the SSS-rank Steam-Origin Spirit State opened up this method of deep exploration of world veins and tracks.

This could also be considered Ta Ke's secret ultimate technique, developed by deeply exploring his transcendent talent.

Originally, Ta Ke's shadow also contained a Dim Sun Faith meridian.

But by using the ritual, he constructed a new faith meridian instead of directly using his existing one, thus better avoiding Dim Sun power.

Once the new faith meridian is used up and discarded, it can be done without anyone knowing.

During this time, Ta Ke gained many new insights into Transcendent Faith Studies.

Half an hour passed quickly.

"All right, the scouting is over."

In the darkness, Ta Ke opened his eyes.

"How is it?"

André immediately lowered his voice to ask.

After a moment's thought, Ta Ke then slowly said.

"According to my ritual's investigation."

"That Otherworld Gate is a transfer hub of the Dim Sun Church; judging by its scale and personnel, it is a very important place."

"An important transfer hub?"

Ta Ke's words caused André's face to sink slightly.

"An important transfer hub? Can we two afford to provoke such a place?"

"Inside, at the very least there will be a Bishop-level powerhouse standing guard."

"A Bishop of sixty-plus levels is absolutely not something we two can provoke."

As they spoke, An Deli's eye corner twitched sharply.

"You should notify Saint Land and have them dispatch a Transcendent Legion."

"Not you taking me, the two of us going there in vain to die."

Ta Ke nodded.

"You're right—notify Saint Land, then have them store all seized loot in Saint Land's warehouse."

"And we get nothing."

"You can't expect us to sit here while the treasures fall before us on their own, can you?"

"But…"

An Deli spread his hands.

"A Dark Sun bishop-level presence is far too dangerous."

Ta Ke took a deep breath and said slowly,

"The crux is right here... there are no bishop-level Dark Sun Church elites over there."

"None? Are you sure?" An Deli raised an eyebrow.

"I'm certain—sixth-rank Transcendents naturally affect the surrounding Transcendent ecology."

"And my divination ritual is especially sensitive to this aspect."

"I said none, so there definitely aren't any."

"But the problem is, inside there are six long-range teleport gates, plus an Exotic Gate, and an exit—the 'Layered Realm Passage Gate' beneath that valley—very close to us."

"Think of it as an independent Transcendent layered realm space with eight magical gates."

"If we... destroy those eight passages."

"Then... everything inside will be ours."

Ta Ke's words made An Deli·Fan's heart leap.

Higher risk, higher reward!

An Deli·Fan, this was the first time he felt the allure of this term so clearly.

It felt like robbing the central bank of a Transcendent city-state.

He knew being caught meant death, but if he escaped, it would be blood profit!

He suppressed the surging undercurrents within.

"Destroying all eight magical gates at once—that difficulty... must be astronomically huge!"

"Precisely, it's destroying six."

Ta Ke calmly laid out the logic.

"We can ignore the one near us; the Black River Valley elites won't act lightly."

"I think... your Demon Hunter Guild's sixth-rank elites are stationed outside, right?"

An Deli·Fan smiled, offering no rebuttal.

"The Exotic Gate side isn't worrisome either; it's just a passage with an energy cap of only about fifty levels, unable to accommodate a sixth-rank Transcendent."

"We only need to destroy six to guarantee no bishop-level elite will interfere."

"Destroy seven, and Black River Valley can't threaten us."

"If we destroy all eight..."

"Then we'd have successfully crafted a gigantic coffin for ourselves!" An Deli·Fan added bluntly.

Ta Ke smiled, offering little explanation.

After all, Ta Ke's next task is to turn this place into a "coffin".

"So…"

"In a moment, the two of us will charge straight in."

"Just destroy six magical gates."

"Hold on!" At that moment, An Deli interrupted Ta Ke's splendid exposition.

"You said there are no sixth-rank bishops inside."

"But the Dark Sun Church's fifth-rank Stewards are also quite terrifying."

"Not to hide it, I once encountered a fourth-rank Steward of the Dark Sun Church."

"Back then I had just advanced to fourth rank and nearly died at their hands."

"Even now I have a stable fourth-rank steam sequence and consider myself no weaker than any fourth-rank Dark Sun Steward."

"But facing a fifth-rank Steward, I'm afraid..."

"There are two resident fifth-rank Stewards inside, and twelve fourth-rank Stewards."

Ta Ke cut off An Deli's "I'm afraid" and stated the facts directly.

"Sss... can we win this?"

An Deli's eye corner began to twitch violently.

Two fifth-rank Dark Sun Stewards.

An Deli felt those two fifth-rank Dark Sun Stewards could tear him apart alive.

"I think it's safer to call a Saint Land Transcendent Legion over," An Deli thought, voicing his truest opinion.

Ta Ke also knew the strength of those Dark Sun Stewards.

Those Dark Sun Stewards are all A‑grade geniuses, at least top‑tier B‑grade geniuses, inheriting a powerful exotic Dark Sun sequence.

In the southern frontier of the continent, even the eastern continent across the star sea, the Dark Sun organization has gathered many talented individuals; Dark Sun Church geniuses are not few.

"You don't need to forcefully resist; just disrupt them from inside."

Ta Ke slowly explained.

I will quickly destroy all magic gates.

After that, we'll have plenty of time to slowly get rid of them.

"But, during your destruction, the bishop of the Dark Sun Church will come charging over!" Andelai voiced his biggest worry.

"As for the bishop of the Dark Sun Church, if he dares to come, I dare to show him death!" Ta Ke said slowly and clearly.

Fan Andelai was stunned.

After scrutinizing Ta Ke for a long while, he finally squeezed out a few words from between his gritted teeth: 'You lunatic.'