Fane had been far too quiet, but Aaron did not seem to mind. Just by listening to their conversations, Fane slowly understood. The various rules after entering the inner city were making the Whirling World more and more interesting.The inner city was actually an immense palace. There were already over ten thousand alchemists gathered there. The center of the inner city had a massive array that was about a hundred feet in length.The array was called the Heaven Array. It was an ancient array that had already been lost to the Hestia Continent. The alchemists gathered in the inner city all sat around the array.Aaron raised an eyebrow and said, "The ones who are sitting in the innermost circle are the alchemists with incredible backgrounds and amazing skills. The one at the center is Rudeus from the Scarlet Pavilion. "The one right in front of him is Mitchell Turner from Phoenix Valley. The two are said to possess the same level of skills. Before entering this tournament, their name
Rudy whispered into Fane's ears, "Why does this place feel like a funeral?" Fane could not stop himself from letting out a laugh. He looked up at everyone, and it really did feel like it was a funeral.Everyone was incredibly sullen and miserable. Everyone was in incredible pain. Aaron smiled as he whispered, "I don't think that this is a funeral at all."Rudy raised an eyebrow and said, "Then what is it?"Aaron coughed and said seriously, "It's like all of them ate a bucket of crap."The three of them let out slight laughs. After a moment, Aaron continued, "I think that the reason they're suffering so much isn't that the other worlds are too strong or that they are too weak, and that they dragged Hestia Continent down. It's just because all of them have been shouted at by Rudeus."Fane raised an eyebrow, "They were shouted at by Rudeus? Is he allowed to do that? Even with his status, surely the alchemists here are all no regular alchemists? Middle Province isn't owned by Scarle
"But the rules are very clear. You'll get your pick of the treasures first, but you only get to pick one. We get to pick from the rest. The rules can't be ignored. We want to help, but our skills are limited…""That's right. If we were good enough, we'd naturally be willing to go, but we really can't do it. Didn't us weaker alchemists join the six groups earlier as well? Our results were too bad, and we were even mocked by those people and completely humiliated Hestia Continent.""That's right. We're just worried about the humiliation. If not for that, any of us would be willing to contribute."Rudeus merely laughed coldly at those words. He looked at those people who only knew how to take the resources. When they were asked to help, they would come up with various excuses. Rudeus felt his rage boiling.He stood right up, and his sharp eyes stared at everyone as he shouted, "You're all just rash. All you want is a part of the resources, but you're not willing to do anything for it
No one responded to Rudeus’s raging, probably because no one dared to. After all, with the situation as it was, no one had any right to talk back to Rudeus if they wanted resources.After all, the biggest amount of reward had been earned by Rudeus. Anyone who wanted to retaliate refrained in the end. They were not willing to offend Rudeus, and did not know what to say anyway.Rudeus had an incredibly dark look on his face as he shot his sharp gaze across everyone there, "The seventh group is about to start. If no one participates, we would only be sending in five out of the possible ten. Wouldn't we become a joke?!"White Marsh Continent already regards us as a joke, and insults us without holding back. If we can't even get the proper number of people, how would they look at us?!"After Rudeus shouted at all of them, the response was still merely silence. At that moment, no one dared to step up. Fane could not blame Rudeus for getting so furious.Rudeus did not want to be looked d
That disdainful gaze was obvious to Fane even despite the distance. Logically speaking, Rudeus should have been happy that someone wanted to participate.After all, he had been shouting at everyone for so long, but no one had been willing to volunteer. Aaron's actions could be counted as breaking through the silence. At the very least, they would not be laughed at by White Marsh Continent's alchemists for not having enough people.Aaron had clearly felt Rudeus' disgust and mockery as well. It caused Aaron to feel both frustrated and confused. It was as if he had been wrong to do what he did.Rudeus snorted, "With someone like you?" Those words definitely stunned Aaron. What did Rudeus mean by that? At that moment, the alchemists all looked at Aaron as well.They had looks of mockery on their faces as well. Aaron's lips twitched as he said, "Didn't you say that everyone could take part? Since no one's taking part, can't I?"Fane felt like Aaron was being very reasonable. Both Fan
Fane's expression darkened. It was no wonder that no alchemists were stepping up even though so many alchemists were present. It was actually because of Rudeus' high requirements. Average alchemists would have no right to participate.Aaron seemed to have lost all hope at that moment. He had been humiliated by Rudeus like that in front of so many alchemists. He did not even have any will to fight back. Even if he was incredibly carefree, he still had the urge to slam his head into a wall.He felt like he had never been so humiliated in his life. He felt like everything he had done before was just a complete joke. He had a completely hopeless look in his eyes as he quickened his footsteps. He was afraid that he would hear the mockery around him if he slowed down.However, just as he was hastily walking forward, he suddenly felt his arm being grabbed. He turned to look and saw Fane grabbing him with a frown on Fane's face.Fane let out a sigh and pulled Aaron toward where he had been
Rudy sighed. He had a lot more he wanted to say, but he swallowed his words. In truth, Aaron's thoughts were not completely unreasonable, but Aaron had not done any of that to show off. He had wanted to help Rudeus and had not thought about anything else.At that moment, Rudeus could be heard again, "Let me warn all of you! If you try to retreat again, I won't be so kind to you when the resources are being distributed. You're not getting anything for free!"Rudy rolled his eyes, whispering, "What does this guy want? He doesn't want anyone to step up and insists on having those cowards compete."With his temper, anyone who steps up probably won't meet his standards anyway! Rudeus would just berate them without holding anything back. If this continues, even alchemists with enough skill won't want to step up anyway. They would just be cursed at and insulted!"Fane could understand what everyone was feeling. It was not like everyone enjoyed being shouted at, but Rudeus' temper was just
Aaron blinked, answering seriously, "I don't really know that much… I've only read about them in ancient books."At that moment, Fane went straight to the key point, "Hearing what you said, are none of the other worlds cut off from the outside world like Hestia Continent is?"Aaron nodded as he looked at Fane in confusion. He felt like everyone should have known this since it was basic knowledge. Yet, it seemed like Fane did not know about it at all.Aaron was not someone who dwelled on problems like these. After thinking about it, he answered sincerely, "Hestia Continent used to be open to the outside world as well. It had regular contact with other worlds and even had large transfer arrays that could send us out to other worlds. "However, something huge happened thirty thousand years ago which cut off Hestia Continent's ties with the outside world. Even though news can still travel around, most of the channels were shut off."In truth, Aaron did not know much about what happene