Soon after they landed in the Dark Canal, everyone broke off. The Elders of both factions rushed in all directions—stepping on the wind, teleporting, or running on four legs—while even the Overlords parted space and disappeared. Soon, the only ones left were the B-Grade disciples—eighteen people in total—and their accompanying Elders.
Jack inspected these Elders. Each faction had sent one middle A-Grade and two low A-Grades. It was a considerable force, enough to deal with most threats the Dark Canal could throw their way—assuming they didn’t push their luck. To Jack’s disappointment, Elder Puerto wasn’t present. Elder Owlhead was. He stood with his muscular arms crossed and face looking straight ahead as if cosplaying some ancient Egyptian god.
Besides Elder Owlhead, who was the leader of their faction’s side at the middle A-Grade, Great Silver had sent two early A-Grade Elders: a shapeless brown blob with limbs and eyes swimming over its surface, and a scantily-clad, female double devil. Jack wondered if she also possessed two sets of genitals, but he didn’t want to find out.
On the other side was a four-legged beast wrought of shadow. Darkness made up its body, dancing over it like flames, while wicked red eyes shone from within. It was the middle A-Grade Elder of the Fiend King faction, flanked by two early A-Grade Elders resembling the classical devil of Earth mythology—curved horns, bat wings, triangular-tipped tail, trident in hand. Their body was bulky, red, and covered in black fur. Surprisingly, one of the two was short and chubby.
These six Elders came together to oversee the eighteen disciples headed by Strawpin and Fiend Prince.
“We will now head towards the Hall of Trials,” Owlhead said in a neutral voice. Jack liked this guy. He seemed impassive but fair. “As you all know, its location changes every delve. We will wander in its general direction until we Elders sense the Dao ripples it gives off, then we’ll make a beeline for it. This is not a resource-gathering trip—the Dark Canal is too dangerous for Barons. Just follow us, stay in line, and pray we don’t run into anything too strong.”
Jack raised a brow at that. He leaned towards the nearby Strawpin, whispering, “Does that really happen?”
“Sometimes,” she whispered back. “Even late and peak Autarchs can disappear in the Dark Canal. It’s not unheard of for the entire disciple group to go missing—though it’s certainly rare.”
“I wish something was easy for once.”
“Relax. The Elders are powerful—they’ll keep us safe as long as we just stick close.”
How could she know that Jack was planning to do the exact opposite? Playing it safe wasn’t his style. The Dark Canal was filled with other opportunities, and he had the power of a middle A-Grade. He could look for them. If he stuck with this group, sure he’d reach the Hall of Trials, but he’d miss everything else on the way.
“I’m leaving these guys. Will you follow?” he asked Brock and Starhair telepathically.
Starhair hesitated. “I’d rather follow you than strangers,” he finally said.
“I go where my big bro goes,” Brock replied. “And if we want to rejoin the group later, I can track them down.”
“You can?”
“Some of these disciples are my bros. I’m aware of their general direction.”
“Really!? How long have you had this skill for?”
“Since forever. Why?”
“...Nevermind.”
Owlhead and the shadow beast—apparently called Elder Shadowhound—were giving a set of careful instructions to the group, but Jack didn’t care much. “Can we leave the group if we think we see an opportunity?” he asked.
Elder Owlhead struck him with a stare. “If you break off, we won’t save you,” he replied.
Jack nodded. Then, without another word, he turned into a streak of purple light which vanished in the distance. Brock and Starhair followed a beat later.
“Not me,” Brock said.
“I... I can’t either,” Starhair replied, snapping out of his fright. “Did you guys see that? The thing almost killed me! It came without warning!”
Jack wasn’t compatible with the core either. He pocketed it, replying, “You should be careful.”
“I can’t do much. I’m not a monster like you two—an A-Grade enemy can instantly destroy me!”
“I know. Just stay close to us, and we’ll protect you.”
Starhair muttered something under his breath, the sound unintelligible, then scuttered closer to Jack like a wet cat. A rancid smell hit Jack the moment Starhair approached—the octopus monster had covered him in some foul liquid when it grabbed him.
Brock was still staring at the water below them. “So strong...” he said.
“Yeah,” Jack replied, his face stony. They weren’t referring to the octopus. An A-Grade monster had randomly attacked them in the middle of nowhere. That was the very apex of power, enough to become an Elder in the greatest factions of the universe, yet here it was only the level of common mobs.
Just what kind of place was this Dark Canal? How powerful was it? How high-level?
Like a peak A-Grade dungeon... Jack realized with a shiver. Suddenly, he didn’t feel as confident anymore. Early A-Grade monsters were fine. They’d probably be able to defeat middle A-Grades as well, since they were slightly weaker than cultivators of the same level. However, if they ran into a late A-Grade or peak A-Grade monster... They might die.
“Should we join back with the group?” Starhair suggested, following Jack’s reasoning.
“There’s no point.” Jack shook his head. “If a late A-Grade monster appears, being with the group won’t save us. The strongest Elder was only middle A-Grade. If anything, the group is larger, so it draws more attention. Traveling by ourselves is the safest option.”
“What if we’re unlucky?”
“Then we can only blame our bad fortune,” Jack replied, shrugging. “You cannot escape chance. Sometimes, all you can do is hope.”
“...I don’t like the sound of that,” Starhair said, but there was nothing anyone could do. Jack was right. The safest way forward was alone.
The next hour was peaceful. They’d kept moving deeper into the Canal, though at an odd angle. It wasn’t the fastest way forward, but it meant they had less chances of running into other cultivators. After all, in this perception-isolating darkness, allied and enemy Elders could be just as dangerous as the native monsters.
They did run into another early A-Grade monster. It was an amorphous mass of eyes and twisting limbs—as if the monster was trying to imitate human arms but wasn’t sure what they looked like. Jack and Brock took out this monster as well.
They were beginning to see a pattern now. The mindless monsters infesting this place were much closer to the universe’s space monsters than the usual residents of this world. Was there a point to this comparison? Or was it coincidence?
In fact, as they traveled, Jack realized this entire place was very similar to the Space Ring of Trial Planet. A large darkness filled with bubbles of safety, between which prowled chaotic space monsters. Was it possible that Archon Black Hole, who’d participated in creating Trial Planet, had heard of this place?
No—if that was the case, Venerable Saint Thousand Shell would have known as well. This was either a convergence of laws or a coincidence. Jack withheld his judgment for now—he had a feeling it would become clear later on.
Three hours into their exploration...something finally changed.