"Sister Yating, it looks like there's a group of figures over there. Can you see if it's them?"
Qiu Yating furrowed her brows slightly and shook her head, saying, "I'm not quite sure either. Let's wait until they get closer to have a look."
It wasn't long before.
They saw a group of silhouettes slowly approaching.
Heavy footsteps resounded.
Then, a colossal creature, five meters in height with two curved tusks, suddenly appeared!
Beside this mammoth were a group of terrifyingly powerful creatures.
At this moment, the survivors who were below the First-tier were instantly stunned by these fearsome beings, their faces turning pale.
Qiu Yating and a group of young girls huddled together, their expressions filled with fear as they watched these creatures.
Even the group of boys were too scared to make a sound.
Then, they saw a man on the back of the mammoth sweeping his sharp gaze over them.
Everyone present, including the two opinionated boys, instinctively lowered their heads when meeting his eyes.
Because they all felt that the aura emanating from this man was incredibly terrifying.
He could easily kill them all!
Luckily, the man did not make a move but instead slowly spoke.
"I am Cao Xing, who is Qiu Yating among you?"
Upon hearing this, a girl with a composed appearance and distinctive aura slowly stepped forward.
She replied in a trembling voice, "I-It's me... Hello, Mr. Cao Xing..."
Cao Xing fixed his gaze on her.
This Qiu Yating's delicate face was still etched with fear.
She stood tall, around one meter seventy in height.
Over a student uniform, she wore a rabbit fur coat.
He glanced at her information.
Cao Xing nodded; this Qiu Yating had already reached Level 9, which was quite fast.
It would not be long before she could advance to Level 10 and then become a Second Order being.
He glanced at the others.
[Chen Huisu lv8], [Xu Haohao lv9], [Han Juan lv7]...
Their levels ranged from 7 to 9, which was decent.
This also indicated that most survivors had reached a similar level.
Cao Xing said, "Sorry, I encountered something on the road that delayed me a little."
On hearing Cao Xing's apology, the high school students exchanged looks, eyes filled with surprise.
He wasn't at all like the boy had said, arrogant because of his power, but rather quite amicable to them.
The fear on everyone's faces gradually dissipated.
Qiu Yating's face also broke into a gentle smile.
"Mr. Cao Xing, you're too kind. We haven't been here long either."
Other survivors, curious about the legendary Cao Xing, chimed in.
"Yeah, Mr. Cao Xing is so humble."
"Mr. Cao Xing, you're so amazing to have such a powerful mammoth as a mount."
"Just to meet the legendary Mr. Cao Xing, it's worth waiting a bit longer."
Only those two boys stood in place with somewhat stifled expressions.
In the Blue Star society, he had indeed been at the bottom layer, but he also earned his living with his own hands.
Years of societal experience taught Cao Xing that the higher one jumps, the faster one falls, so there was no need to be overly conspicuous.
In reality, most bottom-tier individuals in this society, upon gaining power or wealth, wouldn't immediately flaunt it, contrary to what people said; they would first think about how to conceal it.
Cao Xing chuckled and then straightforwardly asked, "Based on the information you obtained, the Ice Phoenix Flower grows in this forest, right?"
Qiu Yating replied softly.
Cao Xing nodded and continued asking, "This forest seems quite vast; do you know the specific growing location of the Ice Phoenix Flower?"
Qiu Yating's face immediately froze.
Then, she shook her head and said, "N-No, I don't..."
She appeared a bit fearful, afraid that Cao Xing would suddenly hold this against her.
If the other party got upset, just the mammoth alone could finish them all!
Cao Xing fell into contemplation.
As previously mentioned, this forest stretched for at least dozens of kilometers, covering an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers.
To find the Ice Phoenix Flower in such a vast area would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
However, if there were enough Ice Phoenix Flowers growing in this area, the search difficulty would be greatly reduced.
While Cao Xing pondered, his subordinates stood silently by the side waiting, and the other survivors dared not speak.
Though Cao Xing appeared very peaceful, the pressure from their unseen aura still overwhelmed these survivors.
After a moment, Cao Xing nodded and said, "Alright, I understand."
"According to our agreement, all we need to do is lead you into the forest, correct?"
Even without a precise location, Cao Xing intended to enter the forest and explore.
After all, he was also intrigued by the legend of the Witch.
Qiu Yating breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded, "Yes... Mr. Cao Xing."
Cao Xing continued asking, "I want to know, why don't you go in yourselves, or is it that entering the Witch Forest forcibly poses some danger?"
Qiu Yating nodded, "The villagers told me there's a terrifying monster inside the Witch Forest that attacks all intruding creatures..."
"They also said that even those powerful Second Order Knights would be devoured by the monsters inside."
"So... I don't know what danger lies within either..."
At this, Qiu Yating somewhat nervously glanced at Cao Xing.