At that moment, it felt as if someone was waving a mirror in front of his eyes, making Draven's vision blur.

  He hesitated for a moment, feeling uneasy inside, but ultimately decided to force the Ghost-faced Owl to fly closer to the gorge.

  After all, there was a binding contract between them, and the Ghost-faced Owl could not refuse his orders.

  He could sense the fear rising within the Ghost-faced Owl's heart, a restless anxiety that made the bird unusually agitated.

  Draven didn't want to take too great a risk; he only intended to take a quick look, confirm the situation, and then retreat immediately.

  The Ghost-faced Owl spread its wings and glided slowly toward the depths of the gorge. The narrow canyon was covered by a thick canopy of trees, dark and gloomy.

  Flying past the treetops, Draven saw through the Ghost-faced Owl's eyes a scene that made his heart skip a beat.

  What was that? He looked closely. A beam of light was reflecting off a sturdy old tree—dazzling yet eerily cold.

  Upon closer inspection, it was a long spear, deeply embedded in the tree trunk. The shaft had pierced through the wood, and the spear tip protruded on the other side. It was that gleaming tip that caught his attention.

  Draven recognized the spear without a doubt—it was the bloodline weapon of Garruk, the troll chieftain!

  Bloodline weapons are extremely precious, owned only by a very few leaders who have awakened their blood powers. Before breaking through to become a leader himself, Draven had never truly held such a weapon.

  He had once received a spear from the Green Serpent but had never shown it to Bran or anyone else—partly because there was only one, and partly because there was no suitable user.

  Now, Garruk's spear was stuck upright in the tree, clearly meaning his fate could not have been good.

  But Draven was puzzled: if the serpentkin had struck, why hadn't they taken this precious spear away? No matter how strong the serpentkin were, they wouldn't simply ignore a bloodline weapon.

  Could there be a more powerful magical beast involved? This was the only explanation Draven could think of, though it left him uneasy.

  With a bloodline weapon right in front of him, should he take it or not? He hesitated for less than three seconds before deciding to take the gamble.

  He knew he could conceal his aura. As long as he moved lightly and controlled his rhythm, he shouldn't attract much attention.

  So, he sent the Ghost-faced Owl ahead to scout while preparing to sneak quietly into the gorge, pull out the spear, and leave quickly.

  He had learned aura suppression techniques from his contract with the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent. When used, other beings could hardly detect any energy fluctuations within him—this was a hidden ability on the lord level.

  Draven reasoned: if there really were high-level magical beasts in the gorge, the serpentkin would have long since been devoured. How could they still be alive and well? Therefore, he guessed there was unlikely to be anything especially dangerous there.

  This logic emboldened him. He believed that even if he encountered mid-tier magical beasts, he could still escape.

  He slowed his pace, controlling the noise of each step and adjusting his breathing to minimize his presence. Step by step, he crept closer to the gorge, moving ever more slowly.

  "Almost there, almost there…" he muttered silently, his eyes alertly scanning the surroundings.

  Suddenly, the Ghost-faced Owl, responsible for reconnaissance, transmitted an intense feeling of alertness. Draven froze, cursing his bad luck inside.

  He instinctively crouched into the grass and carefully observed through the dense leaves. Not far ahead, at the gorge's entrance, a figure appeared.

  Was it him?

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  Draven recognized the figure with the patch of emerald green scales on his head—it was the Green Serpent.

  What was this guy doing coming to such a dangerous place? Didn't he know the hidden dangers here?

  Draven held his breath and fixed his gaze on the Green Serpent, who strode straight through the grass where Draven was hiding, heading directly into the depths of the gorge without hesitation.

  "Remember, it was just here… where did it go?" the Green Serpent muttered to himself, his tone casual to the point of nonchalance.

  In stark contrast to Draven's cautious, painstaking approach, the Green Serpent acted recklessly, completely unconcerned about the danger.

  Draven didn't believe the Ghost-faced Owl's instincts would be wrong. Ever since he had slipped into the gorge, an ominous feeling had weighed heavily on his heart, as if some hidden danger was slowly drawing closer.

  His heartbeat quickened involuntarily, and his breathing grew heavier. Strangely, the Green Serpent seemed completely unaffected by the atmosphere, appearing unusually relaxed instead.

  Watching the Green Serpent pacing back and forth deep in the gorge, Draven's doubts grew. Why was the Green Serpent so fearless? Did he know something, or did he simply not care about the lurking dangers?

  Before long, the Green Serpent stopped in front of a huge rock. He reached out and gently tapped the surface of the rock with his knuckles, in a strange rhythmic pattern, as if entering a code.

  Draven focused intently from the grass, trying to discern what was special about this rock—but found nothing unusual.

  However, in the next moment, the air deep within the gorge suddenly twisted, as if an invisible force was pulling and warping the surrounding space.

  The cliff walls, once covered densely with grass and foliage, slowly transformed into smooth, cold stone. The stone walls parted gently, revealing a dark cave entrance.

  Draven stared in disbelief at the scene before him. Behind the hard cliff wall, there was a secret passage hidden—a place he had never heard of before.

  Without hesitation, the Green Serpent stepped inside confidently. From deep within the cave came faint voices, low and intermittent, as if several people were secretly discussing something.

  Draven dared not approach; he could only quietly hide at the edge of the grass, straining his ears to catch the words. But the voices were too faint, and he could only catch a few fragmented words.

  Minutes passed before the Green Serpent finally emerged from the cave, his face clearly excited and satisfied.

  As he stepped out, the stone walls at the cave entrance quickly returned to their original form, thick vines and grass once again covering the cliff face, as if what had just happened was nothing but an illusion.

  The Green Serpent laughed and jumped onto a tall tree, reaching for the spear stuck in the trunk and easily pulling it free.

  The spear gleamed coldly in the sunlight. The Green Serpent brandished it a few times, clearly very pleased with the weapon, his eyes shining with excitement.

  Without hesitation, he carried the spear and walked out of the gorge, looking happy and walking lightly.

  Watching the Green Serpent's departing figure, Draven finally exhaled in relief. He knew the real danger was only just beginning.

  He carefully followed at a safe distance, repeatedly pondering what he had just witnessed: the people inside the cave were obviously connected to Garruk's disappearance and involved the serpentkin tribe.

  The Green Serpent's purpose was not hard to guess. Having been defeated by Draven before and losing that precious bloodline weapon, he was likely here to demand a new weapon or reinforcements from those inside the cave.

  Draven suspected the Green Serpent didn't know the true origin of the spear—otherwise, he wouldn't so boldly wield it openly, as if flaunting a deadly weapon in plain sight.

  Draven could have taken the opportunity to capture the Green Serpent and seize the evidence, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Without the lord's men nearby, if he acted rashly and left any traces, the serpentkin would discover it with disastrous consequences.

  If the serpentkin launched a direct attack on the Black Flag Territory's base and wiped everyone out, it would be a catastrophe.

  After weighing the pros and cons, Draven decided to retreat temporarily and return to his own territory. He knew who was behind this, held the key evidence in the spear, and would leave the rest to the lord to handle.

  On the way back, he began planning his next move.

  When he reached the river, Draven called for Titus, leapt onto his back, and easily jumped across to the opposite bank. Upon returning to the village, he immediately summoned Rurik, Bran, and Viola to the main house.

  Draven told them everything he had discovered, detailing the secret cave deep within the gorge and how the Green Serpent had taken the bloodline weapon.

  He then entrusted Rurik with the important mission of reporting to Selene City. Because the succubus tribe's territory was vast and had no effective means of communication, someone had to personally make the trip to deliver the message to the lord's mansion.

  Although Draven himself wanted to go, fearing something might happen to the village, he ultimately chose the relatively reliable Rurik to take the task.

  Rurik nodded solemnly. Draven instructed him to take Ragnar as his mount and ride from Selene City to the Black Flag Territory.

  Previously, the journey had taken more than half a month on foot; riding Ragnar would reduce it to about one-third of the time.

  To guard against accidents, Draven also gave Rurik the serpent spear taken from the Green Serpent. The bloodline power originally belonging to the Green Serpent had been removed, so it was now ownerless.

  Seeing the desire burning in Bran's eyes, Draven couldn't help but feel a headache and promised to find a way to get him a spear in the future.

  Draven urged Rurik to set out immediately, traveling through the forest and crossing the Golden Monkey tribe's territory, heading straight south.

  He specifically emphasized not to take the old route back, fearing the serpentkin might be aware and have set an ambush.

  Selene City lay to the south, so heading in that direction was definitely the right choice.