"They were already like this by the time we discovered them. We speculate that they were most likely killed by the same Layman Immortal that ambushed us," Wyrm 9 said as he withdrew his gaze from the bodies on the ground.

"After hearing about what happened to your group, Wyrm 8 and I also arrived at our destinations, and as expected, all of the guild members who infiltrated the island before have already disappeared," Wyrm 3 said in a grim voice.

"On the way here, we didn't discover anything abnormal aside from the deserted cities, where the residents supposedly traveled to the holy city for the pilgrimage. As for the pilgrimage itself, the results of our investigation are much the same as what Wyrm 9 and the others found; it's most likely just a way for Gongshu Hong to collect the power of faith," Wyrm 8 said after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Did you also hear that the so-called most devout followers out of the people attending the pilgrimage will be chosen, and that those chosen ones won't return to the cities that they once lived in?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"We did indeed hear about that as well. Apparently, they'll be taken to another city with more fertile land. Perhaps that's just a method that Gongshu Hong employs to increase the level of devotion that his followers feel toward him," Wyrm 8 replied in...