Another person sighed and said, "Sigh! Too far from heaven, too close to Eagle Country, surrounded by the ocean, and targeted by Deep Sea Monsters—this is the fate of a small country."

His face was slightly flushed, evidently having had some wine to liven things up, and he suddenly said indignantly, "I suspect that the group of Deep Sea Monsters that attacked Daxia was also lured by them."

"Otherwise, our Eastern Theater would have long since been able to predict the movements of the Deep Sea Monster groups approaching the coast!"

The Barbarian quickly covered his mouth and said, "Hey, you can't say things like that!"

"They are still, on the surface, our partners in Daxia."

Although he said this, the expressions of the surrounding Adventurers changed, including even the Barbarian who had stopped him; a deep anger was suppressed in everyone's eyes.

Some things don't need to be said; after experiencing them firsthand, one can at least detect a clue.

At another campfire, the Ranger who was pulling on Red Fur's tail was constantly apologizing to the unhappy-looking Red Fur.

"Master Flame-tailed Fox, I was wrong this time!"

Red Fur kept its face turned away, its tail swishing unhappily.

"Hmph!"

In the animal camp, a few Horned Bunnys watching from the side covered their mouths and laughed, revealing expressions of mutual understanding.

From Red Fur's micro-expressions and actions, they could see that this tsundere Flame-tailed Fox was actually very pleased with the Ranger's apology.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have gone to the humans' temporary camp; wasn't it just wanting to hear an apology?

Beside Red Fur, there was also a Monk trying to get on its good side.

After witnessing its shocking performances multiple times, this Monk was now completely convinced.

He finally understood why the Adventurers in Fengjiang Province had such a near-fanatical worship and trust in the Lord of Spirits' Animals.

If it were him, he would probably be even crazier than the others.

After experiencing the ambush in the nature reserve woodland, the subsequent journey of the rescue team that set out from Feng City was much safer.

Apart from a few sporadic monsters that were stupid enough to attack the rescue team and were then eliminated at the speed of light, they did not encounter any major setbacks along the way.

Qi Ye watched the harmonious atmosphere between humans and animals with satisfaction. After confirming there was no danger nearby, he exited Spirit Link mode and returned his consciousness to his main body at the Sacred Lake.

"Pain!" "Too painful!" "Squeak!"

Just as he regained control of his body, the aftereffects of overusing his brain caused Mi Dou to suddenly roll on the ground in pain, feeling as if a spoon were constantly stirring inside his brains.

"Lord, are you okay?" the animals nearby gathered around with concern.

"I am Mi Dou," Mi Dou called out with effort. "The Lord has already left."

"Oh, it's you. Then it's fine."

Upon discovering it was Mi Dou, the animals scattered as if it were a matter of course, completely disregarding him.

Mi Dou made a long face, "No! Don't go, I need healing."

Chocolate patted Mi Dou on the shoulder, wearing a mysterious smile, and said, "Endure it, meow."

From such a warm mouth came such cold words; Mi Dou almost fainted on the spot.

So this is how you treat people differently, huh? At the very least, it was an Azure Ice Rat that had been possessed by the Lord.

Fortunately, another Azure Ice Rat couldn't stand it and used Ice Qi to heal it, covering its forehead with a layer of ice powder.

With the pain in its head finally relieved, Mi Dou crawled up and was finally able to catch its breath.

It gradually realized that the pain in its head might have been experienced by the Lord, perhaps even more painfully.

So the Lord had been enduring such pain all along without a word.

"Lord, you really have worn yourself out for our sake!"

While thinking this, Mi Dou's admiration for Qi Ye deepened even further.

At this moment, in the Sacred Lake, Qi Ye, unaware of the small episode in the camp, said to Green Bean nearby, "Green Bean, nothing major happened at the Sacred Lake today, right?"

Green Bean shook its head, "No, no. It's just that Little Spark seems a bit unhappy; it really misses Hu Er."

After separating from Hu Er, Little Spark had been depressed.

Qi Ye had originally considered letting Little Spark go to Blue Star with them, but considering its status as a Divine Beast and its inherent connection to the Corrupt Forest, letting it leave the Corrupt Forest might lead to bad things, so he gave up on the idea.

After all, Little Spark had only been born a few days ago; mentally, it was still a baby. It was normal for it to have separation anxiety after being suddenly separated from the close Hu Er.

Moreover, because of its noble status and inability to skillfully control its flames, the other animal cubs didn't dare to play with it. It stayed in the Sacred Lake all alone, very lonely.

Green Bean: "I'm worried it might develop psychological problems. Kwa, Lord, if you could go and spend more time with it, perhaps it would be better."

Just as Qi Ye was preparing to go see it, a few crisp chirps suddenly came from the lakeside.

He turned his head and saw that Little Spark was playing with a Ginkgo Bird on the beach by the lake.

"Guga!" Under the night sky, the Ginkgo Bird launched a fierce dragon charge, knocking Little Spark away like a bowling ball.

Little Spark giggled, not angry at all, and threw a fireball at the Ginkgo Bird.

"Ga!" The fireball hit the Ginkgo Bird squarely but didn't cause it any harm.

Little Spark's flames, which carried healing power, combined with the Ginkgo Bird's reincarnation trait, made it completely immune to the burning of the flames.

The Ginkgo Bird, not to be outdone, turned back and dove into the water, took a deep breath of water, and spat it all over Little Spark.

The flames on Little Spark's body were instantly extinguished, turning it into a bald little chick.

"Huhu! Chi!" It kicked its legs on the sandy ground as if it were using all its strength to poop, and flames rose into the air from its body once again.

In the playful scuffle, its proficiency in controlling the Sacred Feather Fire Cloak was also rising, and the flames on its body began to ignite and extinguish according to its will.

Qi Ye looked at Green Bean suspiciously, "You said that—where does it look unhappy to you?"

Green Bean was also stunned and said somewhat awkwardly, "Kwa? I just saw it staring blankly at the teleportation gate, looking like it was missing someone."

In any case, with the Ginkgo Bird as a playmate, Little Spark would not be lonely.

As for the other adult animals remaining at the Sacred Lake, after resting for a day, they had all received new tasks. They set out from the Sacred Lake as a group to continue expanding their territory.

Especially the Outer Ring of the Southern Forest, where control was currently in a vacuum state, covering an area equivalent to one-eighth of a province.

They would have the Snow Worms purify the corrupt areas, plant holy blood grass to suppress the spread of corruption, and then build more bases.

The development of the Sacred Lake could not stop either; they must strive to ensure that the conquered Animal Followers could live peacefully in every corner of the Outer Ring of the Southern Forest.

This was also the peaceful development time that the Corrupt Dragon Knight Harold had secured for the Sacred Lake.