Chapter 120: I Can Float Down

Saul heard fragmented, indistinct whispers around his ears, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make out their meaning.

Unconsciously, he took another step forward—only to quickly realize that the pollution was luring him in.

Determined, Saul averted his gaze, trying to weaken the influence of the pollution. But just as he did, the whispers in his ears suddenly grew louder.

He lifted his head and looked at the sheer cliff face before him.

Across the entire rock wall, whether there were caves or not, countless pale white arms stretched out, densely packed together.

The arms constantly reached, waved, and clawed at the air, their five fingers splayed open in grotesque desperation.

Saul frowned deeply. He was now certain—these hands were begging for salvation.

Through them, he seemed to see the corpses buried within the rock, the once mighty wizard apprentices and wizards who, despite their formidable strength, had been helplessly and hopelessly buried beneath the earth when they faced an even more powerful and terrifying force.

At that moment, Saul finally understood what a "Wizard’s Graveyard" meant. He realized why the western region had become a vacuum, devoid of wizards.

Byron’s casual description had never conveyed the sheer brutality of it all.

And these spectral hands emerging from the cliff—they were likely just a fraction of the deceased within Hanging Hands Valley.

The hands could not make a sound. They could only wave frantically, trying to attract attention, desperately yearning for salvation.

But Saul was well aware—these arms weren’t even fragments of souls. They were merely remnants of polluted resentment left behind by the deceased, twisted by the lingering effects of magic.

The longer he stared, the stronger the illusion in his mind—he wasn’t standing at the bottom of the valley, looking up at the towering cliffs. Instead, he felt as if he were floating high above, looking down indifferently at the helpless dead, buried beneath the earth, unable to escape.

Saul shook his head, feeling his spirit becoming unstable.

"Saul? Saul?"

Someone was calling his name. Saul snapped back to reality, startled, and found the others looking at him.

It was Nick who had called him. "What’s wrong? They’re about to set off."

It seemed Byron and the others had already chosen an entrance.

But Saul, still rubbing his slightly throbbing head, turned to the three senior apprentices and said, "There’s something strange about these caves on the cliff behind us."

Byron, who was the most familiar with Saul’s abilities, immediately walked back and carefully examined the cliff wall he had initially overlooked.

Wright glanced at Saul, then at the quiet mountain range, skepticism in his voice. "Aren’t wizard corpses supposed to be buried underground? How did they end up on the side of the cliffs?"

"Saul is very skilled at observing spirits," Byron said, withdrawing his gaze. "I trust him."

Bill squinted and chuckled. "That’s not my area of expertise, but if you guys can pinpoint which cave is more likely to contain a spirit, I’ll follow your lead."

Byron immediately passed the decision to Saul. "Saul, which cave has the strongest pollution?"

Saul wanted to say the entire cliff face was unusual.

However, he focused again, enduring the agitation in his spiritual body, carefully searching for differences among the caves.

Bill observed Saul’s concentrated expression, squinting slightly as if deep in thought.

Wright, on the other hand, clapped his hands together in realization. "Is he actually observing spirits? I heard that people with highly sensitive mental faculties can directly perceive soul remnants without using instruments. Could Saul really do that?"

Byron remained silent, tacitly confirming Wright’s speculation.

Saul scanned the caves and eventually fixed his gaze on one in particular.

He raised his hand and pointed at a cave about three meters above the ground, just over a meter in diameter.

"This one. The pollution here is more severe. There’s a higher chance of an evil spirit being present."

Wright still couldn’t see anything, but he sighed in admiration. "Saul, you looked exactly like my mentor when he examines petri dishes just now."

"Your mentor?"

"Anze, my mentor." Wright’s expression turned complicated as he recalled something. "I’m only good at fighting, not at conducting experiments. The way he looked at my experiment reports… terrifying."

Bill laughed heartily. "If you spent less time playing around with women, maybe your brain would work better."

Wright rolled his eyes. "I’ve never played with women. I always take my interactions with them very seriously."

Nick, still fiddling with his detection instrument without any findings, sighed. "Next time someone tells me that wizards with only mental talent and no magical talent are useless, I’m using you as an example to prove them wrong."

Bill, ever impatient, urged, "Since we’ve decided, let’s move out now!"

Byron patted Saul’s shoulder. "Stick close to me on the way."

The four of them immediately bent down and entered the three-meter-high cave, leaving Nick alone at the camp.

Watching Wright’s figure disappear into the cave, Nick remained standing still.

His hands clenched tightly together, his expression no longer as calm as it appeared.

Since Bill and Wright were both third-level apprentices, Nick couldn’t use communication spells in front of them.

"Saul…" he could only silently pray, "Stay close to Byron."

---

The cave Saul had chosen was not spacious, making travel through the mountain body more difficult than he had anticipated.

This wasn’t a passage meant for movement—some areas were wide, while others were so narrow that even Saul struggled to squeeze through.

When they encountered such tight spots, Wright would take action.

As someone who specialized in earth magic, he was well-versed in underground movement.

After a relatively level stretch along the mountainside, the path took a sharp drop downward.

Some sections were so steep that Saul had to dig his fingers into the soil to maintain his balance.

Their surroundings were pitch black, making it impossible to gauge how deep the downward passage extended.

Bill, walking second in line, maintained a weak Light Spell, but it only illuminated a few meters ahead.

Even with Saul’s enhanced vision, everything beyond that was just a hazy silhouette.

After about half an hour, Wright, leading the group, suddenly stopped.

"We have a problem. There's a very deep drop ahead, nearly vertical."

He tossed a stone down the passage.

The stone bounced and tumbled, rolling for a long time before the sound finally faded.

"We’ll have to fly down. Climbing would waste too much time."

"Fly?" Bill’s voice came from behind. "No need to ask about Saul. Byron, have you learned Feather Fall?"

Byron trembled violently. His entire body suddenly shriveled up.

His throat split open, and in a hoarse voice, he said, "I can float down."

Before Saul could even process how Byron intended to do that, he saw his senior’s shriveled mouth elongate unnaturally.

Byron’s lips opened and closed a few times before he suddenly took a deep breath.

"Hiss… hiss… hiss…"

Within seconds, his entire body inflated.

His skin stretched to its absolute limit, swelling, swelling, until he became a human-shaped balloon.

Then, with difficulty, he used his swollen, pig-like hands to tie a knot at his mouth.

Even Bill and Wright were stunned into silence.

Byron ignored their shocked expressions and awkwardly shuffled his inflated body toward Saul, gesturing with his mouth.

"Mmm mmm."

Somehow, Saul immediately understood.

"Senior… you want me to grab your mouth and float down with you?"

"Mmm!"

Wright burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. "Byron, Byron, I never knew you were this entertaining. If I had your ability…"

His words abruptly stopped as he began pondering something.

Bill shoved him forward. "If they have a way down, let’s move!"

Without warning, Bill pushed Wright down the passage. From the lack of screams, it wasn’t a free fall.

Glancing at Byron’s balloon-like form, Bill smirked before jumping in himself.

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