Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Lin Gui wielded the oak staff.

He plunged headlong into the guild's entrance.

Pass through that huge archway.

Before me was an extremely spacious hall.

The dome hangs high, with magic stones embedded in each square of it.

The entire hall was illuminated as brightly as day.

The ground was paved with smooth, grayish-white stone slabs, with the joints fitting together perfectly.

The hall was packed with people.

It wasn't the dark, silent waiting outside.

Instead, it was a noisy, bustling, and lively scene full of trading activity.

The selection process for the transportation team has been open for more than half a month.

There are still three days left before it ends.

Almost everyone who could register in advance did so.

People like Lin Gui, who arrive right on time, are actually exceptions.

The reason why the transport association is still so crowded is...

Most of them are recruiting.

On one side of the hall, there is a row of water signs.

Made of wood, about half a person's height, with a recruitment notice posted on it.

Behind each sign stood several people.

They wore various colorful clothes and different badges pinned to their chests.

Those were members of the reserve transport team.

They shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Blacksteel Reserve Transport Team! Recruiting scouts! Mid-level or higher Extraordinary! Monthly salary 80,000 gold coins!"

"Silverwing Reserve Team! Needs one main attack mage! Superior rank! Monthly salary of 120,000! Magic materials included!"

"Ironthorn Reserve Team! Recruiting Shield Warriors! Lower-tier Extraordinary is sufficient! Monthly salary of 50,000! Promotion resources also provided!"

Shouts rose and fell, one wave higher than the next.

Every number starts in the tens of thousands.

There are also many more, providing various cultivation resources.

Precious potions, magic scrolls, and equipment crafting vouchers.

There was even a promise that once selected, one would be directly allocated a residence in any location within the city-state.

The Adventurers' Guild offers a rare reward of a thousand gold coins.

Here, none of these things are respectable.

At the front of the hall was a huge magical bulletin board.

It almost took up the entire wall.

The bulletin board was filled with recruitment information scrolling by.

The font is light gold and keeps refreshing.

Every few minutes, a staff member would walk over.

Using magic, a new batch of announcements was generated.

The old ones were removed, and the new ones were put up.

Without stopping for a moment.

Lin Gui manipulated the staff.

It floated over the heads of individuals.

It is not very tall, about two meters off the ground.

His gray, faded robe.

That simple, unadorned oak staff.

And those feet, dangling in the air, not touching the ground.

It attracted a lot of attention.

Several people looked up and glanced at him.

Their gaze lingered for a moment on his suspended staff.

Then, it was moved.

No one came forward to invite them.

A mage who can levitate.

They had already successfully completed the selection process and become members of the transport team.

They need to work incredibly hard to achieve this upward social mobility.

The other party has already finished.

The members of the preparatory transport team did not focus their attention on the mage who could levitate.

Their target is those powerful extraordinary individuals who have not yet been recruited.

They are the scouts, warriors, and rangers who can fill the gaps in the team.

Instead of a wizard who already has one foot in the door of a transport team.

The ghost continued to drift forward.

Walk through that noisy recruitment area.

We walked through the crowd that was shouting at the top of their lungs.

Walk through those constantly updated bulletin boards.

On the other side of the hall.

There is a row of separate rooms.

The door was made of translucent glass, through which the soft glow of the magic stone shone.

That's the VIP room.

It is specifically designed for genuine transport teams that are already registered with the transport association.

now.

Four transport teams are parked inside.

They were looking through the glass.

My gaze kept falling on the gray figure that drifted across the hall.

"interesting."

A man dressed as a scholar spoke first.

He wore a dark blue robe with silver star patterns embroidered on the collar.

He held a thin, long pipe in his hand, not lighting it, but just habitually twirling it.

His gaze, through the glass, fell on Lin Gui.

From top to bottom, from bottom to top.

The gray robe was faded from washing, with severe wear at the elbows and frayed edges at the cuffs.

The oak staff was plain, without any decorations, not even a decent magic crystal.

Black hair, black eyes, and a blank expression on his face.

"The Wandering Mage".

He made his judgment.

"Unclaimed".

"The rough attire wasn't a disguise; it was genuine poverty."

His eyes lit up.

"Very likely, he's a low-level mage with incredible luck."

"I don't know where he learned the levitation technique."

He turned around and was about to walk out.

"I'll stop him."

"Invite him to join us."

A hand reached out from the side.

I pressed down on his shoulder.

The scholar turned his head.

He was a scholar from another racing team.

Wearing a monocle, holding a thick booklet in his hand.

Looking at the black-haired mage drifting in the distance, his expression was very strange.

It wasn't surprise, it wasn't curiosity.

Rather, it was an expression of disbelief, as if someone had seen something that shouldn't exist there.

The scholar who was stopped raised an eyebrow.

He teased.

"What, you've taken a liking to that little guy too?"

"But don't you already have a witch in your team?"

"She's still your girlfriend."

He winked.

The scholar with monocle ignored his joke.

His gaze remained fixed on Lin Gui through the glass.

Watching that gray figure slowly drift across the hall.

He spoke.

His voice sounded a little dry.

"No need to waste your energy."

"He will not join your transport team."

The scholar who was stopped was taken aback.

"oh?"

"Why do you say that?"

The scholar who wore a monocle did not give a direct answer.

Instead, he placed the thick booklet he was carrying on the table.

Turn it over.

That was a map.

Hand-drawn, extremely detailed.

Mountains, rivers, cities, forbidden areas.

They were all clearly marked with different colored inks.

The edges of the map are worn, clearly indicating it has been flipped through countless times.

His finger landed on a spot on the map.

The Wall of Sighs.

That area marked in dark black, representing absolute death.

then.

His fingers moved slowly.

From the Wall of Sighs, head southeast.

He traversed Giant's Canyon, passed through Carter's capital, and crossed some routes that he considered theoretically the closest.

finally.

It stopped at Tongmen City.

His finger tapped lightly on the location of the bronze gate.

Then pick up the newspaper on the table.

They kept an eye on the news that the Black Tide had erupted in the border region.

Then he raised his head.

Looking at the black figure that was almost floating to the end of the hall.

His expression became even stranger.

His brows were furrowed tightly together.

His lips moved.

He muttered something.

The sound was very soft.

But the scholars nearby still heard it.

"How...how is this possible??"