As they approached the city, Dryden could feel the gloomy atmosphere that hung over it like a heavy cloak.

They entered inside, there was not even a soldier guarding the city gate.

Even though Waydale city was poor compared to other cities, at the least, there should be a good amount of residents living in it. But now, he can hardly see any people in sight.

"What's going on?" one of the commanders asked, looking around in confusion.

The group continued to walk through the city, and as they did, they didn't see any soldiers at all, and many buildings had been damaged or destroyed. People were huddled in their homes, too afraid to venture outside.

As they walked deeper into the city, they came across a group of men who were dressed in ragged clothing and had unkempt hair. One of them stepped forward, his eyes scanning the group greedily.

"Give us your money and weapons," he demanded, brandishing a rusty knife.

It was just a Body Tempering, so Dryden didn't take the man seriously.

One of the commanders stepped forward, his hand moving in a blur as he grabbed the robber's arm and twisted it behind his back. The robber let out a yelp of pain as he fell to his knees.

"What's going on here?" Dryden asked, stepping forward. "Why is the city in this state?"

The group of men looked at each other, hesitant to answer. One of them finally spoke up, "It all started when Lord Xenos, the Blue Wind Sect, and the Song Clan went on an expedition. Lord Xenos took almost all the soldiers with him and none of them ever returned." the man said, his voice shaking slightly.

"After that, this city became a target for bandits and other criminals. Bandits started roaming the streets, preying on the weak and defenseless. The few soldiers left abandoned us and the city was left defenseless. Lord Arnox's absence left a power vacuum that no one has filled since," the man explained.

Hearing it, Dryden's heart sank, his blood boiling in anger, "This is unacceptable. We will take care of the situation and restore order to this city."historical

The group of men looked at Dryden with hope in their eyes, grateful for the help.

"Thorne, you go back to the capital and transmit some officials here, I want them to arrive tomorrow, understand?" Dryden ordered one of the commanders.

"As you wish, ancestor." He immediately gets going, because Thorne can see burning anger in Dryden's eyes.

"One of my cities become like this, and those people didn't even know. What's the use of keeping those people." Dryden gritted his teeth inside, but he was still calm on the outside.

However, the more calm he was, the more frightened the three commanders were.

'There will be a bloodbath after the ancestor come back to the castle.' Thoughts of the three commanders.

"You three, go and clean the filth leeching on this city, I want every bandit to die, understood?"

"Yes, Ancestor." The three said in unison, then started moving.

Dryden turned to the man who had spoken earlier, "Do you know anything else? Anything about where the City Lord might be?"

The man shook his head, "No, but I heard a rumor about a new city in the forest. Maybe, Sir, you can find a clue there?"

Dryden nodded, "Thank you. We'll take care of things here. You and the other citizens should stay in your homes until we've cleared out the bandits."

Dryden decided to go by himself, to investigate the rumored new city in the forest. He flew over the thick trees, using his qi to sense any signs of people.

As he was approaching the forest, Argon felt some changes in the surrounding aura, it become abundant. Shortly after, he found a dirt road at the entrance of the forest, with a sign of Eternal City ahead.

He was flabbergasted, never in his life had he imagined, he would see a road In the infamous Endless Forest. Much less building a city, because if you build a city inside, your city will be attacked by monsters endlessly. So no one was really dumb enough to build one.

He thought, what the man said was just a baseless rumor. But he was wrong, just seeing the road convince him a little. He then continued by traversing the road.

As Dryden walked along the dirt road, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sight before him. The forest was thick and dense, with tall trees blocking out most of the sunlight.

After some time, finally, he could see the buildings of the rumored city in the distance. The city looked well-built, with sturdy walls and decent buildings. It was hard to believe that this was in the middle of the Endless Forest.

But what really caught his attention was the huge tower at the center of the city. Since he was flying, he can see a glimpse of the inside of the city.

As he got closer, Dryden could see the city clearly. It was small, but well-organized, with sturdy walls and a moat surrounding it. The buildings were made of stone and wood, and there were people bustling about, going about their daily lives.

Dryden landed not far from the city and started walking towards the entrance of the city, where he was stopped by two guards.

"The entrance is one qi stone or ten gold coins."

Dryden's mouth twitched, 'This is daylight robbery.' It was double compared to the fee of his capital city.

Dryden paid one qi stone. He didn't know how strong the owner of the city was, so he didn't want to get into trouble and decided to just pay without saying anything.

His experience in his adventure in the town had taught him that there was always someone stronger out there, so he became more cautious.

The guard took the qi stone, and said. "Very well, you may enter. But be warned, any trouble and we will not hesitate to remove you."