Leaving Crab Lake behind, Marcus continued through the sky with his ladies, taking in the scenery as they headed toward the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves.
Partway through the journey, however, the Mad Lion Mercenary Group suddenly contacted him. Both Tactical Drunkard and Invincible Strong sounded unusually urgent.
"Stone, youâre back from the Mystic Turtleâs Tomb? You finished the quest?"
"Yeah."
Marcus answered with some confusion. The two of them sounded far more worked up than he expected.
"Stone, who are those Angels with you? Are they cultivators? Does Dominion actually have a cultivation system? Where are you right now?"
Questions immediately poured in.
"Angels? What Angels?"
Marcus was genuinely baffled.
He glanced back at Lily, Willow Moran, and Crystal Nance riding on the Harmony Cloud behind him. Their graceful appearance combined with the floating cloud certainly gave them the look of celestial maidens, but how had Tactical Drunkard and the others even found out about them?
What Marcus didnât know was that his appearance over Crab Lake had already caused a massive stir among the player base. Discussions had exploded across the game and the official forums, and countless players were talking about the mysterious women who had appeared in the sky.
"Stone, donât tell me you really have no idea?" Invincible Strong asked.
"No idea about what?"
Now Marcus was even more confused.
"Just open the forum."
"The forum?"
Still puzzled, Marcus opened Dominionâs official forum.
Since the latest update, players could access the forums directly from inside the game, and their forum accounts were automatically linked to their in-game names.
The moment the page loaded, Marcus froze.
"Whoa..."
The entire forum was in chaos.
Real Footage: Cultivators Discovered in Dominion, Angels Descend from the Heavens
Who Are These Three Angels?
The Clearest Angel Recording So Far
Does Dominion Have an Immortal Cultivation System? An In-Depth Analysis of the Crab Lake Incident
High-Resolution Angel Footage Inside! Open at Your Own Risk
Paying Top Dollar for Information on the Cloud-Riding Skill
Where Is Crab Lake? I Need to Visit Immediately
The front page was completely flooded with similar threads. It wasnât just the top ten posts either. The first several pages were almost entirely dedicated to discussions about angels, cultivation, and flying clouds.
To Marcusâs surprise, even his Nightmare Dragon Steed and Violet Thunderwing Steed had been pushed aside. The mounts that players had spent days obsessing over had suddenly become old news. Hardly anyone was talking about them anymore.
Meanwhile, players all across Dominion were rushing toward Crab Lake. Not because they wanted to fight giant-clawed crabs or participate in the battles there, but because they wanted to see the place where the "angels" had appeared.
Marcus had expected the Harmony Cloud to attract attention.
He had not expected this.
"Seen it now?" Tactical Drunkard asked.
"Who are those three women? NPCs? Whatâs your relationship with them?"
Both he and Invincible Strong were practically bursting with curiosity.
Marcus immediately understood where this was going. If the women were NPCs, there would be money to be made. Exclusive recordings alone would sell for a fortune.
"Theyâre not NPCs. Theyâre my wives."
There was no way he was selling footage of Lily and the others just to make money.
"Oh really? So theyâre our sisters-in-law!"
"Stone, you never introduced them to us!"
"Hold on, since when did marrying more than one woman become a thing?"
Messages instantly appeared from Boss Blaze and DragonBlade.
"Feed him to the turtles," Cleaver declared. "Not a word from him this whole time."
Marcus could only shake his head. These guys really had a talent for jumping to conclusions.
"Iâm joking. Besides, we only just got together. You think Iâd keep something like this a secret from you guys?"
"Wives is a serious title," Tactical Drunkard said. "For a second there, I thought youâd skipped straight to settling down without telling us."
Despite the complaint, his curiosity quickly took over again.
"So which one is which? The recording quality is terrible. We couldnât see their faces clearly."
"..."
Marcus had absolutely no intention of answering that.
"Iâll introduce everyone properly when I get back."
It was the only response he could give.
Aside from Anya and Chloe, Lily and the others still hadnât met the members of the Mad Lion Mercenary Group.
At that moment, Invincible Strong suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, thatâs not the important part."
"Then what is?"
"The cloud!"
His voice rose immediately.
"How are our sisters-in-law flying around on a cloud? Does Dominion really have a hidden cultivation class?"
"Something like that."
Marcus thought back to everything he had experienced at Harmony Peak.
"Because of the Mystic Turtleâs Tomb quest, I ended up entering a cultivation region. There were actual cultivators there. As for becoming one myself, I have no idea how that works yet. But I did get the Harmony Cloud as a reward. It lets people fly."
He briefly summarized the situation in the guild channel.
"Iâm spending time with my girls right now. When I get back, Iâll explain everything properly. Trust me, youâre going to like what I have to say."
A grin appeared on his face. Looking at the state of the forum, he already knew what would happen next.
The Harmony Cloud had completely captured the playersâ attention.
Without spending a single coin on promotion, the recordings from Harmony Peak were practically guaranteed to earn him a fortune.
"Putting women before your bros!"
Tactical Drunkard complained.
"Stone, hurry back! We want to see the cloud."
Then his tone suddenly became suspiciously eager.
"Wait a second... when you visited that cultivation area, donât tell me you recorded everything."
Marcus laughed.
"Youâre smarter than you look."
Silence filled the channel for a moment. Then everyone exploded.
"No way!"
"Stone, get back here immediately!"
"Forget sightseeing, weâre sitting on a gold mine!"
"We need to see that cultivation content!"
Tactical Drunkard and Invincible Strong practically begged him to return to the city. Unfortunately for them, Marcus had already closed the chat window.
Money could wait. For now, he was far more interested in enjoying the trip with Lily and the others.
The group continued chatting and laughing as they traveled through the sky.
Unfortunately, as amazing as the Harmony Cloud was, it could only remain airborne for one hour each day. When the time limit expired, they had no choice but to land.
The Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves was still more than two hours away.
"So far..."
The women groaned almost in unison.
After experiencing cloud travel, none of them felt particularly excited about racing across the ground on horseback.
Fortunately, there happened to be a region nearby filled with Level 50 Two-Headed Black Panthers. Marcus suggested they stop for a while, hunt some monsters, gain a little experience, and rest before continuing the journey.
Besides, Jade had been begging to see the Wyvern Saint Knightâs Glacier Ice Dragon and the so-called "little fox," the Vixen Queen Camillo.
Since they had some time to spare, Marcus decided there was no harm in showing off a little.