"Rustling!"

The forest emitted a rustling sound, and a group of over a hundred people emerged slowly. It was Thor and Count Engel’s entourage. A day earlier, Reine had reunited with Thor’s Knight Order.

With the addition of Count Engel’s Knight Order, the numbers finally exceeded a hundred.

Compared to before Thor’s departure, the change in Marshall and the others was not significant.

Although there was a slight improvement in strength, it was merely a minor enhancement.

This was quite normal, as Thor provided substantial support, but these individuals did not obtain something like the Essence of Life, and their innate talent didn’t change much. Simply increasing resources would naturally not yield dramatic results.

Nevertheless, when Count Engel saw Marshall and the others, he couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Particularly with Marshall, who, when leaving with Thor, was only at the Peak of the Great Knight but had now not only formally broken through to become an Earth Knight but had also clearly reached the Late-stage Earth Knight.

Likewise, the members of Thor’s Knight Order had similar advancements.

The fifty-four knights Thor brought this time were nearly the elite of the entire Eagle Ridge, naturally including those previously arranged for Thor by Count Engel.

Count Engel was familiar with these individuals.

He didn’t expect that their strength had also improved rapidly.

However, after looking at Thor, Count Engel felt relieved.

Heading out to become a Pioneer Lord, Thor’s transformation was the most profound, even surpassing everything else.

In a short span of three years, Thor had already reached a level comparable to the Sky Knight Peak and wasn’t far behind a Half-Step Sanctuary.

This could truly be called a miracle. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

By comparison, the members of Thor’s Knight Order seemed insignificant.

Count Engel could only sigh with emotion.

And after reuniting, in just a day, they finally reached their destination.

"The gathering place the Duke Liepuer mentioned should be twenty miles ahead. We should be able to reach it today."

Count Engel spoke, taking a deep breath.

Honestly, feeling the rapidly approaching clusters of light, he couldn’t help but feel a bit tense.

After all, while his strength had improved, the Dressrosa Family as a whole hadn’t advanced. If they encountered any powerful family and a conflict erupted, the consequences were almost obvious.

Half-Step Sanctuary is strong, but the nobles capable of approaching here probably all possess Half-Step Sanctuary strength.

And aside from those at Half-Step Sanctuary, Count Engel was acutely aware that the Dressrosa Family was weaker than the top Marquises of various kingdoms, let alone competing with the Dukes.

Consequently, if a conflict broke out, the casualties would be inevitable.

Thankfully, nothing happened in the end.

The approaching clusters of light chose to keep their distance.

Ultimately, they proceeded without incident.

"Twenty miles?"

Thor nodded, taking a deep breath.

This time, unexpected encounters with the truly top-level nobility across the continent, beyond the Two Great Empires, were likely.

The continent houses the Two Great Empires, ruling over countless kingdoms and a plethora of principalities, as numerous as grains of sand along the Ganges River.

And even the number of kingdoms is not small.

Only the most powerful families of each kingdom could participate.

Thor had some expectations for these powerful families.

Firstly, to see if new daily intelligence could emerge from the interactions with these powerful families, and secondly, to gauge how far his current strength had reached.

The group moved forward once more.

Until dusk gradually fell.

Thor and Count Engel’s party finally reached the gathering place.

At present, the gathering place was already guarded by many knights.

Upon Thor and Count Engel’s approach, they immediately drew the attention of the alert knights.

Count Engel stepped forward to explain the situation.

"Please wait a moment!"

A respectful Earth Knight spoke, casting a curious glance at Count Engel, yet not daring to neglect, quickly went to report.

Not long after.

The Earth Knight returned swiftly.

"Lord Count Engel, please."

The Earth Knight spoke respectfully, leading Thor and his group towards the center.

A few minutes later.

Thor finally encountered the group from the Tulip Noble Alliance.

As their eyes met, Thor couldn’t help but raise his brow.

Because at that moment, he felt an overwhelming pressure emerging. There were five extremely powerful presences within the noble alliance; even he felt a certain pressure.

Beside him, Anna couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

"Anna!"

Thor spoke softly.

"It’s nothing, Master."

Anna replied softly, then shook her head.

"Kalenina!"

Seeing Anna shake her head, Thor understood the situation, and his gaze instinctively fell upon the distant figures, distinguished by the prominent noble emblem, clearly from the Kalenina family.

Though Thor was unaware of exactly what had transpired with Anna, once part of the Kalenina family, it evidently wasn’t anything pleasant—otherwise, Anna wouldn’t have chosen to flee the Kalenina family.