The five hundred cultivators at Mount Kallash weren't aware of what had happened to their comrades who had gone to the West. The ambush had happened too quickly. No one had the chance or the thought to use a message talisman to inform others about the ambush.
They were loitering near the aether absorption machine, lamenting their bad luck for having drawn the short straws. Their friends were out there, enjoying a hunt, but they were forced to sit here, guarding the machine.
"Guard it from what?" One of the upper world cultivators asked. He sat with his friends not far from the machine. They chatted to pass the time. "Who can come here? All the surface worlders are weaklings."
"That's right," his friend agreed. "Even if we need someone to guard it. One person is enough. Why do we need so many? We should all go out there so we can finish this hunt faster."
