It didn’t take long.Allen had barely settled into meditation when the pill began to take effect, and unlike anything he had ever experienced before, it didn’t forcefully surge through his body or overwhelm him with violent energy. Instead, it worked quietly at first, like something unlocking from within rather than being added from the outside, and that alone made his expression change slightly as he realized this wasn’t a normal medicinal pill.His breathing steadied, his posture straightened, and slowly, his Qi began to circulate on its own, smoother than before, cleaner, almost as if the impurities he had been carrying all this time were being stripped away layer by layer. At first, he thought it was just an enhancement, something that would refine his existing strength, but then the feeling deepened, and the barrier that had held him at the peak of the Spirit Severing Realm for so long began to tremble.“this…” Allen muttered under his breath, his brows tightening slightly.He

Allen slowed his steps slightly as they approached the now-active formation, his eyes scanning the shifting space with clear confusion, because unlike the others, he hadn’t experienced this place before, and even though he could feel the dense, refined energy leaking out of the array, he couldn’t fully grasp what it meant yet. He turned his head slightly and called out, “Explain,” his tone calm but carrying authority, and the sect master immediately stepped closer, almost like he had been waiting for that question.“This place…” the sect master began, his voice unable to hide his excitement, “it’s not just any formation. It’s a controlled hunting ground, one that produces beasts and, more importantly, pure spiritual cores.” He gestured toward the empty-looking land ahead as he continued, “When activated, the array generates beasts based on the strength of the one inside, and when those beasts are killed, they drop cores that are far more refined than anything we can normally obtain

They were halfway back to the barrier when the air changed.It wasn’t loud or dramatic, but it tightened in a way that made every instinct sharpen at once, and before anyone could speak, figures stepped out from multiple directions, cutting off their path in a clean, practiced formation. The same old men who had stood aside earlier now stood in front of them, with their sect members spreading out behind like a net being pulled tight, their positions closing every angle of retreat without even pretending otherwise.Emily slowed.Abigail stopped completely.Trouble gave a low rumble.Allen’s steps paused a fraction behind them, his grip tightening slightly around the massive crystal, his body still aching from the earlier fight, but his eyes already calculating and watching.Abigail tilted her head, looking at the group in front of them like she was mildly entertained instead of threatened. “You blocked the road,” she said lightly, “so I’m guessing this isn’t a friendly walk-by.”One

The moment they moved, it was clear they weren’t holding anything back, and the shift from words to violence came so fast that even the air seemed to split under the pressure of their auras. Multiple attacks surged forward at once, overlapping, colliding, reinforcing each other, turning what should have been separate strikes into one overwhelming wave that rushed straight toward Abigail like it intended to erase her from existence in a single breath.Abigail didn’t move not because she didn’t want to but because she knew.She knew exactly what she could handle and what she couldn’t, and this...this was far beyond something she could block head-on. Her muscles tightened, senses sharpened, her grip firmed as she prepared to deflect what she could, survive what she couldn’t, and counter if she got even the smallest chance.“Well they are definitely too many,” she thought, her eyes narrowing slightly as the attacks closed in.She braced herself and then something cut through the space i

Kai didn’t rush it.That was the first thing that made it worse.He stepped in, closed the distance like it meant nothing, and the moment he entered their range, the entire rhythm of the fight shifted. Their coordination didn’t break immediately, no, they still tried to hold formation, still tried to maintain control, but it didn’t take long before they realized something was wrong.Very wrong.Because Kai wasn’t reacting to them anymore.He was moving through them.The first man lunged with a clean strike aimed at Kai’s shoulder, the kind of move meant to restrict motion and open space for the others, but Kai didn’t block it in the usual way.He leaned just enough for the strike to graze past him, stepped in closer, and drove his elbow straight into the man’s ribs.The crack echoed and the man’s eyes widened before he then folded instantly.“Ah..!”Before he could even fall properly, Kai grabbed the back of his robe and tossed him aside like excess luggage.“Next,” Kai muttered casu