The Foundation Level was a cold, industrial hell. Massive pistons pumped rhythmically, and the air hummed with the sound of high-voltage electricity.Viper stood twenty feet away, her leather suit creaking as she uncoiled her weapon. It was a nine-section chain whip made of a violet alloy, crackling with enough electricity to stop a blue whale’s heart."You brought your little wife?" Viper giggled, her eyes scanning Elena’s terrified face. "How romantic. I’ll make sure to peel the skin off her face first. Maybe I’ll make a mask out of it."Elena shrank behind Drake, her hands trembling as she clutched his trench coat. "Drake... that electricity... it’s jumping like it’s alive.""Stay directly behind me," Drake said calmly. "Do not move more than one step away from my shadow.""A shadow won't save you!" Viper shrieked.CRACK!Her arm moved as a blur. The lightning whip lashed out, breaking the sound barrier. It wasn't aimed at Drake—it was aimed at a steam pipe next to Elena’s head.Hi

The Sky Garden was no longer a place of luxury. It was a vacuum of death.First Elder Lucius floated three feet off the ground, his black dragon-scale gi flapping in the wind. A grey mist radiated from his body—the "Death Qi." Every white flower in the garden that the mist touched instantly turned brown, withered, and crumbled into dust."You look surprised, Drake," Lucius smiled, his teeth looking unnaturally white against the grey fog. "Did you think you were the only one who touched the abyss? While you were fighting armies, I was studying the nature of entropy. Everything dies. I just speed up the process.""Talk is cheap," Drake growled.He pushed off the marble floor, shattering it. He moved faster than the eye could follow, the Asura Sword trailing a comet-tail of purple fire."Asura Second Style: Void Slash!"The blade aimed for Lucius’s neck. It was a strike that had beheaded tank commanders inside their tanks.CLANG.The sound wasn't metal on metal. It was metal on... nothin

Three days had passed since the High Tower was nearly leveled.The Capital was in a state of shock, but the chaos was controlled. The Black Legion had taken over city security, and the High Council had been dissolved, replaced by a temporary military government. To the public, Drake was a savior. To the survivors of the elite, he was a nightmare they hoped would never wake up.Inside the Royal Medical Suite, Drake lay in a bed made of stabilizing jade. His body was wrapped in spirit-conductive bandages."You’re lucky to be alive," Sarah Mo said, her eyes red from lack of sleep. She was adjusting a drip of concentrated Spirit Dew. "Merging three conflicting energies... if your willpower had slipped for even a millisecond, you would have turned into a localized supernova."Drake opened his eyes. They were no longer black or red; they had returned to their deep, piercing blue, but there was a faint, metallic sheen in the center of his pupils."Lucius mentioned a First Elder," Drake said,

"Let him go, you filthy mortal!"The two other disciples—a girl with a silver flute and a boy with a heavy claymore—gasped in unison. They had never seen an "Outer Worlder" move that fast. To them, people from the cities were like cattle: slow, weak, and meant for slaughter."Lu Chen is the grandson of an Outer Elder!" the girl, Mei, shouted, her flute glowing with a pale blue light. "If you harm him, the Sky-Cloud Sect will erase your entire bloodline!"Drake didn't even look at her. He tightened his grip on Lu Chen’s throat. The "Immortal" youth was gasping for air, his face turning a bruised purple that matched the sky."Your bloodline talk doesn't interest me," Drake said. "What interests me is the Seven-Star Illusion Array protecting the mountain path. My men can't pass it. You’re going to walk us through it.""Never!" Lu Chen wheezed, trying to conjure a flame in his palm.Drake leaned in, his black-and-red eyes boring into Lu Chen’s soul. "I’ve spent three years being a 'trash'

At the very peak of the Sky-Cloud Mountain, where the air was so thin it turned into liquid Spirit Essence, sat the Pavilion of Infinite Sight.Inside, seven ancient figures sat in a circle. These were the True Elders of the Inner Sect. In the center of the circle, a pool of mercury-like water projected a clear image of the Outer Gate. They watched in silence as the "Executioner" Qiu turned to ash."A mortal who has synthesized Hell Qi," a female Elder whispered, her voice like cracking ice. "This hasn't happened since the Great Purge of the Asura Sect a thousand years ago. We should send the 'Heavenly Punishers' to erase the mountain base.""No," a deep, resonant voice spoke from the shadows at the head of the table. This was the First Elder, Grandmaster Yan. His three-pupiled eyes glowed with a faint, ominous light. "He is the perfect 'Cauldron.' The more he burns his life force to fight, the more refined the 'Three-Core Seed' becomes. When he reaches the Inner Gate, we will harvest