In the blink of an eye, another five days passed, the atmosphere deceptively calm, Kieran making no further moves.But beneath this apparent calm, Silas suspected, a genuine storm was quietly building."Time to act." Silas set down his writing brush and looked up.He had no intention of confronting Kieran directly — but there was still plenty he could do for the Sky Burial Sect itself.The most direct method available to any sect resisting an outside threat was simple: seal the mountain gate entirely, refuse to retreat.And the single most important factor in that strategy was the strength of the sect's own protective array.If the Sky Burial Sect's Heaven's Circuit Array could withstand even a Spirit Transformation cultivator, then the perfected Golden Core cultivators surrounding Kieran would pose no threat whatsoever — even his own master showing up wouldn't matter.But no one within the Sky Burial Sect possessed the skill to accomplish that, Silas included.At his current level of

"Our most urgent priority remains strengthening ourselves further. That commentary on the Four Seasons Sword Art has proven invaluable to us. Any true monarch who hasn't yet trained in swordsmanship should start now — it might well prove more powerful than their own innate techniques."Sky Burial Mountain."Junior Brother's incredible — blocking Kieran and his people at the door with a single formation." Jasmine admired him genuinely."It's really just a battle of trapped beasts at this point. The Sky Burial Sect's own true monarchs still decide the ultimate outcome."Silas shook his head. The grandmaster on the opposing side had genuinely grown careless this time — should he return properly prepared next time, the Heaven's Circuit Array would eventually break, and life or death would rest entirely in the true monarchs' own hands.Time passed steadily, and two months slipped by in the blink of an eye.Throughout this stretch, Kieran made no further move, an uneasy calm settling over t

Lights blazed brilliantly across its expanse, occasional streaks of divine rainbow light shooting through the sky toward the city's heart."The Hundred Kingdoms has its own ancestors at the Spirit Transformation level, but the strongest combat power typically seen operating openly out here is generally Nascent Soul. Traveling in directly at merely Golden Core cultivation would be far too risky — best to plan more carefully once I've reached Nascent Soul myself."The two of them then settled roughly five hundred miles from Wraithspire City, choosing an isolated stretch of mountain forest to establish themselves."These spirit stones should last us two or three years." Silas murmured to himself.He tore through the ground in an overgrown, weed-choked clearing, digging a hundred feet down, carving out an underground palace spanning several hundred square meters below.Since he had no intention of staying long-term here, he kept the construction relatively simple.After several busy days,

Still, he had no intention of formally joining one of the Hundred Kingdoms' true superpowers.These sects maintained extraordinarily strict control over recruitment, rarely accepting cultivators of already-high cultivation levels.Pretending to be some late-blooming immortal seedling risked his true age being uncovered eventually.A man in his thirties or forties, carrying a low or middle-grade spiritual root yet somehow lacking any actual cultivation, who'd traveled all the way to Wraithspire City specifically to pay homage and join a sect — who would believe a story like that?That night, Silas donned a black robe and headed toward the western district.Nascent Soul cultivators did exist within Wraithspire City, though not many — the city's own most honored lord himself held Nascent Soul status.Among the city's noble families, though, it was more common to find early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, or occasionally a perfected Golden Core master.House Farrow, the family Silas was v

When he fell, the crowd made a sound like squealing pigs.Nobody seemed happy about the city lord's win."No — my sect's mining job next year was supposed to be mine.""It's over, it's all gone — even my girl at the pleasure house is drifting away from me now."Many gamblers who'd bet on Theron turned pale, like their whole world had lost meaning."Everything depends on Casimir now. We can't let the Overseer Sect control Wraithspire City for another fifty years." The powerful people from the other big sects whispered to each other, clearly nervous."Round two — Theron Vasey faces Casimir Starling!"After a short break, Theron came back out. He'd been hurt in the last fight, but a Pill King's medicine had already healed him fully.Inside, he felt bitter. As the top teacher of a sect built around pure supernatural skill, losing to someone from the younger generation hurt.The reason he'd skipped the last Convocation was that he'd been in life-or-death seclusion, trying to win real benef