"An alliance! Listen to her!" Jasmine’s voice cut through the terrified screams and the roars of the monsters like a sharp blade. She slammed the butt of her weapon into the ground, sending a shockwave of spiritual energy that forced the nearest cultivators to look at her. "If we stay separated, we die in five minutes! The strongest fighters come to the front! We are going to punch a hole through the northern side!"For a second, nobody moved. The sheer terror of being sandwiched between two massive tides of monsters had frozen their brains. But then, a massive armored boar crashed into the crowd, crushing two men instantly. The harsh reality of death snapped them out of their daze."She's right!" the clan elder who had tried to speak earlier yelled, his beard covered in blood. "We have no choice! Follow the girl! Form the arrowhead!"James, a tall cultivator from one of the prominent smaller clans, stepped forward with a heavy iron broadsword. His face was pale, but his eyes were fie

The sight of the massive wave of monsters swarming up the steep ridge shattered whatever courage the remaining cultivators had left. The argument about who held back was instantly forgotten."They're here! Run!" someone screamed at the top of their lungs.The crowd broke into complete chaos. Everyone turned around and ran, scrambling toward the only narrow, rocky path that led further up the mountain peak, trying to avoid the beast tide by any means necessary. People pushed and shoved each other, completely frantic as the roars of the crazed monsters echoed right behind them."Lina, Jasmine, move!" Kael shouted, grabbing Lina’s hand tightly as he shot toward the narrow path.Jasmine didn't hesitate either. Her face was grim as she bolted right beside them. With the scale of this second wave, staying on the flat platform meant being torn to shreds within seconds.But as Kael was rushing toward the bottleneck entrance of the upward path, a shadow suddenly lurked into his field of visio

The instant he said that, all expressions turned to Kael."Brother!" Lina panicked, tugging at Kael's robes"Don't worry, it's fine," Kael patted Lina's hands, his gaze locking onto that of James before finally settling onto that of the twin who was now glaring at him.Jasmine watched with a smile at the corner of her lips, this was getting interesting.James had obviously been targeting Kael for a while now and even a fool could see it.But then, she wondered what Kael could have done to provoke someone as scheming as James."What do you have to say!" The Twin, Alex broke the silence, his voice revibrated against the plateau. "I've got nothing to say," Kael shrugged, spreading out his arms, refusing to explain any further.At this point, there was no need to talk anymore. James had already sown the seed he wanted."So you admitted to killing my brother?" Alex raised his brows, at the moment, his aura rising slowly."No," Kael declined, his expression still calm."What do you mean?"

Everyone froze, their gaze landing on Jasmine who was standing behind Kael."Their feud is between them, do not interfere," Jasmine spoke slowly throwing Kael a glance before looking back at the crowd."How dare you try to stop us!" One of the Cultivators roared, the anger in his voice evident."Do you think we are scared of you?" Another added,"Yess, why should we listen to you?""If you're not afraid of death, then you can step forward," Jasmine smiled slightly, unfolding the fan in her hands, at the same time, her full aura surged out.The moment it came out, the cultivators clamouring just now suddenly stepped back, eyes widening in fear.Jasmine was far stronger than they were. Though they couldn't tell what Realm she was, they knew they couldn't defeat her."Why fear her, we can just overwhelm her with our numbers," One of the cultivators sneered, stepping forward."Sure," Jasmine smiled gently, her smile sending chills down the spine of everyone."You might use your numbers to

Getting back home to the quiet safety of his room, Kael finally let out the heavy breath he had been holding. The tense atmosphere of the secret realm, the dangerous beast tide, and the frantic escape with his father and Lina were behind him for now. He sat down on the edge of his bed, looking down at his heavily tattered, blood-stained white robes. He tore off the remaining shreds of fabric, revealing his bare torso.The injury Alex had inflicted with that wicked chain dagger was already starting to crust over, thanks to his resilient body. As he looked at the raw skin, Kael recounted his gains from this entire trip. This time, he had learned quite a few things about his own limits and the dangers of the cultivation world.The fight with Alex had exposed a massive flaw in his current style. He had been focusing almost entirely on offensive attacks all this while, and he had never bothered to learn a proper defensive technique. If he had possessed a defensive sword technique that coul