The four somehow managed to reach their resting chamber. The commotion outside had now faded away, but the storm within had not yet calmed. As soon as the door closed, Lily's steps staggered. The glow on her face had faded. Her breaths were heavy. Spiritual energy inside her was surging as if a dam was about to burst.
Snehwal immediately supported her.
"Are you really okay?"
Lily did not answer. Her eyes closed for a few moments — as if she was trying to control something within.
At the same time, Master Jins looked toward the other side of the room — where two figures should have been bound in heavy spiritual shackles. But… there was nothing there.
Only broken chains… and deep cracks in the floor. Liora's eyes widened.
"How… is this possible?"
Master Jins slowly walked forward. He bent down and touched the ground damage caused by the broken shackles. His brows furrowed.
"Impossible…"
There was instability in his voice for the first time. "I personally created these shackles. Even high practitioners of the sixth stage cannot break them… then…"
Snehwal was also shocked. "Lith… and Jury… where are they?" For a few moments, silence filled the room. Liora steadied herself slightly — "What? You had captured Lith and Jury?"
Then Snehwal began telling Liora the whole story — how they had captured Lith and Jury Yakshini… how they had bound them in this room… and how suddenly there had been an attack at night.
"We were entangled in the competition fight with Shon…" he said.
"And in that meantime… someone freed them. That person must have been… very fast… very powerful…"
Liora still could not understand. "But who…? And why? What is going on?"
Master Jins' eyes had sunk into deep thought.
"Whoever it was… was not ordinary. Not only did he break the shackles I created… but he also concealed his presence. That means… he is either in the seventh stage… or…"
He left the sentence unfinished. The atmosphere in the room grew even heavier.
But apart from all this — Lily was standing near the wall, her eyes closed. A faint fiery aura began to ripple around her body. Drops of sweat appeared on her forehead. The flow of energy within was abnormal.
Perhaps… my level is about to break through… she thought to herself.
Snehwal stepped toward her, but Master Jins raised his hand to stop him.
"Do not touch her."
"Her energy is unstable. If this truly is a moment of level advancement… then even a small disturbance could cause her serious harm."
Lily slowly sat down on the ground. She assumed a meditation posture.
Her breaths became long and deep. The air in the room began to grow warm. The lines drawn on the floor started glowing faintly.
The remaining power of the spiritual stones was rising up her spine like a pillar of fire.
Liora said softly,
"Is she… really about to touch the seventh stage?"
Master Jins looked at Lily with a serious gaze.
"If she burned a domain today… then the fire within her is no longer ordinary. But…" he took a deep breath.
"To forcibly burn a domain… is to shake one's own foundation. If she succeeds — she will surpass all of us. If she fails — her cultivation path may end right here."
Snehwal's fists clenched once again. Outside, the night was growing darker.
Inside — another storm was about to be born.
And somewhere far away… a shadow was smiling — the one who had freed Lith and Jury. The real game… had just begun.
On the other side, seated on a black spiritual throne, at Humbha's feet, Jury, Lith, and Shon. All three Yakshinis were lying on the ground, begging for forgiveness.
With a faint smile, Humbha pressed down on them with her staff, making them writhe in pain.
"You three couldn't do anything to that little girl Lily. You are nothing but useless."
The three had no choice except to groan, beg for mercy, and curse themselves.
"We were great Yakshinis… beings before whom the entire Consciousness Land trembled in fear. And today our condition has become like rotten banana peels lying in a heap of garbage."
Then Humbha slowly rose from her spiritual throne. A strange, terrifying smile spread across her face. She stuck out her blackened tongue as if imagining the taste of her prey, then slowly drew it back in. A crimson gleam flashed in her eyes.
"Tomorrow… I will kill that Lily," her voice was cold and resolute.
She slammed her staff onto the ground — BAM!!!
"And you three… your punishment will be decided in my palace. There you will understand the price of failure."
Jury, Lith, and Shon trembled in fear. Humbha's laughter echoed through the palace walls, signaling the coming storm.