On the seaward side of Roset City, shrouded in gray mist.
"A Fifth-Level Awakener at your level? Pathetic." King of the Deep Sea bared a savage grin, seawater lapping at his waist as he held a long-haired middle-aged man in one hand.
The man's limbs had been torn off, his chest caved in, face beaten beyond recognition, eyes rolled back.
It turned to Jiang Yan behind it. "Master, what do I do with him?"
"Keep him breathing; don't kill him—he's still useful." Jiang Yan studied the battered man.
The intel on Fifth-Level powerhouses flashed through his mind: 'Lü Zhengxing, leader of Anshou Kingdom's Awakened cell, Fifth-Level Awakener.'
"Understood!" King of the Deep Sea roared, slamming Lü Zhengxing against the sea surface.
Bang! A ten-meter jet of water shot skyward; Lü Zhengxing, already unconscious, went limp.
Jiang Yan walked away. In the ocean, King of the Deep Sea's strength soared to the apex of Level Five—ordinary Fifth-Levels were mere fodder.
The third day drifted by; aside from Lü Zhengxing, no other Fifth-Level arrived.
Any Fourth or Third Levels sneaking in from the shore became King of the Deep Sea's snacks.
Jiang Yan stood beneath the skeleton tree, gazing up at the hundred-meter trunk where seventeen green-crystal skulls hung.
Behind him waited Wei Gaocheng, Li Yong, and Blood Master.
"President, no one entered today and the camp outside is quiet—have they given up?" Wei Gaocheng asked, puzzled.
Without turning, Jiang Yan replied, "A Fifth-Level died here; they won't quit. I bet they're saving up for something big."
Jiang Yan was waiting: if the enemy truly launched a major assault, he would retreat immediately.
He pressed a hand to the skeleton tree and sent a thought through it.
Rustle! The tree quivered; a translucent green skull dropped into his palm.
Jiang Yan turned and handed it to Li Yong. "Absorb it—same method as a buddha crystal."
Li Yong stepped forward and instantly began absorption.
Every gaze fixed on Li Yong.
Jiang Yan wanted to see how long the evolution took and how much strength it granted.
Gentle green light poured from the skull, flooding into Li Yong's orifices.
A cool sensation swept through him; every cell stirred, devouring the influx.
"How does it feel?" Jiang Yan asked.
Li Yong gave no reply, continuing to absorb the soul crystal.
An hour later the skull was gone, yet Li Yong still stood eyes shut.
'So this evolution isn't instant.' Jiang Yan shelved his plan to power up everyone present.
If the process took days and the enemy struck during them, disaster would follow.
Time passed; on day three of the gray mist, only the unlucky Lü Zhengxing had entered.
On the fourth day, at noon, inside the military camp five kilometers away.
A middle-aged officer waited on the makeshift helipad; minutes later two black helicopters appeared.
They landed; Doyle, in black robes and leaning on a 1.5-meter solid-gold staff, stepped down.
Behind him followed Awakened of varied dress—every one a Fifth-Level come to probe the mist.
The officer snapped a salute. "President!"
Doyle nodded, then turned. "The Bureau of Gods will wait here for the Xuanjian Division."
A burly middle-aged man, bare-chested under black pants, wild blue hair loose over a rugged face, barked irritably.
"Xuanjian Division, always playing prima donna—closer than us yet later than us."
Beside him a golden-haired youth in a blue windbreaker, clutching a brown tome, said, "Xiang Jing, spare the gossip; we're cooperating with them this time."
Behind the youth—Ming Wang—a green-haired woman in white sneered. "Ming Wang, you give them face? Those freaks deserve every insult; our Bureau of Gods has been bullied by them for years."
As top two Awakened factions, how could they get along? Xuanjian Division had long suppressed the Bureau of Gods.
Behind them a short-clad middle-aged man from the Zhenyuan Alliance stood silent, unwilling to step between the rivals.
Beside him, a masked Supersonic Group Fifth-Level with a back-mounted longblade and a gray-robed old monk from the Hidden Temple also kept quiet.
Ming Wang ignored the woman, lifting his gaze to the mist five kilometers away.
"Even grander up close; I'll find out what created this spectacle." His eyes glinted.
After nearly half an hour another helicopter arrived.
It landed; the door opened.
Deputy Director Long Zhengqing in black suit stepped out first, followed by sullen Jiang Ao in black jacket.
Behind them came Zi Wen in a purple mini-skirt and matching hairpin.
Long Zhengqing looked straight at Doyle. "Let's go, President Doyle."
He spared no glance for the other Awakened; within Xuanjian Division no one respected his deputy rank, but out here even Bureau of Gods members ranked below him—contempt practically dripped from his gaze.
"Everyone, move out," Doyle said, surveying the ten external Fifth-Levels plus himself, eyes dark with thought: 'Adolf, teacher will avenge you.'
Unbeknownst to them, ten meters inside the mist, Blood Master hovered a hundred meters up.
He locked onto the ten figures leaving the camp. "Every one carries their so-called Fifth-Level aura—just as the president predicted, they're saving up for something big." He spun and flew toward the skeleton tree.