Retreating Unscathed
A crimson fountain gushed among the remains of the trees. At the center of the reddish mud stood a creature covered in an exoskeleton, its entire body a dark, mysterious black.
The Kagune began to draw together and coil around the creature, forming an enormous biological egg as tall as a person.
A terrifying suction came from the egg, and cracks spread inch by inch through the secret realm space, which had only just stabilized.
The energy fluctuations were caused by the biological egg absorbing energy from its surroundings on its own as Lou Shisui advanced to the Transcendent realm.
The aura of a Transcendent creature gradually rose, spilled out, and spread.
Mixed within it was a trace of an aura belonging to the "Dao."
"Severe fluctuations have appeared near space link device number four in Chen City's southern district within the secret realm. Cracks have appeared in the spatial link."
"Calling the rescue team, calling the rescue team. What happened in the secret realm? Report immediately."
Outside, the Secret Realm Maintenance Team was monitoring the state of the space in real time and instantly detected the obvious disturbance.
The unified examination's secret realm was still unstable. Ji Feijie had reset fewer than half the space link devices before Shisui appeared out of nowhere and slaughtered him, so the repairs had naturally stalled.
On top of that, the other two Fifth Realm experts had also been murdered before Ji Feijie was killed, so there were no Transcendent Awakeners left in the secret realm to restart the devices.
There was even less chance of anyone taking the initiative to contact the outside.
"Damn it, why isn't anyone answering?"
"Looks like something happened. The force the Beastfolk sent exceeded our expectations. Let the support personnel go in."
"Personnel at the Sixth Realm and above still can't go through. The space needs to stabilize a little more first."
"How long will that take?"
"At least ten minutes."
"Ten minutes from now, I'll notify a noncombat Sixth Realm awakener to enter the secret realm and investigate."
"Understood."
"Crack, crack, crack—"
The biological egg's hardened shell peeled away, and the Kagune opened like a blooming flower.
This evolution was particularly brief, taking less than ten minutes.
Rather than using [Metamorphosis] to advance, he had used it to consolidate his early Fifth Realm cultivation and integrate more Psychic Energy into his flesh and bones.
After all, once he had pierced that barrier to the Transcendent realm, he had theoretically already entered the Fifth Realm.
Shisui's Ukaku fluttered slightly, and the chaotic spatial fluctuations around him were smoothed out in an instant. It was clear that his control over spatial energy had risen to another level.
Shisui recalled the energy fluctuations he had sensed just now. They had been intense and violent, and the Human Race outside would undoubtedly detect them.
And once they contacted the rescue team leader because of it, they would discover that all the Fifth Realm experts had been wiped out.
They would inevitably send stronger experts as reinforcements. He just didn't know what realm they would send, or how they would enter the space.
Shisui assessed the current state of the secret realm space and guessed that the reinforcements would most likely be at the early or middle Sixth Realm.
That wasn't the limit the space could bear once it had temporarily stabilized, but it was the best choice for allowing the reinforcements to act without restraint.
Since he had already exceeded his objective, staying any longer would only make him a target for the humans who had noticed something amiss. He had just entered the Fifth Realm and still needed to further stabilize his foundation, so it was best to slip away first.
He waved his Ukaku and quickly flew toward the nearest space link device.
Those devices were directly linked to the outside world. By following the spatial chains, Shisui could easily pinpoint the location on the other side.
If he could teleport directly to a specific location in a densely populated city, why open a blind box?
Shisui aimed at a rock in a corner at the foot of the mountain and smashed it with his Bikaku.
"Bang!"
Behind the shattered rock, the hidden space link device was operating normally.
It was the last device Ji Feijie had reset before his death.
05204, link to examination room four at the Chen City southern district examination site.
"Crack, crack, crack—"
The familiar sound of space shattering rang out.
His hardened Ukaku swept down, slicing the device in half in an instant and creating a spatial rift twice a person's height.
Before the rift could begin to heal, an exoskeleton emitting a faint purplish-red glow forced it open, and a stable spatial wormhole was quickly formed.
Shisui stepped inside. The exoskeleton was then crushed and annihilated by space's powerful ability to repair itself, vanishing into nothingness.
Space healed its wound once more, becoming smooth and stable. Only the scattered wreckage of the ruined device remained, proof that the enemy had passed through.
When Yang Fuwu arrived, that was the mess he saw.
His lake-blue Illusion-Breaking Truth-Revealing Eye told him that the enemy had used a sharp weapon to slice through not only the device but also the spatial link in a single strike, and had even cut space to create a wormhole.
At the peak of the Sixth Realm, he could sense the terrifying energy fluctuations here more clearly.
This was a shock that could only be felt after leaving the lower realms behind, truly mastering one's Psychic Energy, adapting to the Transcendent realm, and reaching the Sixth Realm.
The ability to precisely control spatial energy, which had always been known for its violence, was enough on its own to make his heart pound.
And judging by the resonance of his family's innate ability, his younger brother of ordinary aptitude was most likely dead.
No matter how poor Yang Fuwen was at confronting enemies head-on, he was still a genuine Fifth Realm expert who had been on the battlefield.
If he had been killed so easily, and even with other Fifth Realm experts present, that meant the other party's strength far surpassed the Fifth Realm.
Moreover, the opponent could wield the spatial attribute with ease, so the realm restrictions caused by the secret realm's unstable space were very likely ineffective against him.
A surge of fear shot from the soles of Yang Fuwu's feet up his spine, making his scalp tingle and cold sweat pour down his body.
A chilly wind blew through the forest at midnight, making him shiver involuntarily.
"Reporting to the maintenance team. This is support personnel Yang Fuwu. An intruder with the spatial attribute, suspected of having cultivation above the Seventh Realm, has appeared.
"The intruder has now escaped. It is presumed that he fled to the Chen City area through space link device number four at the Chen City southern district examination site.
"That is all."
"Understood. Stay in contact and proceed to each device to restart it as quickly as possible."
"Understood."
Fuck, have the family higher-ups gone mad trying to claim credit? Don't they know our family's innate ability isn't suited to fighting?
One of us has already been lost in here, and they still shoved me in too. Have they lost their damn minds?
Yang Fuwen was a rear-line commander, but wasn't he one too?
I'm only one realm above him. Among people at the same realm, I'm still lousy at close combat. How the hell am I supposed to fight a Seventh Realm awakener with a top-tier attribute?
Someone this gifted might be one of those so-called "invincible below the Profound Realm, trading one for one above the Profound Realm" types!
Yang Fuwu fled from the space link device at the Chen City southern district examination site, racing into the distance.
Meanwhile, Lou Shisui, who had been judged to be a suspected Seventh Realm expert, avoided the peak Sixth Realm expert sent to investigate and arrived at his new Feeding Ground, which he had never seen before—Chen City.