Seven Steps

Fifteen minutes later.

Lohr stood on a branch more than twenty miles from the Great Sunfall Site, slightly spreading his spiritual power to sense the surroundings.

Divine power fluctuations that had been difficult to detect a few days ago now came from every direction, as if they had become as common as cabbages.

These people had likewise sensed the intense divine power fluctuations around Lohr, and most of them retreated a little farther away.

Yet one person not only failed to retreat, but instead approached Lohr, though it was unclear what she wanted.

"What a lively scene." Lohr smiled, ignoring them as he turned his gaze toward the Great Sunfall Site.

More than twenty miles away lay over one hundred and thirty enormous craters. They connected together, forming a massive pit spanning roughly five miles.

A black ring radiating dazzling red light lay at the very center of the massive pit, with not a single person nearby.

Judging from the more than one hundred and thirty craters around the ring, each giving off the aura of various elements, it seemed that someone had already fought a round before he arrived.

Some Divine Power Crystal fluctuations still lingered in those craters, most likely left behind by dead wizard apprentices.

"Whoosh—"

Suddenly, a Bloodline Wizard apprentice resembling a goshawk, with a wingspan of more than three meters, swept through the sky and dove toward the spatial ring below at tremendous speed.

"Crack, crack—"

Just as he was about to touch the spatial ring, more than a dozen different earthen walls suddenly rose before it, firmly blocking him outside.

"Click—boom—buzz—whoosh, whoosh—"

A barrage of Fireballs, frost, streams of water, rocks, metal spikes, and dozens of other spells followed close behind, all aimed directly at the goshawk.

Among these spells were several large-scale Fusion Spells with power reaching 1.1 or 1.2 rings.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

The goshawk was instantly blasted away without even ashes left behind, and a new crater appeared within the massive pit.

"They've all gotten smarter." Lohr felt somewhat moved.

A few days ago, when these people fought over Divine Power Crystals and special Potions, they had all swarmed around the two items and fought in a frenzy, terrified that someone might snatch away the Potion and Divine Power Crystal first.

Now, however, most of them hid in the forest, not daring to be the first to stick their heads out.

And the few who dared to take the lead would be focused down the moment they revealed themselves.

Just as Lohr finished watching the show, the apprentice who had approached him earlier arrived beneath the tree where he stood.

A blue-green defensive barrier enveloped this apprentice. Through it, he could clearly see her rather lovely face and pale blue hair.

"Unknown powerful one, my name is Miriya Bell."

The blue-haired female apprentice looked up at Lohr in the tree and asked softly, "Would you be interested in joining our team to compete for that spatial ring?"

"Not interested." Lohr shook his head. "Besides, I suggest you leave now."

He had no interest in fooling around with these people. He only wanted to seize the spatial ring as soon as possible and return to Levan's side to rest.

Not only had he failed to obtain many Divine Power Crystals over the past three days, he had also been exhausted by it all.

"Why?" Miriya was completely baffled by Lohr's answer.

She had already prepared a whole series of responses, waiting for Lohr to ask questions like how the spoils would be divided.

Yet all she got was an order for them to leave?!

Lohr smiled and ignored the apprentice, continuing forward along the branches.

"So he's a madman." Seeing Lohr still heading toward the massive pit, Miriya muttered to herself.

Never mind anything else—he had definitely seen what had happened to that goshawk just now.

Yet he still dared to head straight over there under such circumstances. Other than madness, there was hardly any other explanation.

She did not go elsewhere to recruit people either. Instead, she lightly pushed off with her feet, leaping onto the branch where Lohr had just stood and silently watching his receding figure.

She wanted to see the madman's fate with her own eyes.

Before long, Lohr arrived at the edge of the massive pit.

Once there, he could clearly sense that the divine power fluctuations around him had grown much stronger.

The fluctuations emitted by the nearly two hundred grams of Divine Power Crystals he carried were not the strongest nearby. Several people possessed even more than he did.

No one attacked him for the moment, because these apprentices assumed he was also here to guard the spatial ring from being taken and wait for an opportunity.

But if he took a few more steps forward, the outcome would be completely different.

After carefully sensing the positions with the strongest divine power fluctuations, Lohr did not hesitate in the slightest. He directly activated the Lava Eruption Sorcery model in his Sea of Consciousness and took five steps forward.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

Five streams of lava, each covering more than thirteen hundred meters, suddenly erupted around the massive pit, engulfing hundreds of apprentices scattered throughout the forest.

These five lava eruptions each burst forth centered on one of the five locations with the strongest divine power fluctuations.

They were Lohr's primary targets. Everyone else was merely collateral.

The previously quiet forest instantly erupted into chaos as the lava burst forth.

"Dammit, this madman!"

"I give up! Stop the spell!"

"I won't accept this..."

"No!"

Most of the apprentices caught within the Lava Eruption Sorcery's range turned to ashes. Only a little over thirty escaped by sheer luck.

Two of them even forcibly escaped from the center of the lava eruptions, and the divine power fluctuations around them had been the strongest among this group.

As for the other apprentices who had not been engulfed by the lava, all of them broke out in cold sweats.

They did not dare retaliate against Lohr at all and hurriedly retreated instead.

Instantly wiping out hundreds of powerful apprentices stationed at the edge of the massive pit was enough to intimidate the vast majority.

"Die!"

"You're courting death."

Only the two wizard apprentices who had just escaped the lava eruption did not retreat. Instead, they raised their arms, seemingly preparing to launch spells in retaliation.

Lohr gave them no such opportunity. He activated the High-Temperature Amplitude Rune within his Sea of Consciousness and took another two steps.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

Two eruptions of lava more than twice as powerful as before burst forth around the pair once more.

This time, the defensive barriers around them shattered instantly. Their bodies turned into two clouds of ash, spreading in all directions along with the rain of lava.

Seeing this, the unaffected apprentices fled even faster, reaching more than three miles away within a few breaths.

And more than ten miles away, the apprentices watching the spectacle stared blankly as the beautiful, dreamlike lava rain fell in a drizzle across an area spanning seven or eight miles.

Seven steps.

That apprentice shrouded in an earthen-yellow defensive barrier had taken only seven steps toward the center.

And just like that, hundreds of powerful apprentices guarding the massive pit were gone.

This was simply...

"Leave, or die!" Lohr swept his gaze around and spoke indifferently.

"Go."

"Quick, leave."

"Run."

Every apprentice who heard those words chose to leave. At the same time, they did not forget to warn the apprentices behind them who had not heard, lest they suffer his wrath.

Those seven steps Lohr had taken had utterly crushed their fighting spirit.

Rather than compete here, they might as well check out the other two locations.

More than twenty miles away.

"How is this possible?" Miriya's face was filled with disbelief as she murmured inwardly, This mad... he's actually this powerful?

After witnessing Lohr's strength, she no longer dared to utter even the slightest slander against him in her heart.