Felix arrived at the Rossum residence once again, where he found Paul sweating profusely, his eyes filled with worry "Mr. Zeller! I know you have connections and power. Please, you have to save Holden!" Paul was on the verge of tears, his voice trembling. After all the hardships they had endured, they had finally found the serum, only to face another crisis."Calm down first. Tell me what happened," Felix said, though he was equally frustrated. Everything had been going so smoothly, and now this? Someone had to interfere, and it left him deeply annoyed. Truthfully, Felix did not have to get involved, and Paul could have handled the land deal on his own. Then, if things went south, Felix could have stepped in later. But his conscience would not let him walk away. The Rossum family had given him enough benefits, and abandoning them now felt wrong."After we returned, Holden and I had a couple of drinks, then went to bed. I felt like I'd just fallen asleep when Holden's wife woke
Paul stood at the edge of the desert, his eyes fixed on the horizon, filled with anxiety. Zuera was a place of stark contrasts—to the east, endless vineyards stretched as far as the eye could see, while to the west, where he now stood, lay a barren desert area with uneven terrain, some spots rising as high as several dozen yards above the flat ground.The desert was home to nothing but an abandoned fertilizer factory, long shut down and left to decay. The area was desolate, with no signs of life, not even a single tree. The note specified the meeting point as this very factory, and Felix went in alone, instructing Paul to set up an airbag here. The plan was to throw Holden from a distance, ensuring he landed safely on the cushion.To be honest, Paul had initially thought Felix was joking. The idea of throwing someone that far seemed impossible, let alone ensuring they survived the fall. However, Felix had insisted it would work, so Paul had no choice but to trust him. Meanwhile
Felix glanced around, noticing two figures standing on rooftops about a hundred feet away on either side. Both were expressionless and had their eyes locked on him. They had appeared when he arrived, doing nothing but watching him intently."Two early-stage Transcendent Realm martial artists? This is your big gift for me? I thought the Eight Guardians didn't need help, and even if they did, it wouldn't be from these amateurs," Felix said, his tone mocking.Honestly, he could not see how two early-stage Transcendent Realm fighters could pose any threat to him. Even if they attacked him nonstop for three days, they would not be able to scratch him.Terrence let out a cold laugh. "Normally, the Eight Guardians wouldn't need help to deal with someone like you. But what they offered me was too good to refuse. The Ancient Sage never said outsiders couldn't be involved, so why not?" He shrugged and added, "Think of them as spectators. They won't be lifting a finger."He then gestured to
Felix's lips curled into a slight smirk as he launched his fists forward, moving so fast that even afterimages were hard to see. His punches collided violently with Terrence's serpent, grizzly, saber, and panther-like energy forms. The sheer force of their clash instantly reduced the entire fertilizer plant to rubble, as if it had never existed in the first place.Terrence's excitement grew, and he laughed maniacally. "This is exhilarating! No wonder the Ancient Sage has taken notice of you. Now that the warm-up's over, let's get serious."He suddenly bit his finger and muttered something under his breath. Then, the four gray energy arms surrounding him swelled in size and speed.Terrence, who had kept his real hands idle until now, finally began to move them. His power had skyrocketed, forcing Felix to bring out his Dragon Punches to keep up. "Impressive! You're actually pushing me back a bit," Terrence admitted after a few minutes, genuinely shocked by Felix's strength. As o
Everything seemed to move in slow motion, but in reality, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Felix's full set of Dragon Punches was lightning-fast, but something unexpected happened just as he was about to complete the sequence."Damn it!" Felix cursed as two waves of soul energy suddenly surged toward him from both sides, targeting his very soul. Distracted, he halted the Dragon Punches and summoned the Infinite Shield, which barely managed to block the incoming attacks. Based on his assessment, these soul energies were at least at the Iron Spirit Realm level, making them a serious threat."This isn't Terrence's doing," Felix realized. He was sure Terrence had no expertise in soul energy, so who was behind this? When he first arrived, he had scanned the area and sensed only three living beings besides Holden—Terrence and two early-stage Transcendent Realm fighters. Could it be them?Felix quickly focused his senses and was shocked to find the two early-stage Transcendent R
As Terrence launched his final strike, the phantom images of a serpent, grizzly, saber, and panther flickered around him, each one adding to the overwhelming power of the attack. Even before the blow landed, Felix could feel the sheer intensity radiating from it."Your last move?" Felix frowned, sensing another wave of soul energy attacks coming his way. This time, the two streams of soul energy merged mid-air, forming a single, devastating force that descended upon him from above.Without hesitation, Felix summoned the Mountain Mover, a powerful soul-bound weapon he had recently acquired, and hurled it at the merged soul energy. At the same time, he unleashed his Dragon Punches, clashing head-on with Terrence's attack.Soul energy attacks were always faster than any martial technique, so Felix knew he had to neutralize that threat first. He remembered his fight with Bonnie, where he had not had the chance to use his martial skills because of the relentless soul energy assault. He
Terrence was completely baffled. Forget the abandoned fertilizer plant—at this point, even the area surrounding it for miles had turned into a nightmare. No regular person, not even a Transcendent Realm martial artist, would dare get anywhere near it. They would be running for their lives.And yet, right now, this man who called himself Specter had shown up—calm and unbothered.At the same time, Felix also spotted Specter, and his expression instantly turned dark. He snarled, "Donna! What the hell is going on with you? Weren't you supposed to take care of Specter? So, how the hell is he back in Zuera… and how did he even find this place?"Felix did not believe for a second that Specter came just to catch up and have a friendly chat."What a shame," Specter said with a faint smirk. "I didn't think Donna's method would actually work. No—guess she just found the right person."Felix tried to stall for time. He was already injured, and even if he were at full strength, going up agains
Specter looked calm and uneventful on the surface, as if nothing happened. However, Felix knew the truth. That strike was far worse than the one before—it had gone straight for his soul.Just as he was about to summon all his soul-bound weapons and activate spells from the Phaeron Codex to counter it, someone suddenly appeared in front of him. Yes, a person—just like that. The person had long hair flowing, no warning, no presence, and no sound. It was as if they had just teleported right in front of him, shielding him without hesitation."Hollow Soul? No way!" Felix gasped.Before he could make sense of it, he heard Specter's voice crack a little as if something shocked even him. Then, the figure turned around."Zara?" Felix blinked in disbelief. He felt like he was dreaming. That gentle smile and that familiar face—it was unmistakably her."Hi, honey." The sound of her voice, calling him the way she used to, brought Felix crashing back to reality. It finally dawned on him tha