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
Felix finally felt relaxed once they arrived in Zuera. For now, it looked like Specter was not coming back—at least not anytime soon. Still, he needed to check with Donna to know for sure.He said, "Zara, give me a minute."Right now, the priority was getting some answers out of Terrence. That mattered more than anything else. Otherwise, Felix would have already killed him instead of dragging him back here.In the hotel suite, Terrence lay half-dead on the bed, barely conscious. Yet, when Felix walked in, he actually smiled.He said calmly, "Getting killed by someone like you? Honestly, I've got no regrets. Ask whatever you want. I'll tell you what I can. But if it's something I'm not supposed to reveal, not even a soul search will get it out of me."Felix did not doubt that at all. After all, Eight Guardians served directly under the Ancient Sage—a figure whose power and methods were far beyond anything Felix could predict or afford to mess with. Especially since that exact figur
Terrence's eyes were surprisingly clear as he gave Felix a faint smile. He said, "I'm a dead man anyway, so why worry about all that? Even if I hadn't told you, I doubt you would've fallen for the trick. I could tell from the way you fought—you're too sharp for that."He looked at Felix, his gaze distant with a hint of nostalgia. He added, "Felix, I believe you're one of the few who'll truly shake the world in the days to come. Let me go in peace. If you can, cremate me. I've never liked the idea of rotting underground."Felix pressed a finger to Terrence's forehead, and the latter closed his eyes.Felix still did not dare use soul search on any of Eight Guardians—mainly because of the Ancient Sage. Just thinking back to Bonnie was proof enough that the Ancient Sage's expertise in soul techniques ran deep. There was no saying what kind of protections or traps were in place, and one misstep could backfire in ways Felix could not afford. Besides, the Guardians were not going around
At the edge of Zuera, near the city border, Felix met with Donna. For now, he kept Zara in the car and did not ask her to step out.Felix teased, "I'm guessing S-tier Malevolent Phantoms like you are too proud to ever say 'sorry' to someone like me, huh?"Donna nodded. "This time, it was my mistake. I didn't expect Specter to be bold enough to pull something like that."To say Felix was not angry would have been a lie—he had nearly lost his life because of this. Of course, he had every right to be furious.He argued, "A mistake? Do you even realize that your so-called 'mistake' almost got my soul erased from existence? Then again, judging by how Specter behaved, "It's clear he wasn't interested in the Mystical Explosive Orb, which means you didn't lose a damn thing. You can just move on and pick your next partner like nothing happened."Donna knew she was in the wrong and did not try to reason.Felix continued, "I just don't get it! Zuera's S-tier Phantoms wouldn't let you in,