Felix's face turned ashen. Despite the fact that both Jack and Madeline were secretly protected by martial artists of the Transcendent Realm, his worst fears had come true. "Are the protectors dead?" he asked.To his surprise, Xena shook her head. "No. For whatever reason—maybe caution on their part—the attackers just knocked out the protection team." What frustrated Felix most was not knowing which faction was responsible. The only group he could rule out was the Ancient Sage's Eight Guardians. Regardless of everything else, the Ancient Sage had a reputation to maintain and understood the principle of not harming families. If they hadn't played by the rules, the Eight Guardians would have already attacked Felix as a group, not one by one. That left the Hall of Souls and Specter as the most likely culprits. One had no moral boundaries and had already betrayed both country and humanity, so what other ethics would they possibly observe? As for Specter, being an S-tier Malevole
So, it was Specter! The call had ended, but Felix now understood what was actually going on. The one working with Ashton had to be Specter. Of course, Specter himself probably wouldn't show up. After all, Donna had already informed Felix that Specter wouldn't trouble him anymore, or she would take action against Specter regardless of the consequences. Specter must have sent others to do his dirty work. Besides, Specter had his own concerns—Zara was now his absolute nemesis. He certainly wouldn't appear in person until he had regained enough strength to fight. Felix sighed helplessly and slowly took out his phone. With two lives at stake, he really couldn't handle this situation alone. Elsewhere, Donna was with Specter. "I promised I wouldn't bother Felix anymore, and I'll keep my word. I've already tested your limits, so why are you still watching me like a hawk?" Specter sipped his tea in small gulps, seemingly in a good mood. "Watching you?" Donna scoffed. "Go ahead the
At sunrise, Ashton sat cross-legged on a large boulder at the foot of a mountain in Dragonia. With his eyes closed, he was waiting for Felix's arrival. But his mind wasn't nearly as calm as he appeared. Bonnie had died at Felix's hands, which only showed they had underestimated Felix's soul abilities. But with the Ancient Sage's Mirror Shard, that wasn't too concerning. However, Terrence's death had truly shocked him. Both he and Terrence were among the Four Inferior Protectors of the Eight Guardians, and they were evenly matched. They had competed more than once, but it always ended in a draw. Though they never fought to the death, this gave a pretty good indication of their relative abilities. Yet, despite this, Felix had killed Terrence. This was why Ashton had accepted the stranger's proposal to work together against Felix. Otherwise, with Terrence's fate as a warning, going alone would be nothing short of suicide. Not far from Ashton stood four people. There were three e
Felix said, "We've all worked our way up, so stop saying such nonsense. Where are my two friends now? "You're all martial artists who have reached the peak of Grandmaster Realm—you're practically legends who have been living under the radar. Do you really need to resort to something as low as kidnapping?" Ashton opened his eyes and let out a cold laugh. "How else would I get you here when you know it's a lion's den?" Ashton jumped down from the boulder, taking a deep breath. "You should know very well your friends won't appear now. I can only guarantee you that they're still alive." Just as he was about to continue, Felix's phone rang. A glimmer of joy flashed in his eyes when he saw it was Karina calling. "Felix, your friends have been rescued. They were being guarded by a martial artist who's reached the peak of Grandmaster Realm, but I chased them away." Felix felt way more at ease now. Karina had never let him down; she had indeed rescued them. The only surprising par
Felix found it hard to breathe. It was not from shock but because the air had been completely sucked out of this place. The peak Grandmaster Realm masters who had looked down on him earlier were now all sliced into pieces, scattered everywhere. Even the middle-aged man who had fled first ended up the same way a few hundred yards away.Only Ashton remained on the ground, coughing up blood nonstop. Over a thousand sword marks covered his body. If it was not for the blood seeping through, they wouldn't even be visible through his clothes. These weren't just ordinary people or average martial artists, but five incredibly powerful peak Grandmaster Realm masters. Yet Dahlia had defeated them all with a single move. It was absolutely terrifying.As the air rushed back in, Dahlia spoke, "I kept him alive. You probably have questions for him." Felix smiled bitterly, finally understanding the gap between himself and Dahlia. He could only imagine how much stronger Eleanor had to be. "Tha
Trembling, Ashton raised his hand to reveal a small silver square token in his palm. Made of some unknown metal, it had the character "Blue" inscribed on it. "Take this token and disguise yourself as me. Go to the forest about half a mile from Mount Dalinton. Then, find a treehouse there—underneath is our meeting spot." Felix drew the token toward himself but didn't notice anything special about it as he continued listening."A middleman contacted me with an invitation to explore an ancient tomb. It belongs to one of Francis' descendants. He was certain there were soul cultivation treasures inside and promised those would be mine, though I can't touch anything else." When Felix heard that it could be a tomb of Francis' descendant, he was thrilled inside but kept his expression neutral. Instead, he asked, "Why should I believe you?" Ashton had anticipated this question, so he hurriedly replied, "It's absolutely true! Francis Thane was the top alchemist of the Bronze Age. How co
Pulling open the car door, Felix regained his composure. He remembered all of Donna's assurances, and he trusted that they weren't empty promises. After all, their work partnership had gotten pretty tight lately—she wouldn't play such life-threatening jokes. "Do you need something?" Just as he thought, Specter stood there without moving. He spoke with resignation, "I've put in all this effort and planned everything down to the last detail. Yet, I couldn't even scratch you. I'm honestly shocked."Felix pursed his lips. "You haven't seen anything yet." With a growing smile, Specter replied, "You've won! I'll back off from Hollow Soul. I can't face it alone anyway, and those losers I recruited were useless against you. I'm out of options." Felix felt a wave of relief wash over him as he nodded. He'd finally dealt with a major threat. Zara would be safe with Gerald, but Felix worried that he couldn't handle Specter. If his attacks continued, someone he cared about might get hurt o
So far, the only benefit Felix had enjoyed from the Destiny Crystal was the right to learn the Phaeron Codex. And it was a superior technique that even Billy had been denied access to. He said to Donna, "I still don't really get it." He kept asking because he hadn't felt any other effects from the Destiny Crystal. Helena had told him he was the chosen one, which was why he qualified for the crystal. But now, it seemed like there might have been a bait and switch. After a brief silence, Donna seemed to be figuring out how to explain more clearly. "Let's look at it this way. Soul cultivation has thresholds—lots of them. When you reach one, you need to elevate your soul to continue. "Soul elevation is extremely difficult, and if you fail, you can never practice soul cultivation again! A phantom core increases your chances of successful elevation, but a Destiny Crystal is different. Once you have it, you're guaranteed continuous soul elevation with a head start. "Do you know what