The massive gorilla roared and our fist connected. It sounded like a bomb had gone off. A shockwave exploded outward with enough force to splinter all the nearby trees. I grinned and leaped backwards narrowly avoiding the ape's follow up strike. The ape pursued and we exchanged a dozen attacks in seconds. Not only did I block each one but body felt wonderful. I amped up the spiritual energy in my hands and went on the offensive.

  Barely remembered boxing lessons came to the forefront as I avoided two blows for everyone I gave the beast. My laughter filled the air with every blow I landed. It felt like punching a steel wall. We continued like this until the ape unleashed a roar that made my bones ache. It then activated some sort of skill and doubled in size. Its body glowed black and its fur became as sharp as blades. My danger sense roared but I ignored it.

  There was no way I would run. I came here to test my limits. I brought both hands up and covered my fists in spiritual energy. My fist began to glow and I felt like some sort of superhero. The ape blurred and I launched jab with every ounce of strength I had. The air screamed as our fists collided. A wave of force exploded from the impact site. This time I lost the exchange and shot backwards.

  I flipped in the air and braced my feet against a tree. I looked up just in time to see the gorilla chase after me. I ducked its massive fist and aimed a jab into its sternum. This time it felt like my fist would shatter. My danger sense screamed at me and I dropped to the ground before the rest of my mind could catch up. By the time I realized what happened the gorilla had slammed its arms together in the world's most lethal bear hug.

  I leaped back ten feet and rolled my shoulders. "Is it a defensive skill?" I looked down at my fists and laughed. "I guess I can't beat you like this." The ape roared and rushed me. I activated **Apportation** a was yanked through a portal just before the gorilla slammed into the spot I had been. I reappeared a hundred feet above and behind him. A halo of psychic blades formed behind me.

  I opened the **Eye of Heaven** and shook my head ruefully. Whatever ability the ape used pushed it power through the roof. It was either at the very peak of the first realm or had just broken through. Either way I wouldn't be able to beat it without going all out. The ape turned and pushed off from the ground with enough force to crater it. He didn't so much as fly at me as just appeared. Its fist slammed into my Tao field just as all six blades sunk into him.

  The impact from his fist shot me back nearly thirty feet even with my Tao field cushioning the impact. I summoned a blade of compressed space above me like a scorpion's stinger as I waited for the ape's follow up attack. Instead of charging me again the ape grabbed the splintered tree trunk and launched it. I laughed and split it the projectile in two. Just before the gorilla arrived. Once again I met its fist with my own.

  A thrill of pain shot up my arm and into my spine as I once sent again sent flying. "You son of a bitch." I pulled myself out of a tree trunk and grinned at the ape. "You are still getting stronger." A part of me feltlike I should be much more panicked about that but I couldn't bring myself to worry. This was better than I had hopped. This was a fight. I reached for that flame inside and let its fire consume me.

  I teetered at the edge of madness as another halo of blades formed. "Come" I wasn't sure if the ape could understand me or not but it unleashed a roar and the battle was on. We exchanged attack after attack for what felt like hours before the gorilla disengaged. I leaped backwards and increased the distance between us to about twenty feet. I got a healing pill from my ring and swallowed. The bones and muscles in both arms cracked and popped as they reset themselves.

  I wasn't sure if the ape's skill allowed it to recover its soul or if it was just monstrous enough to ignore the damage. A small voice in the back of my mind told me that I should stop playing games. That I should activate my spells and drown the ape. I decided to ignore it. The ape hadn't used anymore abilities which meant we were equal. There was no way I would let an overgrown gorilla force me to use more of my abilities.

  "I hope you aren't finished yet" I taunted him as another halo of blades formed. Three of the six were made out of compressed space while the other three were mental. The ape roared and its energy exploded. He looked like a bonfire to my eyes but there was a problem. A second energy started to mix with its spiritual energy. The creatures power seemed to leap a tier and genuine panic shot through me. Before I could decide what to do the gorilla ripped a chunk of a tree and launched it at me.

  I brought my two spatial blades down just in time to block. The wood splintered with a large chunk punching straight through my shoulder. I unleashed all of my blades as the gorilla charge. Each step sounded like a stampede of animals. It didn't even bother to avoid each attack. The spatial blades somehow shattered against its skin. While the psychic ones pushed through and disappeared.

  I leaped out of the tree just as it arrived. I made it halfway to the ground before it was on me again. My danger sense screamed. I brought both hands up to block the punch. It felt like I had been hit by a train. I was launched into the ground so hard that I bounced off of it. I forced my Tao field out as far as I could just as the gorilla arrived. It launched another fist this time into my right side. Once again I was launched through the air. It felt a lava had been injected into my stomach. I had to fight to stop from black out as I slammed into a tree.

  I formed a square of compressed space and kept in between us. A swallowed two pills and let them get to work on my wounds. What the hell just happened? If the ape hadn't been in the second realm before it certainly was now. It couldn't have broken through during the fight could it? No that weird energy was still coursing through its body.

  "?" Xerxes asked

  His voice was like a bucket of cold water on my exhausted mind. "."

  The ape let out another roar and I knew my time was up. It slammed its fist into my defensive wall with enough force to level a building. I grimaced as the healing pills finished. Another crash and my barrier splintered. I spit up a mouth full of blood and formed six more blades. The ape shot forward and I met his attack with two spatial blades. This time a part of its fingers were carved off. Dark red blood spilled on the ground as I scrambled to not be crushed.

  My blades slammed into the ape from all sides and it stumbled a step. I formed the largest sphere of spatial energy I could and practically slammed into the ape's right pair of arms. For the first time this battle the ape suffered real damage as both arms were severed just above the elbow. The ape's energy flickered like a dying candle as it swung for me. Only this time the attack was barely there. I dodged but decided to create distance instead of following up.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I stared at the monster's channels in complete confusion. Something gone terribly wrong. It was like the creature was disintegrating from the inside. At first I thought it was something I had done. As if the Tao of compression had gotten stronger but that wasn't it. The gorilla started to shrink like a balloon that had a hole in it. I felt Xerxes land next to me which only piqued my curiosity.

  "Do you know what's going on?"

  "."

  I raised an eyebrow at the Qilin. "The fuck does that mean? Are you able to do that? Can I do that?"

  "."

  That dampened the ideas that started to sprout in my mind. There was no way I would exchange my life for more power. Especially based on how the gorilla faired. It had shrunken to half its original size and made a pathetic whimpering sound. I shot a pair of blades into it out of mercy once I was sure it wasn't some kind of trick. I guess it made a kind of sense. You couldn't just get more power out of nowhere. You needed to pay some kind of price for it. The power that it displayed was insane.

  It was a waste though the fight was arguably the best one so far. With only the encounters with the princes even close to it. "Does it have its beast core still? You can take it if you want."

  Xerxes shook his head. ""

  I shrugged as the corpse fell a part. A beam of light shot into my ring and the kill energy surged into my dantian. A quick check told me the that one of tokens had lit up. That confirmed that my task was to hunt them all down now which meant I had four more to get. "Do you have any idea where the other creatures are? We are looking for a type of tree, some blood creature, either a bunch of bugs or one big bug, and a weird chimeric monster."

  Xerxes stared at me for several long moments. I was pretty sure he wanted to call me something but there was no communication between us. After enough time passed I laughed. "Come on. Lets see what else is out there."

  "."

  His tone left little room for disagreement which was amusing. I nodded and pushed spiritual energy into my feet. We sprinted up into the trees and were on our way. I scanned everything we passed just in case there were more creatures in hiding but there was nothing. It was like the forest had gone to sleep. Even the sounds were muted. I wasn't sure if that we because the gorilla died, I took that treasure or if there was monster waiting to rip us apart.

  We traveled until we came across an empty clearing. The forest had started to darken and I wasn't in the mood to face off against a bunch of shadows if we could avoid it. We headed to the ground and I summoned a tent from my ring. "When we get back I need to learn an array for this kind of situation. Like a protection ward or some other thing." I grumbled until the tent was in place. "You can sleep first."

  Xerxes nodded and lay down next to the tent. I watched the energy in the area get pulled toward him. It was similar but also different from how it looked for people. His core was located next to his heart and it didn't look empty. If anything it looked full with milky substance. The energy he pulled into himself clashed with the substance and the substance started to dissipate.

  The sheer amount of it made it clear he wouldn't be done for a while. I wasn't sure if that would be when he was at level 50 or if there was some other limit. I would have to get some proper information crystals on beast's how to treat them. I groaned and closed my eyes. It felt like the list of things I needed to do just kept increasing. It was fun but part of me wanted a spa day.

  I chuckled to myself and expanded my soul sense. I didn't trust this calmness it felt like we were being watched. Like a disaster was around the corner. I stayed like that until Xerxes woke up. We then switched and it was my turn to down some meditating. I decided to focus on the Tao. I was pretty sure both Lucidity and Adamance were close to a breakthrough. I took a deep breath and focused on the strand of Adamance.

  When I awoke from my meditation the forest had become warmer. I checked my body for any issues I might of missed. When I was sure I was good I opened my eyes and got to my feet. "You ready to go?" I opened all three eyes and surveyed the area. Everything was mostly the same though the energy was denser. I wasn't sure if that was a change in the forest or just us not draining it.

  "."

  I raised an eyebrow at that. "Where? How do you know?"

  Xerxes pointed with his head to the Southwest. "."

  "Uh huh," I decided not to ask too many questions about how I smelled and instead pushed energy into my feet. "Well lets go and see who they are. They might know more about this situation or they might have beaten one of the bosses."

  I jogged up a tree until we were in its branches. After that I let Xerxes lead the way. We ran for what felt like thirty minutes before something entered the range of my soul sense. I gestured for Xerxes to stop as I watched the group. There were four of them and they all wore the same robes. They weren't the same as any of the princes. There robes were a mix of purple and black. Two of them had swords on their waist. One had a bow and the last one didn't carry a weapon. They looked like humans if a little skinnier. I didn't see elf ears or any other supernatural traits.

  These people must be from a faction. The only question was were they from the same places as the princes or somewhere else. I watched them for a few minutes before they started to bicker amongst themselves. They are argued over who would get the next bit of a loot but there was no malice in it. "*Lets be nice to these people*." I gestured for Xerxes to follow as I moved to intercept them. When we were about fifteen feet ahead of them I took a seat on a tree branch and pulled out some meat. I handed a portion of it to Xerxes while I ate the smaller bits.

  I wasn't sure what creature it came from and at this point I wasn't in the mood to think about it too much. We sat there until the group stepped into view.

  "Barkim If I told you once, I then told you twice you've got to lay off the spirit ale or you are going to go deaf and dumb." The man with the bow slung across his back said before breaking out into laughter.

  Barkim slapped the archer on the back and chuckled. "If the ale is how I go then the ale is how I go old friend."

  It was the non-weapon wielder who noticed me first. He summoned a flame above the palm of his hands glared up at us. He unleashed his aura which caused the rest of the group to focus. His aura wasn't bad, between it and the amount of energy in his dantian I would place his level in the low to mid thirties. His allies were closer to the low thirties.

  "Excuse us stranger. I don't believe we have done anything to draw your ire but if we have we offer our sincerest apologies." The mage called out. He took a half step forward while his companions drew their weapons. They didn't point them at me which raised my opinion of the group.

  I flashed them a smile but didn't move. "No need to worry I have no interest in hurting you. I was hoping you could answer a few question about the trial." I stepped off the tree branch and fell to the ground like a stone. I did my best superhero landing as I split the ground in all directions. I had to fight back the grin on my face as I straightened up. I glanced over at Xerxes ran down the tree's trunk to join me.

  The cultivators raised their weapons but none of them aimed at us. They all glanced toward the mage but since he made no move neither did they. I stopped walking when we were about a hundred feet away. I then offered the same bow the Crown Prince's people did. "I hope we can have a pleasant conversation."

  Their leader nodded and returned the bow. He then gestured for me to follow and I did. A few minutes later we all sat beneath a tree. A pitcher filled a weird type of wine sat between us. "My name is Nevian and I am from the Clear Sky Mountain."

  I smiled to him and then to each of his followers. "My name is Amari and I am from Amara. Not a sect I am afraid." I gestured to the wine. "Is that the 'spirit wine' you two were talking about before?"