The sun was already dipping toward dusk over the trial grounds, casting long shadows through the dense wilderness. Deep within the outer perimeter of the Divine Sea Temple’s first layer, six figures moved cautiously through the forest, their pace measured and deliberate. Every few steps, they paused, scanning their surroundings as if expecting something to lunge at them from the shadows at any moment.

Everyone, that is, except Ethan.

He walked along with an almost careless air, as though this were nothing more than a casual stroll. In reality, his Soul Sense, though suppressed by the strange environment, still extended roughly sixty feet around him. Whether his eyes were open or closed made little difference; anything that entered that range would immediately register in his awareness, unless it was one of those rare anomalies capable of blocking detection entirely.

Ahead, Hayes led the group with steady confidence, while the others followed close behind, their nerves stretched thin. Fatigue lingered in their expressions, and their movements carried a tension that never quite faded. Ethan, noticing this, made a point to mimic their exhaustion, letting his shoulders sag slightly and his breathing grow heavier. It was easier to blend in that way.

He had already realized they were not taking the safer route, and as they pushed deeper, the gravity in the area grew steadily stronger, pressing down on them like an invisible weight. Ethan chose not to question it. He had agreed to follow, not to lead, and so he kept his thoughts to himself.

The journey so far had revealed the true nature of this place: breathtaking at a glance, but filled with hidden dangers. Creatures disguised as ordinary stones would suddenly spring to life as prey passed too close. Streams that appeared clear and refreshing turned out to be lethally toxic. Packs of so-called celestial beasts roamed the land, none particularly powerful on their own, but dangerous in numbers.

To Ethan, they felt no different from magical beasts by another name. None of them had shown any sign of taking human form, at least not yet.

Still, one thing was undeniable. Without Hayes guiding them, they would not have made it this far unscathed. There had been close calls and moments of strain, but no one had suffered any serious injuries.

"It gets worse ahead."

Hayes came to a sudden stop, her gaze fixed forward. The group halted immediately, tension snapping tight again. Ethan finally broke his silence.

"Where exactly are we going? Not straight to the third layer?"

Hayes glanced back at him and shook her head. "We are, eventually. But the passage isn’t open yet."

Ethan’s eyes flickered for just a moment before he smoothed his expression. "So we need to unlock it somehow?"

"Yes... and no."

She offered no further explanation and instead turned away, moving off to gather herbs growing nearby. Ethan watched her for a moment, waiting for more, but none came.

The vegetation in this region was denser than before, though not uniformly so. Every hundred feet or so, they would come across patches of valuable herbs worth collecting. While Ethan had little personal interest in them, he still gathered one of each type he encountered. If he could transplant them back onto Earth, it might prove useful, especially if some of these species had gone extinct there.

After a while, Hayes spoke again. "We need to find shelter for the night. The trial grounds are too dangerous after dark."

Her word carried authority, and no one objected. They were all exhausted, their nerves frayed from constant vigilance, and the thought of rest was more than welcome.

Not long after, they spotted a massive ancient tree in the distance. Its thick trunk and sprawling roots made it an ideal place to set up camp, offering natural protection from at least one direction.

They headed toward it. And kept heading toward it.

Ethan frowned slightly as time passed. The tree had not seemed far when they first saw it, yet no matter how long they walked, it did not appear any closer.

The others began to notice as well.

"We’ve been walking for ages," Vale muttered, his voice edged with irritation.

"Yeah... what’s going on?" Brock scratched his head, confusion plain on his face.

Hayes stopped abruptly. "Don’t move."

Her tone cut through the tension, sharp and decisive. She pulled out a jade token, distinct from the ones the others carried, and pressed her fingers against it in a precise pattern. A ring of milky light spread outward from her, rippling through the air.

Ethan felt the pulse of soul energy as it expanded.

Then, with a sudden whoosh, the light struck something unseen, and a deafening hum filled the surroundings.

The forest erupted.

From every direction, swarms burst forth, the air thickening instantly with movement. Tiny creatures, no larger than fingernails, filled the sky, their purple wings fluttering rapidly as rows of needle-like teeth gleamed in the dimming light.

"Bloodwing moths!" Onyx shouted, his voice cracking.

Ethan’s expression tightened, though not from fear of the creatures themselves, but from their sheer number. There were hundreds of thousands of them, blanketing the sky like a living storm.

"Where did they even come from?" Brock exclaimed, his body already glowing bronze as his defensive technique activated.

The swarm shifted, chaotic at first, then aligning as one as they locked onto the group.

"Stay close!" Hayes shouted. "We can’t kill them all, so we push through together!"

While the others braced themselves, Ethan remained calm. He had read about bloodwing moths in the token’s records. They were weak individually, but their numbers made them overwhelming, and their territories were often accompanied by illusion formations.

For most people, they were a nightmare.

For Ethan, weak still meant dead, no matter how many there were.

He was just about to act when a sudden scream cut through the air.

"Swamp!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ginger’s voice rang out in panic.

Everyone instinctively looked down. Her feet had sunk into mud that had not been there even a moment before.

Then they noticed their own feet.

Sinking.

Ethan felt it too, the ground swallowing his ankles as if the earth itself had turned liquid. Hayes, who had been preparing to lead them forward, was already trapped as well.

They struggled, but the more they moved, the faster they sank.

Ethan, however, did not panic. His gaze lifted, focusing on the swarm.

’Soul Technique: Soul Annihilation.’

A ripple of white energy spread outward from his brow, invisible to most, but devastating to anything it touched.

The moths continued flying unharmed.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly, understanding dawning.

Through his Soul Sense, he saw nothing where the moths appeared to be, but faint threads, barely perceptible strands of soul energy, stretched through the air like puppet strings. Each one led back in the same direction, behind them and slightly to the left.

So that was it.

’Soul Technique: Soul Spike.’

His Gate of Ascension opened just enough to release a single, concentrated needle of pure soul energy, compressed to an extreme point.

It shot forward, far beyond his usual detection range. A heartbeat later, a sharp scream echoed through the night.

The world warped. In an instant, everything changed.

The forest vanished, replaced by waist-high grass swaying under an open sky. Jagged rocks dotted the landscape, and above them, countless stars stretched across the heavens.

The swamp was gone. The moths were gone.

"What... where did everything go?" Brock spun in place, bewildered.

Then he froze, staring ahead. The others followed his gaze.

Hayes stood mere inches from the edge of a cliff, a sheer drop that seemed to descend into endless darkness. One more step and she would have fallen, vanishing without a trace.

She quickly retreated, drawing in a sharp breath she had not realized she had been holding.

The group stood in stunned silence, the weight of what had nearly happened settling over them.

"What just happened?"

"I heard a scream behind us... then everything disappeared."

"An illusion formation," Hayes said, her voice steady but tense. "Natural, but someone triggered it and used it against us."

"Someone wanted us dead?" Vale’s voice dropped into a low and dangerous tone.

His eyes locked onto the direction the scream had come from. Whoever had controlled the illusion was there, and they had just been struck down.

Without another word, Vale’s body surged with power, his aura flaring violently as he charged forward. His movements were almost beast-like now, each step cracking the ground beneath him.

"Vale! Wait!" Hayes called, already moving after him.

The others followed close behind. They found him about a hundred yards away, standing still.

Frozen.

Hayes moved past him and crouched down, her expression tightening. Everyone gathered around.

"It’s Riley..." Onyx said quietly.

Ethan was not surprised. He had already sensed someone there, and it could only have been one of their own.

A young girl, no older than fourteen, lay face-down in the grass, completely unconscious.

"So that’s it," Onyx continued, glancing briefly at Ethan. "Zatan placed her here to slow us down. He’s already ahead of us."

Ginger crouched beside Hayes, concern written across her face.

"Riley was trying to kill us?" Brock asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

Vale’s breathing grew heavier, his eyes turning red with fury.

"Kill us?"

His foot rose, poised above the unconscious girl’s head.

Ethan’s eyes widened slightly. Whatever state Vale was in, his strength had reached a terrifying level. That single stomp could crush Riley’s skull instantly.

"Vale, no!" Hayes shouted, her voice slipping for a moment into something clearer, younger, unmistakably her true voice.

But Vale did not hear her.

The others tensed, unable to intervene in time. Hayes raised her hand, gathering energy to block the blow, but before she could act, Ginger slammed into her, knocking them both aside.

"You can’t stop that," Ginger said urgently as they tumbled. "None of us can!"

The foot came down.

BOOM.

The ground exploded, dirt and grass scattering in all directions.

Hayes scrambled to her feet, anger and confusion flashing across her face. "Ginger, why would you—"

She stopped mid-sentence as the dust began to settle.

A figure was crouched over Riley, hands pressed firmly against the ground, back arched under immense pressure.

Vale’s foot rested squarely on that back.

The one who had taken the blow was not Riley, It was Ethan.

He had been the farthest from her when this began, yet somehow he had crossed the distance in an instant.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Brock’s jaw dropped. "Holy... did we just stomp the Ancestral Star guy?"

Ethan turned his head slightly, a grin spreading across his face as if the impact had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.