The tower was already over a hundred meters in height, and there were over a dozen Evernight experts gathered around it. Among them, there was a count clad in a full set of armor and an enclosed helmet; the rest were all marquis-level experts.

These experts didn’t make for a huge group, but their movements were shockingly fast. For instance, a pot-shaped component that was over ten meters in diameter was moved up to the top of the tower and assembled in one go. There were also others working to fortify the foundations with square rock columns that were several dozen tons in weight.

The person in charge of the scene wasn’t the Eternal Flame but Qianye’s old acquaintance… the Masefield Clan Lord.

Qianye didn’t act recklessly. He retreated into the forest and set up an observation post on a tall tree where he could study the dark races’ activity. There had to be some experts operating on their own.

The giant tower was more or less complete by the second day, with all kinds of equipment installed on the structure. A group of experts was carrying exploration instruments on their backs, seemingly about to survey the surrounding area for ores and natural resources.

This group was made up of two arachne and two werewolf experts, led by a single demonkin vice duke.

Qianye calculated the power difference—he felt that his chances of taking down this group were good, albeit a bit strenuous. There was a chance that the Masefield clan lord might be alerted, so he would have to end the battle rapidly and quietly. Now that was a difficult task.

However, Qianye didn’t really intend to round up everyone in one go. As long as he could wipe out a couple of them, it was fine even if half of them managed to escape. He would’ve accomplished his aim of bleeding the Evernight Faction.

Having confirmed his plan of action, Qianye jumped down from the tree and followed the group’s route in secret. All of a sudden, he sensed a gaze sweep over him.

Qianye immediately became still.

He had been channeling his Bloodline Concealment all this time, so his presence was no different from a rock to other experts. That didn’t explain why this rock was moving at lightning speed, however.

Having reached first-rate standards in perception, Qianye had rarely ever missed any experts approaching him. This gaze had appeared without warning and was completely undetected by Qianye, something that rarely ever happened.

Qianye slowly turned around with a penetrating gaze. He had already retracted all forms of active perception and was now relying solely on passive senses.

This method seemed effective as intended. Qianye sensed something flicker briefly in the forest.

Erupting with volcanic strength, he shot out from his hiding place and barreled toward the shadow. He traversed a thousand meters at maximum speed until a faint silhouette appeared in his vision.

Startled, the creature bounced up from the tree and moved between the giant trees with great ability—just like a ricocheting rubber ball.

Qianye’s figure flickered as he channeled Spatial Flash with chaos origin power. That was the only way he could keep up with this shadow.

He had already seen clearly that this was a humanoid creature with exceptionally long arms and legs that could bend in two directions. This “person” also possessed a pair of short wings on its back, allowing him to make sharp turns through the air.

He was so fast that even among the dukes of Evernight, he would stand above average, making it quite a bit strenuous for Qianye to give chase. Additionally, his aura was rather strange—it was almost one with the woods, similar to how Qianye’s Bloodline Concealment worked. Once the target was out of sight, he could no longer be tracked with perception.

Hence, Qianye gave chase relentlessly and refused to let it vanish from his sight. The two parties drew closer and closer until, eventually, they were only a couple hundred meters away. Qianye would arrive at his back with a single sprint.

It was at this moment that Qianye felt a strong sense of danger wash over him. He tilted his body to the side in response and drifted upward in a strange trajectory.

A black shadow flew over silently at this point and darted past Qianye’s previous position, shooting through dozens of ancient trees before disappearing. The trees remained quiet for a brief moment before bursting out in massive explosions, clearing up a long corridor several hundred meters in length.

Qianye saw that this black shadow was a primitive spear. It was more a piece of sharp rock tied to a wooden staff. It was this kind of spear that had arrived with enough force to injure a marquis. Even Qianye wasn’t willing to take on such a blow.

He gazed in the direction of the attack with grave caution.

A tall figure slowly walked out from the forest, quite similar to the humanoid creature Qianye had been chasing. It was just that this person was much taller at about five meters and surrounded in a faint black mist.

Qianye’s pupils narrowed upon seeing this man. The black mist around him wasn’t natural, but rather darkness origin power that had been concentrated to an extreme.

The darkness origin power in this world possessed a bit of life and was extremely difficult to control. Yet, Qianye could see that the origin power around this humanoid creature was delighted and subservient.

Being able to elicit a life-like response from origin power was the sign of a great dark monarch or heavenly monarch. Their control over origin power had reached a state where everything bent to their will, producing all kinds of strange phenomena. In the eyes of the bystanders, the origin power almost seemed alive.

The giant before Qianye was different. The origin power around him possessed their own life, and they were listening to the man’s every command. This granted the giant tremendous strength with every move. Even a single spear possessed such astonishing power.

Qianye could still sense peril even when facing this giant in the open. His fighting spirit surged as he scanned the giant from head to toe.

The creature was massive in size and possessed great strength. The Eye of Control probably couldn’t freeze him, but it did allow Qianye to see the target’s flow of origin power. The only issue was that the origin power vision was rather limited when the environment was so active in energy.

Living origin power could react on its own, and these reactions were difficult to gauge. That was why attacks from heavenly monarchs and great dark monarchs were difficult to fathom. As for the three supremes, it was said that their origin power was close to being truly alive. Hence, their attacks could be earth-shattering and destructive or as gentle as a willow in the spring breeze.

In this regard, this giant before him was already starting to show faint hints of the supreme realm. Although this state was largely due to the special origin power of this world, it wouldn’t be wrong to consider him the equivalent of a powerful grand duke or a much watered-downed supreme.

On the other hand, the giant’s equipment was extremely crude. He was clad in leather clothes and pants instead of armor. His weapon of choice was the primitive spear, of which he had two more strapped to his back.

It wasn’t as though great dark monarchs and heavenly monarchs no longer needed equipment. Even for the supremes of the holy mountain, or the Martial Ancestor of the human race, equipment was still equally important. The only problem lay in finding weapons and armor that would be a fit for them.

The giant’s equipment was so crude that it was almost negligible, and its combat strength was also greatly discounted because of that. A conservative estimate would put the giant thirty to forty percent stronger if he were equipped with top-grade gear.

This giant was currently the best training target for Qianye to get used to facing supremes. Additionally, Qianye was also interested in the living origin power of this world. Hence, this opponent was a great starting point.

The giant was furious upon seeing Qianye advance instead of retreating. He looked down at Qianye like he would a little cat and roared in an unknown language.

Qianye drew his azure sword in response.

The two parties might not be able to communicate, but there was no need for words to understand Qianye’s intention. Bellowing in extreme anger, the giant reached for his two spears and adopted a combat position.

Qianye stood there with his sword pointed toward the ground, silent and unmoving. Enemies familiar with Qianye understood that he was the most dangerous when standing still since there was no telling when he would activate Spatial Flash. Usually, he would use Spatial Flash to evade the enemy attack and strike the enemy’s weak point.

The giant clearly had no idea as he gathered up energy for an attack. The surrounding origin power stirred up into a tempest.

All of a sudden, a pair of black wings emerged on his back!

The wings weren’t so big compared to the giant, but they gave Qianye a feeling of familiarity. Just as Qianye was stunned, the giant arrived in front of him with a flap of his wings.

The enemy was so fast that he had practically teleported. Qianye didn’t even have the time to activate Spatial Flash before the two spears were at his waist.

Caught off-guard, Qianye raised his azure blade to block the attacking weapons.

As the spears and blade crossed blows, an inexplicable force flowed onto him like a falling mountain. The azure blade began to bend under its weight, and Qianye’s hands also trembled.

The giant possessed unimaginable strength, one that had far surpassed its physical frame and stood on par with some colossal creatures. Qianye had only experienced this level of power with Great Dark Monarch Sousa.

The enemy was stronger than he had expected, but Qianye wasn’t the same person as before. Fighting spirit welled up in his heart as he stomped down on the ground, covering a hundred-meter radius with gray origin power. This area became his home ground. With a low growl, his modified body erupted with great strength to block the giant’s attack. He then launched a daring counterattack with equal force.

The giant’s spears bounced upward, bending the giant’s arms at an odd angle. Ordinary humans and dark races would’ve had their arms broken at such a posture. But the humanoid creatures of this world, including the giant, seemed to have a greater degree of joint flexibility.

Unable to withstand the massive strain of this clash, the spears burst apart from the middle. The giant’s body flew backward and slid over a hundred meters on the ground.

Qianye was inexplicably satisfied after toppling the giant head-on, and the frustration he had pent up over the days was cleared away. He seemed rather thoughtful as he glanced at the azure sword in his hand.

This blade was the Dark Gospel Howard’s sword and naturally a weapon of great quality. It was even stronger than East Peak after incorporating the giant rhinoceros’ horn and currently the only weapon that could withstand Qianye’s chaos origin power. Its only defect was that it was too light for Qianye’s style.

Qianye felt that someone of his power should be using a sword that was several tons in weight.