"Dracophoenix Breath!"

"Mental Piercing!"

​​

"Phoenix Dive!"

"Time Converge!"

"Limitless Wave..."

*Boom, boom, boom, boom...*

Heavin's group, as well as the other cultivators and demon beasts who followed them, were in the middle of a battle against the crystal demon beasts and ghosts.

Even though the others weren't as strong as Heavin's group because of their lack of Mental Energy, they still had the advantage in numbers, so they were able to provide support as well. Of course, the strongest one was Fura, who could display a power equivalent to the Void Breaking Realm. She alone was dealing with almost half of the enemies.

The others couldn't help but feel alarmed at her strength. After all, if they really found a treasure or something like that, would they be able to compete against her with their cultivation sealed in the Divinity Realm? However, they quickly abandoned those thoughts. What they wanted to do at the moment was to find an exit since their lives were more important. That being said, Fura's strength was more than welcome.

"The crystal demon beasts and ghosts are a lot weaker than those outside."

"That's because they're probably being affected by the same thing as us."

"Still, their strength is higher than others with their cultivation sealed at the Core Formation Realm."

"There is nothing we can do about it. The three of us are already taking care of more than half of the enemies. They can only rely on themselves."

Zuran, who was also fighting, then shouted.

"This won't do. Let's charge forward before the numbers become too big for us to deal with alone. Some will probably die on the way, but it's still better than all dying in the same place."

All the cultivators and demon beasts noticed that it was really the case, so they agreed, including Heavin's group.

Fura then took the front and used a powerful skill to open a passage in the middle of the enemies' ranks. At the same time, Heavin, Liriu, and the others released their own skills to detach from the battle before following the path opened by Fura. One thing that didn't change after their cultivations were suppressed was their total amount of energy available.

They might only be able to use power at the Core Formation Realm, but that also allowed their energy to be near unlimited. After all, using all the energy available for a Divinity Realm cultivator with Core Formation Realm-level attacks is like using a drop of water from an entire ocean.

Meanwhile, Zugen watched as the cultivators fought against his crystal demon beasts and ghosts. When he saw Heavin, Liriu, and Fura's power, he immediately noticed their Mental Energies. However, it only made him warier. After all, no one other than him and Soren should be able to use Mental Energy.

The people he captured with his Black Orbs should be able to use Mental Energy as well. However, they have all been brought back to the planet, where they were sucked dry. He could accept that maybe one of them escaped, but not three. Let alone three who were obviously friends. He was also sure that Soren would never pass his Soul Cultivation Technique forward unless extremely necessary.

'Chances are that Soren gave these guys his Soul Cultivation Technique. The best thing to do is to stay far away from those three for now. However, they are obviously too strong for the crystal demon beasts and ghosts to do anything. Should I wait for them to exhaust their energies first? However, such a thing will take forever due to their true foundation energy pool.'

Zugen narrowed his eyes as he looked at Heavin.

'That puppet's Soul Cultivation is quite low, but his proficiency is terrifying. He can definitely fight someone a Soul Realm above himself, probably even two. He's far better than me when I was at his level. This puppet is definitely a genius. However, who's controlling it? Could it be Soren himself? That's the most plausible explanation.'

Zugen continued to ponder before finally deciding.

"Come."

All of a sudden, three figures came out from the shadows and kneeled in front of Zugen. If one looked at them, they were very similar to the body that Soren was using. There were a few dark crystals on their bodies while there seemed to be no life in their eyes.

"Head there and capture those three."

The three figures then disappeared without saying a single word. Still, Zugen didn't care. Those were cultivators that had been captured by his Black Orbs in the past, just like Fura. The difference was that they were fully converted and brought back to the planet. Zugen had done this kind of thing many, many times. He always absorbed their Mental Source, which led to their deaths soon after.

However, he also kept some of the strong ones for his own use. Although it made him feel like it was a waste to not absorb such strong users, he knew that they might have some use in the future. Sure enough, the time to use them was finally here.

'Just in case, I will go there as well and observe from far away. If it turns out that they aren't that big of a risk, I might try to capture them. That sliver of Mental Energy from Soren also helped me recover a little bit. I should be able to escape if something really happens.'

Zugen's body flickered as he disappeared from the room.

Meanwhile, Krune's group had finally arrived in front of the ruins that Heavin's group entered earlier.

"So far, so good. It doesn't seem like Zugen noticed our presence after we entered his Solar System."

Soren nodded.

"It was thanks to Luvile's God Power and Zugen's Damaged Mental Energy Source. Still, we don't know what might happen, so let's increase our speed."

"No problem. I can tell Heavin's direction through our connection, so it will be easier to find him. However, I can feel that his speed increased a lot a moment ago. It seems like he's fleeing from something."

Feifei, Lucio, and Soren narrowed their eyes.

"There's no point speculating. Let's go!"

With Luvile's Tribulation Lightning Layer around them, their group immediately rushed inside the ruins.

Heavin's group charged forward for quite some time. Eventually, they left most of the crystal demon beasts and ghosts behind during that escape. In the end, a few cultivators and demon beasts truly died in the chaos, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Fura then looked at Heavin before whispering to him.

"We might as well separate from these people. Their speed is holding us down."

Heavin shook his head as he replied.

"We could have charged out earlier if we didn't wait for them. However, it was also thanks to them that the battle out of the enemies' encirclement went this smoothly. We better stay together. Besides, I'm not the type to simply leave others behind because they're weaker. If this was some kind of competition, then sure. But that isn't the case here. Of course, as I've always said, you really don't need to feel in debt to Liriu and me. If you think you should leave, by all means, go ahead."

"Hmph! Are you looking down on me? I might not care about those guys, but I won't go back on my word with you two. Since you saved me before, I will definitely stick together until I pay this debt."

Heavin smiled but didn't complain. Obviously, it would be much better if Fura stuck with them.

After some time, they stopped somewhere else where no crystal demon beasts and ghosts could be seen.

Zuran and the others then gathered with Heavin's group.

"What should we do now? It's just a matter of time before those things find us again."

"What else can we do? We have only two choices. One, we go back and try to leave the ruins. Of course, there's no guarantee that the enemy won't follow us outside. The second is to keep looking for clues in this place like a Teleport Formation, for example."

"Don't you think it's too weird? The ruins were empty from the start. Although the ruins are worn out, there wasn't any sign that a battle had happened for a long, long time. It feels like they only appeared after we entered the ruins as well."

The guy who talked was a cultivator called Gon Buo.

Heavin and the others narrowed their eyes. In fact, some of them had noticed that as well, but they just didn't want to bring it out.

"Anyway, we need to decide right now. Are we going deeper, or are we going back?"

Yet, just as they were about to decide, Heavin and Fura noticed some newcomers inside their Mental Energy Scan.

"We have company!"

Immediately, everyone was on their guard, waiting for the crystal demon beasts and ghosts to come. However, what came out of the shadows was neither of them. Instead, it was three dark humanoid figures with a few dark crystals on their bodies.

Heavin, Liriu, and Fura were taken aback when they saw those guys. That's because they could feel energy similar to what Fura released before they rescued her.

"Careful. There's a high chance they can also use Mental Energy ."

"We know."

One of the cultivators at the front felt the danger of those newcomers. So he decided to probe them by using a long-ranged attack.

"Light Piercer!"

A ray of light came from his hand, aiming straight at the enemy's head. However, the target suddenly disappeared.

*Boom!*

Before anyone could notice anything, the head of the cultivator who attacked was destroyed instead. Sure enough, these guys were in a completely different league.