The mind is endless.

It was a sentence that Jake liked saying.

Those four words represented the potential the mind held. They represented a subtle change in one's mindset that can transform their entire mind.

This could be better understood by recognizing the feat that Nico just performed.

Despite his energy reserve being depleted, Nico had forcefully created a pseudo one and used it to power his attack.

It had to be known that, normally, depleted energy reserves entailed that one would lack sufficient energy in their body.

They would then be like [Realm-1] cultivators who have to absorb [Spirit Essence] then release it immediately. This would, in turn, stop them from unleashing the full power of their techniques.

However, Nico had broken apart that concept.

He had scavenged a new energy reserve, despite draining his first one. It was definitely not normal.

What was more abnormal was the fact that he should be in a state of deficit right now, but he wasn't.

He was still able to use his physical body to fight.

This strange experience was the manifestation of the mind!

Following the change in his mindset, he had begun to think differently, he had unconsciously blocked his pain receptors and awakened his increasing factor.

Not only that, increase in intelligence, sharpening of the six senses, decreased morality. He had them all.

They were always in his body, but when his mind changed….when he "evolved", he managed to hold those hidden abilities in his hand.

Especially, the most absurd of them all; the blocking of his pain receptors.

It seemed to have aligned with his previous statement which mocked everything as being a joke.

That would mean nothing was ever serious or real, there were just jokes, a laughing joke.

So, when he received pain, he would scoff at it as being a joke, unconsciously blocking his pain receptors, something even stronger cultivators can't do!

It was the advantage of an evolved mind.

This was usually present on evil-aligned individuals, a path that Nico seemed to be walking to.

However, all kinds of individuals can display an ability that their mindset grants them. It doesn't have to be obvious, some of them can be subtle.

..........

The ten masked men watched as their horde of zombies got snuffed out, one by one.

Most of the [Gray Eye Zombies] were already dead and those that were still alive were about to die.

This made it possible for the remaining few of the group to finish off the rest of the horde.

Yet, none of the masked men were particularly shocked.

It had been part of their plans to thin down the forces, and they had achieved that spectacularly.

This could be seen as only there were only thirteen(13) cultivators left, none of the normal people survived!

After the last of the zombies were killed, the masked men walked gallantly to the tired group.

They said no words as they positioned themselves in front of the group, blocking them from escaping further.

"Who are you?" a soldier from the group asked them.

The masked men didn't recognize him, but judging from his army dress style, they had marked him as a knight-captain.

The rest of the group was somewhat noticeable. There was the crown prince Roan, the three royal princesses, and the participant of the previous Aztec competition.

Apart from them, there were another four more from the army.

Answering the knight-captain's question, one of the masked men responded, "We are Necro."

Squeezing his face, the knight-captain asked, "What is your aim?"

The leader of the masked men revealed as he wasn't compelling from saying it, "We are to remove any factor that can thwart the invasion. Enough talk!"

The leader looks at the other masked men and they all disperse, most of them choosing an individual from the escaping group to fight with, while some of them chose to fight against more than one.

This was the reason why they thinned the opponent.

They knew that the group would survive, but would be too weak to stand any chance against them.

It would be better in the long run.

......….

Among the escaping group, Nico was not feeling well.

The repercussion of his previous actions was coming back to him and he found himself in an endless pit of questions.

He couldn't remember how he killed the zombie or what actually happened.

All he could remember was the feeling of being at peace with himself and smiling, despite being injured.

As the current location was no place to deliberate on past matters, Nico ignored the issue with himself and focused on the matter at hand.

After a brief recuperation, he noticed that a masked man was working towards him.

'Strange. Why is he so familiar,' Nico noticed.

The way the masked man walked. His height and a lot more visible features made him too familiar for an attentive Nico.

After standing up fully, Nico limped back to give himself some space between both of them.

He asked the masked man, "Who are you?"

"You think so….." trailed the masked man.

He seemed to be having fun as he played around with Nico, "Why do you think so?"

Watching him, the feeling of familiarity only increased as the masked man kept talking.

Despite the mask changing the original voice of the face beneath it, Nico could still pick out some semblance with a person he had met before.

However, he couldn't find out exactly who.

Yet, this would mean that the masked man in front of him, and possibly the rest, were citizens of Aztec!

Strangely enough, Nico found himself not angry at the thought of the betrayal.

He even found it quite amusing.

After a few seconds, the masked man smirked loud enough for Nico to hear him.

Slowly, he removed his mask and allowed Nico to see what was hidden beneath it.

It revealed a tanned skin with white curly hair and a narrow face that continuously flashed a smile.

Looking at this popular face, Nico chuckled, "Sure enough...Dean Forst."