The Shining Star Above The Heaven

In another place within the secret realm, a young man was fighting a beast, a massive creature far larger than his body. His short black hair flailed in the wind as the shockwave of his punch swept through the air. His muscles truly displayed their power as explosive strength burst forth.

The beast he punched was a silver-colored bear with red eyes. Its aura was at the low marquess stage, blaring with pressure, yet the young man, who only had high earl stage cultivation, managed to injure it severely with his strikes.

He did not stop, throwing another punch until he finally killed the bear. His blow pierced through the beast's body, leaving a gaping hole. The massive frame collapsed, while the young man's face and body were slightly dirtied by the beast's blood.

The young man, Kang Yongjin, then turned his gaze in one direction. He had spotted several yellow-colored crystals embedded near a tree. This place was clearly the bear's territory, earlier he discovered the yellow crystals, which were a jackpot for him.

Normally, participants would escape or even avoid this kind of area, as it was much better and safer to search for crystals in other locations. Although yellow crystals were tempting, they had to ensure they were not killed first. This bear was something they would avoid, as facing it was the same as receiving a death sentence for normal participants.

However, Kang Yongjin, who enjoyed fighting, actually decided to battle the bear that was much stronger than him in terms of cultivation. He was confident in his strength, and this was proven when he managed to defeat the beast.

He then took four yellow crystals and stored them in his bracelet. After that, he continued his hunt, deciding to approach the high mountainous range to look for more crystals. In the middle of his journey, a male participant suddenly saw him, and upon recognizing who he was, that participant instantly fled.

Kang Yongjin had already sensed him but simply let him go.

'Tch, what a coward,' he thought with disdain.

He maintained his pace and kept thinking about the time when he would face Zander. Finding someone with great strength within the same realm as him truly excited him, and he could not wait to have a good fight.

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An hour later, Zander had already left the desert region and entered the forest. Along the way, he had already found many crystals in different places, some of them even near strong beasts. He also took advantage of those moments to train his swordsmanship by killing stronger beasts.

The only exception was when he encountered a beast higher than the middle marquess stage. Against such opponents, he chose to avoid and escape, as he was not yet confident in fighting at that level.

As he kept battling, his skill and battle sense grew sharper.

At this very moment, he was facing a giant snake at the middle marquess stage, fighting it head-on. The snake was much more aggressive and faster compared to the giant sandworm, yet he was still able to evade its attacks.

The snake already bore several slash wounds across its body, the most severe one just before its head. Zander used the same strategy he had employed against the sandworm, striking the same spot repeatedly to break through its tough scales.

A few moments later, he leapt forward and delivered a strong, clean slash that instantly decapitated the snake. He landed beside its massive body and took a deep breath before continuing his search for crystals. As he moved on, he occasionally encountered other participants, but the moment they saw him, they immediately fled.

He did not pursue them and simply continued on his way.

However, a few minutes later, he sensed something beneath his feet. Suddenly the connection to the surrounding heaven and earth energy abruptly vanished, leaving him weakened, and at the same time his legs sank into the ground as if trapped.

Before he could think of the reason, he sensed danger from the side and tilted his head slightly, narrowly dodging. An arrow whizzed past, aimed directly at his head, making him instantly turn toward the direction it had come from.

But before he could see who had shot the arrow, he sensed another presence behind him and responded with a swift kick.

"Ugh." A groan escaped as Zander turned to look behind him. What he saw was a man who had managed to block his kick. However, before he could think any further, another arrow came flying from the same direction. He frowned as he finally unsheathed his sword and intercepted the incoming shot.

Almost immediately, he sensed another arrow, but just as he prepared to block it with his sword, he caught signs of other attacks. From behind, he felt fire laws surging toward him, while from his left side came a strike infused with wind laws. He was surrounded from all sides, and each of these attacks would be fatal if they landed. If they struck, he knew he would be instantly eliminated!

With no other choice, he decided to go all out. Unleashing his sword will, he swung his blade in a sweeping motion. The strike looked simple, but the power behind it was overwhelming, tearing through the surrounding area and shattering everything caught in its path.

The surrounding trees were cut down, the incoming elemental attacks were destroyed, the arrows shattered, and even the ground that had trapped him cracked and broke apart under the force of his sword will.

"Watch out!" one of the attackers shouted. The man who had blocked Zander's earlier kick also understood immediately and dodged the sweeping strike. Two kilometers in the direction of Zander's slash, every tree was sliced cleanly apart, leaving the area much brighter as nothing remained to block the sunlight.

The attackers who witnessed this felt their hearts tremble. To think that a single swing of Zander's sword could unleash such power! If they had not evaded, they would have been instantly eliminated.

As Zander destroyed his surroundings, he once again felt the flow of heaven and earth energy returning to him. He steadied his stance and fixed his gaze on one of the attackers—a man in a white robe. Deciding to counterattack, he activated his movement technique and closed the distance in an instant.

But another arrow shot toward him, which made him irritated. With another powerful sweep of his sword, he focused all his strength in one direction. The result was utterly devastating.

Whoosh!

The attack concentrated at one point was far more devastating. The incoming arrow was instantly destroyed, and the slash energy shot forward at great speed toward the one who had released it. A kilometer away, an elf who had been attacking Zander from the start sensed danger directly in front of him and quickly dodged to the side.

He rolled as the slash energy tore past him, continuing far into the distance and devastating everything in its path.

The elf then heard one of his collaborators shout from afar, which made him glance back toward Zander.

"Block him! Uagh!"

One of his comrades had received Zander's direct strike, his own attack cut down with ease. Even when another rushed to help, Zander simply swung his sword, without employing any specific technique, and it was enough to shatter every attack they threw at him.

Looking at the situation, the elf gritted his teeth, thinking how truly unfair this was. At their level, they were forced to face someone who had comprehended sword will, and not just normal sword will, but a powerful one. That alone was enough for that swordmaster to sweep through most participants, as sword will greatly amplified the power of each strike.

At their level, going against someone like Zander, who wielded such a strong sword will, was like kicking a towering iron wall. No matter how hard they struck, they would leave no mark. Without some special power equal to Zander's, they had no chance of victory.

For someone at the earl stage to comprehend sword intent was already cheating. But for him to possess such a powerful sword will on top of that made this masked man unstoppable. Their ambush had become meaningless, as each of his strikes shattered their plans with ease.

The elf gritted his teeth and decided to escape as he heard a pained shout.

"Argh!"

Zander had tried to cut off one of the attacker's heads, but a thin barrier appeared to protect him. It shattered instantly, and the man disappeared. The other attacker also tried to escape, but Zander did not allow it.

With a single swing of his sword, his strike landed, or rather, it should have. A thin barrier appeared at the man's neck, but it too broke apart immediately, and he vanished as well.

Having eliminated two of them, Zander glanced toward the escaping elf but chose not to pursue. He took a deep breath, surveyed his surroundings one last time, and continued his search for crystals. Unfortunately, the crystals carried by the participants he had "killed" did not drop, leaving him empty-handed. Still, he did not dwell on it.

'Well, at least I reduced the number of participants,' he thought.

In the stadium, the two attackers had already reappeared, one of them hitting the floor in frustration.

"Damn it!"