Faith Academy

Grim returned from the Alliance headquarters.

Afterward, he briefed the staff and the instructors about his arrangement.

The news brought a cheerful environment to the academy. Some instructors were quite versed in the 'fire' element, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.

Then, he warned everyone from the academy not to reveal the secrets of the 'unique cultivation area' or else they would be exiled from the alliance.

He also shared his enlightenment with others. But as the principal said back then. It was of little to or no use. So, he shared his experience of breakthroughs into the dominion realm instead.

Now everything depended on their hard work and talent.

"I haven't trained myself since coming here. I'll go and cultivate as well. I can't laze around when there are still enemies out there."

Grim went back to the manor and went into closed-door cultivation.

***

A year later

Two cultivators broke through into the dominion, it caused a massive commotion-alerting the spies.

Just as Grim had predicted, the spies discovered the 'unique cultivation area'. They didn't know what was inside the area, but they did know it was boosting the cultivator's strength.

Now, there were two new cultivators in the dominion realm. Bai Hua from the 'Faith' Academy, and Meng Shi-one of the elders of the 'Beast' alliance.

The spies swiftly departed from the Alliance Headquarters.

Meanwhile, Grim exited the manor.

"That took quite a time. I'll have to find external sources to boost the cultivation speed."

Then, he examined the body.

'Vigor'

His strength multiplied by 110x. However, to his delight-the muscle size had decreased by a small degree. Usually, his body would increase by 4x when he strengthened himself to 100x.

He didn't mind the transformation. But he wouldn't mind having the same power with a regular-sized body.

"So, the body size will decrease with the increase in power? I look forward to it."

Then, he went out to get some air.

He came across the news that instructor Bai Hua and another cultivator had broken through to the dominion realm.

He went to Bai Hua's place.

"Congratulation, instructor Bai Hua for the breakthrough."

Bai Hua glanced at the source of the noise and saw Grim. He tried to inspect Grim's level, and to nobody's surprise-he couldn't do it.

"Thank you, disciple Grim. If not for the opportunity granted by you, I wouldn't have made a breakthrough." Bai Hua thanked him.

"No, problem."

Grim took off and flew toward the Alliance headquarters to congratulate the other cultivator.

***

Martial Alliance

The three alliance leaders prepared a small congratulatory banquet for Men Shi's breakthrough.

Grim's sudden appearance caused a small commotion, but it died down. Afterward, he congratulated Meng Shi.

He gathered with the alliance leaders after the party.

"Brother Grim, why did you gather us here?" asked Zhao Jing.

Grim replied. "It's about the spies."

Immediately, their expression turned solemn.

Ren Ping asked. "Did you find the spies, Brother Grim?

Grim replied. "No. We have a more serious problem than that."

Tao Shun snickered. "What could be more serious than having spies in the headquarters?"

Grim calmly said. "How does discovering secrets of the 'unique cultivation area' and reporting it to the enemies sound?"

The trio was caught off guard.

Zhao Jing said. "But, we only let trustworthy cultivators enter."

Grim added. "They didn't discover it. We exposed ourselves."

Zhao Jing asked again. "What do you mean, brother Grim?"

However, Ren Ping interjected. "The breakthrough."

Grim replied. "That's right. The breakthroughs blew up our cover. Now, they suspect the garden might hold some godly treasure."

Zhao Jing yelled. "Dammit."

Grim said. "There is no point in regretting now. How long does it take for a cultivator at the evolution realm to reach the forbidden forest?"

Ren Ping replied. "At least a month."

Grim inquired. "So, we have around two months at best. Are there any cultivators who can break through within those two months?"

Ren Ping replied. "Yes. Two more cultivators are on the verge of a breakthrough, Brother Grim."

"Very well. Let them cultivate peacefully, and start the preparation for the battle. We don't want to get caught off guard." ordered Grim.

"Yes, brother Grim."

Soon, the battle preparation commenced. At first, they laid traps and spell in front of the trenches. Afterward, they started giving combat training to all the soldiers. Then, they banned anyone from exiting the Alliance headquarters.

The surveillance had also increased within the walls. Four dominion realm cultivators were made to patrol the entire location turn-wise, the exceptions being Grim and the three alliance leaders.

The spies within observed the changes taking place. But they couldn't leave the headquarters to inform Guo Min.

***

Faith Academy

Grim informed everyone within the academy about the potential battle in the future. However, he didn't disclose the information about the wyvern. He didn't want to scare anyone.

The information made everyone nervous. But they weren't panic-stricken contrary to Grim's expectation.

Grim had become everyone's idol, causing everyone to have unwavering faith in him. You could say the academy had become true to its name.

It didn't mean they were slacking off. They went through the same training as in the army. Grim hired a few army instructors to mimic the training schedule of the army.

"Now, everyone is busy with the training. However, it's not useful for me. I don't have enough time for cultivation or body enhancement."

He started pondering. "Hmm. What should I do?"

Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. "How about I create a clone and let it keep an eye on the enemy? I can also deal a heavy blow if I catch them off guard."

Haha!

He gloated. "Grim, you are such a genius."

'Polyp'

80% of his Qi vanished instantly, and a clone appeared.

He thought. "I can never get used to the looks of the clone. It's like I'm staring at the mirror."

The clone replied. "Well, get used to it."

"Oh, I forgot they can read thoughts. Alright, you can go to the forest and wait there."

'Aerial'

The clone nodded in response and disappeared. The clone only had half of the strength. But it was stronger than most of the cultivators in the headquarters. So, he departed without any problems.

***

30 kilometers from the headquarters.

Whoosh!

The clone arrived at the location after ten minutes.

Grim sensed the clone's location.

"He must have reached the destination. I did tell him to wait, but the target will arrive after two months. I'll just have it farm Evo points for me."

Grasping Grim's thought, the clone started hunting the beasts.

The clone only had half the strength. However, he was still in the dominion realm. So, it was peace of cake.

He took his time hunting. It took him ten days to eliminate the beasts within an area of a kilometer.

***

A month later, The Forbidden Forest

The spies arrived at the forest and informed Guo Min about the recent changes in the alliance headquarters.

Guo Min stood up. "Did you just say divine treasure that can help with breakthrough?"

One of the spies said. "Yes, sect leader. We don't know what it is, but we know its effects. Otherwise, how can two cultivators break through at the exact time and the exact place?"

"You have done a commendable job. You guys wait here. I'll go inform the lord immediately." Guo Min left in a hurry.

He arrived in front of the cave and called out.

"Lord"x5

Soon, he got a response. "What is it human?"

Guo Min replied. "We have an emergency, Lord."

The Wyvern said. "Go on."

"Our spies just came up with a report. They believe the humans might have found a divine treasure that can boost the breakthrough process."

The wyvern stammered. "Impossible."

Guo Min replied. "I had the same thoughts, Lord. But according to the spies, two cultivators broke through at the exact time and the exact place, and the location is heavily guarded. So, something is going on there."

"If it's true, we need to act fast. Go, gather all the troops. You have a week for it." ordered the wyvern

"Yes, Lord." Guo Min left the cave and went to Griffin's settlement. Afterward, he recounted the events. Then, they both started assembling their respective troops.

***

A week later.

Hordes of beasts were gathered in a large patch of land in the middle of the forest. There were around 50,000 beasts in the hordes. The entire forest had been emptied.

It was impossible to manage such a large horde. So, there was chaos everywhere.

Screech!

Suddenly, a powerful noise came from the sky.

The beasts were prideful creatures. So, they tried to peek at the source of the noise. Suddenly, a heavy aura descended-paralyzing them in the spot.

Yet, they could still see the shadow of the beast. It had a size of 20 kilometers, which instantly scared most of the beasts.

The wyvern soon landed on the high ground. Then, it gave a speech. "My brethren. We just received news that humans have found a divine treasure, and it's increasing their strengths rapidly. If we let them grow too strong, we might never achieve our freedom. So, we should attack them now, and catch them off guard."

"Let's go now. There's no turning back now."

The wyvern took off, followed by the hordes and the soldiers.

[Evo Points Left: 1,444,750]