However, just as everyone had calmed down and was observing the array, a slight fluctuation appeared in the sky and an AV sped toward the Ascension Province.

Eterna manifested in Grey's mental interface. "The Federation expert is here."

"Oh?" A smile appeared on Grey's face when he heard her. "The timing couldn't be better than this."

"Also, when are you banning the Cyborg evolutionary path?" Since she was here, he decided to ask her. It was supposed to happen already, but it still hadn't been banned.

"There are some delays. But it should be banned today." Eterna announced.

"Alright." Grey shifted his focus back to the AV, which was growing bigger every second.

Bzz-!

Soon, the AV that had appeared out of nowhere closed in on the Ascension Province. It had a sleek black design and a heavy metallic finish to it, and on the top of its surface was the federation logo, a flat blue world revolving around rings and directly below it were the words: Blue Star Federation.

"Warning. Warning. A powerful barrier spotted." From inside the AV, several warning signs rang out. "Please proceed with caution."

Sitting in the main seat was a man with an angularly shaped beard, a sharp gaze, and short-cut blond hair. His naturally green eyes stood out beneath the white military hat resting atop his head, and he wore a pristine white uniform with golden lines accenting the shoulder plates and polished golden buttons running down the front.

"Just a barrier?" The Federation Expert, Fedrick Alanstein, sneered in disdain. "What makes you think that these country bumpkins can stop my latest generation Aerial Vehicle? Its defensive and offensive capabilities are as strong as the peak stage of second rank and its speed far surpasses an average third rank expert at first level."

"I finally stepped into the Inner Core Realm, having condensed my True Spirit Martial Energy from the Spirit Vitalization Realm into a nascent core. If not for this damned mission, I would have already completed the core's full formation, transferred both my spirit and body into it, and even upgraded my perks with the Federation Military to get a faster and stronger AV. Why did they dispatch me to this backwater region? I'm almost certain I'll lose my powers just by staying here."

Fedrick lamented.

Out of all regions, the southern region had the least amount of cosmic energy. That was because the corruption fields in this region were far higher than the rest of the regions, and that was caused by the lack of experts in this region, and the lack of cosmic energy in turn caused less and less experts to spawn here.

Fedrick Alanstein, who came from the high and mighty floating cities, didn't believe a mere barrier from the southern region could cause him any harm.

He believed that it was a protective measure the city lord put down to prevent more High Order members from entering.

Originally, he received the emergency signal from a slightly advanced city down below, which was none other than Ashspire City. But since it was something from the southern region, he didn't even bother looking into the name of the city, and he simply put the AV on autopilot and let it guide him here.

He was a powerful third rank expert, so why would he bother remembering the names of these backwater cities?

Fedrick had always looked at the people that lived in the lower regions in disdain. The ten floating cities up above the skies were bigger than these four regions combined, and it was the collective power of the fourth rank experts at work. They curved the space inward to the point even a small island-level space could accommodate such a large place and they also enjoyed powerful cosmic energy storms that came from the planet's core.

That aside, Fedrick began looking around.

"Strange." Fedrick frowned. "Why don't I sense any corruption energy or see any High Order members."

He scanned the area, yet outside the barrier there was no sign of the High Order. Of course, corruption fields were there, but he made sure to filter them out when he scanned the place to identify the High Order.

"Could it be that the High Order didn't invade at all?" Fedrick's expression turned ugly.

He looked at the cities. Even the cities didn't show any sign of damage or High Order activity.

"Then what was the point of sending an emergency distress signal?" Fedrick's expression turned cold.

His body trembled slightly as if he had just been scammed, and rage slowly bubbled within him.

"Hey AI, what's happening here?" Fedrick asked in anger.

"Calculating." The AI which was built into his AV spoke in a cold mechanical voice. "No sign of corruption energy detected. The corruption energy activity within the barrier is zero. No threat found. Error. This contradicts the mission Lord Fedrick was deployed for. Please contact the City Lord immediately."

"That's my plan." Fedrick took a deep breath and immediately his AV throttled toward the barrier.

However, just as the AV came in contact with the barrier, Fedrick's expression turned ugly.

Red light flickered from all the screens inside the AV.

Boom!

The next moment, the AV that came in contact with the barrier was abruptly corroded with a greyish energy and it immediately detonated.

"Who?!" Fedrick's enraged voice boomed as the smoke cleared. "Who did it?!"

Immediately, a terrifying and breath stopping fluctuation erupted out from Fedrick. Within seconds, his energy had reached all corners of the Ascension Province.

"This power." Werner's expression turned serious. "Master, it's a third rank!"

He was incredibly shocked.

What was a third rank doing in the southern region?

"I'm aware." Grey's expression was also serious.

He never expected the federation expert dispatched would actually turn out to be a powerful third ranking evolver. Considering the efficiency of the federation, he expected something less.

And from the power he just sensed, he easily identified the person as a martial artist.

A martial artist at the third rank.

In terms of combat capabilities, martial artists were on top.

Grey had seen the guy's AV getting destroyed, and that was probably the reason why he got angry as well. But what could he do?

He should have asked for clearance before entering.

It wasn't his fault.

But on the other hand, he couldn't let this fellow wreak havoc either, as he could already sense intention from the display of power.

Grey's figure flickered and he shot off toward the Federation Expert.

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