Moonlight Sect.

Sun Lihua appeared at the cell in a flash of silver light, her robes still settling around her.

The iron bars stood open. The cell was empty.

The girls who had been visiting Cipher were huddled together nearby, their faces pale with confusion and fear.

"How did he escape?" Sun Lihua asked, her voice calm but carrying an edge that made the disciples flinch.

"We... we don't know," one of the girls stammered. "He was just sitting there, and then... he just disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Sun Lihua's eyes narrowed.

"Yes. One moment he was there, and the next... he was gone. It didn't seem like a technique or treasure. He just simply vanished."

Sun Lihua stood in silence for a long moment, her expression unreadable.

Then she cursed under her breath.

She had been careless.

Although he had already unlocked his spiritual sea, she had assumed he had done so unknowingly. He was from a less advanced world, after all. Their cultivation methods were primitive at best. She had thought his mind awakening was merely an accident.

That's why she hadn't bothered being as careful as she should have been. She had placed him in a regular cell with standard restraints and a simple formation. She hadn't even bothered setting up a specialized spatial lock or a divine sense inhibitor.

How foolish.

Now, seeing as he was able to escape right under everyone's nose without triggering a single alarm, it was clear that his awakening of the spiritual sea was no coincidence.

He had known exactly what he was doing.

That meant he was an extremely dangerous individual.

They needed to get him back. Fast.

"Lock down the surrounding areas immediately," Sun Lihua commanded, her voice sharp. "Notify all elders and begin a full search. Deploy the tracking formations and have the outer disciples patrol in rotating shifts."

The girls scrambled to attention. "Yes, Sect Master!"

"He couldn't have gone far," Sun Lihua continued, her eyes scanning the empty cell as if searching for any trace he might have left behind. "Seal all exit routes within a hundred-mile radius. No one enters or leaves without my permission."

"Understood!"

The disciples scattered, rushing to carry out her orders.

Sun Lihua remained where she stood, staring at the spot where Cipher had been just moments ago.

"What are you hiding?" she murmured softly to herself.

Her eyes glinted with renewed interest.

Still, this one was far more intriguing than she had initially thought.

…

How did things turn out like this?

Cipher thought as he swung his sword desperately, cleaving through three demons at once.

Black blood sprayed across his face as their bodies crumpled to the ground.

But more took their place immediately.

He had taken the wrong route.

To think there was such a territory filled with just demons. Endless waves of them, pouring from every direction like a tide.

He activated his Shadow Assassin skill, blurring past a cluster of demons and cutting them down from behind. Before their bodies even hit the ground, he was already spinning, his blade meeting the claws of another attacker.

He parried. Countered. Slashed.

A demon lunged at his blind spot. He threw a dagger without looking, the blade embedding itself in the creature's skull. Another came from above. He sidestepped and drove his sword upward through its chest.

They just kept coming.

He activated Shadow Assassin once more, his body flickering as a shadow clone materialized where he had been standing. Three demons pounced on it while he repositioned, using the opening to cut down five more in rapid succession.

Battle Instinct screamed warnings in his mind - danger from the left, the right, above, below. Red lines of killing intent crisscrossed his vision from every angle.

He ducked under a swipe that would have taken his head. Rolled to avoid a blast of demonic energy. Came up swinging, his blade carving through flesh and bone.

A claw raked across his back, tearing through muscle. He gritted his teeth and kept fighting. The wound began closing almost immediately.

Another demon slammed into him from the side, sending him crashing into a boulder. He felt ribs crack on impact. Before he could recover, three more were on him, their claws tearing into his arms and legs.

He roared and unleashed a burst of mana, throwing them off. His sword sang through the air, decapitating all three in a single motion.

His regeneration worked overtime, knitting flesh and mending bone even as new wounds appeared.

[Congratulations! Regeneration (B) has advanced to Regeneration (A)]

He dismissed the notification and kept fighting.

A demon twice his size charged at him. He met it head-on, driving his blade through its heart before ripping it out sideways. Hot blood splashed across his chest.

His mind was clear. Focused. Every movement was calculated, every strike precise.

[Congratulations! Unwavering Will (B) has advanced to Unwavering Will (A)]

Another notification. Another dismissal.

A barrage of demonic energy blasts came at him from multiple directions. He weaved through them, his body moving on instinct alone. One grazed his shoulder, burning through skin. Another caught his thigh.

The pain was immense. But he had long since stopped caring about pain.

[Congratulations! Pain Tolerance (S) has advanced to Pain Tolerance (SS)]

He leveled up. Stats were distributed instantly by his parallel mind. He didn't even pause to check the numbers.

He kept fighting.

His skills were advancing. His body was growing stronger with every passing moment. He could feel himself improving in real-time, adapting to the chaos of battle.

But he wasn't gaining any ground.

He couldn't even see a reduction in the number of opponents. For every demon he killed, ten more seemed to take its place. It was as though he was doing nothing at all.

At that moment, the air changed.

A presence descended from above.

Cipher froze.

A figure appeared in the sky, hovering effortlessly over the battlefield. Crimson hair flowed behind him like flames, and a single horn jutted from his forehead. His eyes were the same color as his hair, and they regarded Cipher with lazy disinterest.

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