The Tel Mistveil Forest screamed.

  Lightning split the sky as the lightning qi cultivator unleashed Thunder Spiral Barrage—a technique that summoned nine rotating arcs of lightning, each crackling with destructive intent. They spun outward like celestial blades, carving through trees, vaporizing mist, and sending shockwaves through the soil. The silverleaf canopy above was shredded, and the sacred fog that had cloaked the forest for centuries began to dissipate.

  Jalen didn’t dodge. He bent light.

  With Luminous Veil Step, he slipped between arcs, his body flickering like a mirage. The spirals passed through him harmlessly, unable to lock onto his shifting form. Then he countered with Radiant Pulse, a burst of condensed light qi that shattered two spirals mid-air and sent the lightning qi cultivator skidding backward, robes scorched and aura flickering.

  From the left, the metal qi cultivator charged with Iron Tempest Drive, his halberd spinning in a cyclone of sharpened metal shards. Each shard was infused with Sage-level qi, capable of piercing fortress-grade formations and severing spirit threads.

  Jalen raised Luminal Edge, deflecting the halberd with a radiant slash. Sparks flew. Metal screamed. The impact split a nearby boulder in half and sent tremors through the forest floor, cracking ancient roots and disturbing buried formations.

  Above, Shae hovered, her spatial qi folding reality like silk. She cast Void Bloom Array, a technique that created a field of collapsing space—each petal a trap, each fold a prison. The air around her shimmered with unstable dimensions.

  Jalen didn’t resist. He vanished.

  Light Flicker activated, and he reappeared behind Shae mid-cast, striking her shoulder with Luminal Edge—not to kill, but to destabilize her casting. The spatial array imploded prematurely, warping a section of the forest into a crater of twisted roots and shattered trees. The implosion echoed like a dying breath.

  The forest began to die.

  Silverleaf trees cracked under pressure. Spirit beasts fled in droves—foxes, serpents, and even a rare mist antelope bolted through the haze. The spiritual density thinned. Cultivators meditating miles away felt their formations collapse. Some abandoned their posts. Others watched from afar, trembling.

  Shae recovered, eyes blazing, gearing up to strike Jalen again—but he was already moving.

  The metal qi cultivator tried to flank him with Steel Mirage, a technique that split his body into three metal clones, each attacking from a different angle. But Jalen was too swift—he dodged all the clones’ attacks with ease. The lightning qi cultivator cast Lightning Storm Cage, trapping the battlefield in a dome of lightning, its walls pulsing with destructive voltage.

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  But that was a mistake.

  Jalen activated Luminal Edge, a blade designed to cut through formations and domains. He fused it with his Spirit Flame Art tenth technique, Nuclear Via Thread Fusion, then he struck, and the result was catastrophic.

  The lightning cage shattered instantly, the fusion tearing through its structure like paper. The backlash struck the lightning qi cultivator directly, sending him flying into a tree that exploded on impact. The forest groaned as another section collapsed into ash.

  Jalen didn’t hesitate. He surged forward and dealt the lightning qi cultivator a severe blow with Luminal Edge, slicing across his chest despite Shae and the metal qi cultivator’s desperate attempts to assist. The lightning cultivator didn’t die—but he was crippled, his qi sputtering.

  Jalen turned to the metal qi cultivator.

  He cleaved through the man’s shoulder with Luminal Edge, then unleashed Flame Rupture, the Eighth Technique of the Spirit Fire Art—a blast of compressed flame qi that pierced his defenses and ignited the soul from within. The cultivator screamed, his halberd falling from his grasp as his body convulsed.

  But before Jalen could finish him off, Shae intervened.

  She cast a powerful spatial ability—Fold Reversal—that warped the battlefield and forced Jalen to separate from his target. The terrain twisted, and the metal qi cultivator was pulled away into a pocket fold.

  Jalen responded with a flurry of sword slashes, each one precise and radiant. Shae kept up for a time, her spatial folds deflecting and redirecting his strikes. But then Jalen activated Flash Reversion and began to phase unpredictably. He struck from angles she couldn’t anticipate, cutting her in various places—shoulder, thigh, and forearm.

  Blood shimmered in the air.

  Eventually, the other two Sage Realm cultivators—though injured—rejoined the battle. Their combined power was immense, capable of suppressing entire mid-level sects. Their attacks tore through the forest, collapsing hills and vaporizing rivers. But against Jalen, they were losing.

  Jalen’s movements were too refined. His qi is too pure. His techniques are too layered.

  As they began to slow, Jalen activated Light Chain; radiant chains materialized out of nowhere, wrapping around the lightning qi cultivator and the metal qi cultivator, sealing their movement and suppressing their qi. The more they struggled, the tighter these chains bound them, locking their meridians and severing their access to external qi.

  Shae, however, managed to dodge the chains heading for her, but barely.

  She pulled back, blood dripping from her wounds. Her eyes darted toward the anchor she’d left earlier—a spatial marker hidden beneath a silverleaf root. She activated Dimensional Escape, a technique that allowed her to create a portal that could transport her several miles away, but only if an anchor had been placed beforehand.

  The portal shimmered into existence.

  But Jalen was already there.

  He appeared at the portal’s edge and destroyed it with Luminal Edge, severing the spatial thread and collapsing the escape route. Shae gasped, stumbling backward.

  Jalen didn’t give her time to recover.

  He cast Blizzard Coil, the eighth technique of the Ice Art—not to trap her, but to stun her. The sudden burst of snow qi disrupted her spatial senses, slowing her reactions and numbing her limbs.

  Before she could break free, the Light Chain surged forward and bound her.

  Shae screamed as the radiant links wrapped around her arms and legs, locking her in place. Her spatial qi flared, trying to break the chains—but like what happened to her comrades, they bound tighter.

  With this the battle ended.

  Jalen stood amidst the wreckage, his blade humming with light, his aura steady.

  And the three Sage Realm cultivators lay bound and broken before him.