The team, mounted on the colossal form of the Spined Sea-Dragon, arrived at the coordinates Jian had provided long ago. It was a desolate, windswept region of jagged, barren mountains, a place of sheer rock and little life.

This was where the base was located the last time Jian was here. He pointed towards a massive, unremarkable sheer cliff face. “There,” he said, his voice a low growl. “Behind that rock is their nest. I watched Elder Tian Long escape into it myself.”

Jian Xuan stepped forward to the edge of Spine’s broad back, his eyes gleaming with a fierce, joyful light. This was his moment. “As promised, Young Master,” he said, a wide, predatory grin on his face, “the first strike is mine.”

He did not wait for a response, he was already in action as he spoke. He drew his sword, DayBreak. It was a thing of simple, breathtaking beauty. The sword had no flashy runes, no glowing gems. It radiated an aura of pure, unadulterated sharpness, a quiet promise of lethal perfection.

Jian held it aloft, and his martial spirit, a magnificent winged sword with pinions of razor-sharp silver light, materialized behind him before flowing into DayBreak. The blade began to hum with an incredible power, its body glowing with a light so bright it was like a miniature sun.

With a deafening war cry, Jian slashed downwards. The sword did not just cut; it projected a blade of pure, concentrated sword qi, hundreds of meters long, that tore through the air and slammed into the cliff face below.

The mountain itself screamed. The sword qi struck the rock, and the entire cliff face exploded outwards in a cataclysmic blast of dust and shattered stone. The powerful concealment formation hidden within the rock was obliterated along with its physical anchor.

The explosion revealed a massive, gaping hidden cave entrance, and beyond it, the sprawling complex of dark, stone buildings and training grounds of the hidden base, now exposed and vulnerable. They too were damaged from the sword strike.

The reaction this time was way faster than at the base in the west, as though they were expecting them to come. They were probably waiting for this moment, to catch those that were attacking them.

The moment the formation shattered, a deafening war horn blared, and figures poured out of the buildings, their movements disciplined and immediate. They were not caught by surprise by the attack just now. They were ready for this, ready for a fight this time.

At the head of the rushing tide of warriors, a single, terrifying aura erupted, a presence that dwarfed all others. A man clad in obsidian color armor, his face a mask of cold fury, shot into the sky to meet them.

His power was immense, a clear and undeniable sign that the Beast Faction had indeed reinforced their base. He was a first stage Soul Formation expert, a true powerhouse sent to guard this critical location. More importantly he was sent here to guard against this attack. There were others sent to their other important bases as well.

He had been waiting here for a long long time. They had assumed that the next attack would come quickly, so they scrambled their forces to all their important locations. But then, nothing happened. For weeks after weeks he waited, waiting for the enemy to strike. Had they chosen a different target? Was the previous base just a random thing that happened?

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Just as they were about to get ready to leave and head elsewhere that he was needed, the attack happened. He was ready to extract revenge for their defeat in the west. To stop whatever force was directed at them.

However, they had made a grave mistake. A 1st stage Soul Formation expert was not enough. It might have been enough to stop many if not most of the forces on this continent, but not this one. Commander Lysander was after all a high ranking member of the Forest of the Radiant Dawn and he too was ‘only’ at the 1st stage of Soul Formation. A powerhouse in his own right. The step from Core Formation to Soul Formation was a big one, a step that stopped many geniuses.

“A decent opponent!” Jian roared with laughter. He was slightly disappointed that the man was ‘only’ at the 1st stage of Soul Formation but it was still the strongest person he’s fought with outside this group of freaks he was with. His body a streak of light as he charged down at the man, DayBreak in hand.

As he moved, his martial spirit, which had been imbued in his sword, now split out from the blade. It did not return to his form but took on a life of its own, a majestic, winged sword that was as swift and solid as the real thing, flying at the opponent alongside him.

The enemy expert, stunned to see a 4th stage Soul Formation cultivator charging at him, knew he was outmatched, but he did not flee. He roared, his body beginning to transform into that of a monstrous, six-limbed bear, and he swung a massive, clawed fist to meet Jian’s charge. Jian contemptuously deflected the man’s attack with a casual parry.

In that same instant, his martial spirit, the winged sword, came right after, a blur of unstoppable silver light. It sliced through the air and, before the man could stop it, it cut his head straight off his shoulders.

The people charging with the man, who had been prepared to fight to the death, faltered. Their leader, their Soul Formation protector, their ultimate defense, had just been effortlessly killed in a single exchange. Who was this person attacking? How could he be so strong?

The entire base looked up at the lone figure of Jian Xuan, floating in the air above them, his sword resting casually on his shoulder now. They looked at him in amazement and soul-crushing fear. This was what Jian wanted, those looks of fear and admiration. This was his dao, to be the absolute strongest.

He could feel it again, that intoxicating rush as he basked in their awe and terror. Their fear was a tribute, their awe a form of worship, and it fed his spirit, making his power feel ever stronger, more refined. It was of course, just a tiny bit of increased strength, but an increase. He truly loved this feeling, to be looked up to and acknowledged by all.

He looked down at the thousands of warriors below. A moment ago, they were about to kill him. Now they were standing there, frozen, panicking, their morale completely shattered, their every thought consumed by his next move.

The moment didn’t last too long. With a roar that shook the very foundations of the area, Spine came behind him, already in his Gargantuan Spined Sea-Dragon form. His purpose was not to inspire awe, but to inflict pain. He was going to rampage once again.

Some of the people that followed their now-dead leader, their minds reeling from the shock, yelled out at the descending monster. “Wait! You are a beast! You should be on our side! Why are you attacking us? We are on the side of the beast god, who controls all beasts!”

Spine didn’t answer. His sorrowful eyes held no pity, only a cold, burning purpose. He continued his attack, a living avalanche of claws and fury, and the slaughter began anew. The rest of the battle was, as Jian had predicted, not that eventful.

With their leader dead and their morale shattered, the remaining forces were easily overwhelmed. Those that were stronger than Spine were stopped by either Jian, Kael or Bai. There was no chance to turn the tables here, it all ended very quickly. The base was destroyed, its treasures looted, and its inhabitants purged from the world.

No one was captured this time around. Bai Yan, Kael, and Shara were, once again, completely surprised by the sheer, overwhelming ease at which the base was destroyed. With Jian taking care of the only threat to any of them, it seemed as though they had attacked a bandit camp on the mountains in passing. They had been prepared this time, reinforced with a Soul Formation expert but they had still underestimated the terrifying power that their enemies wielded.