Rex gazed ahead at the woman, a bead of sweat drizzling down the side of his face.

    His severed right arm was slowly regenerating but his focus was solely fixed on the woman ahead.

    During that moment of darkness, the woman had beaten the dragon snake—countless glowing holes, as well as slash marks, could be seen across its body. Both the domineering presence and its dauntless ferocity were squashed completely.

    Its mile-long body lay and coiled on the cold, rough ground—unmoving.

    Blood decorated its opened maw, which also showed its broken venomous fangs.

    Levitating above this carcass was the woman, her ethereal cloak fluttered as she kept her balance with both hands facing down to the ground. Her glowing eyes checked the dragon snake before averting to Rex with purpose.

    Meeting her gaze, Rex squinted his eyes—curious as to what the woman did.

    System, can you explain what happened?

    Notice: the powerful woman possessed an Echo that prevented the user or anyone, who wasn''t strong enough to view her Spirit Genesis by making others pass out. It''s advised to not attempt to observe her Spirit Genesis again

    Reading the notification, Rex couldn''t help but frown.

    He had prepared to come to the Spirit Realm but he had underestimated the complexity of power here.

    What''s an Echo again? Explain it to me simply.

    Echoes could be comparable to runes—in the Mortal Realm. Like the Mortal Realm, there were ranks or categories dictating the power of the said Echoes and it also has a myriad of effects. However, the one stark difference was that in the Spirit Realm, one specific Echo is limited in number, some even only have one copy

    For instance, the Lunar Echo grants those—who wield it the power relating to the moon. Another was an Unquenchable Wrath Echo, granting authority over wrath and enhanced power the angrier one became. All Echoes are used to strengthen Spirit Genesis, turning it into a more powerful version

    In this instance, the woman''s Spirit Genesis has an Echo that prevents onlookers from watching her fight

    Now that the System explained it to him like that, Rex easily understood.

    An Echo is really similar to a rune but this was specifically for Soul Artifacts.

    How can I attain these Echoes? Is there an Echo Master out there that could create it?

    Negative.

    An Echo could only be found in a special area, created and groomed by a dedicated individual, granted by Gods, or the most common way—taken from others

    Rex had already purchased the information about the Spirit Realm from the System before he departed so he didn''t need to pay for this information. He contemplated for a moment before a thought came to mind, an interesting thought.

    Can I create the Blood Moon Echo or something like that?

    Yes! But the resources to create it will be enormous

    Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

    Upon gaining the answer, Rex couldn''t help but smile—the Spirit Realm had become more interesting.

    Just then, however—he coughed a mouthful of blood.

    Rex covered his mouth with his only hand and bent down, his pupils trembling in surprise.

    He was fine a second ago but in the next instant, blood climbed out of his mouth and his mind throbbed with an otherworldly pain. It was almost like a mental attack, a powerful migraine that caused the veins across Rex''s face and neck to bulge grotesquely.

    Notice: the user''s sanity has been decreased by 40% and berserk increased by 30%!

    Warning!

    Warning!

    The user stayed too long without protection within the Black Rift—and is experiencing the first stage of Voidal Metamorphosis, the hollowing. All of the user''s emotions would begin to be hollowed by the Black Rift!

    "What...?" Rex murmured through a blood-filled mouth. "I didn''t know about this!"

    Even though he tried learning as much as he could about the Spirit Realm, the Black Rift was the only exception as he didn''t know of its existence until recently. He didn''t know about this side effect at all, the Voidal Metamorphosis was beyond him.

    System, what should I do?!

    Notice: To resist the metamorphosis, the user must act on the user''s innermost drive

    Answer this question: What is the user''s defining purpose?

    Aware of One''s True Essence achievement has been completed!

    Dark Auctoritas Echo and 2x Triple Absorption Ticket

    Be advised, the time the user could stay within the Black Rift was halved until proper rest is fulfilled

    Seeing the series of notifications, Rex nodded his head.

    Based on the System, Rex instantly knew the answer to stop the Voidal Metamorphosis.

    It was to protect.

    His innermost driver was to protect those around him, to keep them safe from harm''s way even if that meant changing the whole world. At this moment, that was his sole desire—he didn''t care about his own well-being.

    Anything, he would do anything to keep the others safe and erase regrets of not being strong enough.

    Because frankly speaking, the others are all he has.

    Fortunately, I had the opportunity to save someone, or else that could''ve ended badly.

    Had the woman not lowered her guard, Rex wouldn''t have been able to do the act of saving—and the Voidal Metamorphosis would have held him stronger—and turned him into Voidal Monsters. But all that mattered was that it ended up good.

    Not only did he learn a valuable lesson, he even got an Echo!

    "Speak your desire, I will grant it," the woman suddenly said from behind.

    Upon hearing this, Rex glanced over his shoulder.

    "Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow.

    Keeping a composed look, she demanded again—with a hint of reluctance, "You helped so tell me what you wanted, and I shall grant it. In case you don''t know me or haven''t noticed, I''m of royal standing. I am quite capable of giving you any one thing you want"

    Rex was excited inside despite his composed face.

    He suspected that she came from a royal standing and he was right.

    "I can''t think of anything on the spot," He replied, turning to face her.

    But as soon as she said that, she walked past him, "In that case, you missed your chance"

    Upon seeing her levitating and flying away, Rex wanted to call for her but it was too late.

    He placed both his hands on his waist and sighed, "What an arrogant woman. Here I thought Laura was arrogant, looking down on me back when I wasn''t even an Awakened. I guess there''s always someone worse. She even used the word ''helped'' when it should''ve been ''saved'' since I used quite a good item to protect her"

    Not expecting it to turn out like this, Rex shook his head.

    "I told Liliya that I don''t need that talisman... Fortunately, I put it in the inventory" He mumbled.

    Linthia approached, "Are you okay?"

    "Yes," Rex nodded and glanced at her. "How come I''m affected and you''re not?"

    "Because I''m a Seeker? Maybe I have a higher tolerance to the Black Rift," She theorized.

    Rex shrugged, that was probably the case.

    Just then, he looked to the side and saw a glowing object in the distance.

    He tried approaching it and saw that it was the woman from earlier and what seemed to be a group, and among them was a Seeker. However, unlike Linthia, this Seeker could create an orb above them which in return, created a barrier to protect them from the Black Rift.

    "Huh... That must be why a group needed at least one Seeker," Rex mumbled inwardly.

    As he realized that, Linthia asked again, "Should we continue to hunt the Floating Heart?"

    "Yes, but first..." Rex turned to the dragon snake''s carcass.

    Even though he couldn''t scan its stats, he could scan to see whether it was still alive or not.

    It was alive but was still inactive—recovering.

    Upon seeing this, the corner of Rex''s lips curled into a cheeky smile.

    Maybe a little bit won''t hurt... Just a little.