Familiar forest

Lucifer turned towards the direction the young man was looking at, only to realise that Ace was the only person in the young man's line of sight.

"If it's him that you want to kill, then you should just leave this place right now before I decide to take your life." Lucifer replied with a sly smile as the young man wrinkled his brows.

Taking over the cup of tea, he breathed in the aromatic fragrance of this tea, bringing it to his lips. The young man then asked, "Why can't I kill him?"

"Because he's considered half a disciple to me and someone else you can't mess with." Lucifer explained slowly as he enveloped Ace with a magical barrier without the young man noticing this action.

"I see." The young man laughed as he stretched up his palm and tried to pull Ace towards him with a suction force, only to realise that Ace was already under the protection of shadow energy.

"Aren't you afraid that I might divulge your whereabouts to my father? My father may not be a match for you, but if the news were to be known to the others, what do you think would happen?" The young man threatened with a peaceful smile, but to Ace, this young man was just disgusting.

"But if you aren't able to leave this place alive, then all your plan would be for nought won't it? I shall give you an offer here, leave this place right now and I can forget about the past cultivation resources you've gotten from me…"

Lucifer said coldly as shadow energy gathered around his palm, yet the young man showed no fear.

"If not what? Are you going to kill me?"

*Swoosh*

"Argh! Damn you!"

The young man screamed in agony as his right arm was forcibly torn from his body, covering the wound area was a mass of shadow energy that was diving deeper into the body of that young man.

"What are you doing to me?" The young man questioned in fear as he covered his open wound with his other arm, only to realise that his body was being drained of its energy. To be more exact, his life essence was being drained from his body.

"I gave you a choice. If you leave right now, you might be able to preserve that arm of yours before it corrupts. Of course, you're free to stay here for some tea."

The young man scurried away and left in a hurry.

"You'll regret what you've done to me today!"

The young man screamed at the top of his voice once again as Lucifer played around with the shadow energy dormant in the body of that young man.

Wounds might not be much of a problem to a cultivation genius like that young man, but if its internal wounds that hunt him until it's removed when the pain it causes is inhumane, even someone like him only has room for fear and nothing else.

"Senior Lucifer, was it worth it to offend someone you shouldn't just for my sake?" Seeing that the young man had left the castle and that no one else was present, Ace asked Lucifer as he leaned against the wall casually.

"Hahahaha! Even if you weren't present, I would��ve done the same thing to that brat!" Lucifer assured him with an unexpected answer.

Ace remained silent, appreciating this gesture from the depths of his heart.

"Now then, are you ready for the second part of your training?" Lucifer went straight into the main topic as he transported both Ace and himself to another minor dimension he created a few days ago.

*Warzone*

It had already been a few hours since the second phase of the war. The afternoon sun was glaring, but compared to the cruel sight of the battlefield, it was nothing.

The lush greenery was totally destroyed, the ground was stained with liquid crime that can never be washed away, the clouds were bawling their eyes out as tears attempted to soothe the ground it once loved.

The human cultivators had decided themselves into three major groups to cover all three directions. The north where the ocean lays, the east where the peak experts battle against each other and the west where it's a competition between manpower.

Cidd and the others remained in their tent the entire time, awaiting the Earth Striders that would soon bring hell onto the battleground.

Their plan was for them to gather in their own respective groups to settle one Earth Strider at a time while preventing it from escaping underground.

As for how it was going to be executed, they would have to thank Arith for providing them with costly yet modified energy pistols that would play a pivotal role here.

Excluding the respective leaders of each group, each disciple was given one of the modified energy pistols.

Now, all they had to do was wait for the Earth Striders to appear.

In the meantime, Ace had already arrived within the other dimension with Lucifer while Jay was currently somewhere else, probably taking a rest or enjoying the scenery somewhere.

"Senior Lucifer, what plans have you arranged for me?" Ace asked politely for the first time instead of lashing out, his eyes were observing this entire forest which felt oddly familiar to him.

The colossal trees were blocking off most of the sunlight, the surroundings was devoid of any forms of life while a dangerous aura lurked around the area.

"In this one month, you're expected to survive in this forest all alone by yourself. Remember, do not hesitate to escape if needed, especially if you bump into a demon beast in the Transcendent realm."

Lucifer warned as he took out what seemed like a purple talisman, embedded on it was an odd looking sigil that resembled a bewitching eye.

"If you get into any trouble that endangers your life, just crush this talisman and I'll be on time to collect your corpse...I mean save your life." Lucifer joked around before vanishing from the forest while laughing as Ace shook his head and sighed helplessly.

Was the trial I was just in moments ago a foreshadow of this place which I'm in now? Ace wondered to himself as he headed towards the direction of the lake in the forest based on his memory.

Considering that it would take quite some time even if he rushes towards the lake, Ace decided to test his limits as he ran towards a tree and climbed up by making use of his sword.

Every time he jumps, he'll stab his sword into the tree in order to stabilize himself. By making use of this, he'll step on his own sword, kicking against the tree to generate height while pulling his sword out before stabbing it into the tree again.

The process was dull and boring, but after tens of attempts, he finally reached the top of the tree and got onto a tree branch.

Looking around, he realised that there were vibrant fruits grown on these trees.

Right when he was thinking if it was a wise choice to give this tempting fruit a tree, the screech of a hawk surprised him.

He had caught the attention of an aerial demon beast that dominates this forest.

Unlike other places, the demon beasts here were all dominant leaders of their own territories, this forest was a place in which survival of the fittest remains in its true definition. There were few demon beasts, but each and every single one of them were lethally dangerous.

Drawing out his sword, Ace prepared himself for the upcoming battle.