To the Fourth Sanctuary

It's been two months since Han Yan walked up the holy steps to become a demigod.

Since then, she hasn't returned to the alliance.

Bian had relocated from the subterranean planet to a private planet he bought.

The planet was a bit smaller than Earth, but it was quiet and peaceful.

Most importantly, it was away from people.

He couldn't go about revealing how fast both he and Han Yan were evolving, at least not yet.

Their house on the planet was quite furnished and had all the necessities and extras they would ever need, including several teleporters.

After spending such an enormous amount on the planet, he spent some more to invest in the post-war reconstruction across several planets.

The war was caused by Executioner Green, after all, so Bian felt it would only be right to be a part of those who were trying to repair the mess caused.

Likewise, due to the war, hundreds of millions of humans had evolved to become surpassers.

While quite a few died that day on the walking shelter, there were literally more surpassers than ever before.

It was crazy, almost as if war caused more growth than peace.

Bian could tell himself.

If the Executioners never showed up, there was no way he would be so strong right now.

Evolution really worked wonders when the odds were stacked against you.

"Or maybe I'm just built different?"

Bian said with a shrug, sipping an exotic juice from a coconut.

The new surpassers meant more avenues to make money as he sold all his beast souls, save for the super ones.

It was really taxing, moving around the sanctuaries to find potential buyers, but with the Empirical Aura, Bian could spot every human in the sanctuary.

People and spirits started calling the Empirical Aura Heaven's Light. They found out that spirits who perished while Heaven's Light was shining, perished forever.

This was of little concern to Bian though. He and Man Tian went around the sanctuary on the golden growler for two months, eventually selling off all their beast souls.

They did so while hiding their identity most of the time, and rumors began to spread about a secret group that was selling beast souls all over the third sanctuary.

They had amassed over a hundred billion levo dollars, selling off all their several beast souls.

Whenever Bian met someone he knew, like Queen and Lazy Cat, he gave them a few super beast souls to increase their survivability.

It was a major boon to have at their level, but it wouldn't make them overpowered in the sanctuary. It was just a good starter pack.

Queen especially used the super beast souls and her skills to liberate humans from a few shelters.

Currently, Bian only had a few super beast souls.

[Berserk Super Beast Souls: Strength Overlord, Ink Sun Dragon ...]

[Super Beast Souls: Radiant Reaper, Azure Claw King, Ivory Serpent ...]

He obviously wouldn't part with Tyrant, who could still evolve using the ten holy steps.

The Radiant Reaper and Ink Sun Dragon had perfect synergy, and handing them out would be equivalent to a disaster.

The Azure Claw King was an armor beast soul, which he would need after ascending—not for defense, but to cover up.

And finally, the Ivory Serpent could store things from the sanctuary and bring them out, which normally wasn't possible.

The rest of his beast souls were from the second and first sanctuary. There was no point mentioning the few of them, as they couldn't even survive the atmosphere of the fourth sanctuary.

Ring ring ring!

An alarm went off.

Bian looked at the time, then finished his drink in one gulp and went to the training grounds in the basement.

Man Tian had already evolved, but Bian decided to stick around for a few days to see if Han Yan would return.

He didn't get idle, though. Every day, their enemies got stronger, so Bian himself couldn't relent.

Once he ascended, the six elemental armaments and even Yin Yang energy would become obsolete.

Bian could only rely on his physical body to survive in the early stages of the fourth sanctuary.

He trained and stretched his body to feel each and every corner.

Ever since that day, Bian had not used the inner pillars, especially the body pillar.

It made him distant from pain, which made him distant from himself.

He had to train and stretch himself daily to feel like his body was his own again.

Bian also made a silent vow to restrain himself from using the inner cylinders.

It was an easy solution and would damage his potential if he over-relied on it.

It was like a student using some sort of artificial intelligence for every test and assignment.

Would such a student be able to pass their exam?

Definitely not!

Bian conditioned himself, rather, to be like a student who used artificial intelligence to supplement their learning, getting the best of both worlds.

"Can't become dependent on it, but I can't be shy to use it either."

He said while doing a handstand, with his feet pointed forward.

...

After a few weeks, Bian was sure that his mentality had been properly adjusted.

Not even two years since he became a surpasser, and he was ready to evolve again.

His body's foundation was solid, but his mind was a bit unstable.

He had to take a step back to recondition his mind.

After a month of meditation and training, his mental foundation was stable enough.

Now he wouldn't evolve and use the inner pillars to deal with the slightest inconvenience.

Likewise, he wouldn't shy away from using them when facing a life-threatening scenario.

Bian walked out of the training room and checked his commlink. Still no news about Han Yan.

He couldn't wait forever, so Bian steeled himself and decided to take the steps.

He went into the house and after a hearty meal with Zero and Bao'er, he went to sleep.

Early the next morning, after his shower and breakfast,

Bian picked up Bao'er and after a kiss on Zero's forehead, he teleported into the sanctuary.

"Are we going to meet mummy?" Bao'er asked.

"Yes, we are going to meet mummy." Bian affirmed and summoned Tyrant also.

Bian took in a deep breath and circulated all his powers.

His legs started floating off the ground, and grey clouds formed in the sky.

An illusory pathway opened up in the sky, becoming more and more real by the second.

Bao'er looked at it with confusion, while Tyrant remained unperturbed.

Soon, Bian landed on the first step of the fiery pathway.

The white flames churned as they assaulted them.

He paused and checked on Bao'er, making sure she was fine before he started walking up the steps.

The heat from the fire rose slowly, first like warm sunlight, then a hot tan, then boiling water.

By the eighth step, the fire had begun to get to Bian and Tyrant, burning their clothes and fur.

"Sure enough, it's a good thing I kept a set of armor."

Bian exerted more power to firmly protect Bao'er once he saw her clothes almost catch on fire.

He only had one set of armor for himself and didn't know when he could get another for Bao'er.

After making sure she was safe and well-clothed, he moved to the ninth step.

BOOM!

The fire finally felt like fire, thoroughly burning through him.

The burning came with a suppression, like a mountain was mounted on his shoulders, preventing him from taking the last step.

Bian grunted a bit and finally, went onto the last step.

Swoosh!

The fires which had once been burning flowed towards him to rebuild his body.

The contrast was too severe, causing Bian to release a hum.

From scorching fire to a chilling pool, his body was not only rebuilt but made better than ever before.

Deep within, the Empirical Will and Empirical Aura also grew before developing into the next phase.

That wasn't all, the black crystal in his Soul Sea dispersed a large amount of black liquid, as if the crystal was melting.

The liquid fused with the evolving Empirical Will and formed a solid rectangular object.

The owner of the Soul Sea was engrossed in his evolution, and couldn't focus deeply on what was happening.

He only knew that he had forned a geno core and was overjoyed by it. He endeavoured to check it in detail once he was done evolving.

Just as Bian was really starting to enjoy the refreshing sensation, it suddenly stopped.

He found himself on the ground, Bao'er by his side, while Tyrant returned to his soul sea to evolve.

The oppressive atmosphere, which weighed heavily, was a sure sign that he had evolved to a new sanctuary.

To the Fourth Sanctuary.