After Mark’s mindblowing performance, they could only stay silent throughout the rest of the journey.
As everyone is atleast a demigod, they all could fly naturally. And
The wind howled against their flight cloaks, dust trailing behind them. Below, the barren plains stretched endlessly, and beasts and their skeletal remains were seen almost everywhere on the way.
Because Feline beasts, apart from hybrid ones, don’t generally have wings, and due to the world laws that prohibit magic, no demigod or above realm beast was seen around, the rest of their journey has been quite smooth.
Eventually, as the sharp ridgelines of the Mannan Caves ca into view, jagged fangs of rock surrounding dark, ancient hollows, a huge enemy camp was spotted from above.
Below the cliffs, a few kiloters away from the cave mouth, smoke rose. Dozens of tents, bonfires crackling, dark shapes pacing the periter.
Mark hovered above the scene for a few monts, scanning their ranks.
Lan Xia drifted closer, keeping her eyes on the cluster of beasts gathering below as they too noticed the enemies in the sky.
"What’s the move?" she asked, voice cool and level.
"We don’t engage the camp," Mark said simply as the scanning finished. "We go straight to the cave. Let’s go to the stronghold."
"Alright."
He descended toward the rocky plateau in front of the cave entrance, with Lan Xia dropping beside him. The rest of Team Genesis held formation in the air, weapons ready but unmoving.
The mont Mark’s boots touched the dirt, a hailstorm of arrows rained upon them at once, taking them by surprise.
Dozens, tipped with poisoned barbs, enchanted with minor tracking glyphs.
Mark made no move to block.
He didn’t have to, as he saw Lan Xia make her move.
Like a sudden winter, the air shifted as a shimr of light-blue mist spread from Lan Xia’s feet.
Arrows froze mid-flight, halted in place as if ti had stopped. Frost crystallized along their shafts and snapped them in mid-air, falling in harmless shards at their feet.
The guards paused in confusion, so falling back from their stations as the ambient chill gripped their lungs.
The rest of the team stared down from above.
Reva’s jaw parted slightly. "I thought Captain was different. But even Vice Captain is also the sa."
Ryder’s gaze narrowed with interest. "Is this what the transcendent realm looks like, able to bypass the world laws?"
Yuan Feng exhaled a short grunt. "Hmpf, it’s just a trick."
"Magic can be blocked by the laws," Lan Xia then said softly, letting her hand fall back to her side. "But when you master your elent... You automatically beco immune to those laws..."
She looked at the fallen arrows frozen in ice.
Mark turned his head slightly, a rare flicker of admiration in his eyes. "Sister Xia, I’m stronger than you," he said. "But when it cos to elents... you’re beyond ."
Lan Xia glanced away, her usual impassive mask cracked slightly. "You’ve said that before."
He smiled faintly. "And it’s still true. Nothing wrong with repeating the truth."
Her lips tugged into sothing close to a smile.
A mont later;
The frost had barely faded when Mark stepped forward, voice rising above the wind.
"We’re from the Sky Alliance," he called out, loud and clear. "We’re here to assist. Effective imdiately, I’m assuming command of this stronghold."
Silence greeted him at first.
Then, the two guards at the gate exchanged glances. One barked a sharp command and disappeared into the shadows of the cave, the other remaining, claws twitching nervously on the hilt of his curved blade.
Monts later, a grizzled man in worn, dented armor erged from the tunnel, accompanied by four more guards. His eyes were sharp, tired, and wary—eyes that had seen too many losses and trusted too few promises.
He didn’t approach.
Instead, he stopped just within the protective range of the entrance’s glyph barrier and raised his voice.
"You expect to believe the Council sent only five of you?" the captain asked, disbelief etched across his scarred face.
Mark’s smile was calm, unbothered. "We five are enough."
The captain scoffed, folding his arms. "I see that all of you are truly young. Were you here to experience the outside world of your sect or sothing? Let remind you that this isn’t your typical battleground. Your Cultivation levels don’t matter here."
Mark didn’t reply to that and simply responded with a question instead. "How many people in there are eligible to fight in the stronghold, Captain?"
There was a pause. A long one.
The guards stiffened. The captain’s face darkened. "Why do you want to know?"
"Captain, do you think he is a feline beast in disguise?" A soldier quietly said.
"Yeah, earlier, that woman froze the place. Captain, please tread it carefully."
"Look at that woman in the back, Captain. She has tails."
The captain couldn’t help but frown as soldiers spoke one after another.
His tone imdiately shifted, sharpened with suspicion. "How do we know that you are not enemies in disguise?" He asked.
Lan Xia tilted her head slightly but said nothing. Reva’s ears flicked again. Ryder didn’t move.
Mark, however, let out a small laugh. "You want proof?"
He turned and looked toward the distant ridge, where the feline beast encampnt still burned faintly from their earlier freezing.
"I’ll give you proof."
Without another word, he extended his hand.
A tallic hum echoed as sothing unspooled from his inventory, long, black, and modular. Panels unfolded. A sleek interface blinked to life.
Lan Xia’s eyes widened slightly, watching a giant artifact coming into existence. "His artifacts kept on becoming bigger and weirder every ti." She quietly murmured.
"This is my Song-II Missile Defense System," Mark spoke aloud. Of course, no one knows what it ant.
Mark didn’t explain and simply tapped the console, moving the cursor on the map with swift movents. The weapon’s long launcher arm extended, locking onto the target.
He simply pressed the blue button.
*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Swoosh* Swoosh* Swoosh*
In a flash, one after another, five missiles launched into the sky. It struck the center of the beast camp and then...
*Boom*
Heavy explosions filled all over the region. Large-sized mushroom clouds rose into the air, and the entire place shook like an earthquake had hit them.
And then, nothing.
No screams or movents. Just absolute silence filled the campsite.
Gasps echoed from the guards.
Even the captain’s face turned pale beneath the gri.
"Nine hundred and sixty four beasts," Mark said calmly, lowering the launcher. "One shot. I don’t need Qi to blast them to hell."
He glanced at the captain again, expression unreadable. "Does that prove we’re not beasts?"
No answer.
Only silence.
The kind of silence that cos when one is too shocked to respond.
Lan Xia stepped forward, her voice soft but icy. "We’re the last chance this place has to hold. So, either get your people to follow our captain’s orders... or prepare to face them on your own while we shift our focus to the first and third frontier zones."
The captain didn’t speak again. He rely nodded once, stiffly, then turned, cupping his fists and bow. "Mulan City welcos you all. Please follow to et the City Lord."
Mark and Lan Xia exchanged glances and nodded.
The gate creaked open, and the deep path into the underground city of Mulan awaited.
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