Isolde Von Eryna laughed softly, chirping along. "Hand over the techniques and weapons. We'll still take you away alive. You'll remain our Master in name."
Seraphina stumbled backward. "What are you saying…?"
The air between them turned cold.
Outside, the righteous experts burst into laughter.
"Look at that. Even his own hounds smell blood."
"This is karma."
"Whether we strike or not, he's finished."
Ten 7-star Rank experts watched with open amusement.
Jake's silent gaze passed over them without pause and settled on the smallest figure among them.
"What about you, Sera?" Jake asked quietly.
Seraphina's body trembled. Her lips parted slightly, yet no words came out. The pressure from the battlefield ahead and the betrayal behind crushed down on her at the same time. Tears welled in her eyes as her fingers clenched tightly into her sleeves.
After a brief hesitation, she suddenly dropped to her knees and kowtowed deeply.
"This disciple… dares not betray Master."
Her voice shook, but the words were firm.
At the same time, a cold mechanical sound echoed in Lu Zhou's mind.
*Ding! Side Quest Completed: 'Observation of the Heart.' Reward: Eye of Truth unlocked. Passive effect activated.
The world before Jake changed instantly.
Above the four disciples, translucent data formed clearly before his eyes.
Sylas, 6-star rank. Loyalty: 23 percent. Declining.
Lucien, 6-star rank. Loyalty: 15 percent. Rapid decline.
Isolde, 6-star rank. Loyalty: 35 percent. Unstable.
Seraphina, 6-star rank. Loyalty: 60 percent. Rising.
Jake felt a faint heaviness in his chest.
The betrayal of the first three no longer surprised him. What surprised him was that the one who had always seemed the most fragile was the only one whose loyalty was increasing.
For a moment, silence stretched thick between them.
Then Jake spoke again.
"Yes," he said calmly, "I am injured."
The effect of those four words was immediate.
The eyes of Sylas brightened sharply. Lucien's lips curled upward into a concealed smile, while Isolde's breathing slowed ever so slightly. Outside the mountain, the righteous cultivators surged in excitement. The killing intent of the ten 7-star experts flared violently as they locked onto Jakewith renewed confidence.
Jake could clearly see the loyalty values of the first three disciples dip lower again.
Then his voice shifted.
"But injury," he said slowly, "does not mean you are allowed to rebel."
Before anyone could react, he crushed the Peak Strength Card in his hand.
The card shattered into golden fragments that dissolved into his body.
In an instant, an ocean of power erupted inside his dried meridians. His shattered cultivation surged back as if an ancient divine seal had been forcibly broken open. His mana core expanded violently. His sea of mana roared like a boundless tide. The frailty of his aged body was swallowed by overwhelming strength.
A terrifying shockwave erupted outward.
Sylas, Lucien, and Isolde were blasted backward before they could even raise a defense. Their bodies flew through the air like broken dolls, blood spraying from their mouths as they crashed violently into the rocky terrain behind them. Their organs shook violently under the impact.
Seraphina stood frozen in shock, staring at her master as if she were seeing him for the first time.
At the same time, the already cracked protective barrier of the Mountain could no longer endure the pressure. Countless fissures spread across its surface before it shattered completely, dissolving into light and vanishing into nothingness.
Silence descended upon the battlefield.
The confidence in the eyes of the righteous cultivators instantly collapsed.
"This… this aura—"
"He wasn't injured at all!"
"We were tricked!"
Even the ten 7-star experts in the sky had lost their previous composure. Their expressions grew heavy as they realized something was terribly wrong.
Jake slowly clenched his fist.
Power surged through his body without restraint. This was the true peak of Alaric Von Seraph. The sensation was intoxicating, as if heaven and earth themselves were responding to his will. At this moment, everything before him felt fragile, as if it could be crushed at will.
Sylas and the other two struggled to rise and immediately fell to their knees, terror written clearly on their faces as blood dripped from the corners of their mouths.
"This disciple begs Master's pardon!"
The words burst from their lips almost simultaneously.
Jake raised his right hand with indifferent calm. Three beams of golden light shot out instantly and slammed into their bodies again, smashing them back into the ground as blood sprayed once more.
"Your punishment," Jake said coldly, "will come after I return."
He then lifted his gaze toward the sky.
Toward Orion.
"Come," Jake said, motioning his hand. "Let me see how much you've grown in the past month."
He stepped forward. The stone beneath his foot shattered instantly under the pressure of his movement as his body shot skyward at terrifying speed, tearing through the air like a divine spear.
"Divine Avatar, Unleash!"
In the next moment, a colossal golden avatar erupted into existence behind him. It towered over the entire battlefield like a mountain of light. Beneath its feet, an eight-petaled golden lotus rotated slowly, radiating pressure so heavy that countless cultivators below collapsed on the spot, blood bursting from their seven orifices.
Terror swept through the righteous alliance.
The ten 7-star experts finally moved. One by one, their own avatars manifested and formed a massive wall of power in the sky as they tried to stop the incoming destruction.
Jake raised his right hand again.
Pure white light condensed between his fingers, forming a sword that seemed to split the void itself.
"The Divine One… final stance…"
Even Sylas forgot his pain as he stared upward in shock.
"Retreat!!" Orion roared.
But it was already too late.
The sword descended.
The ten avatars shattered.
At the same time, a terrifying sword beam slashed through the battlefield behind them, tearing through ranks of cultivators as if cutting through paper. The earth split open. The sky trembled. Blood and screams erupted across the battlefield.
Jake hovered in mid-air before his towering avatar, his body bathed in golden light, his gaze cold and absolute.
The Greatest Villain under the Sky had truly returned.