On the north-west plains, six people rode their horses at breakneck speeds. The wind howled violently, and the tall grass was clipped clean off the ground by the sheer kinetic force of their passage.

"It’s hard to imagine that in just a few days, you’re already a Level 8 Player," Hailey said lightly, keeping her mount perfectly in sync with Igris’s.

Igris smirked. "It’s nothing compared to you. I think even Eeon wouldn’t necessarily gain the upper hand if he were to spar with you right now."

"I’m not so sure about that. After all, he’s at the peak of Level 29, and his foundation is deeper than mine. Even Senior Sister Venessa said that guy’s intentions are impossible to read. He’s someone harboring a desire to challenge the Three Major Young Masters. Let’s not talk about him anymore. You, however... you should be hitting way harder than an ordinary Level 8 Player. Your whole body radiates an extremely oppressive aura. The essence of strength being emitted by your flesh is monstrous—something only seen if you have a physical force of ten thousand pounds or more behind your strikes." Hailey could see through Igris’s facade with just a glance.

Igris asked curiously, "How can you know that just by looking?"

"It’s a secret technique that makes use of your spiritual blood. It can sense whether an opponent’s life force and aura are abnormally strong. In general, if someone’s mana rotates visibly around them, it indicates the striking force of at least ten thousand pounds. If their aura looks like thick smoke, it indicates the strength of at least a hundred thousand pounds, rendering them invincible to all low-tier evil Qi. Anyone can detect it even without this technique. There’s a legend that says that once, there was a great powerhouse with the strength of a million pounds! His essence of strength was like a rainbow piercing through the earth and sky, bringing about nine days of hurricanes and natural disasters. No one knows whether it’s true or not."

"There was really such a thing? I really am ignorant." Igris marvelled in his heart. ’A million pounds of strength converged in the small body of a human? How scary would that be? He would be able to crush everything in the world, uproot mountains, and could even break the earth’s crust.’ And here he was, thinking his 10x Multiplied stats were overpowered!

Hailey continued, "It’s not that you are ignorant; it’s just that many people do not know of this. I only know this because I read about it in an ancient text. It was recorded that ten thousand years ago, there was a sect called the Invincible Strength Guild. Everyone in this sect would only train their physical bodies. Those with the strength of ten thousand pounds would only be eligible to be a janitor! Those with thirty thousand pounds of strength would be considered Ordinary members; fifty thousand pounds made you an Core member; eighty thousand pounds made you a core disciple. Their Guest Elders had the strength of at least two hundred thousand pounds, and their Core Elders had three hundred thousand. The sect leader and the few top elders all had strength of about five hundred thousand pounds or more. They were so tyrannical that they could even kill the Dragons of the air and Megalodan Sharks of the sea!"

Caleb and the three female students were listening intently, but they were unable to completely believe it. ’Was there really someone in the world that was able to train their physical strength to five hundred thousand, or even up to a million pounds?’

"Where is this Invincible Strength Guild now? Did they perish?" Igris asked.

Hailey nodded, a grim look flashing in her eyes. "It seems like the heavens did not allow the existence of the Invincible Strength Guild. The whole mountain, which was the base of the sect, was flattened overnight. Someone found a piece of dragon scale in the ruins—it was as big as a washbasin. It could cut metal like mud and possessed unparalleled sharpness. Rumor has it that the Dragon Gods descended to Earth and exterminated the whole sect. That piece of dragon scale was said to have been left behind from the battle between the sect leader and the top elders against the Dragon God."

"Dragon God, that’s exaggerating! That is a legendary existence who has overcome the constraints of life and death. Someone who cannot die or perish, and can travel the whole world without any obstruction," one of the female students exclaimed.

Hailey gave her a sharp look. "The vastness of the world is not something you can understand yet. Even those strong people that have overcome the limitations of life and death have yet to realize the ultimate truth, let alone us."

Igris smiled bitterly. With his current base stats, his strength would be equivalent to a janitor in the Invincible Strength Guild—not even an Ordinary member! He really couldn’t imagine how hard the disciples of that sect trained to achieve that level of physical power without a 10,000x Multiplier cheat.

Half a day went by. It was already afternoon.

They had travelled at great speed to the central location of the north-west plains. If they looked ahead, all they could see was a line where the sky and the plains seemed to converge. There were no boundaries, and the dark clouds slowly swelled until they covered the sky directly over their heads.

"There are noises of horse hoofs behind us!"

Igris focused his ears, his dual-colored eyes narrowing. The thundering rhythm was unmistakable.

Hailey nodded, her expression turning icy. "They came earlier than I expected."

Caleb felt a chill run down his spine and turned around. "Senior sister, did you already know someone was looking for trouble with us?"

"Eeon and the horse bandits of the north-west plains have an... inextricable relationship," Hailey said coldly. "He often borrows their hands to surround and kill off the disciples of rival academies. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. We just don’t know which group of horse bandits this is."