The skill Death Zone was unleashed to full splendor.

Grim essence stormed out of the earth-embedded greatsword, swallowing miles into a grey zone.

Seth’s armor cape billowed furiously, his eyes burned with a brilliant light of amethyst.

His essence poured into the blade like a tidal torrent, his legs clamped deep into the earth, his teeth clenching tighter.

His eyes glinted with sinister lights — he wasn’t done!

His essence rippled as he pulled the ethereal trigger, activating the first ability of the Grim Set.

Death Sentence!

His Absolute Weapon Resonance gene skill revved in full fury.

The blistering wave of enhancement rippled, the already terrifying aura of Seth grew even more stifling.

The Treants breathed laboriously, the air suddenly becoming heavier as reality was swallowed by the lackluster shade of grey.

All six Treants blinked, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Clank!

That split millisecond of blindness was all it took... they suddenly found themselves helpless and bound to a wooden pillory crusted with ancient blood.

Gani and the others struggled to get free, but two remained still.

Shaine and Vamel, despite their current straits, remained calm... too calm.

Shaine, especially the petite Treant Race female, had her eyes glued on Elaine’s figure.

A deep swell of longing bubbled in the depths of her gaze.

Vamel was calmer, but his emotions were the same as he stared at Seth, his eyes brimming with a frosty cool light.

This was what they wanted! No — what they needed!

How hard was it to break the barrier beyond Noble grade?

It was easy in theory: one could ascend grades by assimilating the corresponding gene skill of said grade.

But though breaking through the ranks of grades might sound easy, in practice one either needed an absurdly powerful backer or a fortune beyond measure.

After all, gene skills came from two sources: gene lineages and Origin/Corrupted Beasts.

There was also the market, where one could try to purchase gene skills from skilled evolvers. But such high-grade gene skills were rare, and even if one appeared, even the Treants weren’t confident in winning the bidding war that would follow.

So that left the first two methods...

You either comprehended your gene lineage enough to upgrade your gene skill — a feat so difficult it took even monstrous geniuses decades to accomplish.

Or you could try killing a beast of a higher grade. But with the massive danger affiliated with this option, most geniuses leaned toward the first.

After all, to battle a creature of the same rank but a whole grade above you was nothing short of suicide.

Even as a cohort of lesser grades, unless someone had a special gene skill, this option was rarely ventured.

And that was why Vamel and his crew were here. They had abandoned the two options entirely and had started seeking fortune.

The Land of Origin was a realm of infinite resources and opportunities. They just had to grasp the chance when it came.

And it had come!

A chance like no other! If only they could capture all four of these humans and extract their gene skills.

And Vamel would be damned if such a chance passed him by!

His emerald pupils burned brighter, veins of green bulged within his pitch-black sclera.

His hair billowed as a furious whirl of essence erupted around him.

The pillory binding him rattled, releasing a grim cold essence that fought against his rebellious essence.

Vamel and the others couldn’t move. They were bound by the pillory, their necks kept in waiting for the grim executioner.

But this time the grim executioner wasn’t alone. Three more auras fumed in the sea of grey.

Elaine’s body was embraced by a blinding ethereal divine silver armor, congealed out of the pure manifestation of frost and death essence.

Her frame rippled with untold power, a storm of silver essence raging around her.

Her pupils glimmered as a system prompt simmered in sight.

She had awakened a second gene!

...

On the other end, Jack’s frame towered... or to be more accurate, the Titan’s shadow manifestation towered over the canopies of trees.

In the depths of the shadowy construct stood Jack’s main body. Finally, he could utilize more of the primal Titan’s shadow.

The colossus hands clenched and unclenched, its red orbs for eyes staring at its hands.

’this should be about 55%.’ Jack internally concluded after sensing the vast sea of power still left untouched.

This progress might not seem much, but one had to remember what he was channeling wasn’t any run-of-the-mill lifeform.

No — this was a Titan lifeform, rare creatures in the cosmos, beings that could span the mass of planets, some void beasts even spanning galaxies with sheer mass alone!

How could normal lifeforms even compare?

A single stat point from such a being could equal a hundred of a normal lifeform.

The power brimming in the shadowy mass was no joke, and Jack was ready for retaliation!

...

Lightning raged, connecting the sky to the earth like luminous pillars, surrounding a figure of brewing currents.

Unlike the others, Uriel barely underwent any upgrades. But him activating his gene skill to its fullest brought just as much commotion.

Lightning coiled around his body like flood dragons, the wind billowed around his frame.

His eyes encompassed by a blinding white.

At this moment, he was the sky, and the sky was him.

Dark clouds brewed, crackling with ominous tribulation currents gathered into a swirl.

A blinding white slowly charged in its depths.

Uriel was ready for a full rampage. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how much of a drawback using his skill to such a degree would wreak on his body.

But one thing was certain: fighting a battle immediately after this wouldn’t be likely. They would have to give up on the event quest.

But that would be after they made these guys pay!

Rumble! Lightning in the sky cracked and boomed as though in tandem with his emotions.

...

Vamel saw the smoldering resentment in the eyes of the unknown race trio.

And he felt zero apprehension! Instead, for the first time, emotion flickered in the depths of his eyes... excitement!

Yes, excitement!

His greatest fear was these three running away. If they got away, wouldn’t that be too tragic?

As for the oppressive power they wafted, it was nothing in his eyes.

Who was he? A genius with all stats maxed at 999, a Noble-grade Awakened. Though of a lower grade, his overwhelmingly higher stats still gave him a massive edge that no early-grade Awakened could overcome easily.

He was certain these three would be at their mercy the moment he ripped free of these shackles.

Heck, he didn’t even have to make a move then. The rest of his cohort acting would be enough.

Gani was just a mid-level Awakened, the weakest of them. Though the rest hadn’t maxed out all stats like him, they were still peak level.

They had all the edge over this bunch — both numbers and power.

Now all he needed was for these guys to remain hot-blooded for a second. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

And draw and try to retaliate.

’it seems today really is my lucky day.’ The Treant’s eyes burned bright with glee.

His aura pushed against the pillory, slowly unraveling the essence that kept it together.

He did so silently and inconspicuously, licking his lips as his eyes roamed his prey. He didn’t want to scare them off now, did he?

He was curious: what race were they from? Did their race have more talented figures that could be exploited?

If so, this was immense fortune for his race...

’im. Tsk, my thoughts are trailing too far, let’s have these few first. The rest can come later.’ He thought silently.

Just as momentum peaked, and it seemed Elaine, Jack, and Uriel were really going to attack...

Vamel’s green heart hammered against his chest. ’come on do it! Do it!’

His essence coiled around the pillory of not only him but his teammates.

The atmosphere was rife with tension and pressure, and just when it was all supposed to crescendo into a marvelous clash...

All four figures vanished before their eyes, a brilliant cadence of the Origin Gate swallowing their figures whole.

They... ran?