Uriel’s bloodied figure leaned against a scorched bark.

He stared at his sparse vitality points.

Then his gaze moved to the flashing timer for the next waves.

Fortunately, unlike the first three waves which had a ridiculously short time gate, this was better.

[Time till the next waves arrive: 1h: 29m: 14s]

He forced himself upright, straightening his frame as he stared at the horizon. His eyes flashed.

’it was time to find and join the others.’ With that, he began to limp forward slowly but steadily.

...

Seth, seeing the battle had settled, unequipped his legendary set.

Jack’s frame shrank, his body settling to its normal size, the shadows diffusing into the wind, leaving no trace they were once there.

Elaine and Jack reached Seth, their eyes brimming with confidence and glee.

"Sigh! We all did good. Now is the time to join with the rest." Seth had decided this was the best next course of action.

At the very least, they also had to forge their cohesion as a team.

Facing the taciturn Jack and the frosty Elaine, who just nodded, Seth sighed.

Somehow, he found himself missing that talkative guy.

The three began to depart, but suddenly, Seth’s instincts rippled.

He shot his head towards another direction, his frame tensing.

The other two froze. Elaine finally spoke, asking, "What? Is something wrong?"

Seth remained silent for a bit, his crystal amethyst pupils spun as his sight honed, and his mental scan reported nothing.

He frowned. Not right — he definitely sensed someone observing him just now.

Persistent, his gaze flashed as he scanned their surroundings more thoroughly this time, and still nothing.

’maybe I’m just exhausted.’ He could only imagine this was the cause. After all, though his senses told him one thing, reality relayed another entirely.

His gaze flashed, still uncertain, but he had no choice but to let it go. They were running on borrowed time and had no time to spare.

His lips moved as he replied to Elaine, "It’s nothing hopefully."

And the three resumed their journey, headed towards the last region where they had sensed Uriel.

...

In the dense foliage, a pair of eyes burned bright as they silently followed Seth and the others’ movements.

The eyes blinked, and the figure vanished the exact moment Seth had turned.

A rough sound of rustling rang out as the spy appeared suddenly in another region.

Their skin pulsed with emerald glyphs, their eyes simmering with a beautiful green glow.

They were a foreign race member of the Treant Race team.

Before them was the rest of their team, and surrounding them was a sea of sprawling corpses that littered the plains as far as the eye could see.

Vamel stepped forward and asked the scout, "So? Tell us which pathetic group decided to meddle with our plans."

They had sensed the commotion earlier, and Vamel couldn’t remain nonchalant any longer.

Whoever these guys were, though they didn’t give off anything that made him feel threatened yet...

As a Treant with a cautious and meticulous personality, he could never tolerate a threat to his plan, no matter how small.

The scout’s eyes flashed with uncertainty before they replied, "A-actually I don’t know."

His words stunned the rest. What did he mean he didn’t know?

Eyes flashed with calculative thoughts as Shaine, the short female Treant, spoke.

"Unrecognized Race?" Her gaze flashed with solid certainty.

Shaine might not be the strongest of their small group, but she definitely was the brightest.

After all, she was the one who first sensed a problem with these unaccounted variables.

The scout nodded his head, his mouth opening to explain further. "I will say they bear a strong distinct resemblance to the Andrathals...

It’s just that the key features of the Andrathals aren’t there, but their features vary. Honestly, it was very strange."

Unlike humans, who had countless sub-species and myriad features, the majority of alien races were cohesive species with no branches. They all bore the same features.

So naturally, to them, humans would forever be strange. Heck, if they saw two humans with contrasting skin colors, hair colors, and eyes, they might mistake them for two separate races.

The five marveled in silence, while also trying to think of their next actions.

Should they just leave these guys be? After all, they were so weak, taking action felt unnecessary.

But Vamel didn’t see it that way. All he saw was a variable. His crystalline emerald pupils simmered brightly within his black sclera.

As long as those guys existed, they would always be a chink in his percentage of success.

And that they couldn’t allow to happen. This was their only chance of finding a path beyond the Noble grade.

Especially Vamel and Shaine, as outstanding geniuses of their races, they had their aims set high.

They had reached the very peak of the Awakened Rank, but they felt discontent ascending zones and undergoing the evolution of life with Noble-grade skills.

The higher grade your genes are when you ascend, the sturdier your foundation, so it could carry you into further heights in the future.

They needed to be Royal-grade existences. Only when they accomplished this would they consider ascension.

And this Rygor’s lost treasure was exactly what they needed. With it, they would surely have a chance.

Which was why they came from a far thriving region to these barren lands.

Suddenly, a Treant from among them spoke up. "I think it’s better we focus on our task. Leave the other party alone. After all, we all sensed their presence — they are quite weak."

Vamel frowned. He didn’t agree with this statement on various points.

First of all, while he agreed these guys seemed quite weak, he was also wary because at first, when he sensed their auras, they were even weaker.

So it was either these guys were playing sheep, concealing their strength and only releasing the strength necessary to win a battle...

Or they were just insanely talented, and their growth was just that fast.

But Vamel leaned more on the former. He found it hard to believe these lifeforms could grow so fast.

After all, you would have to consolidate gains after battle and still digest saturated essence. Such speed in progression couldn’t make sense... Except you were a member of a sacred race.

But that was also impossible finding a big shot of that level in such a barren region?

You’d have a better chance finding a spring in a desert.

"No, I believe we should do otherwise." His cold voice rang, causing the others to stare at him, confused.

Well, all except Shaine. The petite Treant’s expression was cold and calculating. Her eyes flashed. "So you came to the same conclusion?"

Vamel nodded, his expression still stoic. Even as he spoke of this other group as a threat, he never really believed these guys could do much.

But his mental compulsion would never allow him overlook such a variable.

Staring at the timer and seeing how much time they had left. Then he shifted his gaze unto the distance, he decided right away they still had a chance.

His lips moved. "We go and destroy them at once."

The other Treants weren’t quite convinced. To them, it seemed a waste of time.

But Vamel didn’t care for their opinions. As one of the greatest geniuses of the race, his status was without compare. Only Shaine could come close.

So naturally, though they disagreed, they could only bottle up their objections and follow his orders.

Vamel didn’t say anything else. He didn’t need to. The others followed behind him as he flashed forward.

His expression remained placid, like a calm lake, as though he couldn’t be bothered to put much thought into this other team.

In his eyes, since the moment he decided he wanted them gone, they were already dead.

[A/N:] okay guys we have reached the 200 power stone weekly milestone, so I was supposed to upload two extra bonus Chapters today.

But as I am swamped with work and severely sleep deprived, I unfortunately wouldn’t be able too, so please expect the bonus tomorrow instead.