The energy radiating from the shard felt exactly the same as the contaminants Ethan had encountered before, and the realization settled in quickly. This thing had come from the Divine Realm. A Divine Shard, that was what they called it. Supposedly, if someone gathered all four, they could claim a divine seat, ascend beyond everything.

But standing here now, feeling the constant pull of it, Ethan knew better. The endless, creeping seduction that seeped into his mind told a very different story. There was nothing holy about this thing. Nothing good.

No wonder Yurix had ended up like that. The shard must have corrupted him long before Ethan ever met him.

Still, that didn’t change anything. Yurix had slaughtered countless people, used blood rituals to awaken ancient spirits, twisted his own power into something vile. That wasn’t just corruption, that was choice. He had rotted from the inside out. Ethan felt no guilt whatsoever about killing him, or about absorbing his Soul Energy afterward.

Even now, the shard’s influence pressed against his mind, whispering, tempting, trying to worm its way in. Before, when he hadn’t overcome his Heart-Devil, it might have affected him. It might have found a crack to slip through.

Now, it was nothing more than noise. Irritating, persistent, but powerless.

Without hesitation, Ethan layered several Soul Energy seals over the broken shard, locking it down completely. The whispers cut off as if they had never existed.

His mindscape remained thick with drifting mist, but within it, everything was under his control. He could sense Yaya and the others clearly, feel their movements as if they were extensions of himself. The little ones were devouring the mist eagerly, their auras swelling at a visible pace, growing stronger with each passing moment.

As for Yurix, what remained of him was being refined by the avatar. It didn’t seem interested in absorbing Soul Energy itself, as if such things held no value to it, but it carried out the process efficiently nonetheless. Since the work was being done, Ethan saw no reason to interfere.

Satisfied, he withdrew his consciousness from the mindscape.

The moment he returned to his body, awareness came rushing back all at once. He could feel people nearby, sitting around him, their presence unmistakable. Brock lay sprawled on the ground, snoring loudly despite the fact that one of his arms was missing. Everyone else was here too, even Riley. Only Onyx was absent.

Ethan opened his eyes.

Not far away, Hayes reacted instantly, her own eyes snapping open as if she had been waiting for this exact moment. "You’re awake." She rose to her feet, surprise clear in her voice.

At the sound of her voice, the others stirred as well. One by one, they opened their eyes, all except Brock, who continued to sleep like nothing in the world could disturb him.

"How long?" Ethan asked, giving a slight nod as he pushed himself up. His muscles felt stiff, which didn’t make sense. He hadn’t been fighting in his mindscape for that long, and with a body like his, stiffness shouldn’t have been an issue.

Unless he had been sitting still for far longer than he realized.

"Thirteen days," Hayes replied quietly.

Ethan blinked. "What?"

Thirteen days. Inside his mindscape, it had felt like fifteen minutes at most.

That meant thirteen days had passed in the outside world while he was completely unaware. His expression tightened slightly. He still hadn’t left this trial, and so much time had gone by. What had happened back home during all that time? The Temple Master would not let things go after what Ethan had done. If anything, retaliation was guaranteed.

His thoughts immediately went to Uncle Jed and the others.

"I need to leave," Ethan said, his tone turning decisive. "I’m heading to the fourth layer. Are you coming?"

This time, Hayes didn’t hesitate at all. She nodded firmly.

"Good."

Ethan didn’t waste any more words. Vale stepped forward and hauled Brock upright, shaking him awake with far more force than necessary. Despite losing an arm, the man had been sleeping as peacefully as a child.

Ethan was about to move when his gaze dropped to Brock’s missing limb.

"Where’s his arm?"

"Here." Hayes tapped her spatial pouch, and the severed arm appeared in her hand, still stained with blood but perfectly preserved in the vacuum. She must have retrieved it immediately after it was cut off.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You can reattach it?"

Hayes shook her head. "My teacher might."

So she didn’t actually have a solution. She had just been holding onto hope.

Ethan extended his hand. "Give it to me. I’ll try."

Taking the arm from her, he walked over to Brock. The stump had already sealed over with a rough scab.

"Want me to put it back on?" Ethan asked, a faint grin tugging at his lips.

Brock, now fully awake after hearing everything, didn’t hesitate. "Hell yes."

"I’ll have to cut it open again," Ethan warned. "It’s going to hurt." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Don’t care. Do it."

Without warning, Brock grabbed Vale’s arm. Vale blinked in confusion. "What are you doing?"

Brock didn’t answer. He simply grinned, then yanked Vale’s arm closer and bit down hard.

"Do it," he mumbled through clenched teeth, even managing a wink at Ethan.

"What the—let go—OW—!"

Vale’s shout rang out as he struggled, but Ethan had already moved.

He formed a thin Rend blade and sliced cleanly through the scab, as easily as cutting through soft meat, exposing the bone beneath. Brock let out a muffled grunt through his nose, while Vale screamed in outright agony, his voice echoing across the area as blood dripped from Brock’s mouth.

Ethan ignored the chaos and worked quickly. Pressing the severed arm against the stump, he shifted into Tree Form. A surge of healing energy gathered in his hands, though there were no external life forces to draw from here. Instead, he relied on his core, blending his abilities together into a unified flow.

A soft green light enveloped the wound as life energy poured into Brock’s body. Damaged nerves began to reconnect, blood vessels reformed, and bone fused seamlessly with bone.

But almost immediately, Ethan realized the cost.

Reattaching an entire arm was far more demanding than he had anticipated. Soul Energy, physical energy, everything drained at a rapid pace. Sweat formed on his brow, but stopping now wasn’t an option. He clenched his teeth and kept going, forcing more power into the process.

Rejuvenation, Healing Touch, Lifebloom. Wild Growth.

He cycled through every healing skill he possessed, layering them together and directing all of it into Brock’s arm.

At first, the limb looked pale and lifeless, tinged with an unnatural green. Then, in a sudden shift, the green glow vanished, replaced by a healthy, natural color. By the time Ethan finished, only a faint pink line remained to mark where the arm had once been severed.

Ethan exhaled slowly. Another minute, and he would have been completely drained. Healing an arm had taken more out of him than an entire battle.

He stepped back, releasing his grip. Brock had already let go of Vale, who immediately retreated to the far side of the group, putting as much distance between himself and Brock’s teeth as possible.

Everyone gathered closer, staring at the result in stunned silence.

Hayes’s eyes widened as she examined the arm. Reattaching bone, restoring nerves, rebuilding blood vessels, this went far beyond ordinary healing magic. She didn’t even bother asking Ethan how he had done it. Some things weren’t techniques you could simply learn.

Her thoughts drifted to something her teacher, her grandfather, had once told her. A healer’s ultimate goal was to comprehend the Law of Life. If one truly mastered it, even raising the dead would no longer be impossible.

Her grandfather had spent years secretly researching that very thing. Hayes understood why. He wanted to bring back his son, her father.

Ever since her father’s death, the old man had changed. He still taught her healing, but that was all he gave her. No warmth, no affection. Hayes had never blamed him. If anything, she quietly hoped he would succeed.

Even so, she had never truly believed it was possible.

Until now.

Watching Ethan, seeing what he had just accomplished, something that should have been impossible, she felt that belief begin to shift. Maybe the Law of Life wasn’t just a distant theory.

Maybe Ethan had already touched it.

When she looked at him again, there was something new in her gaze, something deeper than before.

Ethan noticed the change but didn’t dwell on it. "Check it," he said casually. "If it’s not right, we’ll cut it off and try again."

Two people shuddered at the exact same time.

Brock, whose arm had just been reattached, and Vale, who was now standing as far away as physically possible. There was no chance he was getting within biting distance again.

That bite had hurt far more than he cared to admit.

If getting bitten felt like that, then losing an arm must have been a hundred times worse. Though, in hindsight, if he had activated his defenses, Brock probably would have shattered his teeth instead.

"Oh, right." Hayes blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. She quickly examined the arm, checking the connections, the flow of energy, the responsiveness. After a moment, she nodded. "It’s good."

Ethan grunted softly, as if it had been expected all along.

In truth, he had learned something valuable about Tree Form’s healing capabilities, and a quiet excitement stirred beneath his calm exterior. Still, he made sure not to show it. His pride wouldn’t allow him to look anything less than completely in control.

A fleeting thought crossed his mind. When he returned to Ethereal, maybe he could look for a Resurrection skill book. If he could already reattach limbs, then raising the dead or regrowing an entire body might not be completely out of reach.

The idea lingered for a moment before fading. Reality wasn’t that simple, especially outside this place.

With everything settled, Ethan turned and led the group toward the entrance to the fourth layer.

The third layer stretched out as a barren wasteland, offering no resistance at all. After half a day of travel, they finally arrived. The entrance looked the same as before, but the light gate was already open, its towering pillar visible from afar.

Nothing about it was surprising.

"The fourth layer trial," Hayes and the others murmured inwardly, the weight of it settling in their hearts. According to legend, only true prodigies could reach this point. Whether they qualified or not was another matter entirely. If they failed, they would be sent back here, forced to turn around.

They had already explained all of this to Ethan along the way.

"You go first," Ethan said, his tone steady.

He had no doubts about himself. He would pass. As for the others, he would let them try first, and if anyone failed, he would deal with it when the time came.