The two travelled for hours before arriving in a small patch of forest and...a river.

"This...is so clean."

Emperal muttered as he stepped towards the river, he could literally see the flow of Verth down the currents.

The river was way too clean and shiny. Bending down, he scooped up a handful of water and drank it.

"Ahh~ So refreshing, it calms the mind."

Emperal spoke with a satisfied sigh. Dresh chuckled when she heard that.

"This river is...very much saturated with Verth from god knows how many centuries. And the water you are drinking could also be called backwater. Because the main source or the origin of this river is the central region."

Dresh said, her eyes looking deeper into the path of the river.

"I see. So, the cave is somewhere...down the waterfall?"

He asked, pointing at the end of the stream.

Dresh nodded as she walked forward, "It is indeed behind the stream, follow me."

With a tap of her feet, Dresh leaped forward. Emperal immediately followed.

Both of them drifted down to the base of the water; the stream wasn’t small in length. It was at least a mile or two high.

SPLASH~!

Both of their bodies were submerged deep in the water, and to Emperal’s surprise, the depth of the water was...he could not see the base. Even when he tried to focus as much as Verth as possible in his eyes.

"Don’t bother."

Suddenly, Dresh’s voice echoed in his mind as he snapped his head towards the Elf.

"Even I couldn’t sense the depth, let alone you, with your cultivation."

Dresh spoke, and Emperal couldn’t help but be shocked.

But nonetheless, he nodded and followed closely behind Dresh.

They swam for a few more minutes. Dresh was constantly looking everywhere; her eyes were incredibly focused and glowing.

A few minutes later, Dresh snapped her head in a certain direction.

"There! Let’s go."

She accelerated and swam rapidly in that direction. Emperal hurriedly followed her and sheathed the Stormvein Sword.

A minute later, a huge cliff face was visible in the distance; it had darkened and hardened under the influence of the murky waters.

They landed on a specific platform on the cliff, which had a huge stone tablet embedded in the ground.

"Which language is that?"

Emperal couldn’t help but ask; it was a language he didn’t recognize, but...it seemed a bit familiar to him.

Dresh smiled when she heard that. Stepping ahead, she touched the stone tablet lightly.

"It is Ancient Elven, even though I do not know a single thing about Ancient Elven. In the entire Verandis, only two people know it—" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Zeratheil and his mother."

Emperal completed the sentence, earning a nod from the beautiful Elf.

"That is true."

Saying that, she passed her Verth into the stone tablet.

"Come here and pass your Verth into this tablet."

Emperal stepped up and raised his hand; it glowed slightly. The moment the Stone Slab felt two distinct Verth signatures...it began to glow and shake.

"Hm? The entrance...don’t tell me?"

"Hehe~ No, this is just the key to the door. The realm door is..."

Just as her words were about to be completed, a few meters away from the duo.

A small part of the cliff trembled, and a vast magnitude of vibrations was released. Messing up the flow of water.

"It is there."

Following her words, Emperal finally saw the door. It was a small door made of mud and stone; inside, it was nothing but darkness.

Strangely, even though it had opened. The water outside wasn’t interrupted in the slightest.

"Let’s go."

Dresh spoke, just as she was about to move in. A strong hand gripped her wrist, holding it tight.

Dresh frowned when she saw this; she saw a pair of cold eyes glancing back at her.

"Dresh, tell me the truth. Who are you?"

Emperal suddenly asked, and for a moment, Dresh was stunned. Even more so when he addressed her by name. Looking at him, her eyes hardened.

"...Why do you wanna know? And...what is with this suspicion?"

She asked, even though she could have snapped her hand back. She ultimately didn’t.

"Do you think I’m so stupid? Tell me the real reason you wanted me here, Dresh, and I’ll pretend I didn’t see your familiarity with this place. Now speak...why, me?"

Emperal asked seriously, no. His suspicion ran deep way back before this realm...

Her words, her being so protective towards him, and acting so close. Everything, although Emperal hoped his suspicions would be nothing but air...the reality and the red signs, he couldn’t ignore any longer.

Dresh quietly heard all of his words and just stood there like a stone. It looked like she didn’t expect Emperal to say those words.

But...

She slowly pulled her hand back and faced no resistance as Emperal loosened his grip. A long sigh escaped her rosy lips.

Dresh slowly opened her eyes, to Emperal’s surprise. Her entire sclera turned black! Her pupils were still the same—Forest green.

Her ears grew a bit longer, and her previous playful expression was slowly replaced by a cold one.

Her gaze dropped to meet Emperal’s. She was inwardly a bit surprised that he wasn’t repulsed by her features.

"You really caught me, this is the first time in a millennium that I’m...caught red-handed. Not to mention by a Verth Seeker."

Dresh sighed, just a mere sigh from her...made the entire cliff tremble. To Emperal’s horrifying realization. Dresh’s aura started spiking!

It went up...from Verth Shaper to Verth Master. The second phase of cultivation!

But it wasn’t the end. It still kept rising and...rising.

From Verth Master to Verth Lord. A huge unseen tidal pressure descended on the entire sea for a second before vanishing.

"No...way. A Verth Lord? This...this is just a step below even Vraelyn and Soleiene!" Emperal’s heart trembled violently when he felt her aura. It was vast...unimaginably vast.

Dresh’s smile widened slightly when she saw that, her aura, which was rising slowly...once again spiked!

BOOM!!!

From peak Verth Lord...Dresh’s body now exuded an aura that was even beyond his understanding.

This...this was the peak of the second Phase of cultivation itself!