"Stay inside the suite until we return," said Ethan. He locked eyes with Louisa and Mary, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Alex has already left enough funds with you to ensure you can live comfortably for a whole year if the situation turns complicated."

"We will be waiting for your victory, my titan," said Louisa. She nodded submissively, holding Mary’s trembling hand as Ethan and Roy finally stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them.

The two men marched down toward the central plaza of the outpost. The streets were no longer just crowded; they were a literal sea of humanity. The massive wave of examinees and spectators made it physically impossible to take a regular step forward.

"Master, we can’t even pierce through this crowd," said Roy. He braced his shoulders, trying to find an opening in the suffocating wall of bodies.

"Watch and learn," said Ethan.

Instead of slowing down, Ethan simply released a fraction of his dense, suffocating bloodlust. The surrounding air instantly dropped in temperature, a freezing wave of pure, murderous intent radiating from his body. Cultivators near him shuddered, their instincts screaming at them to flee as Ethan effortlessly shoved his way through the pack, clearing a wide path.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?!" said an angry cultivator, tumbling into the dirt.

"Have some respect, you backwater brute!" said a young mistress from a core clan, gasping for air as the suffocating pressure passed over her.

Ethan didn’t even glance at them, his piercing amethyst eyes fixed entirely on the front lines. At the very edge of the plaza, right before the grand gates of the outpost, stood the haughty heirs of the frontier’s most powerful families and the descendants of high-ranking sect elders, all waiting impatiently for the official announcement to begin the trials.

"Halt! No one is allowed past this point before the official declaration!" said a heavily armored guard. He stepped forward alongside two others, their weapons raised to block Ethan’s dominant path.

"Get out of my way," said Ethan.

"Insolent fool! Subdue him!" said the lead guard. The three warriors lunged forward simultaneously, their heavy polearms cutting through the air to pin him down.

"Do not dare touch my Master!" said Roy.

Before Ethan could even lift a finger, Roy blurred forward like a streak of black and gold lightning. His training throughout the hellish week showed its terrifying results instantly. His posture was flawless, his execution perfectly fluid. With three blindingly precise, lightning-fast thrusts, Roy’s katana bypassed the thickest plates of their armor, driving deep into the soft, unshielded gaps of their shoulder and hip joints.

"Ahhhh!" said the three guards in unison. Blood sprayed onto the stone steps as they instantly collapsed to their knees, completely incapacitated, their weapons clattering uselessly onto the ground.

"He took down three elite guards in a single breath!" said a spectator in the crowd, his voice shaking with disbelief.

"Are they insane?! Those are the personal guards of the Sword Saint family!" said another noble youth, his face turning pale. "They actually dared to offend the lineage of the Sword Saint!"

The moment those murmurs rippled through the crowd, Ethan’s calm demeanor vanished. His face twisted into an expression of absolute, dark fury, his eyes burning like cold amethyst fire.

"Sword Saint?" said Ethan. His deep voice carried a dangerous, echoing vibration that silenced the entire plaza. To Ethan, that title was a sacred, painful memory; the beloved lover of his own ancestral progenitor was known across history as the true Sword Saint.

"You are telling me that some worthless, backwater clan in this frontier has the right, the power, and the absolute strength to flaunt that sacred name?" said Ethan. He let out a low, deeply mocking laugh that made the surrounding air feel twice as heavy. "Ridiculous. Absolute blasphemy."

"Master?" said Roy. He looked back, startled by the sheer, suffocating mountain of wrath radiating from Ethan.

"Kill them, Roy," said Ethan. He pointed a cold, ruthless finger at the three bleeding guards on the floor. "They do not deserve to soil the title of the Sword Saint. That pathetic family is not worthy of carrying that name for even another second."

"With pleasure, Master," said Roy. Without a single moment of hesitation, he inverted his grip and swung his katana in a wide, blindingly fast arc.

Slash!

Three heads rolled across the stone steps simultaneously, spraying a thick fountain of crimson blood that stained the grand banners of the outpost. The surrounding crowd gasped in absolute horror, the wealthy heirs and noble descendants stumbling backward in pure disbelief.

"Who dares to touch the men of the Sword Saint?!" said a young noble from the front lines, his voice cracking with terror and outrage. "Are you backwater rats completely insane, or are you just tired of living?!"

The commotion instantly drew the attention of the inner authorities. Although the head of the family and the grand elders had not yet arrived, a powerful man stepped out from the main hall. He was the Chief Instructor for this year’s recruitment, heavily tasked with bringing the new frontier seedlings back to the main pavilion to be forged into disciples.

The three guards Roy had just slaughtered were mostly decorative, meant for keeping the common crowd in check rather than fighting real masters. However, that did not mean a couple of random commoners were supposed to slaughter them like cattle. The Chief Instructor himself was a powerhouse, standing firmly at the initial stage of the Spiritual Gathering Realm, specifically at the Spiritual Perception level. Yet, his men hadn’t lasted a single second against a mere boy who was visibly still trapped in the Body Refinement stage.

"This is highly unusual," said the Chief Instructor. He narrowed his sharp, disciplined eyes, walking down the steps while a suffocating spiritual pressure radiated from his body, forcing the surrounding crowd to drop to their knees. He stopped just a few paces away from Ethan and Roy, his gaze heavy and analytical. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Identify yourselves this instant," said the Chief Instructor.

-------------------

From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??