Chapter Ninety-Five: Assessing Strength and Embarking on a New Journey

Just as Lando began to absorb the immense energy of the multicolored crystal, on a certain floating island in the sky, at the heart of a pavilion, a tall and robust middle-aged man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Resting on his legs was a long knife, its black and red blade exuding a flamboyant and domineering aura.

Suddenly, the floating island trembled lightly. The man's eyelids quivered, and he slowly opened his eyes, his voice deep as he asked, "Go see what's happening."

A guard standing nearby immediately went to inquire, returning shortly to report, "Lord Lloyd, the control room says there is a disturbance in the energy of the node crystal. This happens occasionally and should be a normal occurrence."

Lloyd listened to the report, still harboring some doubts he couldn't quite articulate. He waved the guard away and, abandoning his cultivation, rose and made his way toward the island's control room.

Boom!~

He had barely taken a few steps when a much stronger tremor shook the island, causing many guards to lose their footing and fall. With his keen eyesight, Lloyd could see that not only his own island but several others were experiencing the same situation.

His unease quickly grew, anxiety creeping in. Suddenly, a commotion erupted—a guard, ignoring his comrades' attempts to stop him, rushed toward Lloyd, shouting, "Lord Lloyd, the priest has sent orders! There’s a problem with the node crystal!"

The guard’s urgent cry struck Lloyd like a bolt of lightning. He didn’t waste time descending the island in the usual manner; instead, he sprinted toward the node crystal, leaping off the edge.

In midair, he saw a silhouette at the Fire Leopard tribe’s sacred relic, the node crystal, doing something unknown. With a furious roar, he unleashed a slash that tore through the heavens, obliterating anything in its path, yet carefully skirting the node crystal itself—a display of his mastery in wielding immense power.

...

Boom!~

The enormous black-and-red slash swept past, leaving the ground scorched, some areas liquefied by the terrifying heat contained in that blow.

Boom!~

A heavy object landed with a thud. Lloyd wiped the blood from his mouth; even his formidable strength couldn’t fully cushion the impact of falling at high speed from hundreds of meters.

Lando watched as Lloyd approached, exuding a bloodthirsty and savage aura, his massive black-and-red long knife slung over his shoulder, tendrils of smoky energy rising from the blade, distorting the air with its heat.

Through his companion crystal’s observation, Lando saw that his opponent was an eighth-tier powerhouse. He could only offer a bitter smile.

When he first arrived in this world, the initial upgrades of his companion crystal brought little improvement to his strength. It wasn’t until the transition from the third to the fourth tier that he noticed a more significant boost, but he hadn’t paid much attention. Once he lifted his self-imposed seal and gained the ability of the Mindspace, he had barely regarded the natives of this world, assuming that even a ninth-tier expert would not be particularly formidable, judging by the linear progression of power.

It was only after absorbing the massive multicolored crystal’s energy and rapidly advancing his companion crystal that he realized the increase in strength was not linear, but exponential. If this was the case, even with his Mindspace abilities, his dream of easily overpowering eight or ten ninth-tier experts might be unattainable.

Quite vexing!

Just as Lando grew irritated, Lloyd spoke first. "I am Lloyd, leader of the warriors of the Fire Leopard tribe, an eighth-tier special elemental crystal warrior. You must be the so-called outsider, the one who has dared to covet our tribe’s sacred relic. You have some nerve. Since you’ve come, you’d better be prepared to die at least once!"

He didn’t wait for Lando’s reply, accelerating to attack with his blade.

During the fight, Lando noticed that Lloyd wasn’t using his full strength—not because he intended to go easy on him, but because he didn’t want to harm the node crystal. Lloyd was reserving power for contingencies, and all his actions were designed to force Lando away from the node crystal.

This suited Lando well. The circumstances no longer allowed him to continue exploiting the crystal, and he’d already decided to leave. Besides Lloyd, there was the old priest in the ceremonial hall whose abilities were unknown—Lando had no desire to risk disaster.

After probing the eighth-tier special elemental crystal warrior’s abilities, Lando vanished with a flash during a fierce exchange.

Lloyd was startled, immediately rushing back to the node crystal, afraid that Lando might try some trickery.

He remained vigilant for more than ten minutes, only relaxing when another ninth-tier warrior from the tribe arrived. Shortly afterward, the chieftain returned in haste and personally joined the search.

The lockdown and sweeping search continued until midnight, when the Fire Leopard tribe finally confirmed that Lando had indeed left.

This incident awakened the tribe to the threat posed by outsiders. They had previously dismissed them, but now a mere sixth-tier outsider had played the entire tribe for fools, a harsh slap to their pride.

Afterward, the tribal priest took matters into his own hands, altering the node crystal’s energy flow, and added a layer of protection around it. The tribe’s defenses were further strengthened.

...

At that moment, Lando knew nothing of the Fire Leopard tribe’s subsequent developments—nor did he care. He was fairly satisfied with the gains this time.

The energy he absorbed from the massive multicolored crystal was not insignificant. Lando could clearly sense that the pure crystal energy he drew was like the foundation of the crystal itself. Even if he drained it completely, he would at most reach the eighth tier, after which the crystal would collapse. This region, deprived of its node crystal, would become a dead zone—a fate ill-suited for a world crafted by a great being. It was best not to go that far.

Following the guidance of his Mindspace, he found Leia, who was idly drawing circles at the mouth of a cave, bored out of her mind. She was in the exact same spot as when Lando had left, which made him laugh ruefully.

He stepped forward, and Leia, hearing his approach, looked up to see Lando walking toward her.

Then Lando heard Leia say, with a hint of grievance, "Lando, I’m hungry!"

Lando nearly stumbled.

...

After enjoying a meal of delicious roasted venison, Leia patted her small stomach contentedly and eagerly pressed Lando for details of his latest adventure.

Lando didn’t hide much, recounting the events, though he omitted the part about absorbing the massive crystal’s energy.

“Wow, how exciting! Lando, can we go help that Samira?”

“No!” Lando’s expression darkened as he replied sternly.

“Oh...” Leia responded listlessly.

“Next, we’ll head east, cross the Crystal Cluster Forest. There are bigger tribes there, and we should be able to gather more useful information.”

“Yay! Off to adventure!” Leia’s spirit soared at once. Although Lando was speechless, he couldn’t help but smile.