"They’ve broken through Area 2. And they’ve been blasting their way into Area 3," Zyrith solemnly muttered as he keenly observed the intruders through the fragmented feedback from his puppets. Every time one string would be cut, he’d feel the sting along with an image of what the puppet last saw.

Ever since Lin Mo’s appearance a few days ago, he has started feeling restless. After all, the seemingly weak cultivator could actually resist the pressure of their Highland Domain. More than that, he could cut through the strings of his puppets, something he would only expect of a being of similar strength.

Then, he faced Xylos and lived to escape the Anchor. Despite all the disadvantages stacked against him, he stood his ground. Even if Xylos’s strength was suppressed because of his violation, a mere Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, an equivalent of an ant to them, managed to pull out those grafted limbs of a Flesh-Shaper of Xylos’s caliber.

Despite the Noble Dreilling’s arrogance, he was truly one of the exceptional Flesh-Shapers in their generation.

"Tsk. They’re nothing. I’ll rip them all to shreds if they come." Xylos clicked his tongue as he arrogantly declared.

The way his voice trembled made Zyrith sneer. After all, he could sense the fear in it. With Vespera reprimanding him, Xylos became like a child, even shedding a tear when the woman put him into her dreamscape illusion.

"You speak of ripping them to shreds, yet your creations are being erased faster than I can establish a psychic tether to them," Zyrith said, rubbing his temples as another sharp spike of feedback lanced through his brain.

A dozen more Decrints and hybrids had just vanished from his mindscape in the span of a single heartbeat.

"And it looks like the ’Shopkeeper’ is not with them this time. But these entities... they are stronger than those barbarians. Those leading them must be at the Spirit Severing Stage. Because of you, the restriction preventing them from entering had been loosened."

Xylos gnashed his teeth but he had nothing to retort. It was true, after all. The violation he committed allowed stronger cultivators to enter. And even after retreating to the Core Area, they weren’t allowed to step out of it, or they’d risk the penalty again.

They were only allowed to defend the Core Area. At least, until the Anchor fully stabilizes.

"They are swiftly moving through Area 3. They’re so efficient in taking down everything waiting for them in that area. I can’t sense the gathering of elemental forces to warn us of their strikes. Just flashes of blue light and... annihilation. They’ll be here at any moment. "

Zyrith projected a fragmented image from the eyes of a dying puppet Gremblin.

The violet-tinted projection showed how they surrounded the enemies. How they saw the cultivators huddled tightly together within the same null-void that prevented him from sensing Lin Mo and Liu Xiaoyu back then through the domain.

The cultivators radiated the profound, ancient auras of beings who had lived for centuries, their spiritual pressure alone enough to crush ordinary beasts.

Yet, instead of wielding flying swords or summoning heaven-shaking firestorms, these ancient masters were holding strange, silver metallic contraptions.

Pew-pew-pew!

The comical sound echoed through the projection just before a volley of blinding blue energy bolts tore through the screen, shattering the Gremblin’s point of view and turning the projection into static dust.

Xylos stared at the fading static, his mismatched eyes wide. "What kind of artifacts are those? They expend spiritual energy with zero channeling time."

"It is the ’convenience’ that the Shopkeeper holds," A dull yet melodic voice echoed from within the confines of the Anchor Core.

From the center of the Core Area, where a biomechanical structure resembling a cocoon was taking root, Vespera slowly descended.

The structure was the Convergence Engine. It thrummed with a steady, rhythmic heartbeat. From the light that was directed on it, it looked like an entity was being incubated within.

For what its name meant, it’s not actually some kind of artifact.

"You still underestimate the natives because you view them through the lens of your own stagnant traditions. You see primitives throwing fire and swinging iron. But this ’Shopkeeper’ has introduced a terrifying variable into their ecosystem. I call it standardization."

Vespera’s silver, pupil-less eyes fixed on the two lesser nobles as she glided closer. Her feet seemingly never touched the ground. "He has standardized their offenses and defenses. He has taken the unpredictable chaos of native cultivation and streamlined it into what I can only call an industrial process. Those weapons they carry... Are they not just an artifact that can release a strong attack, bypassing the need for individual martial enlightenment? They simply point and delete. It’s just that... it was crafted so cleverly that it doesn’t break easily."

Zyrith remained silent. That’s also what he observed. However, he had no solution against it.

Meanwhile, Xylos clenched his fists as his flesh bubbled with bone spikes threatening to emerge from them. "Then what do we do, High Noble? They are approaching the end of Area 3. They’ll be here soon."

Vespera closed her eyes for a moment, creating a pin-drop silence that made Xylos’s heart race in fear.

A few moments later, they fluttered open as the small, mercury-like substance in place of a pupil seemed to expand from within them.

"Sacrifice yourself and hold them back, Xylos. That is your role. Take those younglings that have just passed through from our realm. Give them the baptism of blood."

As cruel and cold-blooded as she sounded, Vespera did not even blink. Her voice held no room for negotiation, only the absolute, chilling authority of the Highland Realm’s aristocracy.

—

Meanwhile, back at the Divine Convenience Store, Lin Mo was silently watching the advance of the strike team through Liu Xiaoyu’s eyes.

They’re swiftly making their way through to the end of Area 3. With the intensity of the battles against numerous Nascent Soul Stage-equivalent enemies, even the Spirit Severing Ancestors wouldn’t be able to dispatch them easily.

Luckily, he had prepared those [Stardust Repeaters]. When used by the ancestors, they could display unimaginable strength for a spirit-grade artifact.

However, there’s a drawback to it. The durability of those repeaters would gradually decrease and eventually break on their own.

That’s why rushing to the Anchor Core was the only solution.

"Young man, how long do I have to wait?"

Taking him away from his thoughts, the voice of Liu Tianfeng echoed in his head.

Lin Mo glanced to his side, where the ’video call’ with the Liu Clan Patriarch through the Social Link was currently ongoing.

The old patriarch was still standing outside the Anchor’s entrance, waiting for Lin Mo to loosen the restriction.

Wu Meiyu, who was silently accompanying Lin Mo, couldn’t help but cover her mouth as a small, amused smile formed on her face.

"Y-you! Don’t just use His name so lightly! Zhenren Taihao is a great being that not even that Violet Deity of the temple can compare!" Liu Tianfeng sputtered, his voice dropping to a hurried, reverent whisper.

Through the holographic projection of the Viewing Jade, Lin Mo could see the old Patriarch quickly glancing up at the sky, as if half-expecting a bolt of divine lightning to strike him down for simply being part of the conversation.

Lin Mo let out a chuckle, "Relax, Patriarch Liu. The old man has thick skin. Thicker than your clan’s defensive formations, I’d wager. See how he slapped his name in the noodles? He enjoys a good show more than he enjoys being worshipped."

"Blasphemy," Liu Tianfeng grumbled/ He crossed his arms as his stormy aura churned restlessly around him. "Regardless of the divine being’s temperament, Shopkeeper, my patience is wearing thin. My son and my granddaughter are walking into the den of a sovereign Outer Realm entity. I can sense the fluctuations of their battles even from this portal. It’s close to being stabilized. The land here had already started leaking that putrid Highland Energy..."

"That is exactly why you are still standing out there," Lin Mo replied as his tone shifted from casual banter to an authoritative cadence.

"If you enter now, the Anchor’s defense mechanisms will trigger a proportionate response. The system penalty on the Dreilling will be lifted the moment a Void Refinement expert crosses. Vespera, the Mind-Weaver leading them, will instantly be able to extend her reach outside the Core Area. We would be handing her a very favorable environment to drown our vanguard in psychic agony before you could even reach the Core."

Lin Mo tapped the table, projecting a simplified tactical map beside the video feed. "Let us wait for a bit. We are playing a game of ’convenient’ timing, Patriarch. We need the vanguard to breach the Core Area. Once they are inside, the Anchor is already compromised, regardless of what they prepared. Then, and only then, do I activate the [Restriction Loosening] upgrade. I’ll spend a few more Dimension Essence to drop you to engage Vespera at point-blank range before she can leverage the Anchor’s full defenses against you."