Just as the Nascent Soul Stage experts prepared to rush out, outside the safety of the divine artifact, the battle had already erupted into a massacre.

Free from the constraint of keeping themselves in a tight position, the Spirit Severing Ancestors unleashed the terrifying breadth of their power.

Ancestor Swordpoint of the Cerulean Cloud Sword Sect pointed his index and middle fingers, tracing a complex pattern in the air.

Then, a torrential river of condensed sword intent materialized from the void, washing over a vanguard of heavily mutilated Decrint Tribe amalgamations.

The air screamed sharply as the sword qi sliced through their skins and volatile cores with pinpoint precision. They didn't even get to jump at him. They exploded and dissolved into motes of light before they could even roar.

To his right, Yu Qingmei of the Verdant Sky Pavilion moved with terrifying grace. She took out an ancient string instrument and played a haunting, melancholy tune.

The soundwaves, infused with her verdant qi, washed over the twisted fusions of cultivators and beasts. Where the sound touched them, the volatile Highland Energy within their bodies violently rejected the forced graft. The Amalgamations shrieked as their bodies literally tore themselves apart, the incompatible energies erupting from within.

The Ancestors of the White Ember Sect and Lightning Amethyst Sect dashed to left and right respectively, targeting the Amalgamations that would pose the highest threat.

And lastly, Liu Zhongzhu, Azure Gale Ancestor and Crimson Vale Ancestor rushed towards the Area Boss.

The towering Decrint Tribe Warmaster Amalgamation glowed with the oppressive, rain-baptized Highland Energy. It roared and swung a massive, bone-cleaver that seemed to bend the space around it.

"I'll take the head!" Liu Zhongzhu shouted as his storm qi flared into a brilliant, blinding purple.

He threw a punch that contained the destructive power of the Liu Clan's secret arts, augmented by his recent breakthrough.

The trajectory of his arm looked like a thunderbolt, slamming directly into the Warmaster's chest plate before the cleaver could even descend.

BOOM!

The impact was deafening. The Warmaster staggered as its reinforced armor cracked. However, it didn't fall. Its body had been thoroughly enhanced by the Flesh-Shaper, who grafted it into an amalgamation.

It immediately swung its free hand, aiming to swat Liu Zhongzhu like an insect.

Whoosh!

The Crimson Vale Ancestor rushed forward, his body seemed to boil with a blood-red aura. It's the culmination of a century of blood-forged cultivation.

He blocked the sweeping hand with the bunt of his halberd before using the momentum to counter with a two-handed downward chop.

CRUNCH!

The halberd bit deep into the mutated flesh and bone, halting the Warmaster's attempt to stabilize its footing.

The way it shrieked was truly too different from the semi-intelligent Decrint Tribe. It was nothing more than a husk of its former self that was forcibly stitched to a different beast.

Following the Crimson Vale Ancestor, the Azure Gale Ancestor used the distraction to slip behind the Area Boss. With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed a hurricane that seemed to emit razor-sharp wind blades to grind it within.

However, the Decrint Tribe Warmaster's body was just too tough. It crossed its arms, enduring all that. All the hurricane could do was lift the massive creature off its feet for a fraction of a second, destroying its center of gravity.

Seeing that, Liu Zhongzhu charged again. While the beast was airborne, he drove both his fists, crackling with a terrifying concentration of storm qi, directly into the crack he had made in its chest plate.

"[Nine Heavens Storm: World-Shattering Thunder]!"

The purple lightning penetrated deep into the creature's core, seeking out the volatile Highland Energy that sustained it.

The resulting explosion inside the Warmaster's body was muffled. It sounded like a heavy bass-filled thump that seemed to reverberate softly in one's ears.

The creature's eyes bulged and glowed a blinding violet before suddenly going dark. It dropped to the ground, a lifeless, smoking husk, before dissolving into a massive cloud of light and a deluge of foreign energy.

Under the swift cooperation between three Spirit Severing Stage cultivators, even the Area Boss that had been elevated to the same level as them had been annihilated in less than ten seconds.

The Nascent Soul experts who had just stepped out a few steps from the safety zone all gasped in awe.

Then, they all became fired up to clean up after them.

With the Warmaster dead, the remaining thousands of puppets, Decrints, and lesser Amalgamations lost what little tactical cohesion they had. They devolved into a mindless, frenzied swarm, driven only by the residual psychic commands of the Dreilling to kill the intruders.

"Oh! Go! Kill them all!" Liu Xiaoyu shouted with amusement before charging in. Sparky the wolf cub cutely barked as it ran beside her.

In less than two minutes, the whole area quieted down.

—

Back at the Convenience Store, Lin Mo and Wu Meiyu, who were watching the feed through Xiaoyu's eyes, looked at each other and shook their heads.

"That was amazing."

"Indeed. But Lin Mo, the most difficult part is still before them." Wu Meiyu said. She turned her attention back to the screen, where they gathered inside the divine artifact's influence again after picking up all the loot.

They stood before the swirling portal that would lead them directly to the Core Area.

"Mhm. I guess it's time. Patriarch Liu. Are you ready?" Lin Mo said as he pulled up the [Anchor Interference and Tower Integration Protocol] interface.

After selecting the Anchor HLFB#120, he scrolled down from the list of [Anchor Interference Upgrades].

[Restriction Loosening

Details: Adjusts cultivation restriction

Cost: 400,000 Dimension Essence]

Lin Mo's brows twitched a bit. As it turns out, the cost for that upgrade scaled with the maximum accessibility. An Anchor with the limit of Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators only needed the original 50,000 Dimension Essence cost. It doubles every stage.

Core Formation to Nascent Soul will need 100,000 Dimension Essence.

Nascent Soul to Spirit Severing will need 200,000 Dimension Essence.

And now, it went up to 400,000 to allow Void Refinement Stage cultivators to enter it.

Plus the additional cost of sending someone directly to the Core Area, it would be a total of 500,000 Dimension Essence.

Lin Mo glanced at the current Dimension Essence Balance and closed his eyes. After purchasing the Greater Aura of Combat last night, it dropped to four million, but with the continuous flow of revenue from the Celestial Shuttle Network and those purchasing items through the Store Beacon, it already went back up to six million.

"A half-million Dimension Essence for a VIP express delivery service," Lin Mo murmured, a wry smile forming on his lips. "Well, considering the returns we'll get from securing the entire region and looting whatever they'll drop, it's a necessary operational expense. Confirm the purchase. Authorize the [Restriction Loosening] and execute the targeted deployment for Patriarch Liu Tianfeng."

[Purchase Confirmed. Deducting 500,000 Dimension Essence.]

[Anchor HLFB#0120 Restriction updated: Maximum Accessibility raised to Void Refinement Stage.]

[Targeted Deployment Protocol Activated. Engaging...]

Outside the Anchor, Patriarch Liu Tianfeng was standing with his arms crossed as he impatiently stared at the swirling vortex of the entrance.

The moment Lin Mo confirmed the action, a pillar of blinding, azure-silver light erupted from the sky, instantly enveloping the old man.

"Hah! Finally! The Shopkeeper opens the door!" Liu Tianfeng roared with the sheer joy of the impending battle. His Void Refinement aura, suppressed for so long, flared outward, turning the sky above the Graypeak Mountains into a churning vortex of purple thunderclouds.

Without a moment of hesitation, the Patriarch allowed the teleportation array to pull him in. He vanished from the spot, leaving only the traces of how he kept stomping the ground.

—

Deep within the Core Area, Zyrith and Xylos, along with the other Dreilling that reinforced them, waited for the arrival of the strike team.

They had already been notified of the swift clearing of Area 3. And while that surprised them and even hurt Xylos's pride, it was still an expected outcome.

"Kill. Kill anyone who will step inside the place!" Xylos growled to the other Dreillings, who all prepared to use whatever they had in hand.

Meanwhile, at the center where the Anchor Core was situated, the cocoon, which was the Convergence Engine, thrummed with a rhythmic heartbeat that echoed the oppressive psychic pressure of the Highland Realm.

In front of it, Vespera hovered, her eyes closed in deep meditation as she channeled her mind into the cocoon, speeding its completion.

Suddenly, the ambient Highland Energy in the chamber violently shuddered.

Then, Anchor's System popped up in front of them with a warning.

[Warning: Anchor Restriction Lifted.]

[Defending Realm's accessibility has been raised to the Void Refinement Stage.]

[No violations detected.]

[The staging Outer Realm accessibility restriction will also be raised in… twenty minutes]

[Countdown Timer: 19:59]

Vespera's mercury-like eyes snapped open. For the first time since her arrival, a flicker of genuine surprise crossed her beautiful face.