Sign-In System: Starting With Invincible Physique

Chapter 60: Return

They all looked at Rhain with venerating gazes as if they were looking at a god.

Right at that moment, the System voice suddenly rang in his mind.

Ding!

[Host has successfully broken through to the Essence Condensation Realm.]

[New Feature Unlocked: System Inventory.]

[Effect: A spatial dimension bound directly to the Host’s soul. All items provided by future Sign-In rewards will be deposited automatically into the System Inventory. Items can be stored and retrieved with a single thought at any time. This space cannot be detected, sealed, or destroyed by any entity.]

[ Note: Only system produced items can be stored in the System Inventory. ]

Rhain’s dark grey eyes flashed with surprise.

A System Inventory.

It was a very helpful feature.

Ding!

[Daily Sign-In available. Sign In?]

Since a full day had passed since his last Sign-In at the edge of the ravine, the daily reset had triggered.

"Yes."

[Daily Sign-In Successful!]

[Reward: Rare-Grade Artifact — Flashing Thunder Boots.]

[Item automatically sent to System Inventory.]

Rhain’s consciousness instantly linked with the newly unlocked System Inventory.

Inside the boundless, pitch-black void of the interface, a pair of boots floated quietly.

Information regarding the artifact flooded his mind.

Flashing Thunder Boots.

It was forged using the core of a thunder-Thunder-Wing Beast. By injecting essence into the boots, the user could temporarily multiply their speed by five times.

Furthermore, it possessed a passive effect that completely negated the sound of the user’s footsteps.

Rhain’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.

His physical speed under the Abyssal Sovereign Physique was already enough to leave peak Essence Condensation experts completely helpless.

Paired with his newly acquired Epic-Grade Star-Treading Steps and these Flashing Thunder Boots...

Even if a true Spirit Manifestation Realm expert like Dorian Krath won’t be able to catch him if he wanted run.

Before anyone could utter another word—

RUUUMBLE!

At this moment, the entire Hollow Realm suddenly shook again.

But this time, it was not caused by Rhain’s breakthrough.

The grey sky above them began to tear apart like a massive, fragile canvas.

Violent spatial turbulence howled through the air, whipping their robes wildly.

A massive, swirling spatial vortex materialized directly above their heads, radiating a powerful repulsive force.

"The Hollow Realm is closing!" Roderick shouted, his expression turning grave.

"It is time to leave," Rhain murmured as he looked at the spatial vortex with a solemn face.

The imminent battle won’t be easy.

Victor, Hale, Bria, and the other youths were first to go.

They leaped toward the swirling rift, their figures instantly disappearing into the spatial void.

"Let’s go," Rhain said.

He gently reached out and grabbed Seris’s delicate hand.

Together, they leaped into the swirling vortex.

The elders followed closely.

Roderick and Torin stopped at the last, completely leaving the Ancient Black Hollow Realm behind.

____________

Outside the spatial tear, the four faction leaders stood waiting.

Dorian Krath crossed his massive arms. A cruel sneer hung on his face.

"You better have those coffins ready, Harmon," Dorian laughed. His booming voice echoed across the rocks. "I told my people to leave no survivors. I doubt even a handful of your disciples are still breathing."

Beside him, Lowen Barlowe tapped his serpent-wood cane against the ground, his sickly pale face twisted into a vicious grin.

"My Barlowe elites aren’t known for their mercy either," Lowen added. "Dorris, I hope the wives and children in your family are ready to be widowed and orphaned."

Dorris Graves’s face darkened like a storm cloud.

"You bark too much, Dorian," He snarled, his eyes burning with venomous hostility, "It’s too early to decide whose wives and children would cry today."

Harmon remained silent.

He stared at the swirling silver gateway, his cloudy eyes hiding his deep anxiety.

Every five years, this was the worst moment.

The waiting.

Not knowing how many of the faces he had watched would walk back through that light.

Not knowing how many would never return.

BZZZZZ!

The massive silver vortex in the center of the crater trembled.

A blinding flash of spatial light erupted.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

One after another, multiple figures were expelled from the spatial rift, landing heavily on the rocky ground of the crater.

The light slowly began to dim.

Dorian opened his mouth to laugh, ready to welcome his victorious son.

But the moment his eyes registered the silhouettes standing within, the arrogant laugh completely died in his throat.

Victor. Bria. Hale. Maren. Noran. The Azure Cloud elders. The Graves family experts.

On the opposite side, Harmon’s cloudy eyes had ignited with the first spark of life.

But Harmon’s eyes tensely searched for one person.

Where is he?

BZZZZZ!

The spatial vortex rippled again.

Two figures calmly stepped out from the shimmering silver veil.

A dark-robed youth, holding the delicate hand of a girl with silver-blue hair.

Following closely behind them were Fourth Elder Torin, Roderick Graves, and the rest of the surviving members.

Harmon let out a heavy, trembling breath.

He quickly counted the familiar faces standing on the rocky ground of the crater.

Thirty-two.

Out of the fifty they had sent into the jaws of death, thirty-two had returned alive.

Harmon closed his eyes for a brief, painful moment.

Eighteen of their people had perished in that merciless space.

Yet, it was already the best result they had achieved in thirty years of entering the Hollow Realm.

In every previous expedition over the past three decades, they were considered fortunate if even half their people returned.

The worst year, they had lost thirty-one of their fifty.

Dorris had already broken into a sprint, crossing the rocky ground in massive strides, rushing directly toward Roderick and the Graves family survivors.

"Brother!" Roderick called out, a rare, genuine grin splitting his face.

Dorris crashed into his younger brother, gripping him by the shoulders and shaking him once, hard, as if to confirm that the man standing before him was truly made of flesh and bone.

"You’re alive," Dorris said gruffly.

"More than alive," Roderick replied, his grin widening.

"What happened in there?" Harmon also arrived, and asked in a low voice.

Torin and Roderick exchanged a deeply complicated look.

"Sect Master..." Torin recounted the events in a heavy tone.

When Harmon and Dorris heard that the Ironpeak Sect and Barlowe family had secretly colluded with Vargas—the infamous, bloodthirsty Red Silence—their expressions were extremely gloomy.

Even usually calm Harmon felt a surge of anger.

Four peak Level 9 Essence Condensation experts!

A meticulously planned death trap set inside a False Hollow Realm!

If that trap had succeeded, their entire expeditionary force would have been utterly annihilated.

Not a single soul would have returned to Greymist Town.

But as Torin and Roderick continued, describing how Rhain had effortlessly suppressed a massive beast horde, shattered the absolute death trap, and single-handedly slaughtered Vargas, Byron, and Drask...

Harmon’s and Dorris’s minds crashed.

Dorris looked at Rhain as if seeing him for the first time.

Harmon was equally stupified.

"But that’s not all," Roderick spoke, and for the first time, a wild, almost giddy light entered his hawkish eyes.

"The ancient palace contained a treasury, Sect Master. Hundreds of Rare-Grade martial arts. Rare-Grade weapons. Rare-Grade spiritual herbs."

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"We took everything."