The moment he entered the depths of the Shadow Fissure, his physical body and his Sequence were instantly and utterly dismembered by the Power of Rifts. He died on the spot.

Seeing this, the faces of the other Transcendents grew even more grim and solemn.

Here, on the battlefield of the Spirit Realm, even the most gifted and talented masters risked their lives.

Zorn continuously unleashed his Power of the Golden Giant Dragon.

After several more punches,

CRACK... CRACK...

BOOM!

The Star Trace Fissure that had blocked their path was forcefully torn open by Zorn.

Opening a Star Trace Fissure was an extremely difficult task.

Yet this Fighting Master before them had managed to do it in just a short amount of time.

At that moment, looks of ecstatic joy appeared on everyone’s faces.

If Zorn had opened it even a moment later, more people would have definitely died.

As soon as the Star Trace Fissure was opened,

the incredibly fast Starlight Walker, Kapson, was the first to charge through.

Zorn followed close behind.

The Star Splitter was right after him.

Then, the members of the Twin Race also quickly ran out.

The group had just escaped the terrifying death trap.

Before the lingering fear could even subside, before they could even catch their breath,

a sense of despair came crashing down on them like a mountain.

Looking ahead,

they saw a vast, dense horde of Shadow Rift Creatures flooding the area before them like a tide.

Nearly every Transcendent up ahead was trapped in a bitter struggle, completely surrounded.

The corpses of many Transcendents drifted about.

The entire crossing area had transformed into a thundering battlefield of death, a domain of the Shadow Fissure.

"A massive number of Shadow Rift Creatures... Is this a shadow stampede?"

Zorn took a deep breath. As he slowly exhaled, he rubbed his furrowed brow.

The Starlight Walker, Kapson, who was in the lead, glanced at Zorn and said in a low voice,

"We fight our way out together, or... we all die!"

"No problem!"

Zorn clenched his fist, and within the outline of his body, a Golden Giant Dragon roared furiously.

「Upon first entering the Star Realm.」

Zorn’s Power of the Golden Giant Dragon had unleashed an extraordinary destructive force.

Now, every member of the small team wore a grim and solemn expression.

"Go!"

With Zorn taking the lead,

the remaining members of the team joined forces and charged forward.

...

"A shadow stampede... I can’t believe it."

High atop a towering star-spire, the Holy Crowned Priest, Aster, stood on an open-air balcony, his brow slightly furrowed.

’The Star Trace Fissure was calm and normal this time, but this terrifying stampede suddenly erupted.’

’Is something new about to appear within this Star Trace Spirit Realm battlefield?’

’Over the past several millennia, the resources on this battlefield have already been picked clean. I reckon even if something does emerge, it won’t be much.’

’But with this shadow stampede, if even ten or twenty percent of this wave of Transcendents make it through, it’ll be considered a success.’

’And even that will depend on luck.’

’There were a few promising prospects in this batch. I wonder if they’ll be able to fight their way in.’

He gazed at the River of Despair, which was completely shrouded in a thick miasma of fissures, like a heavy fog.

Aster thought to himself in silence.

...

At this moment, the many Transcendents within the River of Despair were truly and utterly experiencing the meaning of despair.

In front, behind, to the left, and to the right—they were surrounded by all kinds of Shadow Rift Creatures.

A web of crisscrossing attacks rained down on them relentlessly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Each blow carried a portion of the "Power of Rifts."

Once enough of the Power of Rifts accumulated, one would be dragged directly into the depths of a fissure and instantly killed.

All around them, people were constantly dying at the hands of the Rift Creatures.

Even some of the more powerful individuals were being swarmed and killed, dying in despair.

Even Zorn was now covered in a hazy layer of the Shadow Fissure’s energy.

HISS...

The power of the Shadow Fissure was constantly annihilating Zorn’s Gang Qi.

Although the rate of annihilation wasn’t high, getting trapped here and worn down over a long period would be trouble.

The squad pressed forward.

But by now, only three members of the squad remained.

The male Wizard of the Twin Star Wizards from the Twin Race had been killed on the spot during a Surprise Attack from a Shadow Rift Lord. He died shielding the female member of the Twin Race, preventing her from being dragged into a Shadow Fissure.

The Star Splitter, who was incredibly fast, had carelessly fallen into a trap.

After being captured, he too perished.

The three who were now fleeing were each shrouded in a significant amount of Star Trace Fissure energy.

The Star Trace Fissure energy on Zorn was still manageable.

But his companions, the Starlight Walker Kapson and the female of the Twin Race, had accumulated much more.

If the two of them took much more, they both risked being dragged into a Shadow Fissure and killed.

And so, the two of them stuck close to Zorn’s side, helping him block some of the attacks so he could use his abilities to clear a path ahead.

The reason they stuck so desperately to Zorn, willingly helping him block attacks,

was, of course, because of what happened as they fought their way out.

Zorn had displayed truly terrifying strength.

Three times, he had broken through blockades of Star Trace Fissures that had driven them to despair.

Twice, he had repelled the ambushes of Shadow Lords.

Along the way, he had also killed hundreds of powerful Rift Creatures.

It could be said that if Zorn hadn’t been at the front, tearing everything apart with that terrifying Power of the Golden Giant Dragon,

the two of them would have certainly died here today.

Having only survived by relying entirely on Zorn, the two of them naturally guarded his flanks and rear with their lives.

BOOM... BOOM...

After once again unleashing his Golden Gang Dragon Hand to crush seven or eight Level 10 Rift Creatures up ahead,

the number of Shadow Rift Creatures in front of them finally dwindled.

At the same time, the towering Doorway to the Spirit Realm battlefield was no longer far from the trio.

Seeing this, Zorn let out a long sigh of relief.

The path they had carved out was fraught with peril.

He himself had skirted the edge of death several times.

Fortunately, they had finally made it through.

His two teammates this time had certainly clung to his coattails tightly, and that had successfully kept them alive.

The female of the Twin Race had survived, and with her to nurture it, her twin would soon be resurrected.

His gaze swept over the Starlight Walker, Kapson, from the corner of his eye.

Zorn was lost in thought.

’Kapson has taken a lot of hits from the Star Trace Fissures, but he doesn’t seem to be carrying much of its energy.’

’He must have absorbed an Eternal Night Star Mark, giving him a higher resistance to this kind of thing.’

’Otherwise, given the normal amount of damage he’s taken, he should be a dead man by now.’

Zorn mused silently.

Half of Zorn’s squad had managed to fight their way in.

But the other Transcendent squads, or the Transcendents crossing alone, weren’t so lucky.

In the process of fighting their way out,

countless Transcendents had died.

This time, they had encountered a Shadow Fissure stampede.

At least the vast majority of the crossing Transcendents were going to perish in it.