Max took a slow breath, steadying himself as he pushed through the weakness. "I am fine," he said, though his voice was slightly slower than usual.
With Isabella's support, he stood up again, regaining his footing bit by bit.
As he assessed his condition, he quickly understood what had happened.
The opponent he had targeted was not soone at his level.
The young man had been in the Law Manifestation Realm, a full two or three realm above what Max could comfortably handle. Forcing his Keeper's Dominion onto soone of that level had required far more effort than using it on those within the Law Awakening or Law Refinent Realm.
If it had been soone weaker, the strain would have been negligible.
But this ti, he had pushed beyond his current limits.
And his body had paid the price.
Max steadied his breathing before turning his attention toward Lucia.
He reached out and lightly shook her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.
Lucia blinked, as if snapping out of a daze. "Huh?" she muttered, looking around briefly before her gaze settled on Max. "I… I am fine. Thanks, Max."
Her voice lacked its usual steadiness.
Max frowned slightly.
"Why did you zone out like that?" he asked. From what he had observed, her reaction earlier had not been normal. It had not been simple fear or anger. It had been sothing deeper, sothing that had montarily pulled her out of the present entirely.
Lucia avoided his gaze.
"It is nothing," she said, her voice quieter than before. "I was just thinking about sothing."
It was clearly an excuse.
Max noticed it imdiately.
But he did not press further.
Whatever it was, it was not sothing she was willing to share right now.
Before the mont could stretch further, another voice broke the silence.
"What happened here?"
Rose had arrived.
She had clearly noticed the commotion and the lingering tension in the area. Her gaze swept across the surroundings before settling on Lucia and Max.
"It was Raymond," Lucia said.
Even now, her expression carried traces of what she had felt earlier.
"Raymond?" Rose's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I did not expect him to be here as well."
Her expression darkened as mories of the past surfaced in her mind.
It was clear that whatever had happened before, it had not been pleasant.
After a mont, Rose let out a breath and said, "Do not worry too much about him. I do not think he will act the sa way again after what happened last ti."
Lucia nodded slowly, though the weight in her expression did not completely fade.
Max stood quietly to the side, observing everything that had just unfolded, and from the fragnts of Lucia's reaction and Rose's expression, he understood one thing clearly.
Sothing had definitely happened between Lucia and that man nad Raymond the last ti they had been on Orion. It was not a simple disagreent or rivalry. Whatever it was had left a mark deep enough to shake Lucia the mont she saw him again.
He did not ask.
Not now.
Around them, the previously tense silence began to break as murmurs spread through the gathered cultivators. The shock of what had just happened quickly turned into confusion as people tried to make sense of the overwhelming pressure they had felt monts ago.
"What was that pressure just now? It felt like I was about to faint!"
"I know, I could barely breathe. Even standing felt difficult under that force!"
"Did so expert pass by this area? Or are powerful cultivators fighting sowhere nearby? That pressure ca and disappeared so suddenly!"
"I am not sure, but it seems to be gone now. I guess this is what people an when they talk about Orion. Strange and terrifying things happening without warning."
The conversations overlapped, voices rising and falling as everyone tried to piece together an explanation that made sense to them.
Not a single person even considered Max.
Why would they?
To them, Max was nothing more than soone at the peak of the Rebirth Realm. No matter how they looked at him, there was no way soone of that level could release a pressure strong enough to suffocate an entire gathering filled with Law Refinent and even Law Manifestation Realm cultivators.
Max remained silent as he listened.
'It seems the pressure from Keeper's Dominion did not remain focused,' he thought, his brows furrowing slightly.
His original intention had been clear. He had only targeted Raymond.
But the result had been different.
The pressure had spread.
It had affected almost everyone present.
That realization made him understand sothing important. His control over the skill was still far from perfect. What he had released earlier was not a precise application of power. It was a raw, overwhelming force that lacked refinent.
That was why it had spilled outward.
That was also why the backlash had been so severe.
Max exhaled slowly, his mind already analyzing the situation.
If he wanted to use Keeper's Dominion properly, if he wanted to apply it without unnecessary waste and without harming himself, he would need to master it completely. That ant practice. A lot of it.
'I will have to work on this in the Dinsion of Ti,' he decided.
This was not a skill that could be used carelessly.
It was powerful.
Too powerful.
And with power like that, control was everything.
Just then, Rose's voice cut through the lingering noise.
"We will be leaving soon. Prepare yourselves," she said as she looked toward Lucia before shifting her gaze toward Max and Isabella.
The tone in her voice carried authority.
The earlier disturbance was already being set aside.
Orion did not wait for anyone.
Max looked at her and asked calmly, "How long will it take to reach the destination?"
Rose thought for a mont before answering. "It depends," she said. "If things go smoothly, it could take around an hour. But if we run into complications, it might take up to three hours or even longer."
Her eyes briefly scanned the sky, as if already calculating the route ahead.
"This is Orion," she added. "Nothing ever goes exactly as planned."
Max nodded.
That much, he had already begun to understand.
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