Night held the forest in a tight grip long after the sounds of the earlier confrontation faded. The group had withdrawn carefully, doubling back twice before settling in a shallow depression between thick roots and a fallen trunk. It was not safe, only safer. In the Forbidden Forest, safety was always relative.
No fire. No talking beyond whispers. Even movent was asured.
Fatigue showed in small ways. Taylen flexed his fingers often, easing the tremor left by adrenaline. Ronan kept his spear across his knees, eyes half-closed but never fully resting. Sarah checked the sa strap on her bracer more tis than needed. Only Sai and Eissa looked steady, their breathing already sinking into the cultivation rhythm.
Robert watched them all before closing his eyes. He let his senses sink inward. Soul Power: 500,000.
The number floated in his awareness like a resource and a burden. He had relied on it before in monts of urgency, but never like this, never while danger walked nearby. Still, ti favoured the prepared, not the cautious. He began circulating his cultivation thod.
Soul power fed into his ridians like a slow-burning current. Not explosive. Not wild. Controlled. He guided it through familiar routes, reinforcing what battle had already loosened. The strain ca gradually, like pressure behind the bones.
Three hundred thousand soul power dissolved into that process. His breathing deepened. Sweat ford along his spine despite the cold air. The barrier between mid and high stage did not shatter; it yielded inch by inch. That was how real advancent felt. Less glory, more endurance. Two hours later, his eyes opened.
Spirit Root Level 5 High Stage. His body felt lighter but also hollowed out, as a blade thinned for sharpness. He checked again. Soul Power: 200,000. Not enough.
He already understood the pattern. Each step forward demanded more than the last. Level 6 would not co cheaply. He could wait weeks. Or he could take the risk now.
His gaze moved across the resting group. No one watched him. Good. He rose without sound and slipped into the trees.
Hunting at night required patience. The forest belonged to predators after dark, which ant mistakes ended quickly. Robert did not roam far. He searched for qi signatures instead of tracks, for disturbances instead of shapes.
The first beast was small, a boar-type spirit beast at roughly Spirit Root Level 5. It was rooted near a mineral-rich patch of soil. Robert did not rush. He waited until its attention shifted, then used Shadow Step to close the distance and Twin Dragon Fang to finish cleanly. No wasted motion. No prolonged struggle.
Soul energy flowed back into him, absorbed and refined. The second beast fought harder. A long-lived predator with bark-like hide. Robert used terrain this ti, guiding it between trees where its size hindered it. Two precise strikes ended it.
By the fourth hunt, his movents had beco fast. No thrill. No pride. Just execution. When he finally paused, his internal panel responded. Soul Power: 800,000. Enough for a breakthrough to level 6.
The night was still dark. The forest had not yet begun its false dawn chorus. He returned the way he ca, masking his path where possible. Back at the hideout, the others remained in cultivation. Good discipline. Sai's qi felt denser than before. Eissa's flow had grown steadier. Battle truly was the harshest teacher.
Robert sat and began again. This ti, he did not ease into it. He pushed. Six hundred thousand soul power surged through his channels. The strain was imdiate. His ridians felt scraped raw, his heartbeat heavy in his ears. He focused on alignnt, on not letting the flow fracture.
The barrier to Level 6 resisted like stone. He pressed again. A dull ache spread across his chest, then snapped open into clarity. Spirit Root Level 6 Low Stage.
He did not celebrate. He imdiately used another hundred thousand to stabilise. Rushing stabilisation ruined more cultivators than slow progress ever did.
When he finally opened his eyes, pale grey light filtered between leaves. Morning. Soul Power remaining: limited but not empty. Around him, the others stirred. Sai opened his eyes first. His qi carried a new firmness. Level 6 Mid-Stage.
He had advanced. Eissa followed, her aura brighter, cleaner. Level 5 Low Stage now. Her perception likely sharpened alongside it. The others showed smaller improvents. Nothing dramatic, but real. Faster recovery. Better circulation. Sharper focus.
They looked toward Robert and realised he had been cultivating all night.
Sai inford him of his breakthrough from the level 6 low stage to the mid-stage. Eissa shared hers with quiet satisfaction. Robert nodded, genuinely relieved. Their growth mattered more than his own.
Then they sensed him fully. The difference in his qi was obvious now. He confird it without drama. Level 6 Low Stage. Surprise crossed a few faces, but no one questioned how. In this forest, results mattered more than thods and how to deal with them.
They gathered closer. Robert laid out the plan for how they would deal with them. Ten pursuers. Two stronger at Level 7 Low Stage. The rest is Level 5. Direct clash ant casualties. Possibly deaths.
No one argued with Robert's plans. He explained the plan in pieces. Split them into two groups. Isolate them. Remove the weaker ones first. Never fight both Level 7 at once. Use terrain. Use silence.
Sai would help draw attention with . The others would remain hidden and strike only when the advantage was certain. No heroic charge. No pride. Just survival.
They accepted it because the thod was good, and it would help them survive. Far from them, the assassins regrouped as well.
Two bodies had already been lost to the earlier beast encounter before we could deal with the Osborn clan. The mory soured the air among them. No one spoke of it, but it weighed on each step. Their leader had grown more cautious. The forest did not care about clan politics.
They recovered in a concealed hollow, rotating watch, suppressing qi. The leader finally signalled that they would resu tracking after full recovery. Impatience killed professionals.
Back with Robert's group, preparations finished quietly. No speeches. No vows. Just final checks of weapons and breathing. Robert gave the signal to begin movent.
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