Like the operator of the teleportation station in Caritas said, once Aldrian and Old Man York ca out, they encountered a heavily guarded checkpoint. If a traveler arrived from a territory believed to still be under rebel control, they would be taken elsewhere for interrogation.
Aldrian and Old Man York had to wait in line for their turn. When Aldrian’s turn ca, a soldier asked,
"Where are you from?"
"Caritas," Aldrian replied.
The soldier tasked with writing the note paused for a mont and looked at Aldrian. He could only see Aldrian’s eyes, as his hood and mask concealed his features. He frowned at the ntion of Caritas—right now, that place was drawing a lot of attention, and this was the first ti soone had traveled from there to this location. Usually, people went to Caritas, but this one had co from there instead.
"Step aside. You will be guided to a separate room for further investigation," the soldier said.
"Can we not make this more difficult? I have business to attend to, and I’m in a rush. Can you make an exception just this once?" Aldrian said in a calm voice.
The soldier’s expression darkened. "Are you challenging ?" he asked, then released his aura at the viscount stage, trying to pressure Aldrian. "You will obey the rules here, or you will be instantly apprehended for disobedience to authority."
The commotion was already drawing attention, and people began to distance themselves from Aldrian and Old Man York, afraid of getting caught up in the situation. Nearby soldiers also turned their attention to the scene and started approaching Aldrian. Even a duke-stage cultivator, whom Aldrian assud to be their commander, was making his way toward him.
"You, surrender yourself and follow us to our designated location," the commander shouted at Aldrian and Old Man York. He approached Aldrian with an intimidating posture and firm strides. Once he stood in front of Aldrian, he grabbed his shoulder, attempting to drag him away—but to his shock, he couldn’t move Aldrian’s body even an inch!
Seeing that the soldiers were also starting to approach him, Aldrian remained calm.
"So be it," he said.
The commander, still in shock, was montarily confused by Aldrian’s words. Then, a sudden weightless sensation spread through his arm, the one gripping Aldrian’s shoulder. When he realized what had happened, his eyes widened in horror. His arm had already fallen to the ground, severed from his shoulder.
"Arrghh!"
The commander scread in pain as his severed hand fell to the ground. He tried to staunch the bleeding with his other hand while simultaneously backing away from Aldrian. For a split second, he caught sight of Aldrian’s hand, now covered in sword energy, and instantly realized that was what had severed his limb.
Suddenly, his heart began pounding heavily. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was already trapped in an illusion—one that showed him the horrors of darkness. His heartbeat thundered once more before darkness engulfed him entirely, pulling him into its depths.
In reality, his body collapsed to the ground, unconscious and twitching.
All the soldiers were shocked by Aldrian’s sudden attack and prepared to retaliate, but before they could act, they all collapsed to the ground. With his duke-stage senses, Aldrian precisely targeted only the troops from the second prince’s faction, sparing the innocent.
Using a combination of karma and illusion laws, he touched every single one of the targeted troops with his karma laws, and trapping them in an illusion that forced them into unconsciousness.
However, not all of them rely fainted. A few with much lower cultivation levels, unable to withstand the horrors of the illusion, unfortunately died from heart failure. Aldrian paid it no mind as he continued spreading his illusion to every soldier he could sense.
His duke-stage senses right now could extend nearly a thousand kiloters, allowing him to cover the entire town in no ti! His sensory range was comparable to that of a king-stage cultivator!
His senses swept through everything, detecting every presence in the area. The mont they reached the troops from the second prince’s faction, the soldiers collapsed like stringless dolls.
Then, at last, Aldrian sensed higher-level cultivators—several grand duke-stage experts. Though they were also caught in his illusion, their situation was far better. Aldrian could tell they had the ability to break free and imdiately moved to assess the town’s situation.
There were three of them, and upon sensing Aldrian’s probing presence, they began heading in his direction. In response, Aldrian ascended into the sky, floating effortlessly as he prepared to face the approaching grand duke cultivators with his own eyes.
The onlookers, witnessing his flight, initially assud he was at the king stage. However, when they sensed his aura, they were shocked—he was still only at the duke stage!
To use flight at the duke stage... Was he not afraid of exhausting his energy reserves, especially when he seed to be inviting trouble?
Now, everyone wanted to know—who was this bold individual?
The three grand duke-stage cultivators, clad in armor, halted their movent atop the rooftops as they spotted a floating figure. Imdiately, they assud he was the source of the disturbance.
Nearly all of their troops had already fainted or died, and the numbers continued to rise as Aldrian’s senses expanded even further.
They frowned upon realizing that Aldrian was still only at the duke stage, yet he had dared to attack them and was even using flight. Was there sothing wrong with his head?
"Who are you? How dare you wreak havoc in my territory? Do you understand what you have done?" demanded the strongest of the three, a high grand duke-stage cultivator.
Although Aldrian was a "re" duke-stage cultivator, his display of power gave the man a bad feeling. There was sothing more to this figure than just his cultivation level!
Aldrian did not answer. Instead, his calm blue eyes locked onto them.
Without warning, the three grand duke-stage cultivators suddenly felt an imnse weight pressing down on their bodies. They staggered for a mont, but having already been wary of Aldrian, they had prepared for any unexpected attacks.
Their bodies were shielded by protective energy barriers, designed to guard against external influences and techniques. However, they still felt the effects of Aldrian’s gravity laws, albeit slightly.
Fortunately for them, this was not Aldrian’s domain, so his power was not at full strength. With their much higher cultivation, they managed to resist the pressure.
Still, even though they could withstand the gravity, their movents were slightly hindered—and at their level, even a split-second delay could be fatal in battle.
In an instant, Aldrian vanished and reappeared behind one of the three grand dukes, driving a powerful punch straight into the man’s back, precisely where his dantian was located.
The sheer force of the punch shattered the cultivator’s armor, which was, in fact, a low heaven-grade artifact! Aldrian’s raw strength had reached the point where he could break such an artifact if he focused his full power into a single strike.
The grand duke’s dantian was instantly destroyed upon impact, rendering him crippled.
"Argh!" he scread in agony as his body was sent hurtling through the air, crashing into the ground with a thunderous impact.
The people in the area had already begun fleeing the mont they sensed a battle breaking out. Thanks to that, when the grand duke’s body struck the ground, no bystanders were caught in the aftermath.
The remaining two grand duke-stage cultivators were shocked by Aldrian’s sudden movent, a clear display of teleportation. Reacting quickly, they launched their attacks, one wielding a sword and the other a spear.
However, before they could strike, their bodies suddenly froze. A powerful force restrained them, and before they could break free, Aldrian had already moved again.
With devastating precision, he delivered another punch—this ti to the spear-wielding grand duke, striking directly at his dantian.
Just like the first, the man’s armor and dantian were instantly shattered. His body was sent hurtling toward the ground, crashing down with such force that the impact cratered the earth beneath him.
"Break!"
The last remaining grand duke-stage cultivator—the strongest of the three—had taken advantage of the mont Aldrian was attacking his comrade. He successfully freed himself from Aldrian’s spatial lock and imdiately attempted to flee.
Only now did he fully grasp the disparity in strength.
For soone to shatter a low heaven-grade artifact with nothing but a punch effortlessly, their body cultivation had to have reached at least the king stage!
Yet the man before him was still only at the duke stage. How was that possible? At first, he thought Aldrian had used so kind of trick to break the artifact, but now he was certain—it was pure, raw power!
Realizing the terrifying anomaly before him, the grand duke didn’t hesitate. He turned and fled.
He tried to put so distance between them while reaching for his escape talisman, but he was a mont too late. Before he could activate it, Aldrian teleported again, suddenly appearing right in front of him.
Terror gripped him as he instinctively slashed with his sword, but Aldrian effortlessly blocked it, grabbing his wrist and crushing it in an instant.
"Arrghh!" he scread in agony as Aldrian’s grip shattered his bones. His sword fell to the rooftop, but he barely noticed—his mind consud by pain.
Then, without warning, a searing pain tore through his abdon. Aldrian’s fist had slamd directly into his dantian.
His middle heaven-grade armor dented under the impact, but it didn’t shatter—proof of the difference in strength between artifact tiers. Though his dantian wasn’t destroyed outright, a visible crack had ford.
"Argh, wait—" he tried to plead, but Aldrian struck twice more while keeping a firm grip on his wrist, ensuring he couldn’t escape. With the final blow, the man’s dantian shattered.
Aldrian then released his wrist and turned his gaze toward the onlookers watching from afar.
"To those who still have the heart of liberation! I have already taken care of the second prince’s troops in this town! If you still seek freedom, gather their bodies in teleportation station plaza and leave them be! Take everything they had and let the second prince know that this place has been freed from his control!" Aldrian’s voice resounded across the town.
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