"I need to go now," Feng Yuan said suddenly.

Then the air exploded with the sound of something tearing through it with immense force, and in the blink of an eye, the leader of the Verdant Sword Sect was no longer there.

Tianhai took a step back, startled by the speed.

"He… disappeared."

Yanyu looked at Kyrian, confused.

"What could've happened?"

Kyrian was silent for a moment, gazing at the spot where Feng Yuan had vanished. The wind seemed to blow, sweeping away the last layer of dust on the ground.

"I don't know. But it seems something important happened," Kyrian finally replied, shaking his head.

********************************

Suddenly, something moving at a terrifying speed that made the wind scatter in all directions appeared, and then Feng Yuan emerged in an isolated part of the sect's central area.

Before him stood a small, simple wooden hut made of ancient timber, surrounded by bamboo and moss. That place was the leader's refuge,

a place almost no one knew existed.

He took a few slow steps until he stopped in front of the hut.

His eyes fixed on the horizon for a moment, and then, slowly, a firm smile formed on his face.

"Finally…"

His voice came out low but heavy with emotion.

"Finally, the bottleneck is gone."

Feng Yuan took a deep breath, feeling the flow of Qi coursing through his body with a fluidity he hadn't felt in decades.

Without hesitation, he sat down on the ground.

With a motion of his hand, an absurd number of spirit stones appeared around him, forming a pile that emitted an intense light.

It was a quantity far beyond anything Kyrian had ever seen.

Right after that, a small jade vial appeared in his palm. He opened it and, without ceremony, swallowed the single pill inside.

As soon as he did, the surrounding air seemed to tremble.

The Qi within the hut exploded, expanding in all directions.

Spiritual energy began to condense, becoming almost visible, and then a dense, living vortex emerged, swirling around Feng Yuan.

The pressure spread like a wave throughout the Verdant Sword Sect.

The disciples who were cultivating were immediately interrupted, coughing and feeling their knees buckle.

Within seconds, the entire sect felt the weight of that presence.

Near the sect's main hall, all the elders appeared, their faces filled with tension.

"What's happening? Are we under attack?" one of them shouted.

But before anyone could answer, they all sensed the direction of the pressure.

Their gazes turned toward the same point, the isolated area of the central mountain.

One of the elders, with white hair, opened his eyes wide in shock.

"This… this is coming from Feng Yuan's quarters."

A heavy silence fell upon everyone.

For a moment, no one dared speak. But soon, Mei Ran, who was among them, murmured in a slightly trembling voice,

"The leader… is breaking through."

The impact of those words made everyone realize it.

Another elder clenched his fists, eyes wide.

"Impossible! The leader has been stuck for eighty years in the False Spiritual Awakening Realm. He always said there was no more hope…"

"But… if he succeeds, the sect will change completely," Mei Ran said with a faint, incredulous smile.

The expressions of all the elders turned to pure euphoria.

They looked at each other and, in silence, simply watched the mountain.

…

Inside the hut, Feng Yuan breathed deeply.

His body trembled, but his mind was in total control.

Qi circulated with terrifying strength, each breath drawing rivers of spiritual energy into his body.

The sharp Qi of his inner core began to spin and glow with a light green hue, and the sound of something breaking echoed within him, the sound of a limitation shattering.

A wave of energy spread outward.

The ground around the hut trembled.

The spirit stones surrounding him began to crack one by one, disintegrating into luminous dust as the Qi within them was completely devoured.

But not all of it went into his core, half of all the Qi, in fact, was gathering in his forehead.

"Eighty years…" Feng Yuan murmured suddenly, sweating but smiling in pure satisfaction.

"Eighty years… trapped between heaven and earth."

His body trembled again, and then, a light burst in a specific place within his mind. Something awakened that multiplied the pressure tenfold, sweeping across the floor and cracking the stones beneath his feet.

In an instant, the entire mountain seemed to breathe with him for a moment.

Everything felt completely different to him now.

The leader of the Verdant Sword Sect, Feng Yuan, had now broken through to the true Spiritual Awakening Realm.

The sound inside the hut ceased. Everything fell into absolute silence.

Feng Yuan opened his eyes. This time, they glowed a deep green, like two living blades.

He exhaled deeply.

"Finally… after all this time… I am free from my shackles," he whispered, looking upward as if he could see the sky beyond the ceiling above his head.

…

In the distant clearing, Yanyu, Luz, and Tianhai had stopped their recently started fight the moment they felt the pressure.

The air felt heavier, making it difficult even to breathe.

Yanyu looked up, eyes filled with astonishment.

"What is this pressure? It's terrifying…"

"Definitely… it's the sect leader," Tianhai said, clenching his fists, trembling slightly.

Kyrian was silent for a moment, gazing in the direction the pressure came from. Then he let out a soft sigh and said,

"It seems the urgent matter was that the leader had a breakthrough."

He gave a small, satisfied smile.

"The Verdant Sword Sect will become even stronger."

For a moment, the group remained silent, feeling the Qi vibrate in the distance. A new era was about to begin for the sect.

Then, after some time, the pressure finally vanished as if it had never existed.

…

Back in the leader's hut, Feng Yuan opened his eyes completely. The energy around him had stabilized, but his presence was still suffocating, even in its calm state.

He slowly stood up, feeling his body lighter, firmer, as if he had shed a weight that had burdened him his whole life.

"It's time."

His words came out softly, and then he closed his eyes again.

In the next instant, a wave spread from his mind throughout the entire sect.

It wasn't a sound nor a physical presence. But suddenly, a voice echoed in the minds of many within the central area.

"Gather in the main hall."

The voice was deep, firm, and impossible to ignore.

Kyrian immediately lifted his head. The voice echoed clearly in his mind, making his expression shift suddenly.

"This…" he murmured.

Yanyu and Tianhai exchanged glances, they had heard it too.

At that moment, every elder and central disciple of the sect felt the same thing. And each of them knew, the sect leader had succeeded in his breakthrough.

Shortly after, the grand main hall of the Verdant Sword Sect was already filled.

Elders, core disciples, and several important figures of the sect were gathered.

The air there felt heavy, charged with a certain tension, but not a bad one.

Then, upon the throne in the center of the hall, Feng Yuan waited, seated.

Many hadn't seen him arrive. He was simply there in an instant.

All eyes turned to him at once.

The pressure emanating from his body was immense, dense, and sharp like a blade ready to cut through everything.

It made it impossible to breathe naturally.

Kyrian felt his body tremble slightly. Instinctively, his eyes gleamed, and an image appeared before him, something revealed itself clearly.

The Qi around Feng Yuan now resembled a lake with no visible end.

He swallowed hard, and a thought crossed his mind.

'Truly dangerous…'

Whenever he looked at someone, Kyrian could somehow sense and distinguish the strength they carried.

But now, before Feng Yuan, it was something completely abyssal.

A truly profound power he couldn't fully fathom, as if something prevented him.

The memory of Wei Feng surfaced.

When he met the sect leader, Kyrian thought he was already in the Spiritual Awakening Realm. Just as he'd thought the same of Wei Feng. But now he knew he'd been wrong.

Only now did he understand what that realm truly meant.

The difference between the leader and any other elder present was absurd, beyond comparison.

One by one, the elders began to speak, bowing slowly.

"Congratulations, Leader Feng Yuan."

"Congratulations on your breakthrough."

The voices echoed through the hall, filled with respect.

Soon, Yanyu, Tianhai, Kyrian, and the other core disciples also offered their congratulations.

Everyone was sincerely happy.

Feng Yuan remained silent for a few seconds, then took a deep breath. Suddenly, the pressure they felt vanished.

The dense energy disappeared as if it had never existed.

"I'll be away from the sect for some time," he began calmly.

"Mei Ran and the other elders will make decisions while I'm gone."

The core disciples looked at each other in confusion.

But the older elders understood immediately.

The leader definitely had matters to resolve, matters spanning many years and many people.

"Understood," they replied, bowing even deeper in respect.

Feng Yuan nodded.

"Take good care of the sect."

And then, without a sound, he disappeared.

The wind blew softly through the hall.

This time, Kyrian was focused, he forced his eyes to follow the leader's movement.

But all he saw was a faint trace, a green streak passing before them and vanishing from the hall.

In the blink of an eye, Feng Yuan was no longer there.

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