Chapter 131: The Saber

Tianxin felt his mind ring with a deafening roar, struggling to believe his own eyes. Huixin, the little girl who had always tagged along behind them ever since they were children, was now lying in his arms like a blood-stained azalea.

This was the first time Tianxin had ventured out on a mission in the truest sense. Back among the Terrans, he could be said to have utterly overshadowed everyone else; even Langxin's once-in-a-century Horned Pupil Eyes had been cast in the shade by his brilliance.

Originally, Tianxin had believed that with his abilities, even if he failed to secure the greatest treasures in the new space, he could at least prevent any casualties among his team. However, the Rift of the Heavens, the four-dimensional spatial monsters that had manifested alongside Adamas, and the creature that had suddenly appeared just moments ago—time and time again, these events demonstrated that this spatial exploration far exceeded all expectations, constantly pushing past the boundaries of his control.

Tianxin raised his head, fixing a fierce glare on the monster that had slashed Huixin. A burst of milky-white energy erupted from deep within his body, directly enveloping the creature clinging to the tree trunk.

Yet, neither Huixin’s earth-attribute power nor Tianxin’s milky-white energy managed to inflict severe damage on the creature suspended from the bark. Even so, the milky-white energy unleashed by Tianxin was unmistakably far more potent than Huixin’s wood-attribute energy.

The monster, attempting to press its attack, was completely engulfed and bombarded by the milky-white energy. Its outer hide evaporated under the assault, leaving only a transparent, gel-like mass clinging to the tree.

Lifting Huixin, Tianxin retreated from the site of the ambush. He continuously channeled his internal milky-white energy into her body. Huixin’s eyes remained fixed on Tianxin, the corners of her brow twitching incessantly.

"You fool, if it hurts, just cry out. There's no need to endure it so bitterly."

A sudden pang of ache gripped Tianxin’s heart. He wondered when it was that Huixin, Langxin, and Zixin—who had grown up alongside him—had started calling him simply by his name, Tianxin. Huixin had long since stopped calling him "Brother Tian" and Langxin "Brother Lang" as she used to do every single day trailing behind them. The young girl in his arms had, without him noticing, grown remarkably resilient.

Huixin’s eyes, resting within Tianxin’s embrace, were like springs fresh out of the water—clear yet veiled in a faint mist. Hearing his words, she gently shook her head and closed her eyes.

At the exact moment Tianxin had erupted with the milky-white energy, Ye Bai’s gaze flickered slightly. A second person. He had actually encountered a second person capable of radiating white energy, though it somehow lacked the absolute purity of the other.

The image of Huyan Jiayi slowly surfaced in Ye Bai’s mind. During the entrance exams, Huyan Jiayi had shrouded herself in too many mysteries, yet all subsequent investigations had yielded nothing—until now, when he had encountered Tianxin, whose internal energy bore a striking similarity to hers.

Tianxin’s energy was milky-white, whereas Huyan Jiayi’s appeared far purer—or rather, sanctified, a white completely devoid of any impurities.

Yet, the energy within both individuals shared a single common trait: the power to heal. Ye Bai did not know what kind of energy this was, existing entirely outside the four fundamental attributes of wood, water, fire, and earth, but both Tianxin and Huyan Jiayi were capable of saving lives with it.

The monster that had suddenly materialized on the tree trunk had left a fatal wound across Huixin’s chest. Had Ye Bai been the one to encounter it, among everyone he knew, perhaps only Yao Ling could have saved someone suffering from such catastrophic injuries.

With one arm supporting Huixin, Tianxin’s other arm was practically invisible, entirely consumed by a cocoon of milky-white energy. He hovered his hand just above Huixin’s wound, and the milky-white radiance slowly seeped into the laceration, laying down what looked like a white ribbon of light across her chest. Her entire form was soon enveloped in a faint white glow.

Bai Wan'er led all the members of Purple Star Academy, standing a short distance away from Tianxin, while the rest of the Terrans formed a protective circle around him, remaining on high alert. It was only after a lengthy interval that Ye Bai heard Huixin’s voice.

"Tianxin, I'm much better. You don't need to waste any more of your internal energy on me," Huixin's weak voice drifted out from his embrace as she struggled to push herself up.

Tianxin’s lips were pale, and he stood swaying on his feet, looking as though a mere gust of wind could topple the frail-looking young woman before him. Langxin stepped forward to gently steady her.

What about that thing? Tianxin no longer channeled his energy into Huixin. For anyone who had awakened their attribute powers, provided they did not die instantly, no matter how severe the injuries, resting would eventually allow their innate attribute powers to gradually repair the physical damage.

Looking at Langxin, Tianxin posed the question to the others present. He knew full well the nature of the energy he had unleashed; while it should have wounded the creature that ambushed him, it was certainly not enough to kill it.

Langxin shook his head, the horned pupils reappearing within his eyes as he spoke, "It's gone. Moments ago, its physical shell should have been destroyed, but somehow, the creature turned entirely transparent and dissolved into the air, never to appear again."

The direction Langxin stared at was precisely where the monster had first manifested. Of everyone, he had been the sharpest witness to the creature’s transformation; his horned pupils flashed continuously, yet he simply could not locate the vanished beast.

Bai Wan'er stood not far from Tianxin, surrounded by the gathered members of Purple Star Academy. Her eyes remained locked on him. So he really had reached the growth stage? Xiao Ou had mentioned before leaving that he too would soon break through to the growth stage after returning to his clan. She had assumed Xiao Ou possessed extraordinary talent, yet she never expected that Tianxin before her was already a growth stage practitioner.

After exchanging a few words with the other Terrans, Tianxin walked over to Bai Wan'er and said, "Things have gotten rather troublesome this time. What we just encountered was likely a four-dimensional entity."

Tianxin’s expression was exceptionally grim. He had only ever read about four-dimensional lifeforms in books; he had never encountered one in reality and had no inkling of their weaknesses. He knew the potency of the power he had unleashed—anything below the growth stage should have been eradicated in an instant, yet it had failed to inflict any substantial harm on the four-dimensional entity.

Bai Wan'er’s expression shifted subtly, though she did not look overly surprised. When Tianxin had first mentioned Adamas, she had already suspected that entities from a four-dimensional space might infiltrate the area.

"The structural framework of a four-dimensional space differs fundamentally from that of a three-dimensional space. The attribute powers born within three-dimensional space inflict very little damage upon them, but their foundational geometry should share some commonalities; otherwise, that monster just now should have been entirely immune to attribute powers."

Tianxin voiced his hypothesis to Bai Wan'er, eager to hear her perspective on the matter.

Before Bai Wan'er could offer any response, however, a sharp, piercing aura suddenly materialized in the air. Wisps of black ink-like threads began to streak across the sky, weaving back and forth between the tree branches and the ground.

"They're here." These were the first words Dao had spoken since entering the new space, and it was also the first time Ye Bai laid eyes on Dao’s weapon.

Tianxin and Bai Wan'er locked their gazes onto Dao almost simultaneously, while not far away, Langxin’s horned pupils turned crimson. In his field of vision, no fewer than ten transparent, white-bodied monsters were darting among the trunks and boughs of the trees.

Hum, hum, hum. Suddenly, the weapon in Dao’s hand began to emit a low hum as inky black threads materialized upon its surface, drifting into the surrounding air.

"Hah!" Dao let out a sharp cry, slashing the weapon in his hand toward the space before him. As a stroke of ink-colored blade-light materialized, the drifting black threads converged in mid-air to form the shape of a wolf's head.

In Langxin’s eyes, that inky blade-light flickered in and out of existence just like a four-dimensional organism. Within a fraction of a moment, his entire field of vision was dyed in shades of ink. When his sight finally cleared, the four-dimensional entities clinging to the trees had vanished entirely, leaving behind an incomplete, humanoid imprint gouged into the bark of the tree.

"De... destroyed?" Langxin could no longer detect any trace of the four-dimensional lifeforms in his vision, yet the ghostly nature of these creatures left him hesitant to confirm whether they had truly been obliterated.

Astonishment painted the faces of both Tianxin and Bai Wan'er, though they were marveling at entirely different things.

*How did he manage to perceive the existence of a four-dimensional entity?* Tianxin thought to himself.

*Why is the Ink Blade in his hands? Who on earth is he?* Bai Wan'er’s eyes were filled with shock and suspicion, struggling to comprehend how the weapon belonging to Dao had ended up in this place.

Neither of them had time to voice the questions burning in their minds—or rather, the rapid escalation of events around them denied them the luxury of doing so.

Dao’s instantaneous slaughter of a four-dimensional entity still lurking within the tree acted like the horn of battle, or perhaps a low-dimensional provocation hurled at a high-dimensional predator. In a split second, the silhouettes of four-dimensional entities multiplied across the tree trunks, the underbrush, and the ground itself.

"What do we do?" Sensing the dire situation, Langxin brought Huixin and the remaining two companions to Tianxin's side.

The milky-white energy flickered weakly in Tianxin’s palm, signaling that he was fully prepared, yet he had no answer for Langxin. This was his first encounter with four-dimensional entities; he had never seen them before, let alone learned how to slay them.

At that moment, however, Dao spoke up.

"Before this, I had never even heard of these so-called four-dimensional entities you speak of. But my master once said: these are demons. They are immune to more than ninety percent of conventional attribute powers, and the only way to kill them is through the exact moment they undergo assimilation. Right now, we can only block them; we cannot kill them."

As he spoke, Dao’s gaze remained fixed on the Ink Blade in his grasp. The Ink Blade, also known as the Demon Blade, was forged from materials belonging to a dimension entirely foreign to this one, making it extraordinarily difficult to fuse with attribute powers.

His master had once laughed, remarking that such a miraculous divine artifact possessed zero practical utility, performing worse than a simple firewood poker when it came to striking monsters.

No one knew the origins of the Ink Blade; even his master could not explain it. It possessed no battle runes, no honed edge, and was arguably less sharp than a fruit knife from a kitchen.

Dao had assumed he would never have any use for the Ink Blade in his lifetime. Yet, just moments ago, when the four-dimensional entities mentioned by Tianxin appeared, the Ink Blade had finally stirred—marking the very first time it had changed since Dao had come into possession of it.

"Then what should we do?"

Since Dao was the only one who had successfully slain a four-dimensional entity, everyone present shifted their attention to him, Tianxin included.

The surrounding four-dimensional entities seemed in no rush to torment these unfamiliar creatures. In their perception, the ten individuals before them were not living people at all, but rather mobile monsters composed of various geometric cylinders—much like how ants perceive everything around them as a flat, two-dimensional plane.

Two-dimensional beings could never comprehend the world of three-dimensional beings, just as three-dimensional beings could never truly fathom the world of four dimensions.

"Where did you get the weapon in your hand?"

Bai Wan'er’s eyes burned red, her pale fingers turning slightly bluish as she stared intently at Dao, demanding an answer.