Sun Palace

"Drill Thrust!" Noah's sword was cloaked with a spinning layer of Essence as he pierced at the beast before him. Now that he possessed the vast Essence reserve at the Peak of the Novice Stage, he could use Gravity Force to increase the weight of his sword strikes at a constant force of 300 kilograms! This was three-tenths a ton!

One could only imagine the aggrieved look on the scorpion's face as it was sent into the air, open to receive the strike of Alyssa, thus ending its life. One would think that three months ago, the duo would suffer at the hands of a Desert Scorpion but now they could easily defeat these beasts by relying on their past battle experience.

Noah placed its carapace into his World ring and counted. "This is the sixth."

"We need three more then." Alyssa replied as she pulled out an Essence core from her ring to replenish her energy. They had tested that the carapaces could shield them from the sun for roughly two hours before being useless. So they needed 9 to transverse the desert. The two noticed that there was still some time before day and continued with their hunt. In the end, they were able to hunt the last three scorpions necessary for their trip.

After the long hunt, the two retired to their abodes to get their much needed rest. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

***

Noah and Alyssa stared at the desert before them. The two said nothing and simply rushed into the desert. Multiple shockwaves reached them as scorpions climbed out of their underground lairs to hunt but they ignored them and kept moving forward. The scorpions of such low levels could never stop them if they only focused on fleeing.

This sprint of theirs lasted the entire night and as they saw the first ray of sunlight touching the ground before them, the two moved closer and brought out a carapace carved in the shape of a hemisphere to place over themselves. Although their speed reduced a bit, it wasn't by much. The only time taken to rest were the short breaks they took when refilling their Essence cores and changing the carapace shields.

One could see their mental fortitude through this venture of theirs as any other person would have given up by then, even Noah was surprised to see that Alyssa could keep up with him because while he looked young, he was still someone with a 28 years old experience.

Soon 8 hours had gone by in this hellish desert and the two were already close to calling it quits when they saw something in the distance! A Palace! A large palace graced the barren desert with its brilliance, this was it. This was their way out! The two immediately felt hope and increased their speed, racing to the palace.

Soon they became stunned as they felt a soothing wind brush against them. Noah thought for a while and very resolutely placed his arm outside the carapace's shade.

His face froze as the result stunned him! No pain! There was no damage to his soul as one would expect! Glancing at the palace 500 or so meters away, he was surer that it was the true abode of the Grandmaster Battlesoul master!

He finally let out a sigh of relief before he spoke. "The area around the palace is safe, the sun does no damage here."

The girl nodded and the both threw off the carapace before placing it in Noah's World ring. The two then faced the palace as they walked at a normal pace towards it, quietly priming themselves for a battle. Just because they had gotten here didn't mean they were free, they both knew that there was a possibility that another battle would unfold in this palace. They soon got close to the palace gates but what they saw shocked them to the extreme.

In front of the golden and majestic gates, lay a sleeping dog! Yet the sight of the dog was really ferocious. Noah estimated its height to be at least 4 meters! It possessed two heads, one breathing out a gust of heavy wind while the other, a stream of fire. Spikes grew at its shoulders, emitting bright glints that boasted a terrifying sharpness. Its body alone would give anybody the chills and make them drop any thoughts of challenging this beast to a battle.

Seeing the beast, Noah gave a helpless chuckle. The appearance of the beast, no matter how grotesque, would not deter him. What made him give that reaction was the aura it emitted.

Exalt Stage!

This was something the duo could not take on. Even if both he and Alyssa possessed the strength of Peak Adept Stage Battlesoul masters, they would still lose on the face of an Exalt Stage beast.

Although it seemed like it was just a difference one level, it was much deeper than that. With the implementation of Intent, even the most powerful Adept Stage Battlesoul master would fall. And while Exalt Stage beasts had nothing like Intents, they possessed something like Fiends where they could integrate an element with their body and this beast before them possessed two! And if that weren't enough, most beasts gained intellect when they reached this stage, ranging from that of a child at the age of 10 to that at the age of 15 which depended on the purity of the beast's bloodline. Seeing the beast before them, it was obvious that it possessed a passable bloodline as it was picked up by a Grandmaster. This meant that the monster before them could execute battle techniques!

Noah and Alyssa glanced at each other helplessly. This beast was way past what they could handle! It was impossible for them when only one of the two possessed Adept Stage strength. Someone like Noah would only be squashed to death by this beast even if he had something as broken as the Limit Break technique.

Looking at this beast, Noah's mind raced as he glanced across its body, using Silver Dragon Eyes to its maximum output, trying to make out its weak points. Suddenly his head whipped back as he glanced to the west! A strange smirk graced his face as a devious plan weaved itself into existence within Noah's mind.