Rushing In

"Ehh….is this really it? I was expecting something….I don't know….stranger?" Reese spoke first as he narrowed his eyes on what Asher was pointing at.

Kylee and Elsa were in similar agreement with Reese, feeling a bit confused that this was their mission point.

Just several feet away from them was a cave that looked as ordinary as it could be.

There wasn't anything distinctively unique about this cave. Besides its slightly rustier look than any other cave, anybody would be inclined to simply write this place off.

And yet….something that would tremendously change their souls was located within here.

Reese, Kylee, and even Elsa thought the mission point would at least look a little bit stranger than the rest.

"Yea, this is the place. And I mean, despite how it looks, we all know appearances can be quite deceiving." Asher shrugged his shoulders while talking.

His Aura Sense connected to his System Soul, meaning it was impossible for it to be wrong.

"Alright….if you say so. Then, let's get hype! Oh man, even though this is so haunting, I feel strangely safe with you guys." Kylee had a great confidence edge in her tone.

Elation began to fill Kylee's entire body. This would be it; going into this cave would be the equivalent of her entire life-changing!

"I mean, to be fair, when coming here, barely any monster dared to come close to us. And the ones that did were swiftly taken off by Ms.Tirel. So I'm sure we can get through this."

Reese was pumping his hand together, feeling a similar deal of elation swirl through his body.

But though they were all feeling excitement, Asher didn't dare to brazenly charge into the cave.

Asher slowly led them over the cave while also telling Reese and Kylee, "We do have a mighty force, but remember to not get lax. The danger here can still affect any of us."

Reese and Kylee gave a silent nod in agreement as they got close to the cave.

Before getting close to the cave's entrance, Asher briefly tossed his gaze over to Elsa and asked her, "Do you sense anything strange in there?"

Elsa slightly curled her eyebrows and shook her head. She had her Aura Sense continually spread out for a while, expecting any sign of sudden danger to jump out from the ave. However, she didn't detect anything strange so far.

"No. At least, there isn't anything strange my Aura Sense can pick up on." Elsa explained.

Asher nodded towards her and turned his focus back on the cave. Elsa's Aura Sense is far more developed than his own, so Asher held the utmost faith in her judgment.

Right then, Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa stood directly in front of the cave's entrance. They all squint their eyes, trying to see through its darkness, but not even their enhanced vision could make out any sort of image.

As Asher was about to speak up again, telling them that they should hold on to each other, a violent jolt rattled his entire body!

Asher went completely rigid as an explosive sense of trepidation stormed his mind. A burst of cold sweat dripped down his face, and his expression turned severely grave.

'No-no way! But we left so early!'

Asher narrowed his eyes when entirely out of nowhere, his Aura Sense alerted him to four rapidly approaching presences.

"Uhm….Asher? What's wrong?" Kylee concernedly asked first after seeing Asher go still like a statue.

Reese and Elsa also snapped their attention to Asher, feeling equally as worried seeing him go rigid.

Asher didn't respond at all to Kylee's call. Instead, he whipped his head around in a specific direction, sensing that's where those other presences were coming from.

Before Asher could inform the others, Elsa's expression immediately fell. She didn't pick up any danger within her Aura Sense. But her mind quickly connected the dots on what was making Asher act this way.

"Asher! It's those people coming, right?" As she said it, Elsa felt an ominous shiver crawl up her spine.

"They're here already?!" Both Reese and Kylee couldn't believe their ears.

Of course, Asher had informed them that another powerful group could possibly be coming to their mission point. But even they believed they could get a tremendous headstart from going so early in the morning.

Apparently, though, they were thrown with an unexpected curveball already.

'Tch! From what I'm sensing, it's two Mid-Stage Origin Tier and two Peak Stage Spirit Tier, Asher! They sure are coming well equip. But don't worry too much. I'm more connected to the System Soul, and I can safely say this group still has quite a way to go to reach you.' Yuki quickly informed Asher.

Two Mid-Stage Origin and two Peak Spirit Tier!

Asher felt his heart drop to the pits of the abyss after that news. This lineup would be immensely challenging for them to deal with. Even with all of their items, things can quickly end terribly for all of them.

"You're right, Elsa. My System Soul is telling me that's it two Mid-Stage Origin Tier and two Peak Stage Spirit Tier heading over here. Quickly! Let's get into the cave now! And stick close to each other!" Asher urgently ordered out.

And just like him, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa felt their hearts sink to the depths of the abyss from this news. The three of them, even Elsa, realized this lineup could tremendously ruin everything they built up for.

They couldn't afford to use all of their items on this approaching group as they still needed to get through whatever trials that lies within this cave.

Then, without any single ounce of hesitation, Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa dashed straight into the cave.

They quickly sprinted for several seconds until they had to abruptly stop again.

"What is this?" Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa all had the same reaction.

Right in front of their face was a massive swirl of gray energy substances! The gray energy was only several meters tall and swirled around in a mesmerizing circular manner.

The fact that there was a mass blob of gray energy mysteriously swirling around in the cave wasn't what was primarily causing Asher's group confusion.

But rather was that none of them could perceive anything from this mysterious gray energy.

No matter how hard they concentrated their Aura Sense on the gray energy, none of them felt any strange sensation or form of power. However, when Asher referred to his System Soul, it was telling him that they needed to go in there.

Putting the utmost faith into his System Soul, Asher told the others, "Everyone, jump in! My System Soul is telling me that we need to go in here."

Reese, Kylee, and Elsa furrowed their brows but didn't raise any disagreement. They already hold the utmost trust in Asher's words, so they would follow his lead no matter how strange this situation was.

Then, without any delay, Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa dashed right into the mass of gray energy.

And instead of going through the gray energy, Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa had actually sunk right into it! A pulse of energy was released from the mass of gray energy as Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa disappeared within it.

….

Back on the outside of the same cave, everything had returned back to Decrypted Wood's usual eerie quietness.

A little bit of time has passed since Asher's group entered the cave, and it seemed like there wouldn't be any other being showing up in this area.

But right then, the wind kicked up into a fierce stormy gale. Trees and bushes began to violently rustle as four figures suddenly shot right towards the same cave Asher's group had gone into.

These four figures stopped right in front of the cave.

It was two men and two women who all held mysterious appearances and exuded an unfathomable aura. Each of them all wore long black cloaks that nearly covered their entire face. And from what can be seen from their faces wasn't anything remarkable.

However, despite their questionable looks, these four weren't people anyone can look down upon.

The two women in the group were Peak Stage Spirit Tier cultivators, while the two men were Mid-Stage Origin Tier cultivators!

If this group were to appear within Pearlcrest City, many would feel considerable apprehension just from the Peak Stage Spirit Tier women. Combining them with the two Mid-Stage Origin Tier men, no average cultivator would dare to get in this group's way.

"So this is the place, huh?"

When arriving in front of the cave, one of the women immediately started talking. She had a single hand on her hip as she gazed into the cave with a fervent greedy expression.

"This certainly doesn't look like much. But just thinking about the rewards….Oh! I can't wait-"

Before the woman could finish her thought, one of the Origin Tier men raised his hand, instantly silencing her. A slight look of contemplation crossed his face as he curled his eyebrows.

"Senior Brother Fang? Did the compass reading get stronger or something?" The other Peak Stage Spirit Tier woman asked.

Compared to the other woman, her expression was far calmer while accessing their situation.

In response to her, Senior Brother Fang took a look over his team. His second in command was tilted Senior Brother Tang. And the woman who still spouted an overt greedy expression was named Xian while the other was called Xun.

After briefly checking them out, Senior Brother Fang reached into his pocket and took a unique-looking compass. A light white glow shrouded the compass as Senior Brother Fang cradled it in his hand.

After only a moment of silence, Senior Brother Fang began to talk. His tone sounded slightly confused as he said,

"The compass….it's picking up on three vague human presences that were here a while ago. But there's another presence that is just….well, I don't really know how to describe it."