Ten kilometers away from where the Ribbon Sect incident happened was a group of people led by a man wearing armored spikes. He was a bulky giant, even in his human form, spanning a height of four meters.

He had an imposing presence. The air he breathed out contained a feeling of dominance, something only one who had been in power for a considerable time would possess. He had a small team with him, only numbering four.

​​

Though, that was more than enough battle strength for them. After all, all five of them possessed Spiritual Incarnations. They were a group of staggeringly imposing powerhouses. The man wearing the armored spikes heard the collective shout of the Ribbon Sect, snorting in disdain as he said, "Those guys are at it again. Strength in numbers is useless against us."

"It should be the Seamstress. We shouldn't underestimate her," the man standing right behind him said. "If we do, we'll have our asses handed to us by her, just like last time."

"Did you just retort me?" The man wearing the armored spikes turned around as veins popped on his forehead as he asked, "You dare?"

Before the other man could say anything, the man wearing the armored spikes punched the other man in the gut, causing it to bleed. The blood flowed out nonstop and formed a pool on the ground, turning him into a withered husk. Unable to endure having all his essence sucked away, the man's body crumbled into dust.

"That's what you get for trying to retort me." He snorted in disdain, looking as if the dust on the ground was beneath all the other dust in the region. He then swerved his gaze at the other three standing beside him as he told them, "It's a warning for you three as well. Don't get on my nerves."

Unfortunately for him, the three people didn't seem to care as they simultaneously turned their heads to gaze at the dirt on the ground. As the man wearing the armored spikes followed their line of sight, he ended up gazing at the dust on the ground, only to realize his vision had turned black the next second.

A fist had exited the dust and slammed right in the dead center of his face, sending him flying straight towards a Predominated Vine. Though, before he collided with the vines, one of the three that had been standing beside him appeared behind him and grabbed hold of him, returning him to their prior spot.

She then dumped him on the ground before returning to her spot. The man wearing the armored spikes then had his face planted in the ground, right on the dust.

"It stinks!" he cursed out as he lifted his head, slapping his nose with his hands in a flurry as his face turned pale. His expression morphed into one of despair as he saw the dust on the ground condense into a pair of butt cheeks before being covered by a piece of cloth.

Soon, the figure of the man who retorted him climbed out from it and recondensed his dust figure into his human self before saying, "Your edgelord play sucks. The next time you do it to me, you'll experience something even worse."

"Fuck you! I'll do it no matter what." the man wearing the armored spikes cursed in return as he exhaled air from his nose as much as he could in an effort to expel the stench from his nostrils.

He wailed around for a minute before recovering from the setback, teary-eyed as he glared at the man standing before him, saying, "I'm a Prince. You should treat me with the respect my dignity deserves."

"You lost all your dignity the day you walked around wearing diapers," the man snapped back. "Just be happy that I'm still accompanying you with your cringe-worthy performances."

"Fuck you! Diapers are cool!" the man wearing the armored spikes cursed once again as he looked at the other three that had been silent from the start and asked, "Right?"

They just swerved their heads in other directions, treating as if the question wasn't directed at them.

"…fine, let's get going then." The man wearing the armored spikes gave up in the end, turning around as he began to walk through the path.

The man behind him pointed at the group of bandits that had been bound beside them all along and asked, "What do you want to do with them?"

"Hmm?" The man wearing the armored spikes turned around to see more than one hundred bandits tied up and constricted on the ground. A formless energy of sorts seemed to be suppressing them from moving, so all they could do was remain like statues.

Eventually, he gave his verdict with a wave of his hands, "We've already looted them dry. They serve no purpose to me. You can do whatever you want with them, or you can throw them at the Predominated Vines and see what happens. At the very least, that would be a good show to watch."

"I'll do that, then." The lady that saved him before then took action, causing a change in the suppression as she changed the structure of her Godly Energy to resemble each and every bandit while lifting them.

Followed by a light grunt, she threw them in batches towards the Predominated Vines that were growing atop the canyon walls.

Followed by a small arc, a bandit soon collided into a Predominated Vine. The Godly Energy covering him was similar to the godly energy circulating in his body, so the Predominated Vine misunderstood it to be his, immediately latching onto him.

The vine acted like a feeler of a gelatinous organism as it touched the bandit, causing his body to become stuck to it. It then coiled around his body until fully wrapping him within itself. Its edges then joined together to form a cocoon.

There was a fear-inducing scream for a couple of seconds before the size of the cocoon reduced as the bulge disappeared. The Predominated Vine returned to its previous appearance soon after as if the bandit it had eaten wasn't even considered a snack.

"It's dangerous to instigate them like this." The man behind the one wearing armored spikes sighed as the lady finished throwing the bandits in any random direction she wished.

The ground trembled as if an earthquake had occurred. The cause was the stirring up of the vines that had taken action to eat the bandits. It was a horrifying scene, even the lady that had caused it gulped in tension since the strength posed by the vines was beyond her expectations.

"It's stronger than the reports." The man wearing the armored spike frowned as he took a step back involuntarily. He watched as the vines danced in the air, wriggling around like leeches that had smelled blood.

Thanks to their movements, the vines in the surroundings also moved, resulting in the earthquake becoming stronger. After a couple of minutes had passed, they stopped, finally allowing the ground to relax.

"Don't do something that stupid again," the man cursed as he slammed the head of the man wearing the armored spikes. "If you wish to seek death, do so on your own. Don't act like a naïve hero."

"…I'm a villain, though." The man wearing the armored spikes massaged his head, trying to ease the pain. It looked like they were screwing around, but in actuality, they just murdered one hundred people without batting an eye. They were just villains with character.

…

"Has father taken action already?" a girl in her teens asked, expressing her curiosity as she looked around from her carriage, a disappointed look on her face as all she could see was the canyon walls.

"There's nothing he can do here. Or more like, there's nothing for him to do here. He's probably just keeping watch over the surroundings," the voice of an annoyed boy replied to her question. "How else do you think he can find a Predominated Fruit for you?"

"I see." The girl bowed her head before saying, "Sorry, brother. It's just...I feel bored."

"There's nothing else we can do about it. Just focus on comprehending your laws further so that you won't end up with a weak Spiritual Incarnation." The boy said before closing his eyes, cultivating once more. Both of them were at the Ninth Stage God Foundation Realm, despite being in their teens. They were at the final stage where they could condense a Spiritual Incarnation.

But, since they were too young, they didn't have the experience necessary to do so. Also, considering their talents, they would automatically reach the God Core Realm before long, not giving them enough time to condense their Spiritual Incarnations naturally. And so, they were in search of a Predominated Fruit. After all, having a Spiritual Incarnation is what differentiates a strong immortal from a run-of-the-mill one.

It would allow them to condense their Spiritual Incarnations easily and solve their issue, allowing them to explore the Sub-Realm with relative ease.

"Dad said that if he fails to find a Predominated Fruit, we can't enter the Sub-Realm," the boy said, startling the girl. "So, let's hope he finds them."

…

"Run!" Cultivator shouted as he picked up the pace, watching Krune barely keep up pace with him.

"What the hell are these demon beasts? It's the first time I've seen them," Krune shouted in a fluster as he ran. "I never heard the Four Sectors' Border Region having such a demon beast race native to them."

"Do you know what they are?" Cultivator took out a certain ring from his pouch and shouted at it.

"Don't shout." A stern voice resounded as a tiny humanoid-shaped ring spirit flew out. It had a pair of wings on the back of its short, chubby form. It yawned and landed on Cultivator's shoulder, not caring about his tensed state as it seemed relaxed.

It then looked at the chasing demon beasts and said, "They have always been native to this region. It's just that they only existed in one small area. Usually, no one ventured into that area, so hardly anyone ever encountered them. Hence, information about them hasn't spread. But, it seems something has happened for them to start moving."

The ring spirit thought as she spoke her thoughts, "It seems the appearance of the Sub-Realm has caused their population to explode to the extent their home could no longer sustain their numbers. With that, they spilled out."

"So, what are they?" Cultivator shouted as he asked, turning around as his complexion turned pale. It wasn't because of the chasing demon beasts, but because of the vines that were getting stirred up thanks to their actions.