It had been some time since Lin Feng had discovered his ability to expand his consciousness to the minds of others. Instead of training at home, he now spent his free time in the local market. He was surrounded by random strangers of low mental cultivation. It was the perfect place for furthering his Dao of Soul.

It was also where he cultivated the Withered Tree Scripture. This was one of the few cultivation methods that didn’t directly cultivate Qi. It cultivated the soul and strengthened the body. He had a thread of Qi now, but it was weak and feeble.

He bought and sold goods to keep up appearances and bring in some coin for the family. He became an adept reader of people and was beginning to be highly thought of by the wiser members of the Lin Clan.

He was able avoid conflict and get favorable contracts using his new empathetic senses.

Life was coming along well for Lin Feng.

Then the country fell apart.

---

“Master, we succeeded in creating the Flame Gathering Seal. Now our cultivation will improve by leaps and bounds.”

“Well done. You’ve worked hard. I’ll name you vice priest we we establish our own Flame Chapter. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Thank you master.”

“...”

“...”

“Master, isn’t it gathering flame a bit too fast?”

“The formation can handle it. It’s made to siphon off power to grow stronger.”

“Master, are the edges supposed to be burning like that?”

“...”

“Master, what happens if the formation fails?”

“The seal…”

“Breaks?”

“...”

---

This was the day that the first general alert was raised on the network administered by the Horned Rabbit Sect.

Closer to the country of Vorchin the message was blasted out by speakers to anyone within miles of any phone or beacon, this was heard alongside a blaring siren.

“Invasion from a foreign dimension is imminent. If under the realm of Core Formation, flee immediately to the nearest shelter indicated. Instructions for resistance are as follows.”

Further away, a message was sent out to anyone with a phone that automatically played on speakerphone.

-Invasion from a foreign dimension detected nearby. Requesting assistance from anyone Foundation Establishment and higher. Rewards are as follows.

Text messages were sent to the phones on the other side of the continent.

-Invasion from a foreign dimension detected on the Setting Lands continent. Updates will follow.

It was a terrible day for the country of Vorchin, and the Setting Lands in general.

It started with a small crack in space. That crack was the result of a nearby spatial treasure and the meddling of two idiots.

Between the two pillars a flame the size of a fist burned. It started out colored bright orange. From there it slowly shrunk and turned a variety of other colors.

It darkened to red, then purple, then blue, then lightened and turned white.

When it was a pinprick of light, space finally cracked.

It was at this time that Ben received his notification. He acted that same second and sent a message to his allies in the area. Lilith rushed to Two Stown Town to gather Lin Feng and warn the Lin Family. Her sisters used their influence over the main powers in the area to begin evacuating everyone regardless of faction. A voice rang out over the capital city.

“Everyone! Run now! The city is about to be destroyed in fire!” The call rang through every house and warned every person.

People woke up from their sleep and headed outside to see what was happening.

---

The underground cave warmed up. When master and disciple noticed this it was too late to escape. The two nearby fools had no chance for survival.

A wave of Fire Qi rushed out from the ruptured space between the two pillars and melted everything inside the cave. The only thing left was those same two pillars, they shone with a red light.

The spatial crack lengthened, then split.

Small flames rushed out of the crack like sparks. They darted around like living things. The melting rock around the pillars exploded.

A chain reaction began underground. It was identical in principal to a volcanic eruption. Enormous heat and pressure rushed out from the spatial rift that mostly built up inside the main chamber. The area around the pillars turned into an underground magma chamber.

The tunnel turned into a exhaust vent from hell. Smoke and flames destroyed a warehouse in the capitol above. The upcoming destruction was displayed for everyone within several miles. It took this bright show to convince people to run.

It was a good thing the tunnel was there. Despite the fact that it sprayed flames and magma over a wide area of the city, it vented off the magma chamber, slowing it’s building pressure.

Those people would have died anyways.

The display of a kilometer high geyser of flames and the warning from the voice got everyone's full attention.

For a full ten minutes the sky lit up while people fled for their lives.

The flaming vent stopped for an ominous moment. The flame and fury ceased and silence fell on the city.

---

Ben stood with Lilith on the Spirit Vessel high above the city. Behind the two of them stood Terra and Lin Feng. Further behind was a small crowd of youths aged 4-20 years old.

The founder of Horned Rabbit Sect looked back at his disciples.

“This is my first time addressing all of you together. It’s time I made a few things clear.” Ben had a stern look on his face, this would be a perfect time to impress the geniuses he had gathered from the Setting Lands.

“I’m from a place far, far away. I was sent here and need to return back to my daughter as quickly as possible. Nothing is going to stop me. That is my bottom line. This will be our first real battle. You will have a chance to leave after this with my best wishes.”

He turned fully and looked them each in the eye.

“If you wish to journey with me to other realms, prove yourself in the upcoming battle. Find the proper place for yourself and try to help as much as possible.”

Ben turned back and looked down onto the burning city.

“Just keep this in mind, when I move, I move big. When I fight, I fight big. When I want a challenge…”

The city below burst apart in an awesome display. The ground opened up revealing the volcanic fury beneath it. Magma and flames burst out in every direction like a red flower.

It was beautiful like a killing blow. It was fascinating like the last breath of a dying man.

The city blew apart in an instant. The whole capital was lost in that one second as Ben’s group looked down from above.

Many people had escaped. More had died in the worst way possible. The largest groups had gotten their most important people out, but the poor didn’t have the cultivation to escape quickly enough.

Millions of lives lost in an instant. Millions saved from the warning. All that was left of the former capital of Vorchin was a flaming crater. At the center of the crater was something the looked like a blue campfire with two pillars on either side.

From that fire a creature appeared. It was small and shaped like a rat, but instead of fur, there was cracked black skin with red streaks through it. A swarm of the creatures followed shortly after. They were joined by things that looked like bats made of flames.

“Reinforcements are on the way. We just need to buy a little time for the civilians to retreat. You can stay here on the ship for the first part of the battle and use my weaponry, but we have some time before the stronger enemies start showing up. Feel free to engage the enemies directly.” Ben stepped onto the railing.

“I will be cultivating and closing the rift.” He stepped off and plummeted to the ground below. His eyes were fixed on the two pillars and the blue fire.

A figure of a young girl followed closely behind.

---

‘Alright Ben, you need to get close to those two pillars for just a second.’ Alice told him through the Computer Core.

‘How close? I can tell that I can’t get too near. That fire is too powerful, it's distorting space itself.’ He replied.

‘50 meters. The Black Devil Stone and those two pillars are beginning to resonate with each other. We need to study them before we take any further action.’ Alice said.

‘I agree. With this being a spatial treasure we can’t let it be damaged. I need to acquire it alongside the Black Devil Stone. Both are invaluable for my cultivation.’ Ben fell and prepared for his landing.

He touched a ring on his left hand with simple clean edges. This was one of his mobile assault type rings. Inside it was his drone swarm.

He fell and a buzzing noise grew louder and louder as shapes darted out from him to form a swarm in the air. Each flying object was the size of a backpack, but there were dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of the flying devices.

These were mass produced combat drones. Horned Rabbit Sect was making dozens of these every day and Ben had brought along a ring filled with thousands of them.

Some had railguns, some missiles. Some carried radiation emitters, some carried lasers. Individually they were only as strong as a Core Formation cultivator, but as a swarm they were much stronger. If the whole swarm worked together they would be more powerful than most Nascent Soul cultivators.

The downside of using them here was the immense heat. They couldn't approach the ground or the pillars without melting the complex computers inside them.

The drones spread out through the skies. They shot down the flaming bats and began bombarding the rat swarms. Facing this kind of firepower, the vermin were wiped out in large numbers.

Ben activated every core he had at this point. The new Computer Core started planning the formation he would set up. The Brain Core started circulating it’s Qi to fight the growing heat. His Heart Core started pumping harder and faster. A short sword appeared in his hand and started glowing with grey light.

50 meters away from the two pillars he crashed to the ground. The resulting explosion released a giant cloud of steam and dust that hid the area from view.