War between cultivators was never a clean contest of strength. It was a violent storm of variables, where even the strongest could vanish in a blink, swallowed by chaos before their name could echo twice.
In small-scale combat, power followed logic. Techniques clashed, reactions countered, and victory often belonged to those with sharper instincts, deeper foundations, and stronger cultivation. But once war erupted, logic shattered like glass under a hammer.
Numbers rewrote the rules.
A cultivator capable of sweeping aside dozens in a duel could still drown beneath hundreds of overlapping attacks. Qi storms collided, spiritual senses were overwhelmed, formations overlapped, and battlefield awareness degraded into fragmented impressions. One moment of distraction, one mistimed breath, and a lethal strike could slip through unnoticed, ending a life in an instant.
Spiritual senses, normally so crucial and useful, became unreliable amid the dense fluctuations of countless cultivators. Qi turbulence distorted perception. Illusions layered upon illusions. Mental attacks slipped through mental gaps. Unexpected reactions flared between clashing energies. Poisonous miasma, spirit artifacts, invisible formations, and various kinds of traps turned the very battlefield into something hostile, shifting, and treacherous.
In such an environment, raw strength was no longer king. Adaptability, survival instinct, and sheer luck rose to equal footing.
Even the terrain lost its neutrality.
Mountains collapsed. Rivers boiled. The air grew suffocating, whipped by extreme and turbulent winds. Trapped underground Qi ruptured, unleashing unstable energy currents that twisted spells and destabilized cultivation bases.
In such chaos, strength decided whether one could stand at the center of the storm. But survival depended on something far more elusive.
It was because of this harsh reality that they became so worried. In a war, they would have frighteningly little control over their own fates.
The atmosphere in the main hall grew somber. Everyone was lost in their own heavy thoughts.
Leyvi frowned. Now that he considered it carefully, the sequence of events felt oddly coincidental. Not long after he exposed the truth that there were no portals up the tree, a portal appeared just a week later.
Why had it appeared inside Bellion's territory, of all places? Was there some significance to that location?
Was it possible someone had orchestrated all of this? Leyvi pondered the idea.
That can't be right? If I follow that line of thought, it would mean someone can summon a portal anytime they want. That seems somewhat unbelievable. Wait… I should ask first.
He had seen many incredible, seemingly impossible things happen before his own eyes, or experienced them himself. So he could not simply brush the idea aside just because it sounded unlikely.
Leyvi decided to send a sound transmission to Barbara, who was, as usual, dressed in her neat scholarly outfit.
"Barbara, can a portal be moved around? By a person, I mean." He specified.
Barbara was caught off guard. She had not expected Leyvi to ask such a question. For a moment, she wondered if he was thinking of hiding the portal somewhere to prevent a war.
"Theoretically, yes. But it would require someone with a great affinity for spatial energy," she replied thoughtfully.
"Spatial energy affinity? Then you should be able to do it, right?" Leyvi pressed.
"No. My brother and I can sense spatial energy, but we do not truly have a deep affinity for it. So we cannot move any portal. At most, we can influence how the portal behaves to a certain extent," Barbara explained.
"What can you influence?" Leyvi asked, his curiosity piqued.
"I can stabilize it. I can increase the numerical limit of how many people can use it. I can make it gather the required energy faster. That is it for now. Moving it around is out of the question. Even the Protectors could not do something like that," she said.
"So only a cultivator with spatial affinity could move a portal?"
"Theoretically, yes. But we have never found anyone with that ability to prove it."
"Hmm? Even the Institute of the Universal Energies doesn't have someone with spatial energy affinity?" Leyvi was surprised.
"Unfortunately, no. There are records about this in the past, so we know they exist, but just not now. Or we were just unlucky not to find any of them. That is why we have not progressed much in portal research. My brother's goal is to connect the continents using portals, so he is desperate to find someone with that affinity to help him." Barbara's voice carried a note of genuine regret.
Leyvi fell silent.
Hmm… Since it is possible… could it be that someone, or some group, is really orchestrating all these recent events? If that is the case, what is their goal? Don't tell me it really is war? Argh, dammit. Why do people like this always exist just to cause trouble? You have a great ability, but all you do is create chaos. Can you not just play by yourself?
He sighed inwardly. Even if he did not want to get involved in this mess, what else could he do? Give up going home? Absolutely not.
In the quiet of the main hall, Anda suddenly spoke, her calm voice cutting through the silence.
"Alright, everyone. Whether we like it or not, whether there will be a war or not, we must go there first and observe the situation. Does anyone have a better suggestion?" She looked around at the gathered faces, inviting their thoughts.
Her gaze landed on each person one by one, and they all shook their heads.
"Since that is the case, get packing now. We will depart tonight. The earlier we go there, the better," Anda instructed.
The crowd dispersed quickly, returning to their respective rooms. Only Ava, Rose, Lily, and Liyan remained in the main hall. Ava had just returned and had nothing to pack.
Leyvi also had nothing to pack, but he followed Anda into her room. He wanted to hear her plan in more detail.
But of course, this was Anda they were talking about. As soon as they reached the room, she stripped off her clothes and pulled Leyvi onto the bed first. She had to satisfy her thirst before anything else.
Leyvi naturally did not mind. He had been holding back his urges like a saint during all his time traveling with the ladies, especially throughout his stay at the brothel.
Unfortunately, Anda only had a few hours for this instead of their usual few days, so she had to skip many of her favorite positions and routines.
Three hours later, the couple was finished.
"Sigh… I made a big mistake. I should have said we were departing tomorrow instead. I still haven't had enough. I wanted my secret garden to be filled all night, at the very least. And I feel bad for my sisters. They didn't get any," Anda complained as she put her undergarments back on.
"Hahaha! Getting back home is still more important. After we return, we can do it as much as you want, with everyone," Leyvi said as he dressed in his usual outfit.
"Hehe. That is a promise, then. I want your holy rod to stay hard inside me for at least a month," Anda declared.
Leyvi was dumbfounded. Staying hard for a month? My wife, do you want to kill your husband? My little brother needs some rest too. I'm not that great yet.
"What is your plan later, Anda? Are we really getting involved in a potential war?" Leyvi asked once he was fully clothed.
"Hehe. Not really," Anda replied with a mischievous smile.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Leyvi was confused.
"My husband, did you forget that the so-called Formation Prodigy Bellion possesses the talent you gave him?" Anda finished dressing and quickly snuggled into Leyvi's embrace as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Uhh… yes," Leyvi replied hesitantly, half-expecting her to scold him again about the matter.
"Right. His formation talent came from the talent bead. I doubt his formations will crumble easily. So who cares if there is a war or not? If we stay inside his formation, everything should be fine. They can fight outside all they want." Anda spoke with calm assurance.
As a talent recipient, she was well aware of how incredible they are. This was the reason she dared to bet on this plan.
"Hmm… that makes sense." Leyvi nodded slowly.
If they truly had no choice but to get involved to go home, this plan might be the safest option. Hopefully, no one would be able to break the formation before the portal stabilized and they could slip away peacefully.
"But what if he doesn't let us in?" Leyvi asked, looking down at Anda nestled against him. His hands absently traced the soft curves of her chest.
"Hehe. Either he lets us in… or he lets everyone in," Anda said, her voice carrying a hint of playful cunning.
"Haha. I knew it." Leyvi chuckled, understanding her meaning completely. He still remembers that Anda wanted to traumatize Bellion by letting him dismantle all of Bellion's formations.
That night, the group departed from the cave mansion.
Their route would take them along the outer edge of the colossal tree's shade until they reached the northwest perimeter. From there, they would head straight toward Bellion's city.