Clayne stood above Silent River Hill while his hand remained inside the miniature world.

The Mother Mantis crystal resting upon his palm continued enduring countless lightning strikes from the heavens, yet every bolt that descended only caused faint sparks to scatter across its surface.

To the cultivators below, those lightning bolts were enough to destroy mountains, erase sects, and reduce Nascent Soul cultivators into ashes. To Clayne, however, the sensation traveling through his fingers felt no different from a mild tingling sensation.

The phenomenon did not hold his attention for long.

Something else was far more interesting.

The crystal had become a magnet.

No.

Calling it a magnet was far too simple.

The thing seemed to have become the center of an invisible vortex capable of dragging everything toward itself.

Throughout the lands surrounding Silent River Hill, countless cultivators found themselves being pulled through the air against their will. Some attempted to anchor themselves using flying swords. Others activated defensive treasures. Formation masters hurriedly threw down array flags. Demonic cultivators summoned corpse chains. Beast tamers ordered their spirit beasts to carry them away.

None of it mattered.

The attraction only continued growing stronger.

A Nascent Soul cultivator from a nearby sect desperately stabbed his sword into a mountain peak as spiritual energy exploded from his body. Veins bulged across his face while blood flowed from the corners of his mouth. The sword groaned beneath the strain.

For a brief moment, it seemed he might succeed.

Then the mountain itself tore apart.

The entire peak exploded into countless fragments as the cultivator screamed and shot through the sky toward Silent River Hill.

His scream was quickly joined by hundreds more.

Cultivators were being dragged from every direction.

Some spun helplessly through the air, some crashed through forests, some collided with mountains before being pulled back into the sky, and others activated life-saving treasures accumulated throughout centuries of cultivation only to discover that the treasures themselves were being dragged toward the crystal as well.

The scene resembled a swarm of insects being sucked toward a gigantic whirlpool.

Even Soul Transformation cultivators had begun losing control.

Many of them were no longer trying to resist the attraction itself.

Instead, they were desperately attempting to slow their approach.

The effort proved useless.

The crystal continued pulsing.

Yellow-green spiritual light flowed across its surface.

Each pulse strengthened the attraction, each pulse pulled them closer, and each pulse filled their hearts with greater despair.

Clayne watched everything unfold from above.

Then he smiled.

It was not a warm smile, it was not a happy smile, but the smile of someone who had just discovered that his enemies were trapped inside a cage.

His eyes gradually filled with killing intent.

The moment that killing intent appeared, the atmosphere throughout the miniature world changed.

Every cultivator felt it.

Even those who could not see his face felt it.

The sensation descended upon them like an ocean of ice.

Their blood turned cold, their souls trembled, and their instincts screamed.

The faceless giant looming beyond the heavens had finally become their final repeat.

The Ascendant Realm experts from the Cleaving Heaven Sect and the Nether Corpse Sect felt their scalps go numb.

Before today, they had always believed themselves to be supreme existences.

Countless kingdoms worshipped them, countless cultivators feared them, their names alone could shake entire continents. Yet now, they felt like insects standing before an ancient predator.

The pressure coming from the giant was so overwhelming that their thoughts became sluggish.

Their hands trembled.

Their breathing became uneven.

The most horrifying part was not the killing intent itself.

It was the realization that the giant truly intended to kill them.

There was no negotiation, there was no compromise, and there was no opportunity to escape.

The thing staring at them from beyond the heavens had already made its decision.

Panic spread through the gathered cultivators.

Many immediately abandoned their pride.

One after another, they began shouting.

"Senior Divine Deity!"

"Please spare us!"

"We were blind!"

"We failed to recognize Mount Tai!"

"We deserve death!"

"Please grant us mercy!"

The voices echoed throughout the world.

A Core Formation cultivator slammed his forehead against the ground until blood covered his face.

A Nascent Soul cultivator threw away his treasured sword and begged while trembling.

Even Soul Transformation cultivators lowered their heads.

The scene would have shocked countless generations of cultivators.

These were beings who normally stood above millions.

Yet now they were begging for their lives.

The pleas became increasingly desperate.

"We can compensate Senior Divine Deity!"

"We can offer spirit stones!"

"We can offer techniques!"

"We can offer sect inheritances!"

"We can become servants!"

One elderly cultivator burst into tears.

"Please spare me, I’m the last of my ancestors descendants!"

"My family has existed for six thousand years!"

"I was wrong!"

"I truly was wrong!"

The voices continued rising.

Some begged, some cried, some cursed themselves, and some cursed the people who first stole the dried strawberry.

Clayne listened quietly.

Then he chuckled.

The sound alone caused countless cultivators to shiver.

"You should have thought of that before stealing from me."

His voice was not loud.

Yet every cultivator heard it clearly.

Despair immediately filled countless faces.

The Ascendant Realm experts from the Cleaving Heaven Sect and the Nether Corpse Sect finally snapped.

Rage appeared within their eyes.

If death was unavoidable, then there was no reason to continue begging.

The elder from the Cleaving Heaven Sect pointed toward the heavens.

"Do you truly intend to slaughter us all?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

His voice shook with fury.

"Do you think there will be no consequences?"

The Nether Corpse Sect elder immediately joined him.

"You may kill us today, but our deaths will not remain hidden forever."

His eyes were bloodshot.

"The cultivation world is vast."

"Far greater than you imagine."

"There are powers beyond our sects."

"There are ancient clans."

"There are hidden races."

"There are immortal inheritances."

His expression became savage.

"The more you reveal yourself, the more attention you attract."

The Cleaving Heaven Sect elder laughed bitterly.

"You think killing us solves the problem?"

"It only creates a larger one."

The two Ascendant experts stared toward the heavens.

"If we die, others will investigate."

"If others investigate, they will discover this place."

"If they discover this place, stronger experts will come."

"Eventually someone will uncover your secrets."

The Nether Corpse elder sneered.

"You may destroy us."

"But you cannot destroy curiosity."

"You cannot destroy greed."

"You cannot destroy the ambitions of cultivators."

The surrounding cultivators listened in silence.

For a brief moment, even Clayne paused.

The words were not entirely wrong.

Unfortunately for them, that realization came too late.

Before either Ascendant expert could continue speaking, another hand descended from the heavens.

The cultivators barely had time to react.

The gigantic fingers closed around both Ascendant Realm experts simultaneously.

The two elders exploded with spiritual energy.

Treasures emerged, techniques erupted.

Sword qi filled the sky, corpse energy surged, yet none of it mattered.

The giant hand closed.

The two Ascendant experts vanished.

Their physical bodies instantly exploded into bloody mist.

A stunned silence followed.

Then something unexpected occurred.

Their souls emerged.

The translucent forms of the two Ascendant experts appeared above the remains of their bodies.

Expressions of horror immediately filled their faces.

They had not expected their souls to survive.

But to them, it was even more horrifying because they had certainly not expected what happened next.

The yellow-green crystal suddenly pulsed.

An invisible force erupted from it.

The souls of the two Ascendant experts were dragged toward the crystal.

Their expressions transformed from shock into terror.

"No!"

"Stop!"

"What is this?!"

The souls struggled desperately.

Unfortunately, the crystal ignored them.

Like moths being drawn into a flame, the two souls were absorbed into the glowing crystal.

The yellow-green light became even brighter, the attraction force became even stronger, the surrounding cultivators nearly fainted from fear, the strongest experts present had just died and worse, their very soul essences had been consumed.

Clayne merely watched.

The scene did not surprise him.

At this point, very little surprised him anymore.

Instead, his thoughts focused elsewhere.

The final words spoken by the Ascendant experts echoed within his mind.

Their warning, their threat, their prediction.

For the first time since killing them, Clayne became thoughtful.

His gaze slowly drifted across the miniature world.

Then toward the countless cultivators still being dragged toward Silent River Hill.

Then toward the distant horizons where stronger cultivators would undoubtedly appear in the future.

A frown gradually formed upon his face.

Because the dead elders had spoken at least one truth.

The more attention Silent River Hill attracted...

The more enemies would eventually arrive.

The question was no longer whether others would come.

The question was how to stop them.

And for the first time in a long while, Clayne found himself genuinely thinking.

"What should I do to prevent that?"