Two days passed quickly, Kieran had spent those two days training to keep the Crystal Essence Claw active longer and helping the members of the Cold Ocean guild to take care of the ship.
Occasionally a sea crystal beast would attack the ship only to die under the attacks of the members of the Cold Ocean Guild.
Finally, after two days of crossing the sea, he saw an island in the distance.
The island was huge, from where Kieran stood, he couldn't tell where it ended. A giant forest filled with trees measuring hundreds of meters that had invaded the island was located far from the beach.
'Is this the island where the secret realm is?' Kieran thought as he saw the Cold Ocean Guild ship slowly approaching the island to dock.
Alexei slowly descended from the ship until he set foot on the island.
"Something is wrong."
Looking at the island in front of him, Alexei frowned.
"Anna."
A woman in her early twenties approached Alexei. She had short blue hair that revealed a cold face with a pair of icy blue eyes. She wore a white combat outfit with blue patterns that fitted perfectly to her slim body, revealing the curves of her body. Each man would gladly chase after her if she didn't have this cold aura constantly around her.
"Do you feel anything?" asked Alexei.
"The crystal essence on this island is several times higher than on the others."
"It wasn't like this a week ago when we found the secret realm."
"The spatial cracks may have widened, letting the crystal essence inside spill onto the island."
"It's possible."
Soon all the ships arrived, and with them, their passengers. The previously empty beach was now swarming with people.
Five cultivators approached Alexei, two men and three women.
One of the two men had black hair with purple undertones, his eyes were a dark purple, and a deep scar ran across half his face.
The other man was bald with black eyes, he had an imposing stature measuring almost two meters, and on his back was a shield as big as him.
Behind them stood three women, one of them had long blonde hair plaited in a long braid that ran down her back with a pair of hazel eyes, she wore a long bow on her back with a quiver filled with arrows.
The second woman had short green hair, eyes resembling two emeralds, a joyful look on her face, and she held in her hands a scepter made entirely of wood with a small green crystal on top.
The third woman had a fierce look around her, she had tanned skin, long flaming red hair, and two eyes that looked like sparkling rubies. Tied to her hip was a long sword with a red crystal embedded in its handle.
"We've been following you for two days through the Archipelago, Alexei. Is the secret realm on this island, or do we still have to spend several days traveling?" asked the man with black hair with a purple undertone.
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"It's only been two days, and your Thundershields guild are already impatient, Kade?" Alexei said, raising an eyebrow.
"Our five guilds are following you without knowing the location of the secret realm, we don't even know if your guild didn't invent this information in order to waste our time."
"Wasting your time?"
Following his words, crystal essence emanated from Alexei’s body and with it, a strong pressure was felt. Following the emergence of Alexei’s crystal essence, Kade did the same and took a step in his direction.
Suddenly the place around them became heavy. Anyone nearby who was not at least at the Peak Stage of the Iron rank felt a weight down on their body. No one dared approach them except the four other guild representatives and Anna, who was a few meters behind Alexei.
"You think I'd be wasting my time with you if it wasn't real? You overestimate yourself."
"There, there. Calm down, you two. Especially you, Kade. We already knew this trip could be long, but a secret realm is worth it. Why start a fight when it's only been two days?" said the woman with short green hair.
"Sheyla is right, Kade, and I don’t like you to assimilate my guild with yours. You’re the only one who complains about the length of the trip. I bet Alyssa and Frank agree with me," said the red-haired woman.
"I agree with Tania," Alyssa replied.
Frank, who was next to her, nodded softly.
"Tsk."
Retrieving his crystal essence back inside his body, Kade turned around and headed toward the members of his guild.
Kieran watched the whole scene with a straight face.
'These six are all Bronze rank, no wonder coming from the representatives of the six guilds who came for this expedition. They had to prepare before announcing the expedition in the aurora net. If I remember correctly, Alexei is representing the Cold Ocean guild, Kade is representing the Thundershields guild, Sheyla is representing the whisper of life guild, Tania is representing the Blessing of the wolf guild, Frank representing the Iron Shield guild and Alyssa is representing the Golden Arrow guild. These six people are surely the most powerful among the thousands of cultivators gathered here, but in terms of pure power, the Cold Ocean guild is more powerful than the other five combined, outside of the rift at least. Here, where only Iron ranks can enter, I don't know which of the six guilds is the most powerful.'
*roars*
While Kieran was thinking about the manpower of each guild, a deep roar came from the forest, the ground began to shake suddenly.
'What's happening?'
Everyone on the beach was looking in the same direction as thousands of shadows appeared at the edge of the forest.
Slowly, thousands of crystal beasts came out of the forest one by one, roaring at the humans who were frozen in place.
A deep roar came again from the forest before silence filled the area, and as the cultivators watched with a blank expression on their face, all the crystal beasts charged madly toward them.
The complexion of the six representatives became pale in front of this view. The first to react was Alexei, his voice crossed the crowd, awakening everyone.
"Form a defensive line, now! All cultivators capable of holding the vanguard go forward. Let no crystal beasts cross the line, you must protect all the ones who stand behind you!"
Alexei's voice woke up the other guild representatives, who were quick to give orders to their members.
"Thundershields forward! Let no crystal beasts cross!" Kade shouted.
Frank only glanced behind him before stepping forward like a moving mountain, behind him were several cultivators, all with towering statures equipped with heavy armor, following his step without any fear. Without any words, the Iron Shield guild placed itself at the front like an unbreakable shield.
One after another, the guilds placed themselves in the formation that suited them best.
Kieran's eyes were fixed on the horde of crystal beasts rapidly approaching them, his heart pounding at the scene, but strangely he felt no fear, only an indescribable feeling of excitement.
Touching the edges of his mouth, Kieran realized he was smiling. Astonishment crossed his eyes for a moment before fading away.
'I smile? Why am I smiling?'
Shaking his head slowly, his gaze fixed on the horde of beasts again.
'I haven't been able to cultivate with crystal cores for several days. The crystal essence inside my spiritual has barely increased...'
Still staring at the horde, Kieran's body slowly changed, his height growing to a height of 3 meters, black fur with hues of dark green slowly covered his entire body while a long tail grew down his back, and a pair of prominent claws replaced what was previously his hands.
Reddish brown eyes resembling two ambers with slit pupils stare at the horde of beasts approaching as if they were only prey.
Stretching each of his claws to the maximum, Kieran pushed his upper body forward, crystal essence emanating from his body, tripping up anyone who stood close to him.
'Time to hunt!'