At the same time, Kanoru's sharp eyes caught it—the purple hue in the tiger's eyes.
His instincts flared with alarm, and he didn't waste a second.
With a swift, reflexive motion, his fist shot forward, crashing against the tiger's head with immense force.
The impact sent the tiger hurtling backward, slamming into the cavern wall with a deafening crash.
Jagged rocks tumbled down from the impact, and dust clouded the cavern air.
But Kanoru didn't attack further.
He stopped himself the moment he saw the purple hue fade from the tiger's eyes, returning to its normal amber color.
Lowering his hands slightly, Kanoru reached out with his spirit again.
"Are you okay?"
The tiger, still slumped against the cavern wall, stared at him weakly.
Its voice rang out in Kanoru's mind, broken and strained.
"It… doesn't matter. Tell Elewyn… the Grayrose Circus is holding a blood sacrifice… in the Golden Plain."
Kanoru's eyes widened slightly, his breath catching.
"A blood sacrifice…"
The tiger's voice weakened further, barely a whisper.
"It… will allow another one of their leaders to descend."
Kanoru's jaw tightened.
"Another one?"
Before he could respond, the tiger's eyes flickered purple again, and it charged at him, claws flashing.
But Kanoru didn't strike the beast down.
Instead, with a swift motion, he conjured ropes of spiritual energy, the ethereal binds snapping into existence and wrapping around the tiger's body.
The tiger struggled, its claws swiping violently at the air, but Kanoru's cultivation was a full realm higher.
And in the spirit realm, the difference between realms was vast.
It was easy for him to overpower the injured, confused beast, especially when it could only access half its strength due to its wounds.
The tiger, trapped by the energy binds, roared violently, thrashing against its bonds.
Kanoru stepped forward, his face set in grim determination.
He raised his hand and slapped the side of the tiger's face with enough force to jolt it back to its senses.
The tiger's amber eyes cleared, the purple hue briefly vanishing.
Kanoru's voice was low but urgent, his spirit conveying his plea.
"How can I help you?"
The tiger's eyes locked onto him, but it only shook its head faintly.
Its voice was weak but resolute.
"No one can help me… please… kill me."
Kanoru's eyes narrowed slightly, the weight of the tiger's words settling heavily on his chest.
The beast's voice shook slightly, desperate.
"My consciousness is fading… please…"
Its eyes flared purple again, and with a sudden surge of strength, it roared and lunged at him, its claws aiming for his throat.
Kanoru's face hardened, and this time, he didn't hesitate.
His hand shot forward, piercing through the tiger's chest with a swift, brutal motion.
He grasped the beast's magic core, its energy still faintly pulsing.
With a single, fluid motion, he ripped it out, ending the beast's suffering instantly.
The tiger's massive body slumped forward, falling lifeless to the ground.
Kanoru's expression remained stony, but his eyes were clouded with turmoil.
Without a word, he conjured fire, the orange and blue flames surging around the tiger's corpse.
The flames devoured the massive body, reducing it to ashes.
"I won't let you be raised again… not by the black fog."
As the fire faded away, Kanoru slowly turned, his eyes cold but resolute.
His gaze drifted toward the far end of the cavern, where he spotted another narrow passage leading deeper into the cave system.
But he didn't explore it further.
With a heavy breath, he turned and walked back the way he came, his steps slow and deliberate.
His mind churned with turmoil, replaying the tiger's final words over and over.
"The Grayrose Circus is holding a blood sacrifice… another one of their leaders will descend."
The weight of the knowledge pressed heavily on him.
He knew what he had to do.
After he found the alien wind source and refined a source seed inside himself, he would leave for Faerie City immediately.
He would inform Spirit King Elewyn personally.
And he would keep the information to himself.
No matter how much he trusted the five people he had brought with him, he wouldn't risk telling them.
Because they trusted the people back at the camp, and even a single slip of the tongue could cause the news to spread.
And if one of them—just one—was a traitor… it would spell disaster.
So he would carry the burden alone.
Until he stood before the Spirit King.
Finally, after exiting the fourth cave, he spotted two familiar figures in the distance.
Standing just outside one of the cave entrances was Mika, her black hair tied back tightly, her arms crossed as she gazed at the horizon, her sharp eyes scanning the gorge's depths.
Beside her stood Bruce, broad-shouldered and sturdy, his short-cropped brown hair slightly tousled from the humid cave air.
Both of them were still and silent, their gazes unwavering, clearly awaiting the others.
Kanoru walked toward them, his expression calm but calculating, his sharp eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation.
As he approached, a single thought drifted through his mind.
"Did they find it?"
Once he was close enough, he slowed his steps and asked evenly,
"Did you two find it?"
Mika's eyes flickered toward him briefly before she answered, her voice steady.
"I didn't. Bruce found it."
Kanoru's eyes shifted to Bruce, his gaze steady and firm.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Good job, Bruce."
Bruce's eyes widened slightly, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, the faintest flush crossing his face.
"It's nothing, captain," he mumbled, his voice low and modest.
Kanoru studied Bruce for a brief moment.
Bruce was the newest member of their group to advance to the spirit realm, having done so at the age of nineteen. On the surface, it might seem like Bruce was more talented than Kanoru—after all, he had advanced at a younger age.
But Kanoru knew better.
Bruce had started his cultivation training at the age of three, surrounded by abundant resources that allowed him to skip the grueling years of body and spirit grinding. Unlike Kanoru, who had to forge himself through hardship, Bruce had focused solely on comprehending elements.
That wasn't to say Bruce lacked talent—he was undoubtedly gifted.
But he wasn't Kanoru-level gifted.
Bruce had chosen to comprehend the wind element. And in Kanoru's team, every spirit realm cultivator, under Kanoru's guidance, had learned to slightly comprehend wind energy.
Thanks to their shared knowledge and guidance, Bruce had only needed to follow the path laid out by his predecessors, steadily and efficiently improving.
A few minutes later, Asuna and the other two emerged from their respective caves, their steps light but firm.
Seeing the group already gathered, Asuna's sharp eyes flicked between them, instantly picking up on the change in atmosphere.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
"You found it, didn't you?" she asked, glancing between Mika and Bruce.
Bruce gave a faint nod, confirming their suspicions.
Without another word, they regrouped and followed Bruce as he led them toward the alien wind source.
The group moved swiftly and silently, their steps almost soundless as they navigated the uneven terrain of the gorge. The stone walls grew narrower, the ground sloping slightly downward with each step.
Finally, they reached the entrance of a cavern.
The moment they drew near, Kanoru's sharp senses prickled.
A sudden spike of wind elemental energy surged toward them—a raw, powerful fluctuation so intense it made the air itself feel heavy.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing his senses.
Beneath the overwhelming surge of wind energy, he detected something else—something subtler, hidden, yet undeniable.
A faint but distinct spike of fire elemental energy.
It was muted, buried beneath the massive wave of wind energy coming from deep within the cavern.
Kanoru's eyes glimmered faintly.
"Fire energy… Why is it hidden?"
Without speaking, they stepped inside the cavern, their movements careful but purposeful.
The ground sloped sharply downward, and they slid along the rocky incline, letting their spiritual energy slow their descent.
As they reached the bottom of the cavern, they immediately saw it.
A brilliant orange energy wave came rushing toward them, radiating from a massive, pulsating sphere of orange energy suspended in the center of the cavern.
The wave swept over them, but they remained still.
The energy was weak in intensity—more of a gentle pulse than an attack—and they did not defend against it.
Even without raising their guard, they were aware of the orange stone's properties.
They could feel it.
The wave carried traces of the orange stone's energy, reacting faintly with their spiritual energy but not violently enough to cause an explosion.
Kanoru's eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the cavern.
The cave walls were coated with thick veins of shiny orange stone, and the pulsating light from the energy ball caused the stone to gleam brilliantly, creating an almost mirror-like reflection on the walls.
For a brief moment, their own reflections stared back at them, fragmented and distorted against the shimmering orange stone. The faint glow of the veins cast their silhouettes in eerie, warped shapes, making it seem as if twisted copies of themselves were staring back.
Kanoru's sharp eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice remained calm and steady.
"Let's refine the energy and leave quickly, and then the others can come to refine."
He heard their responses, quick and resolute.
"Yes."
"Yes, commander."
Without further delay, they approached the energy ball, their footsteps light against the cavern floor.
They sat down around it, forming a small circle, their eyes locked on the pulsing orange sphere, which radiated an intense but steady hum of wind energy.
Despite their hunger for power, none of them dared to use their energy to refine it directly.
The orange stone veins they had encountered were proof of the volatile nature of the alien energy.
If they recklessly infused their elemental energy, the entire cavern could explode.
Instead, they chose the safer method, using their spirits to gently tear away tiny fragments from the energy ball.
With precise control, they guided the fragments into their bodies, allowing them to slowly settle inside.
The moment the fragments entered, they reacted violently, causing sharp fluctuations in their spiritual space.
But none of them panicked.
Their spirits and energy immediately surged, suppressing the alien fragments and guiding them deeper into their bodies.
There, they directed the fragments into the empty spiritual space—a void that had opened when they advanced to the spirit realm.
This was where their core energy source was located, the very foundation of their strength.
But they were careful not to merge the alien fragments with their core energy.
Instead, they stored them separately, allowing the fragments to accumulate and combine in the empty space, gradually forming a condensed alien energy seed.
Time became a blur as they repeated the process over and over.
None of them counted how many times they broke off fragments, except Kanoru.
He didn't count intentionally, but his flawless memory retained the exact number.
121 times.
After the 121st fragment, he stopped, feeling the alien energy within him suddenly shift.
A miniature energy sphere—identical to the alien wind source before him—had formed inside his body.
It now revolved steadily around his core energy, pulsing faintly with the same orange radiance.
Kanoru's eyes snapped open, his breath slow and steady.
He glanced at the others.
They were still refining, their eyes closed in deep concentration, oblivious to time.
Instead of waiting idly, Kanoru closed his eyes again, turning his focus inward.
He began to comprehend the alien wind energy, his mind probing the essence of the foreign power flowing through him.
But no matter how deeply he concentrated, he failed to understand it.
The energy was unfamiliar, carrying principles beyond the world's natural elements, making it nearly impossible to grasp in such a short time.
Still, Kanoru felt no disappointment.
Even if he couldn't comprehend it now, he wasn't concerned.
Because he now carried a portable alien wind source inside his body—a seed of immense power.
And in time, he would unravel its mysteries.
Hours passed.
One by one, the others finished their refining, each of them bearing their own miniature energy seed.
When the last person opened their eyes, relief and satisfaction flooded the group.
They stood up together, their faces bright with smiles and laughter, their spirits lightened by their success.
For the first time in a long while, they walked out of the cavern in good spirits, chatting lightly and joking among themselves.
But the moment they stepped outside, everything changed.
The smiles vanished.
Their eyes darkened.
They look in the direction of the camp; they are still inside the gorge but can sense the elemental fluctuation coming from their camp. This means war broke out around their camp.
Kanoru's eyes narrowed instantly, and without a word, they leapt into the sky, their bodies cutting through the air like arrows.
The once joyful mood was gone—replaced by grim determination.
Without speaking, they raced back toward their camp, their hearts heavy with dread.