The ground trembled again.
This time, it wasn't subtle.
From the dense forest ahead, a wave of killing intent surged outward like a rising tide. Trees shook violently. Birds scattered in panic. The very air grew heavier, saturated with raw hostility.
Chen Yu tightened his fists. "Yeah… that's definitely not one beast."
Han Wei grinned. "Good. I was starting to think this place was too quiet."
Lin Xue's eyes narrowed as her frost energy began to spread subtly around the group. "There are at least… dozens of signatures."
Zhou Yan's expression turned serious. "No. More than that. They're moving as a pack."
Jiang Chen stood at the front, his gaze locked forward.
The Origin Thread inside him stirred faintly.
Not aggressive.
Not chaotic.
Alert.
"…Beast tide,"
Wolf-like creatures with black fur and crimson eyes led the charge, each radiating violent killing intent. Behind them, larger beasts followed—some crawling, some flying, all distorted by the realm's dense spiritual energy.
The pressure hit instantly.
Several nearby weaker cultivators in the distance were forced back, their auras destabilizing.
One of them gasped, "…Spirit Gathering Realm (Peak)… no, multiple beasts at that level!"
Another shouted, "There's even Core Formation Realm pressure in the backline!"
The tide was real.
And it was coming straight for them.
Zhou Yan stepped forward immediately. "Formation. Now."
Han Wei cracked his neck. "Finally."
Lin Xue raised both hands slightly.
Cold mist spread outward.
"Frozen Veil Formation."
Ice energy expanded in a circular barrier, slowing the first wave of beasts as they entered range.
The leading beasts' movement visibly decelerated.
Chen Yu rushed forward instantly.
"Good. I'll break the front line!"
His aura erupted.
Spiritual energy surged through his body as he slammed into the first beast.
BOOM!
The creature was sent crashing backward.
But more were already behind it.
The battlefield instantly erupted into chaos.
Han Wei moved like a storm, fists colliding with beasts mid-air, each strike carrying raw explosive force.
Lin Xue maintained control of the battlefield, her frost expanding in waves, slowing movement and creating openings.
Zhou Yan remained behind, calculating trajectories and guiding positioning.
"Left flank is weakening. Chen Yu, rotate!"
"Lin Xue, extend freeze zone three meters!"
"Han Wei, don't overextend!"
The group moved like a coordinated machine.
Jiang Chen, however, did not move immediately.
His eyes tracked everything.
Every beast movement.
Every gap.
Every pressure shift.
The Origin Thread inside him slowly reacted
"…I see it," Jiang Chen murmured.
The battlefield wasn't random.
It had structure.
Flow.
Patterns.
The beast tide was overwhelming, but predictable in motion.
He raised his hand slightly.
Golden qi gathered.
But this time
He didn't release it outward.
He extended it into space.
The Origin Thread followed.
Not as a weapon.
But as perception.
---
For a moment
The world changed.
Jiang Chen's vision sharpened.
The battlefield slowed in his perception.
Not physically
But conceptually.
He could see movement paths before they happened.
He could see pressure shifts before they formed.
He could see openings before they existed.
"…Pseudo-domain," he whispered.
Jiang Chen stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
The Origin Thread expanded subtly around him.
Not fully forming a domain
But influencing perception within a limited radius.
The beasts entering that space felt… slightly off.
Their timing disrupted.
Their coordination weakened.
---
Zhou Yan noticed immediately.
"…His field is spreading."
Lin Xue's eyes narrowed. "…It's unstable, but real."
Han Wei grinned. "That's new."
Chen Yu shouted, "Hey! Why do they suddenly look slower?"
Jiang Chen didn't answer.
He moved.
A beast lunged toward him.
Jiang Chen didn't dodge.
He simply raised his hand.
"Primordial Strike…"
Golden qi condensed.
The Origin Thread wrapped around it.
"…Threaded Convergence."
BOOM!
The beast was cut mid-air.
Not destroyed violently
But cleanly severed, as if space itself had divided it.
Another beast followed immediately.
Jiang Chen twisted slightly.
Second strike.
Clean cut again.
But something changed.
His breathing tightened.
The pseudo-domain flickered.
Lin Xue noticed instantly. "It's destabilizing!"
Zhou Yan frowned. "He's overloading perception output."
"Switch rotation!" Zhou Yan commanded immediately.
Han Wei surged forward to relieve pressure.
Chen Yu joined him, explosive strikes clearing space.
Lin Xue reinforced frost control, stabilizing movement zones.
Jiang Chen stepped back slightly, recalibrating.
"…Not full control yet," he muttered.
But then
He adjusted.
Instead of expanding the pseudo-domain further
He compressed it.
The field shrank.
But became denser.
More precise.
---
Beast movement inside the zone slowed slightly again but now, more consistently.
Jiang Chen's eyes sharpened.
"…That's it."
The tide was still massive.
But the momentum shifted.
With coordination improving and Jiang Chen's pseudo-domain enhancing prediction efficiency, the group began pushing forward.
Beasts were no longer overwhelming them.
They were being dismantled.
Han Wei laughed. "This is getting easier!"
Chen Yu smirked. "Yeah! Keep up that weird slowing thing!"
Lin Xue remained focused. "Don't get careless."
Zhou Yan's voice remained sharp. "This is only the outer wave."
Jiang Chen didn't relax.
Because he felt it too.
Deeper in the forest
Something larger was moving.
Something that did not match Spirit Gathering Realm pressure.
The last beast of the initial tide fell.
Silence returned to the battlefield.
Breathing was heavy across the group.
Chen Yu wiped sweat from his brow. "That was just the first wave?"
Han Wei grinned. "I love this place."
Lin Xue's frost slowly retracted.
Zhou Yan looked forward. "…Next wave is coming."
Jiang Chen stood still.
His pseudo-domain slowly faded.
But the feeling remained.
He had touched it again.
Not fully.
Not perfectly.
But closer.
---
The system flickered faintly:
**[Battle Insight Gained]**
**[Pseudo-Domain Stability Increased]**
**[Threaded Convergence Efficiency Improved]**
---
Jiang Chen exhaled slowly.
"…Still not enough."
He looked deeper into the forest.
Something was waiting.
And this time
It would not be a simple beast tide.