Thud!
Suddenly, the carriage stopped, and Tyler opened his eyes.
"What happened?"
A small window behind the driver's seat opened, and a middle-aged man spoke.
"Sir, we have been surrounded by bandits."
That's all he said as he closed the window. Although his voice trembled a bit, he didn't show any fear.
Because the people in his carriage were much stronger than these bandits.
"Oh? I was wondering when we would encounter these bandits. But our carriage is traveling at a hundred miles per hour. How can those bandits stop us?"
Tyler originally believed they would face bandits at night, when the horses were asleep. So, it was a surprise.
He looked at his body, which had completely recovered from a long nap, and stood up.
Alfred and Erena followed him out.
Nearly thirty people, wearing cloth masks and black robes, sitting on their horses, had surrounded them.
When they saw Alfred, their eyes tightened. Not because they recognized him, but simply because they couldn't feel any power from him.
With Tyler, they could understand. He was very young, so it made sense he hadn't started his cultivation.
Erena felt dangerous, but they weren't afraid of her. After all, there were thirty of them and three of their enemies.
So, the only thing that troubled those bandits was Alfred's lack of power.
"I am not afraid. This is not going to be easy. Let's not give them any time to attack! Form for formation!"
The leader whispered next to his people and shouted about the formation. All thirty of them jumped down from the horse and interlocked their fingers.
In an instant, thirty massive fireballs emerged above their heads. The temperature of these fireballs was so high that Tyler was sweating from afar.
"Young Master, you have not reached the first level. So, try not to use your mana yet!"
Alfred said before looking at Erena.
"What are you waiting for? Invitation?"
Erena rolled her eyes, and her gaze sharpened. Looking at thirty incoming fireballs, she clenched her right fist and slammed it to the ground.
[Dark Hole]
Whoosh! Whoop!
A large amount of dark energy burst out of her fist, flowing through the ground as it spread in all directions.
Before those fireballs reached closer, the dark energy swelled and rose from the ground, forming four large vortexes.
Each vortex was located in one direction, with all four vortexes, the thirty fireballs were swallowed instantly.
The bright yellow ball of fire disappeared the moment it entered the vortex.
"That's freaking cool. I thought your ability was related to shadows."
Tyler couldn't help but freak out in excitement. He had seen Erena teleport around using the shadows.
So, he thought her technique was about shadows. Never did he think she would use a power like devouring.
"Her ability is Dark Domain. She can use the darkness to control the shadow of people, use their shadows to teleport, conjure darkness in the form of different abilities like this."
Alfred explained her ability.
"I see. So, an enhanced version of Shadow Manipulation."
Tyler nodded his head.
"Young Master, before this, you barely saw a few people use their mana for daily activities. Truthfully, you are completely unaware of a cultivator's power."
"That's why you should keep an eye on her movements. She will show you what a cultivator is capable of."
Just as he finished speaking, the leader of the bandits roared.
"She is a Tempered Body Realm Cultivator. Use the talisman!"
But suddenly, he felt his head rolling on the ground. Looking at his lower body, he couldn't help but feel confused.
"Why is my body there?"
With his eyes wide open, the bandit leader died.
"What just happened? Did she teleport?"
Tyler was pretty sure he didn't blink his eyes. Maybe he did. Because he didn't see her move.
"No, Young Master! She did move. She went from here to there, following this exact route."
He said while pointing to every single location where Erena stepped.
Originally, Tyler was confused why Alfred was mentioning it so clearly, but then he realized something.
"Alfred, are you saying that without becoming a cultivator, I can't even see them move?"
Alfred shook his head.
"I didn't mean that. Look! Erena rushed to that bandit and sliced his head off, but look at that man's eyes."
Tyler followed his advice and checked the man's eyes. His eyes were on the side. If his head was still stuck on his body, Tyler would've noticed his head was slightly off as well.
"That man saw Erena's position, but he couldn't move in time. Is this because they are one realm lower than her?"
Only then did Alfred smile and nod.
"That's right! These bandits chose to attack us because, in their eyes, we should be around the Treasured Body Realm."
"Maybe they were a bit afraid of me, so they attacked together, but this also means they have never faced a Treasured Body Realm cultivator before."
As he said that, Tyler gulped and nodded.
Head after head kept falling to the ground. He couldn't see Erena's movement until she had slain a bandit.
She was moving so fast that even with extreme concentration, he could only see her once she stopped.
But these bandits had some experience with fighting stronger people. They were trying their best to attack her, using different elemental moves.
Fireball, Wood Thorn, Lightning Bolt, Wind Blade, Ice Cone, they used every move in their arsenal.
Tyler noticed something. These moves wouldn't even touch her. In other words, they were simply wasting their time.
But he also noticed something interesting. Some of their attacks were stronger while others were weaker.
This made it easier to understand the opponent's Inherited Technique and its influence over the Acquired Techniques.
Of course, they weren't his enemies, so he didn't try to memorize them.
On the other hand, Alfred kept talking.
"Mana Condensation Realm cultivator has two major advantages compared to mortals. Their immense mana and their ability to use that mana through techniques."
"But they also have one major weakness. They don't have enough control over their mana. Only a few individuals have perfect control over their mana in this realm."
"This is because Mana Circuit isn't merged with our body. It is a product of our technique. Once we absorb enough mana to form a mana pool near this point."
He said while pointing at his position below his naval.
"We can start condensing our mana into liquid. Normally, mana remains in the form of gas inside the Mana Circuit."
"Condensing it into liquid means it has to find a place to be stored. Mana Pool isn't just a place, it's space on its own."
"Amazing thing about mana is that it can do anything. In the case of human cultivation, it constantly shrinks the Mana Circuit after reaching the ninth level."
"Once the size of a Mana Circuit reaches as tiny as a marble, it transforms the intricate mana circuit into a dimension of its own."
"Inside this dimension, there will be a large space, larger than the human body, but from outside, it will still be the size of a marble."
"Throughout the Mana Condensation Realm, you will not improve your physical body since mana is basically locked inside the Mana Circuit."
"But after forming this space, you can start channeling the liquid mana outside the space, transforming normal meridians into Mana Veins."
"Each Mana Vein gives the cultivator a unique control over Mana, allowing them to infuse Mana into their cells, merge it with the blood to enhance their strength."
"You can also do this in the Mana Condensation Realm, but its effects are too weak. That's why those bandits only relied on their elemental attacks."
"And those who tried physical attacks lacked the strength and speed to fight Erena on equal ground."
Hearing his words, Tyler paused and asked.
"Is that why I didn't feel much different while using Mana?"
Alfred chuckled and shook his head.
"It's simply because you are using a tiny amount of mana. Mana is like water; the more you have, the heavier it gets. The more you control, the sharper and stronger it becomes."
At this moment, Alfred got serious and said.
"Young Master, if you ever encounter a cultivator of a higher realm, do not even think about fighting them."
"The gap between each realm is so big that most people can't even comprehend it in their lifetime."
He released a deep breath and said.
"Two thousand years ago, a mortal tried to challenge the cultivator. To accomplish this feat, he invented a gun."
"That's right, the first gun was created to challenge the cultivator. When he used it against the Mana Condenser, he won."
"His opponent saw the bullet but couldn't react to it. But when he used it against a Treasured Body Realm cultivator, he died before he could even press the trigger."
"The current Mana Guns are modeled after that gun, but even they can't help an immoral close the gap between realms."