Three hours passed.


    Shane''s domain vanished, leaving only a frozen wastnd in the sky.


    Zombies and Dead Souls faded back into the icyndscape.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Mike and Lester, havingposed themselves, couldn''t help but sigh as they saw Shane, frozen mid-air like a specimen, his psychic power holding him in ce.


    Shane''s psychic power was gone, the rules of death eroding his body and soul. Lester''s formation prevented even his prime spirit from escaping.


    He looked down at Nathan with unwillingness, meeting his calm gaze.


    As death approached, a strange peace settled over him. "All these hundred years among the Druids… you were waiting. You weren''t afraid of us taking your Coffin because it wouldn''t recognize anyone but you as its master. I''m afraid its level is even higher than Lester and I imagined."


    "The Moon God''s body… it contains the blood of millions of Druids, harvested by the ckwoods on the battlefields of old. There are countless other materials within, umted by the ckwoods over a century ago. You…"


    As Shane''s voice faded, Mike and Lester''s expressions shifted.


    The answer dawned on them.


    They understood how the Moon God had been refined into a zombie!


    "All these years," Shane sighed, "it wasn''t us keeping you captive. You never truly submitted, never had any intention of bing one of us Druids. You only needed a hundred years, until the Moon God was refined into a Zombie Emperor within your Coffin. Then, the world would be yours to roam."


    Nathan didn''t deny it.


    Half of what Shane said was true.


    After obtaining the Moon God''s corpse, he had begun refining her into a Zombie Emperor. Unfortunately, the Heavenly Path had arrived too soon. Back then, he had left all his umted resources within the Death Coffin, along with a finalmand for it to follow in Azure Cloud Border Town.


    He had instructed the Death Coffin to find his family''s descendants after his death. He hadn''t expected to be rescued by Mike and the two Druid elders.


    "With such a technique at your disposal, we couldn''t hold you, nor could the Heavenly Path. Given enough time, you would be even more terrifying than them."


    Shane''s pupils dted. He looked at Lester, a sneer twisting his lips. "Lester, you love to weigh values. You''ll regret this decision."


    With that, his prime spirit shattered, his body and dao extinguished.


    Hisst vestiges of psychic power activated the high-level Druid soldier psychic artifact he wore, sending it floating toward Nathan. Even in death, he wore a sneer directed at Lester.


    Lester felt a chill course through him as he watched Shane''s dying smile.


    Nathan collected Shane''s corpse.


    The Moon God returned to the Death Coffin.


    Nathan slung the Coffin over his shoulder and turned back to Mike and Lester, a faint smile on his face as if nothing had happened. "Thank you both for your help. As I said before, I owe the Druids a debt, and I owe you both as well. So…"


    "I''ll repay the Druids'' debt first."


    Lester and Mike exchanged nces.


    At that moment, Nathan seemed like a stranger to them, a terrifying stranger. It was as if the gentle and kind Nathan they had known for over a century had suddenly be incredibly calcting, his entire being radiating a deathly, somber aura!


    "Nathan," Lester asked, bewildered, "given the current state of the ckwoods, how do you intend to repay your debt to the Druids?"


    Nathan didn''t answer.


    He turned away, gazing toward the border of the Azure Cloud Tri-Region.


    "Woo—"


    Just then, the sound of a psychic retreat horn echoed from the Azure Cloud border!


    "What''s that?!"


    Mike and Lester''s expressions changed drastically.


    Their prime spirits swept toward the border, where they saw a massive cloud of dust rising into the air!


    It was the Azure Cloud Psychic army stationed at the border of the Azure Cloud Tri-Region by Martinez—over a thousand ability vessels, millions of Psychics, the entire might of Cloudview County umted over centuries. They hadn''t expected that while Nathan and Shane were battling, their attention diverted, millions of Azure Cloud Psychics would gather.


    And they were heading toward… Oakdale City, the heart of Druid territory!


    Cold sweat dripped down their backs.


    They couldn''t imagine what would happen to Oakdale City, caughtpletely off guard, if these human Psychics attacked.


    "You…" Lester''s face darkened. He red at the impassive Nathan, fury burning in his eyes. "How could there be so many Psychics? Nathan, what are you nning? When did they gather?!"


    Besides anger, a chilling realization dawned on him as he watched the retreating Psychics.


    "The tribtion, your tribtion!" Mike stared at the unfamiliar Nathan, his expressionplex. "Your Basic Mastery tribtion, it drew our attention. And you, using some unknown method, gathered the Azure Cloud Psychic army. If you had failed your tribtion today, or if we had stopped you from killing Shane, or if you had lost to Shane… the Azure Cloud Psychics would have…"


    "Taken Oakdale City!"


    Recalling the events surrounding Nathan''s breakthrough, Mike suddenly felt naive.


    No, it was Nathan who had changed. He had be crueler, more cunning.


    Perhaps Nathan had never truly trusted Lester, nor him.


    Even if they hadn''t intervened today, Nathan had already made thorough preparations for his tribtion! With the Azure Cloud army on the move, Nathan would still have achieved his goals of reiming the Death Coffin and killing Shane.


    What terrified them even more was the realization that they had assumed the ckwoods had lost control of Cloudview County. But in reality, the ckwoods, through unknown means, still held the reins of Azure Cloud from the shadows.


    The ckwoods… had never truly left!


    Nathan ignored Lester and Mike''s reactions. He sensed his old friend''s anger but remained indifferent. His gaze was fixed on Sunshine Mansion, and he let out a long sigh.


    Mike had been sincere to him all these years.


    But gradually, he could no longer be the person he once was. He had to be prepared for every eventuality, even if it meant resorting to unpleasant methods, even if he had once despised those who yed dirty.


    He raised his head slightly. Having reached the Basic Mastery realm, his prime spirit detected someone observing them, spying on them!


    A powerful soul in the sky was watching everything unfolding within Druid territory through psychic power.