Chapter 697: Chapter 697: Koma´s Wake
Beep. Beep.
The high-frequency communication talisman pinned to the General’s chest plate suddenly pulsed with an urgent, sharp tone. He swiped his hand across the rune, listening closely for a mere fraction of a second before his expression instantly hardened.
"Vice Leader, Master Ethan," the General announced, turning away from the canyon wall where the disciples were still aggressively upturning stones. "Our medical team inside the flagship just transmitted a high-priority notification. Branch Leader Koma has officially regained full consciousness."
"Excellent," the Vice Sect Leader said, his old eyes instantly flashing with a dangerous, calculating light. "Let us return to the command vessel immediately. It is time we uncover the precise coordinates of this hidden vault."
The group retraced their steps, ascending the heavy boarding ramp as the Impenetrable-class warship maintained its static altitude above the outpost. However, the moment they crossed the threshold into the secondary medical bay, the sound of shattered glass and aggressive, high-tier verbal fury echoed violently down the metal corridors.
"Stand down, you fools!" a sharp, commanding female voice screamed from inside the primary containment ward. "You dare bar my path? I am the supreme administrative authority of this frontier sector! Restraining a regional branch leader is a direct, capital infraction against the sect’s core laws!"
"Elder Koma, please remain calm!" a young medical disciple pleaded, his voice trembling with sheer terror. "Doctor Ethan explicitly commanded that your physical vessel must remain stationary! Your meridians are—"
"Silence!" Koma snapped, her voice dripping with a ruthless, aristocratic arrogance. "I was not unconscious, nor was I hovering at the brink of death! I was merely executing a deep, meditative sleep cycle to restore my spiritual baseline after a strenuous operational shift! Out of my way, or I will personally ensure your entire family line is stripped of their merit points!"
Ethan, the Vice Leader, and the General silently stepped into the doorway of the medical bay, watching the performance unfold.
Branch Leader Koma was a sharp-featured woman who looked to be in her late forties, her silver-streaked hair wildly disheveled but her posture rigid with defensive pride. Despite the fact that her skin still retained a faint, sickly purple undertone from the tomb miasma, she was aggressively pushing past the line of armored guards, her fingers twitching with gathering spiritual energy.
"Elder Koma," the primary guard captain stated, holding his ground with a sweating brow. "We cannot permit you to vacate this room. The high command has placed this entire sector under absolute military lockdown."
"Lockdown? This is a blatant, coordinated kidnapping!" Koma hissed, her eyes darting toward the heavy reinforced glass windows of the medical bay, systematically scanning for a structural weakness to exploit. "You are clearly deep-cover espionage operatives disguised as our vanguard! If you do not drop your weapons this exact millisecond, I will treat this as an active rebellion against the northern administration!"
The air inside the room instantly became suffocatingly heavy as Koma’s Golden Core aura violently flared to life. The pure pressure cracked a nearby ceramic medical tray, showing she was fully prepared to launch a lethal, high-tier martial strike to force her way out of the flagship and preserve her secrets.
"Are you quite certain you wish to execute that strike, Branch Leader Koma?" the General smoothly, stepping out from behind the doorframe.
The icy, suffocating mass of his half-step Sea Spirit Realm pressure instantly flooded the entire medical bay, snapping Koma’s aura like dry twig.
Koma’s face instantly drained of what little color it had left. Her body violently stiffened as her eyes locked onto the Vice Leader, then flicked to the General, and finally rested on Ethan and the chilling, immovable shadow of Heidy standing right behind him.
"V-Vice Leader..." Koma stammered, her voice suddenly losing its unyielding edge as she instinctively fell into a deep, trembling martial salute. "General... I... I did not realize the supreme command had arrived on the frontier."
"Indeed," the Vice Leader chuckled, a cold, predatory smile playing on his lips as he walked toward her bed. "Tell me, Elder Koma... did you truly believe you could mask a full-scale tomb corruption as a mere meditative sleep cycle? Or are you actively attempting to rebel against my authority to keep your little discovery entirely to yourself?"
A sharp, icy sweat instantly broke out across Koma’s forehead. Her breathing turned shallow, and a wave of panic seized her entire body. She was a peak expert at the very summit of the Golden Core Realm—a powerhouse who could normally dominate the entire northern frontier with a single wave of her hand. But standing directly in front of the Vice Sect Leader, she was painfully aware that her supreme cultivation meant nothing. One wrong move, and the old monster would obliterate her right where she stood.
Realizing that any further resistance would result in her immediate execution, Koma’s defensive pride dissolved. She dropped her head, her hands trembling as she lowered her posture into a submissive stance, entirely giving up any attempt to flee.
"Captain," the Vice Sect Leader commanded, his voice dropping into a cold, ruthless register that filled the medical bay with an unyielding dread. "Bring the high-tier spiritual suppression shackles immediately. Secure her limbs and her energetic baseline. Until we unearth the truth of what she hid in those ruins, she is a state prisoner."
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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinement Realm
Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion
Golden Core Realm
Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction
Spiritual Sea Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Dao Manifestation Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Spiritual Transcendence
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
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Sword mastery levels
Sword Intent.
Sword Aura.
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