Within Adam's spirit sea, the storm raged with intense fury. It still hadn't abated ever since Adam had used spiritual power to cast the spell.

Although there were no clouds or sun within the youth's spirit sea, strangely enough, the entire place had turned dark and gloomy.

Valerian had been flying around aimlessly in this ethereal space, trying to get out. But no matter what he tried, he just couldn't. Something was preventing him from doing so.

Why is this happening?!

Why can't I get out?!

The young dragon thought to himself in worry as he flapped his wings and flew around the place, glancing at the tempestuous waves down below.

After a long time, he flew toward the white lotus and slowly landed on it. As soon as his paws touched the white petals, his giant draconic body slowly transformed back to his cat form.

At least that feeling of impending danger I felt is no longer there he thought to himself in distress.

Brother

I hope you're alright.

In the outside world, Adam massaged his forehead in agony as he rested with his back against the cave wall.

He had planned to rest for the night and recuperate his strength, but the soul-rending headache was preventing him from doing so.

Forget practicing a session of mindfulness, he couldn't even fall asleep.

"Damn it," he grumbled under his breath. "How long do I have to bear with this?"

His mana reserves were only at half of full capacity. But that wasn't what he was worried about. It was the fact that he couldn't utilize his spiritual power for the time being.

Moreover, spiritual power was required to cast spells. Meaning, he didn't have access to any of the spells in his arsenal at the moment. Of course, he could still cast the ones that didn't require a model component, but those ones weren't useful in battle.

Although he did feel that he had recovered his spiritual power a tiny bit after resting for half the night.

As he clutched at his forehead, trying to alleviate the pain, he thought to himself bitterly, Had I known that the price for using spiritual power to cast a spell was going to be so severe

I would have never tried it in the first place.

Now he was far behind enemy lines with no access to his magic spells. He couldn't help but deeply come to regret his decision.

But at the same time, if he hadn't done what he had and cast an advanced version of Dingy Illusion, perhaps he and Ennea would have already been pummelled to death under the hooves of the Rock Bisons.

Thinking of Ennea, the youth turned his head and glanced at her. The white fox was sleeping peacefully. The arduous ordeal from the night before had taken a steep price from her.

Despite all the potions she had consumed, her injuries still hadn't healed completely.

As he recalled the time when Ennea had saved him from being killed by the panther, the youth couldn't help but rub her head gently. He was immensely grateful to her.

Then, he thought about the Hexaclaw Panther that was resting not far from him. He glanced in the direction of the large chamber where the beast and her cubs lay.

In the end, he shook his head and heaved a helpless sigh.

Suddenly, he heard a commotion coming from outside the cave entrance, causing his ears to twitch and a deep foreboding feeling to well up in his heart.

Did someone follow me here? He thought to himself in alarm.

But the next moment, his eyes narrowed as he ventured a guess.

That's right It can only be one person. To think that he would find me when I'm at my weakest.

Damn it! All my plans have failed.

His lips curled up into a bitter smile as he muttered under his breath, "Oh, fate, must you toy with me so much? It's one misfortune after the other."

Adam didn't even need to go out and confirm what the source of the sudden commotion was. He knew it in his heart.

It could be none other than Kevin Gracie!

After all, who else would come all the way out here to the depths of the Murky Mountains?

But now, the youth was in a great dilemma.

Should I kill him now? Or remain hidden? Or escape?

When he had left for this long-term mission, he had cast several enchantment spells on Kevin and lured him out here. His plan was to get rid of this nuisance once and for all.

He was sick and tired of Kevin making things difficult for him at every turn.

For that very reason, he had set several traps for Kevin and his party, hoping that they would fall for it and die. This would ensure that the magical mechanism that Adam was so vigilant against didn't lead back to him.

But even he couldn't have expected a large-scale herd of Rock Bisons to suddenly appear out of nowhere and ruin his plans.

He was sure that the herd of bison must have set off all the traps. This led to Kevin making it out alive and following him all the way out here.

But how did he manage to track me down so far? Did he divine my location? But how?

Adam thought to himself, his expression turning grim. He started to habitually stroke his chin and thought about his next course of action.

Now that he's come all the way here, must I really kill him?

But if I kill him directly, that magical mechanism will activate and it will put me in a world of trouble.

Adam was heavily conflicted. Moreover, the searing headache prevented him from thinking too deeply. He massaged his temples and gritted his teeth in annoyance.

If I let him go I'll never get another opportunity like this.

Damn it! What should I do?

He knew he didn't have long, and that he had to decide quickly. In the end, his eyes flashed with a cold light as he came to a decision.

"Fine, I'll kill you with my own hands."

The next moment, he took a deep breath and conjured a few things from his earring. "But first, I need to make certain arrangements so that I don't die later."

In front of him were a feathered quill, a small bottle of ink, a blank piece of parchment paper, and finally a bronze whistle.

The youth glanced at the bronze whistle and scoffed, "Everything would have been so easy if I could just summon you and make you fight all my battles

"But I can't."

He grabbed the feather quill, dipped it in ink, and began writing a letter to a certain someone. As his hands hurriedly danced across the parchment paper, he helplessly muttered,

"I didn't want to be indebted to that guy, but I have no other choice."