Back when the ritual confrontation erupted with terrifying power and the Dark Forest blossomed over the club’s location, Zorn had already sensed that something was wrong.

’The power of this confrontation... it’s a bit too strong!’

Now, as this Demon Tree, hundreds of meters tall, shot up,

Zorn was now certain it was the Demon Tree Cardinal.

This powerhouse, suspected to be from the Dark Tree Shepherd Sequence, controlled an ancient Demon Tree Forest.

At this stage, he should be at a strength of Level 9 or 10.

More than ten minutes had passed by the time patrolling officers in a horse-drawn carriage discovered Zorn and the corpse by the roadside.

Two police officers, one tall and one short, alighted from the carriage.

The taller officer looked at Zorn and spoke at once.

"Mr. Zorn!"

Zorn vaguely recognized the officer who had spoken.

This Level Two Soul Feeder had participated in the Evil Spirit seminar.

Zorn remembered this guy’s Evil Spirit being quite formidable. Of course, Zorn hadn’t gone easy on it, giving the fierce Evil Spirit a sound thrashing.

"Is this a member of the Evil God Organization you killed?"

The taller officer glanced at the corpse on the ground.

"Mm."

Zorn nodded and then asked,

"How are things on your end?"

"Our losses are heavy. Those damn members of the Evil God Organization are like complete lunatics, just killing indiscriminately."

The taller officer’s expression darkened, and he sighed.

Zorn nodded slightly.

"That’s why we have to eliminate them."

"You take the body. I’m going to hunt down the others."

The Soul Feeder officer nodded.

"Be careful, sir. And give those bastards hell!"

"Don’t worry. I will."

Zorn waved and quickly vanished around the street corner ahead.

A battle was drawing near.

"Is that the famous Mr. Zorn?"

The other officer watched Zorn’s retreating figure, his expression a mix of envy and curiosity.

Mr. Zorn’s name had been making waves in police circles lately.

It’s said he helped the Soul Feeder Sequence solve a major problem.

"Yes! He’s a very powerful and well-respected nobleman."

"Although he’s very young, his vast Extraordinary Knowledge has earned him the deep admiration of even the Chief."

"Alright, let’s get back to work."

"The Chief said that if you can haul a hundred corpses, you might have a shot at the Corpse Guardian Sequence."

"The Corpse Guardian Sequence doesn’t sound all that great," the regular officer muttered.

"You might not even get in if you apply."

...

As time passed, the scope of the battle gradually expanded to the entire Bay Area.

Although the members of the Sun Secret Cult resisted fiercely,

the Holy Fierce Sun and Ogrande’s official forces were clearly more numerous and better prepared.

However, as time went on, members of the Sun Secret Cult were steadily wiped out by the combined efforts of official Transcendants and Church members.

DONG DONG DONG~~

When the church bells rang for the evening prayer,

the light of the Holy Fierce Sun grew ever more piercing.

The Demon Tree finally began to buckle, incinerated by the sacred flames.

The Demon Tree offered almost no resistance as it burned, leading Zorn to deduce that the Demon Tree Cardinal had already fled.

However, after resisting the thunderous might of the Holy Fierce Sun for several hours, he must have been heavily wounded.

As the Demon Tree was utterly consumed by fire,

a colossal pillar of fire shot into the sky,

illuminating the clouds above and turning them the color of a fiery sunset.

The battle in the Fog Zone officially entered its final stages.

A few skirmishes remained, but they were little more than desperate, futile last stands.

During this period, Zorn also took part in four or five group assaults on Level 4 and even Level 5 Transcendants.

Fighting these "powerful foes" brought Zorn the Fighting Master some rather handsome rewards.

As the fighting died down,

on what should have been a bustling evening, the empty, scorching streets were now deserted.

Throughout the afternoon, the terrifying battles between Transcendants, the constant sound of gunfire, and even the occasional sight of walls being smashed and buildings collapsing

had left the ordinary people of the Bay Area terrified and scrambling for cover.

Even the horse-drawn carriages, typically a common sight on the Bay Area’s Boundary Island, were nowhere to be seen.

After roughly estimating the distance, Zorn headed for the North Ring Street Police Station in the Fog Zone.

[Star Trace Fighter]

Level: Level 3 (69%)

[Talent]

Gangyi Iron Bone (SS-Level)

[Skills]

Shattering Spirit·Skull-Splitting Fist: Level 2 (6%)

Vigorous Qi Mastery (Passive): Level 0 (82%)

Thousand Streams·Gale Step: Level 1 (2%)

...

[Evil Spirit Wizard] (World-level BOSS)

Level: Level 3 (69%)

Evil Witch Spirituality: Feeds on spirits.

Immortal Divinity: Reviving.

[Talents]

Mortality and Rebirth (SSS-level): Resurrection (5/5).

Evil Spirit Authority (SSS-level): Control of Spirituality.

...

[Skills]

Life Absorption: Level 0 (99%)

Forbidden Weaving: Level 0 (58%)

Double-Ringed · Destruction Magic Ball: Level 1 (18%)

Scythe of the End (Forbidden Technique): Level 0 (21%)

Eternal Calamity Whip (Forbidden Technique): Level 0 (7%)

Upper Rank: Ringed Snake’s Eye (Exclusive Forbidden Technique): Level 0 (10%)

.......

Thanks to an entire afternoon of fighting, killing a few Transcendants—especially the Evil Spirit Divine Mage—and participating in the group takedowns of powerful Level 4 and 5 Transcendants,

Zorn’s Sequence Experience had increased by about 8%.

Zorn estimated that at this rate, he could reach Level Three Peak in a little over a month—less than two months for sure—and then advance to Level 4.

As he mused, Zorn’s attention turned to Life Absorption.

After continuous use, this Ability was nearly maxed out.

’Complete a full cycle of Life Absorption on a powerful enemy.’

This was the key to evolving the Life Absorption Ability.

Sucking the Evil Spirit Divine Mage dry just now barely counted as completing a cycle.

But when Zorn tried, he couldn’t break through. Clearly, the effect hadn’t been strong enough.

As he mulled this over, Zorn looked at the final third of the Sacred Mark from the Evil Spirit Notification Ceremony.

He channeled all of it into Life Absorption.

This time, Life Absorption broke through with ease, reaching Level 1 and the Mastery standard.

’The absorption and conversion intensity has increased by more than double, nearly triple.’

’After the upgrade, besides being able to draw life, soul, and Essence from normal living beings,’

’I can also draw from natural plants, from the flesh and bone that still hold residual Life Force, from corpses, and even from special forms of life to absorb the ’life’ I need.’

As the last of the Sacred Mark from the Evil Spirit Notification Ceremony was consumed, the trace of Zorn engraved upon the annals of Ogrande City vanished completely.

Although people would surely continue to tell stories of the mysterious "Evil Spirit Notification Ceremony" in their idle chats,

it would no longer contribute any Sacred Marks to Zorn. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

But!

Zorn looked toward the border between the Fog Zone and the Old Town District.

Even though the Holy Fierce Sun had soared high today,

and the terrifying Dark Demon Tree had risen to challenge it,

the immense, deathly shadow of the Evil Spirit Calamity still held its firm place in the annals of Ogrande City.

A Sacred Mark like the "Evil Spirit Notification Ceremony" would slowly weaken over three to five years, perhaps even dissipating entirely.

But the powerful Immortal Sacred Mark of the Evil Spirit Calamity would never fade.

And next, once he found the right opportunity, Zorn would forge a new Immortal Calamity Sacred Mark.

Zorn could feel it. The opportunity was coming soon!