His leg hovered mid-step. His eyes locked onto the space ahead as the strange wave washed over him again.
It wasn’t just faint this time... this time it felt dense and pure.
"Spiritual energy?!" he muttered, barely believing it.
He looked around, trying to find the source.
The clearing was silent. The same scattered rocks, the same patchy grass, the same trees and cliffs. Nothing looked different.
But he could clearly feel it. No mistake in that.
"Is there a strong dungeon monster near by? Was there a dungeon breakout?!" His mind buzzed with these questions.
After thinking for a while, he finally took a long breath. "Let’s search it first. I should take one step at a time. And if it’s really being emanated from a strong monster, I need to call for back up. But if it’s not, then...." He didn’t finish his thoughts but a surge of excitement flowed through his veins.
He followed its trace. The direction the wave of spiritual energy was coming from.
Each step was slow and cautious. His senses were fully focused, searching for the direction it came from. He moved around the edge of the clearing, climbed over a boulder, and ducked beneath a twisted branch.
The energy was definitely coming from this area.
After a few minutes, he reached a narrow patch between two moss-covered rocks. The spiritual energy was stronger here. It almost felt like it was pulling at his chest.
"This has to be the spot," he whispered.
But there was nothing there.
Nothing that seemed like it had spiritual energy. No monster either.
Just dirt, roots, and quiet air.
He walked in a slow circle, scanning the ground and the cliffs.
He frowned and stepped forward again. "Was I mistaken? But I can still feel it. Like it’s just before my eyes but for some reason I can’t see it."
The ground beneath him shifted.
Before he could even react, the soil cracked under his feet.
And in the next second, the ground gave way.
"Woah—!" He tried to grab something to prevent his fall but no use.
His body dropped straight down as dust and dirt collapsed around him. He fell roughly five meters before hitting solid stone.
He grunted and rolled forward, coughing. "Damn it! Where am I. What’s this place?!"
The dust started to clear before fading away fully.
Logan looked up.....and froze.
The stone walls were old and cracked. Moss crawled along the corners, and faint broken runes glowed dimly on the floor.
It was dark, but not pitch black. There were traces of fighting still clinging to the walls. Torches that hadn’t burned in decades. Bones and torn cloth near the entrance. No living monsters... only silence.
Logan slowly stood up and looked around.
"This place... was cleared long ago," he muttered.
He walked forward, following the trail of spiritual energy that still pulsed from deeper inside.
The path was uneven and narrow at parts. He stepped over broken stone tiles and rusted chains. Ancient claw marks stained the walls, but whatever made them had died long ago.
Still... the energy was real. Pure and steady.
And it was getting even stronger.
He followed it, turning left at a cracked pillar and right past a collapsed archway.
Finally, he reached a round chamber at the end of the path.
The chamber was small. Quiet. Untouched.
And in the center of the room stood a single, strange plant.
It was growing out of the stone itself, like it had pierced through the earth to reach this place. Its stem was deep green, but the leaves shimmered faintly with a silvery glow.
Round, glowing, and faintly pulsating with spiritual energy.
The fruit was the size of a small apple. It glowed with a soft blue light, like moonlight trapped in crystal.
Logan took a slow step forward.
And his eyes widened.
He recognized it with just one glance. Because he hadn’t just seen it in his past life, but consumed it as well.
"Spirit Nectar," he whispered.
The fruit was legendary.
In his past life, cultivators used it to restore and absorb spiritual energy in vast amounts. With it, a person could rise from the Ultimate Grandmaster realm to the Martial King realm, something that would normally take a huge pile of resources containing spiritual energy.
But this fruit was thought to be extinct. Spiritual energy had vanished from the world ages ago. Even dungeon monsters only carried traces of it. Yet this fruit... it was here, overflowing with the purest spiritual energy he had ever sensed in this life.
He stood still, staring at it.
His heart pounded in his chest.
"H....how is this even possible?"
He was excited—overwhelmed.
"If I consume this fruit, my cultivation level will increase by leaps and bounds. It’s the exact push I needed. A true treasure, the kind that only appeared once in several hundred years."
But then the doubt came.
"But how did this grow here?" he whispered.
There was no spiritual energy in the current world. Not naturally. Not anywhere.
And yet... here it was. A perfectly formed Spirit Nectar, alive, glowing, and untouched.
Even if it had been buried deep in this old dungeon, it shouldn’t have survived this long.
He circled the plant slowly, watching it with cautious eyes. No traps. No seals. Just the fruit, pulsing like a heartbeat.
The presence of this fruit changed everything.
Either spiritual energy was returning to the world...
Or something big was going on.
Both possibilities sent a chill down his spine.
But his hands were steady.
And his eyes burned with focus.
He reached out and gently touched the edge of one glowing leaf.
The energy buzzed against his skin.
"Spirit Nectar," he whispered with excitement. "I don’t know how. But I am glad. It’s time for me to rise the ladder again."