Something definitely has gone wrong.
After condensing part of the spirit force to form the earth pillar, Emery needed to form another pillar to support his dark core. Otherwise, the equilibrium between the two cores would break in a state of disproportion.
The current problem Emery had in hand was the fact that one of the three darkness pillars, the one labeled by the system as [undefined], had drawn all the spirit force that was supposed to be used to create the other darkness pillar.
This 'devour' pillar was definitely making trouble for him.
It took him all of his concentration to slow down the spirit energy that was sucked in without consent and divert it to the dark foundation instead. Fortunately, despite it being so hard to do, he managed to do it in the end.
However, with every minute the situation where the realm core was unable to reach a state of balance with the dark core persisting, the longer the excruciating pain Emery had to endure throughout his body.
"Arrghhhhh!"
Emery understood how important this step was to his cultivation. Thus, he tried his best to endure the agonizing pain, hoping it wouldn't take too long for his new pillar to form.
Soon, he realized he could not divert all of them, because the particular [undefined] pillar was still capable of sucking up some of his spirit force, making the process as well as the pain take longer than it should.
Minutes swiftly turned into hours.
Due to the unforeseen development, the formation of the darkness element pillar took a lot more time than Emery had originally expected.
At this point, he was no longer just concerned about his core, but also about the fact he was sitting out in the open, in the middle of the plains.
Through his Spirit Reading, Emery could tell that miles from him there were dozens of Abyss creatures roaming around.
Knowing full well he was currently unable to fight, Emery could only hope that neither of them spotted him. It would be terrible to be attacked under such circumstances, especially when he knew he just needed a little bit more time to complete his breakthrough.
"Don't worry. If it really leads to that situation, Twik and Chiko could handle a few of them and buy time." He said to himself.
As if fate had decided to play a trick on him, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Emery sensed dozens, no, a horde of hundreds of Abyss creatures heading towards his current location.
The ground started to tremble, as the creatures trampled the ground with their march.
"Darn it!" Emery cursed.
What gave him an extra headache was the figure that was seen running several miles ahead of the horde was currently approaching him. With a smile on his face, Arcana stopped right in front of the sitting Emery.
"Commander, I have come and brought the first batch of Abyss creatures as you requested."
"..."
Emery really didn't know whether to praise or scold Arcana. Not only had it not been 10 hours past the agreed 24-hour deadline, the kid-looking acolyte had also brought too many Abyss creatures with him.
"Commander, why are you just sitting here?" asked Arcana, confused. "Where are the traps? Did I arrive at the wrong place?"
Emery was not sure what to answer when he heard Arcana's question. He was worried that if he explained the situation, Arcana would use this opportunity to kill him with the horde of Abyss creatures instead.
With this Emery came up with an excuse for Aracana to deal with the situation.
"I was actually hoping to see your strength first. Go fight those creatures and show me what you got," said Emery in a calm tone.
ᴡ ᴏᴠʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀs ᴀʀ ᴘᴜʙʟsʜᴅ ᴏ ᴀʟʟᴏᴠʟ ꜰᴜʟʟ.
Upon hearing that, Arcana looked a bit surprised. He then said, "Commander, I don't think I can… My skills were more on a personal basis, I can't handle this many enemies at the same time."
"Are you kidding me?" Emery asked in a slightly raised voice. "Those creatures rushed here because they were enchanted by your ability. Are you telling me that you can't use your ability to tell them to go back to where they came from?"
"Err, Commander, my ability doesn't actually work like that… If I had to give a description, my ability allows me to whisper and give intent to some of them about this location. Then those few chosen creatures would whisper the same intent I gave them to their brethren… Therefore, I don't think I can divert all of them in such a short time."
Emery rolled his eyes hearing Arcana's explanation. Looking at the kid-looking acolyte, he didn't know whether to think this fellow was a complete fool or an evil genius for being able to find such an apt way to kill him.
"Commander, what should we do?"
At this point, the horde of Abyss creatures was already within his field of vision, and from the looks of it, retreating was probably the best option.
If he did it carefully, Emery should be able to successfully create a Spatial Gate even when his body was under such horrible conditions. However, at this moment, the situation within his core was on the verge of a breakthrough.
Emery stood up and made his decision, but instead of casting [Spatial Gate], he opened his Spatial Space instead. His hand quickly reached inside and brought out a wooden box. Opening its lid, he took one of the [Spirit Foundation Pill] lying inside and immediately threw it into his mouth.
'This should give me the extra boost that I need!' thought Emery as he swallowed the pill.
"Argggghhh!"
The pill quickly brought a powerful effect as she immediately felt warm on her chest.
Finally, within the other side of his core, a small tendril came out and emanated a powerful element of darkness.
[Eighth pillars was formed - Darkness Element]
[You have reached a breakthrough to mid stage of rank 9]
[Spirit force increases exponentially]
[Spirit Force: 1350 (1372)]
[Acolyte Rank 9 - Mid Stage - 8 Pillars Formed]
[Earth Spirit - 2 Pillar]
[Plant Spirit - 1 Pillar]
[Water Spirit - 1 Pillar]
[Darkness Spirit - 3 Pillars]
[Undefined - 1 Pillar]
The advancement to the mid stage rank 9 acolyte gave Emery a tremendous boost to him. His previously unhealthy state swiftly returned to its original state and even went a step further, as he felt his body filled with unbridled power.
Clenching his fists, Emery stared at the incoming Abyss creatures with an excited gaze.
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