After Stan had grabbed Alex, saving him from the long fall off the cliff, he gently guided him to a safe spot on the ground. They both stood there, watching the remains of the cliff crumble and fall away into the abyss below.
Alex, still catching his breath, turned to Stan. "So... did it work?" he asked, eager for Stan's response.
Stan's face lit up with a wild grin as he nodded. "Your theory worked! I can absorb qi again like I used to," he said, though there was a hint of something in his voice. "But it feels different. Kind of weaker than before."
Alex frowned slightly. "Weaker? Why's that?"
"I don't know yet. But I need to test something out." Without further explanation, Stan walked up to one of the large trees towering above them. He placed his hand flat against the rough bark.
For a moment, nothing happened. But then Alex noticed Stan's vines, the ones wrapped around his forearm, start to move. Slowly, they turned a deep red, as though something was flowing through them. Meanwhile, the tree itself began to change. Its thick trunk seemed to shrink, as if the life within it was being drained away. The once lush green leaves started to wither, turning brown and falling to the ground like dust.
Stan removed his hand after a few moments, stepping back. The vines on his arm returned to their normal color. He looked at Alex, his expression thoughtful.
"What I just did is something called Life Drain," Stan explained. "It's a technique that lets you drain the life force of a living creature and use it to strengthen your qi. But you've got to be careful—if you drain too much, you'll kill whatever you're taking from. I didn't drain this tree fully, though."
Alex stared at the tree, now much thinner and frail. He was impressed. Stan had developed an extraordinary skill, and it was clear that this ability could be dangerous if misused.
Stan, however, was deep in thought. He knew Alex's theory had worked. The peaceful energy Alex had shared allowed him to absorb qi again without the intense pain he had suffered before. But this didn't mean his qi core was fixed. The peace energy acted as a bridge, enabling him to pull in qi without discomfort. However, as soon as the qi entered his body, it quickly escaped. His core was still broken, unable to store external qi like it used to.
Yet, during this process, Stan had noticed something unusual. As the energy began to slip away, the mist within his body seemed to gather around it, as if trying to stop it from escaping. It wasn't enough to fully hold the qi in place, but it was a start.
Suddenly, an idea sparked in Stan's mind. He wondered if he could manipulate the peace energy to help contain the qi. Focusing on the mist gathering in his body, he willed it to move, to follow his command.
Stan wasn't new to moving energy around his body. As a Paragon, he had trained for years, breaking through to new levels of power before he lost his way. He had mastered the art of controlling energy flow, even though this wasn't traditional qi. Moving this new energy wasn't difficult for him.
Slowly, besides his damaged qi core, something began to take shape. A faint, yellow light glowed in the darkness of his inner world. It was unlike the other cores in his body, which were covered in a crystal-like substance. This new light wasn't encased in anything solid. Instead, it was held together by the mist—the peace energy that Alex had given him. The mist seemed to wrap around the glowing light, keeping it stable and contained.
At the same time, part of the mist was moving toward Stan's broken qi core, slowly wrapping around it. Looking closely at the two cores, now connected by the thin line of mist that formed a bond between them, Stan began absorbing more qi from his surroundings. After some time, he decided to test out this newfound ability, which eventually led to him having to save Alex from the fall.
What Stan had created was a second qi core for himself, though this one seemed much more fragile. It was being held together by the peace energy rather than the usual crystal-like substance. As Stan observed the new core, he noticed something else—it wasn't as strong as his original core. Not in terms of durability, but rather the qi within it felt different, weaker.
Before jumping to any conclusions, Stan knew he had to check something else. He decided to use one of his martial arts techniques that allowed him to drain the life force from living creatures. The reason for using this technique was simple—draining life energy was much faster than the standard qi absorption process, and Stan needed more energy to study this new core thoroughly.
After he finished absorbing the life force, Stan turned his focus back to the newly formed qi core. He could feel its structure more clearly now.
"This core might not be as powerful as my original one," Stan thought, "but it's certainly more flexible." He examined it further. "At this moment, I can tell that this core holds the qi of a peak stage one warrior Paragon. Yet, I don't feel any resistance at all. Maybe, if I drain more energy, I can make it even stronger," he concluded.
Coming to this realization, Stan decided to take action. He instructed Alex to stay where he was. Before Alex could even ask why, Stan vanished from his view.
"The speed… I couldn't even see him move," Alex thought, stunned by how quickly Stan had disappeared. "It's like he vanished into thin air."
The only indication that Stan hadn't teleported away was the gust of wind that followed in his wake. Just then, Alex began hearing loud bangs echoing through the area. The sounds came from different directions, one after another, as though something incredibly fast was moving around him.
Each bang was followed by a tremor, shaking the ground. Chunks of earth were tossed into the sky, and the ground rumbled repeatedly. At one point, Alex saw something that made his heart race—a massive tree, uprooted from the ground, was falling from the sky straight toward him.
The tree moved so fast that Alex knew he wouldn't be able to outrun it. Instinctively, he used the Phantom Body technique, allowing the tree to pass right through him. It crashed into the ground behind him, leaving him unharmed.
"Damn… I need to get out of here," Alex muttered to himself as he quickly darted away from the chaotic scene.
Fortunately, whatever was causing all the destruction seemed to have stopped. But Stan was nowhere to be seen. Concerned, Alex decided to follow the direction the sounds had come from. He moved cautiously, his senses on high alert, until he reached an open area.
No, it wasn't a naturally open area. The space in front of him looked as though an explosion had just taken place. Craters dotted the ground, and trees were uprooted and scattered across the area. Their trunks were thin, almost as if their life force had been drained. Leaves were scattered all over the ground like ashes.
Alex's eyes widened when he spotted the creatures lying on the ground. Several animals lay motionless, their bodies drained of life, much like the trees. Their once-strong forms were now thin and frail, their energy completely gone.
It wasn't right to call these creatures "animals." The correct word for them was "beasts," as they looked like nothing from Earth. Their forms were twisted, with features that seemed almost alien, reminding Alex that they were far from home.
Meanwhile, at one of the large craters, Alex spotted Stan sitting on the ground. Several crystals of different colors were spread out in front of him. He was picking them up one by one, crushing them in his hand. As he did, bursts of energy from the shattered crystals entered his body, causing faint glows to pulse through him.
After finishing what he was doing, Stan stood up and faced Alex. A wide grin still lingered on his face, as if he was pleased with the power he had just absorbed.
"What you just did… won't it attract unwanted attention here?" Alex asked, concern clear in his voice.
"Don't worry about that," Stan replied casually, his tone dismissive. "We're not really on Earth. We're on a planet far out in space. It just happens to have similarities to Earth."
Alex was stunned by Stan's response. He had heard something like this from the system before, but he hadn't taken it seriously at the time. Now, hearing it directly from Stan, the reality sank in.
'I'm not even on Earth anymore… how many trillion miles away from home am I?' Alex wondered, still trying to comprehend the vastness of the Paragon Realm.
"I think we're done here," Stan said, snapping Alex out of his thoughts. "We need to head back. I want to surprise the others with what we've discovered."
With that, the two began preparing to leave the strange planet. They gathered their things and set off toward the portal that had brought them there.
It wasn't long before Alex and Stan arrived at the portal. Strangely enough, it was embedded inside a large tree, as though the tree had grown around it, concealing it from plain view. The portal shimmered faintly, awaiting their return.
Upon stepping through the portal, they arrived back at their base. The familiar surroundings brought Alex a sense of relief, though Stan seemed more focused on something else entirely. Without wasting any time, Stan headed straight for the training room. Once there, he called out to all the faction leaders, his voice echoing through the base with authority.
Peter, being the overseer of the base's operations, received a report almost immediately about the sudden call. He frowned, wondering what Stan was up to this time.
'Stan… what are you up to now?' Peter thought as he pressed a button on the device in his hand. In an instant, Peter vanished from his location and reappeared in front of Stan.
Stan grinned as Peter appeared before him, just as he expected.
"What's going on this time, Stan?" Peter asked, his face serious and his tone sharp. He wasn't in the mood for games.
Stan's grin only widened. "Just as I thought—you're the first to arrive."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "What's this about?"
Stan stepped forward, his gaze intense. "I want you to fight me, Peter. Use everything you've got."
Peter blinked, taken aback by the request. "You want me to fight you? What's gotten into you?"
Stan nodded, his expression unwavering. "I need to test my strength. I need to know how far I've come. And I can't think of anyone better to push me than you."
Peter sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"
Stan's grin faded slightly, but the determination in his eyes remained. "Dead serious."
Peter stared at him for a moment, weighing his options. But if Stan was this determined, there was no talking him out of it.
"Fine," Peter said at last. "But don't hold it against me when I knock some sense into you."
Stan chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything less."