525 Break Out

“The cage is too small. If it were a little bigger, I could raise my speed,” Himmel Soan said regrettably after looking around the cage.

It was impossible to raise his maximum speed in such a short time. However, if he made a dash from hundreds of thousands of meters away, he could add that momentum to the dagger to increase its power.

But the cage’s size rendered that method useless. He could only compress the spiritual essence further.

Gritting his teeth, he focused on the dagger. He poured out his spiritual essence and concentrated it on his weapon.

It wasn’t enough, not even close.

Himmel Soan frantically compressed his spiritual essence until it reached the previous state, but he knew it was lacking.

He only penetrated 4/5 of the cage wall just then. As his spiritual essence decreased, he would need more of it to cover the same distance.

He had to compress the spiritual essence further to break the cage.

The dagger was filled with so much spiritual essence that it could explode at any moment. The concentration inside surpassed Himmel Soan’s control.

If he lost control of the spiritual essence, it would explode and blow him to pieces.

The energy inside the dagger steadily increased. Even the wood guardian felt it and took a few steps back.

With a wave of his hand, two wooden shields appeared in front of him and Firey. He made sure neither of them would be injured by the explosion if Himmel Soan lost control.

Beads of sweat cascaded down Himmel Soan’s forehead. Compressing spiritual essence was tiring, and he had gone beyond his limit.

A general could lead an army of a thousand soldiers, but an army of a million would be beyond his capability. The soldiers would be aimless and become a motley crew.

Himmel Soan was that general, and he had to lead an army of a million soldiers.

His spiritual essence was running wild and could get out of control at any moment. Blood was oozing out of his eyes and ears, the side effect of exceeding his limits.

Firey burst into tears. If this continued, Himmel Soan would die from the exhaustion of his energy.

“I won’t fall here! I’m sure I can break this cage!” Himmel Soan ground his teeth.

His face was distorted, and blue veins popped on his forehead. Although the process lasted for five minutes, it felt longer than five years. Finally, Himmel Soan managed to fully control the compressed spiritual essence.

“There!” He stepped back until his back was against the cage. He then sprinted for the opposite wall, waving the dagger as he ran.

“He’ll make it.” The wood guardian concluded. He knew the cage couldn’t stop Himmel Soan.

As expected, Himmel Soan broke out of the cage. He slumped to the ground outside and gasped for air.

This test was as challenging as the previous one. Himmel Soan kept pushing limits and had gone as far as he could.

“You’ve exceeded my expectations.” The wood guardian retrieved the cage and left.

There was no need to say more because Himmel Soan had passed his test. Just as with the river, the frightening energy from the meadow disappeared.

Himmel Soan lay flat on the ground and adjusted his breathing. The test was much more dangerous than it appeared. He felt like he had been racing against death.

“Master, I knew you’re the best!” Firey lay down next to Himmel Soan.

She wanted to persuade Himmel Soan, telling him to withdraw from this test without realizing that he didn’t have the right.

However, she didn’t say anything in the end. She knew what Himmel Soan was like. Once he made up his mind, no one could change his decision.

“There are five elements. I’ve defeated two guardians. Where are the rest of the three?” Himmel Soan murmured.

Each element had its own guardian. The river was the wood guardian’s territory while the meadow was the wood guardian’s.

Those were the only two places he could see. The other three guardians should be somewhere else.

He wasn’t in any hurry. The two tests had exhausted him, and his spiritual essence was almost used up. He needed to recover his strength first.

“This place is amazing. I don’t know how these plants grow.” Firey enjoyed the brief moment of peace.

“Everything that grows needs sunlight, and so do they,” said Himmel Soan.

He then realized something and sat up.

“What’s wrong, Master?” Firey stood next to Himmel Soan.

“I know where the third guardian is!”

“Where?”

“There!” Himmel Soan pointed at the sky.

He was pointing at the sun over their heads.

It wasn’t the real sun but a ball of fire made by the creatures of ancient times. It operated as the sun to provide light and heat for the plants here.

“That’s right! The fire guardian must have something to do with fire, and that sun is the biggest source of fire!” Realization dawned on Firey.

That ball of fire was the most likely residence of the fire guardian.

“I need to recover my strength and move on to the next test!” He sat down and started absorbing spiritual essence.

The spiritual essence was very dense here. He soon recovered his strength.

Maybe it was because of the two trials he had passed, but he could feel the water and wood elements entering his system.