Nexus Ascension: My Comprehension Defies the Heaven Chapter 688: We spent a long time drawing it away from its pack

The city spread across the plane and rose into the sky, with tall stone towers standing beside smooth metal buildings. Floating islands held entire districts above the streets below.

Wide platforms linked the towers, while streams of flying ships moved along marked routes between them. Some vessels had open decks and tall sails, but others looked like machines built entirely from dark metal.

A thin opening appeared above one of the outer platforms.

Grey watched a silver ship emerge from it and join the nearby traffic. The space behind it closed before another vessel arrived through a separate opening farther away.

“Is that the Higher Realm’s version of a Reality Ship?”

He had expected grand sects and powerful ancient-looking evolvers, but this city looked far more developed than he had imagined. Even its traffic seemed to have been arranged around regular spatial travel.

Then again, why would anyone here abandon technology?

The Mecha Race existed throughout the Endless Reality, and the Dao of Machinery was one of the Grand Daos. With the resources of the Higher Realm, there was no reason machines and evolution would not develop together.

Eterna would probably have found plenty to study here.

Grey’s smile faded a little at the thought, and he turned his attention toward the routes leading into the city. Finding a place with people was useful, but he still needed a way to locate everyone.

A tremor passed through the ledge before he could leave.

He spread his consciousness down the slope and found four young evolvers fighting a golden beast among the trees. Both the beast and the group were around the 11th Rank.

The creature had six legs and a long tail with a sharp hook at its end. Gold plates covered most of its body, leaving only narrow gaps around its joints.

A young man with a broad shield stood in front of it while another circled with a spear. The third held a sword and waited near its side, trying to find an opening.

The last member of the group was a beautiful young woman with pink hair that faded into green. She held two pale pink blades and moved toward the beast whenever its attention shifted away from her.

“Keep its head turned so we can reach the front legs!”

The shield bearer struck his shield to draw its attention, and the beast rushed toward him. Before the spearman could take advantage of the opening, it planted its rear legs and swung its body sideways.

Its hooked tail struck the shaft of his spear and drove the weapon into his chest.

The young man flew backward, forcing the swordsman to step in before the beast could chase him. His blade struck a golden claw and slid away as the creature shoved him aside.

The girl used that moment to reach its front leg.

Both blades cut into the gap above its claw, making energy leak out of it before she pulled away. The beast snarled and slammed its other legs into the ground.

A heavy pulse spread through the soil beneath her.

Her foot sank before she could jump clear, and the beast turned toward her while she struggled to pull it free. The shield bearer rushed to help, but its tail swept across his path and forced him back.

Grey left the ledge as the girl raised her blades.

The beast’s claws descended toward her, then stopped when Grey caught its leg above the joint. She stared at the hand blocking the attack before looking up at him.

The creature twisted and tried to bite him.

Grey pulled it away from her and slammed it onto its side, tearing a trench through the clearing. A thin line of Axiom Power passed beneath its jaw before it could rise.

Luminous cubes flashed through the wound, and the power gathering inside the beast scattered. Its legs stiffened once before falling still against the grass.

Grey released it and turned toward the group.

“Hello.”

The shield bearer had stopped several steps away and still held his shield in front of him. Near the trees, the spearman forgot to stand after pushing himself onto one knee.

The girl looked from Grey to the dead beast, then lowered her blades.

“Mister, that beast was supposed to be our training target. Why did you kill it?”

Grey blinked at her.

First of all…. Mister?

The heck?!

He was eighteen, and every person here looked older than him. How had he become Mister before they had even exchanged names?!

“We spent a long time drawing it away from its pack.” The swordsman complained.

“We had it surrounded.” The spearman added.

Grey looked at the energy leakage on the man’s chest, then at the shield bearer standing well outside the trench. If getting thrown around counted as surrounding something, they had done an excellent job.

He had saved their companion from a nasty injury, yet they seemed more worried about losing the beast.

People in the Higher Realm might have been even more annoying than those below.

The girl pulled her foot out of the broken ground and glanced at the claw marks beside her. After looking at them for a moment, she put away her blades and faced him again.

“If you hadn’t saved me, I would’ve definitely gotten injured. Thank you.”

Grey’s expression eased as he gave her a small nod.

At least she had realized that much.

“Where did you come from?” She asked.

Grey considered mentioning the Myriad Realms Sect, then rejected the idea before saying anything. Elder Tharos had already spoken about the fighting between the sects here.

For all Grey knew, these people could have belonged to one of its enemies.

He had no desire to announce himself and have a 14th Rank expert arrive to ask questions. First he needed to learn where he was and which names were safe to mention.

“Did you come down from the mountain?”

“I took a rather long route through it.”