​[One Hour Later. Open Plains.]

​"Qin Li!!"

​Qin Li, Sunny, and Josephine stopped their mounts abruptly. A small army was rushing toward them on powerful, high-grade mounts. Leading the group was a striking woman who bore a strong resemblance to Qin Li.

​"Hold." The woman halted her brilliant orange-furred tiger right in front of the travelers, her gaze sweeping over Sunny and Josephine, clearly assessing the two unknown figures behind her brother.

​"That's my elder sister, Qin Wei," Qin Li whispered quickly to Sunny. "She's at the early stage of the Fourth Order—significantly stronger than me. I'll handle the introduction."

​"Did you get it?" Qin Wei asked, her voice sharp and indifferent, focused entirely on the outcome of the raid.

​Qin Li quickly brought the sheathed Moon Blade from his storage and handed it to her. "Yes, Sister! Thanks to these two kind people, we secured it." He offered a proud smile.

​Qin Wei took the sword, inspected the High-Rune fusion for a few seconds, and gave a curt nod. "Good."

​She turned her attention back to her current crisis. "I came all the way here because I got news of a Volatile Red Dungeon opening nearby. It's been active for 23 hours now."

​"Twenty-three hours?! Doesn't that mean the monsters are almost out?!" Qin Li asked in genuine shock, knowing the destructive implications of a Volatile Realm expiring.

​"Yes. We have less than an hour remaining. We are close to the dungeon now." She gestured to the south, where a menacing, pulsing column of deep red light was visible on the horizon.

​"Yes, Young Master. Thanks to getting the Moon Blade, we have a fighting chance at survival," said a muscular man mounted on a huge bear behind Qin Wei.

​"That is Robert, the leader of the mercenary guild our Qin Family acquired," Qin Li quickly whispered to Sunny.

​"Oh! Sister, these two are Mr. Alex and his wife, Mrs. Isabella. They were instrumental in the Secret Realm raid."

​Qin Wei turned to Sunny and Josephine, her expression flat and challenging. "Qin Li says you helped him. What do you say? Will you assist us with this dungeon? The rewards will be proportionate to your help."

​"We appreciate the offer, but we have some pressing personal matters to attend to," Sunny replied, offering a small, polite smile, his gaze sweeping over the fifty men and women behind Qin Wei—clearly professional guild members. "Besides, your forces seem strong enough to take care of it."

​"Suit yourselves," Qin Wei said, her tone dismissive, confirming her lack of enthusiasm for their presence. She turned her orange tiger and galloped hard toward the red pillar of light, her entire force following.

​"Don't mind my sister," Qin Li said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "She's not always the most social."

​He mounted his white tiger. "She asked me to follow, so I won't be able to accompany you further. You already have the map; it won't be difficult to locate the city." He tapped his tiger, and it shot forward, chasing after his sister.

​"Love... I thought we needed a good relationship with them?" Josephine muttered, turning to Sunny, a subtle hint of disapproval in her voice. "And it's clear Qin Li is intimidated by his sister. If we can get on her good side, we'd instantly have powerful allies."

​"True, a Fourth Order powerhouse is a significant ally," Sunny conceded, his gaze fixed on the disappearing group.

"And she asked for help, which means the monsters they're facing will be difficult—difficult enough for even her power level to be concerned."

​"So? You took down the Golem three times with just a snap of your fingers," Josephine reminded him, her faith absolute.

​"Ah, my beautiful wife," Sunny said gently, dismounting from his Earth Lion and helping her down.

"I could only do that because that Golem was a monster made entirely of earth. My control over the Earth Element allowed me to destabilize its existence with a thought."

​He looked around the desolate field, confirming their solitude. "If we meet a non-elemental monster, or worse, one with a superior element, it will be difficult with our current strength. This place is safe for us to start."

​His eyes gleamed with renewed intensity. "She said the monsters will burst out in an hour. Before that hour, we both need to at least enter the First Order—or perhaps even the Second Order."

​"Can we do it that fast?" Josephine asked, her worry now mixed with profound excitement. The rules of this world felt rigid, but Sunny often ignored rules.

​"You already have the core of a Divine Rank cultivator, and an abundance of spiritual energy," Sunny said, snapping his fingers.

​Instantly, the Earth Lions dissolved, and an immense, shimmering hill materialized before them, composed of thousands of Spirit Stones and Celestial Energy Stones.

​"Here. Start with the Celestial Energy Stones to reinforce your foundation," he instructed. "Once you break through to the God Rank, immediately switch to the Spirit Stones and accelerate into the First Order."

​"Okay... But what if that painful, soul-wrenching backlash happens again, like when I hit Divine Rank before?" Josephine asked, recalling the agony of her final breakthrough.

​Sunny smiled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Then I will calm you down with my body, my love." He sealed the promise with a gentle kiss on her forehead.

​"Start. I will be close by, ensuring no one disturbs you." He then took a single step, instantly appearing one hundred miles away on a distant rise, forming a perfect shield of surveillance.

​'Did he just call that 'close by'?' Josephine thought with a fond eye roll. She sat cross-legged in front of the shimmering mountains of resources and began the aggressive absorption process.

​Sunny sat down in his distant vantage point, closing his eyes, his consciousness retreating inward.

​"System," he commanded, his voice utterly devoid of humor or distraction. "Time to utilize all my billions of stored EXP. Do not slow down the process for a second. Maximum speed. Break all known thresholds."

​{Ok, Master. Starting process. Preparing to initiate rapid rank ascension...}

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