It took about five hours, but after several detours and three life-or-death battles, Liam finally made his way to the location where he was feeling some sort of pull, a pull that tugged at his very soul, as if a hidden string were drawing him closer to something ancient and vital. Liam slowed down as he suddenly felt a new presence and an especially strong one at that. To make matters worse, the place he needed to go was right in front of him. A tall and ancient-looking pagoda with twenty floors. Liam cautiously inched towards the pagoda using every expertise he had on stealth skill, in which he had actually made quite a lot of progress after killing that assassin from another world and studying his soul. That too, he was so close to his destination. He decided to bite the bullet and take the risk. Of course, as fate would have it, the presence of the opponent only grew stronger the closer he got to the pagoda. Ten meters from the entrance, a ripple passed through the air, barely visible, like a mirage. Liam froze. Something massive shifted on the roof of the pagoda. A tail? No… a tendril. No wings. It was hard to say. The entity was veiled in some sort of illusion. This guardian, or whatever it was, hadn't attacked. Not yet. But Liam knew. One wrong move, one breath too loud, and he'd be fighting something far beyond his current tier. He exhaled slowly, sweat beading along his spine. The pagoda was now just a few feet away from him, but there was a sort of forcefield in the area that made him hesitate. It was almost as if… taking one more step would mean death. Liam let out a sigh. He had no heart to go back empty-handed, especially when what he wanted was right here. At the same time, he did not want to take the risk, knowing that your opponent outclassed you so much. Walking ahead now would only be a suicide. He stood at the spot, not wanting to go either forward or backward, gritting his teeth in frustration. Not wanting to give up after coming so far, he finally decided on a path and made sure that his backup escape minion was in position. Teleporting out of danger was not the issue, but sometimes, when facing someone stronger, even that split second might not be there. He might end up dead before he could even think of teleporting. However, that woman, Nyx, did say that he could not teleport here. His skill worked differently, and the opponent might not be aware of it. He could use this to his advantage. This was barely enough reasoning, but he made up his mind and decided to go along with it. Liam sucked in a deep breath and took a step forward. Almost instantly, a strong and powerful aura washed over him. A being dropped down from the top of the pagoda and landed in front of him. It had a scaly body, and its eyes were cruel, vicious, and slit-like. It grinned at Liam with a mocking expression and raised its claws. Everything happened too fast, and Liam barely had time to react. However, the next moment, something even more unexpected happened. The gates of the pagoda that were closed up until now suddenly started opening. Liam looked at the pagoda in shock. To his surprise, the creature in front of him seemed equally shocked. Everything that happened after that was a complete blur as Liam reacted instinctively. The creature, all of a sudden, lost any and all interest in Liam and its gaze became completely fixated on the pagoda. It ignored him altogether and shot forward towards the open doors at top speed. Liam was tempted to run in the other direction, but his gut feeling told him to enter the place. It was calling for him, and for some reason, he knew that the gates had opened for him and not the creature. Throwing all caution to the wind, he too shot forward towards the open gates. But his speed couldn't match the creature's. He only reached it after that scaly creature. However, while he was able to smoothly enter the pagoda, the scaly creature was unceremoniously thrown out right in front of his eyes. In fact, Liam could see the being thrown out just as he stepped in. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 The scaly creature growled and roared in rage and defiance as it swung its claws, releasing a powerful fiery slash that ripped the very space in front of it. Liam's eyes widened at the power contained in the attack. The attack was steeped in the Dao of fire. But before the attack could even touch Liam, an invisible barrier sprang up, right after which, the pagoda doors once again tightly closed shut right on the face of the scaly creature. Liam staggered back and fell from the sheer impact. He panted and finally took in everything that had happened in the last second. His heart was beating out of his chest. He had only barely escaped with his life, coming so close to being eaten alive by that damn thing. "Was that a draconic creature?" Liam leaned back on his palms, eyes still fixed on the tightly shut doors of the pagoda. Outside, the enraged roars of the scaly beast echoed faintly, muffled by the thick walls of this otherworldly structure. The crushing pressure that had stalked him outside was now gone, as if the pagoda itself had accepted him. He swallowed, still stunned. The beast had been tossed out like garbage while he was accepted. Now he had no doubt that he had indeed come to the right place. Just where the hell was he? He could only hope that this time around, he would be able to get more information than the bare minimum scrap he had obtained last time. He expectantly looked around, but there was nothing on the ground floor. Liam stood up and dusted his back. It was fine. There were still many floors, and there was bound to be something or the other on one of these floors.