"Was Huras present? How many men were involved in the attack? What is the situation at the Rubelen office?" Yang Ying inquired.

"Huras was not present, according to Observer intelligence. He hasn't been sighted anywhere in Rubelen. The direct assault on the office was carried out by three Envoys of the Ape, one of whom has been positively identified as Number One, Ulysses."

"The office had approximately two hundred armored and infantry troops at the time. We sustained sixty-four fatalities and fifty-two severe injuries; the remainder who withdrew were mostly wounded as well. They are currently being treated. Furthermore, the entire office complex was reduced to ashes."

"However, one Envoy of the Ape was killed by the office forces, and another was gravely wounded. Only Ulysses escaped unharmed; he took the severely injured one and has now retreated."

Kalia reported Yang Ying's questions one by one.

"Damn it." Yang Ying slammed the table in anger. "If the Ape Worshipers can't find our secret bases, they resort to attacking our openly established positions, trying to provoke us!"

Clearly, given Huras’s stature, a minor location like the Rubelen office would usually hold no interest for him. He would only dispatch his Envoys of the Ape to attack such a place for a deeper, more strategic purpose.

However, the final result could be considered a draw; the office had not suffered a net loss. The forces the Trane Mercenary Group maintained at their various offices, while not overwhelmingly strong, were certainly not something ordinary Envoys of the Ape could easily dismantle.

Afterward, Yang Ying learned the details of the entire engagement from Kalia. The three-Envoy assault formation was indeed formidable, but they were spotted by patrolling Observers before they even reached Rubelen. Consequently, when they arrived at the office, the forces stationed there were already in full battle readiness.

The Trane Mercenary Group today was vastly different from the past. The infantry's weaponry and equipment had generally upgraded four to five generations, and the armored units were around the third generation. Setting aside other factors, the targeting systems alone were several times more precise than before, and their destructive power had multiplied several times over. Moreover, the addition of new troop types like Reapers and Marauders further diversified the attack, making it much harder to crack.

Not to mention, the office site itself was engineered as a combat fortification, bristling with heavily fortified cover, cunningly angled firing ports, automated traps, and various other high-tech defensive weaponry, forming an integrated, iron-wall defense system.

Although the three Envoys of the Ape ultimately broke through the defensive line, causing over a hundred casualties among the office garrison, one Envoy was instantly vaporized by a high-velocity gauss shell from a giant robot, shredded to pieces in mid-air. Another Envoy was heavily scorched by spatter from tank artillery fire, then struck several times by gauss rifles, ending up dismembered. According to reports from eyewitness soldiers, even if that one survived such injuries, his cultivation level would suffer a significant regression.

Ulysses’s reappearance, however, clearly indicated he remained under Huras’s control. Had Agon’s desperate efforts to save him back in Paradise City been in vain?

Throughout Kalia’s narration, Yang Ying maintained a grave expression, calculating how to counter Huras’s move.

"It seems Huras is determined to force me into action," Yang Ying frowned.

It was obvious Huras was using this method to draw him out. If he refused to appear, these targeted attacks on the various offices would not cease.

Today was merely the first attempt; the Ape Worshipers had not fully gauged the defensive strength within a single office. Three Envoys of the Ape could generally handle any three-hundred-strong force composed of ordinary personnel, but they were insufficient against three hundred Trane Mercenary Group soldiers. This disparity resulted in the costly stalemate. However, next time, Huras would certainly not send such an array; he would ensure complete superiority over any given office.

The Ape Worshipers remained in the shadows, and the main body of the Trane Mercenary Group was also hidden. The offices in cities like Gray Harbor, Rubelen, Hammer, and Neff were the only overt strength the Trane Mercenary Group displayed to the world.

This provided Huras with clear targets.

"Sir, should we recall the personnel from the major offices?" Catherina approached the table, proposing, "Keep only a skeleton crew for essential daily operations to avoid greater losses."

"That is an option," Yang Ying smiled faintly. "But how long must we maintain it? Must we hide like cowering turtles as long as Huras lives and our people remain exposed?"

"Sir, the enemy is hidden while we are visible. Consolidating our strength to avoid being picked off one by one is a perfectly rational choice right now," Kalia agreed. "Given the Trane Mercenary Group's current standing, other mercenary groups likely wouldn't dare overstep and encroach upon our territory."

"If we must wait until then," Catherina bit her lip, "I believe once you reach the Master realm, you will possess the strength to contend with Huras. With your twelve avatars, once you advance to Master, you can concentrate their power, reaching a psychic intensity exceeding one million. That would allow you to fight Huras with the strength of a peak Master."

"Wait until I reach the Master realm?" Yang Ying lowered his head, pacing back and forth twice.

Peak Master referred to a Master who had cultivated to their limit; it represented a range of power, not a fixed point. It was akin to a high-level Psion cultivating to the maximum to become a Quasi-Master. After reaching the limit as a Quasi-Master, they could still grow stronger, though the pace of improvement would slow until a qualitative leap to the Master realm, where the possibilities opened up immensely.

The same applied to Peak Masters: after cultivating to the zenith of the Master realm, their psychic intensity could continue to climb. Quasi-Masters started around fifty thousand, whereas a true Peak Master started from one million. As for the upper limit? Due to insufficient intelligence, Yang Ying had never confirmed it.

Therefore, even among Peak Masters, there were significant variations in power.

Yang Ying had previously analyzed Huras's data, finding his psychic intensity to be 1.88 million, Balomon at 1.56 million, Agon at 1.72 million, and Master Merlin at 1.93 million. Even when adding up all of his avatars, Yang Ying's own total was only around 1.1 million. It was clearly insufficient to directly challenge a veteran Peak Master like Huras.

However, as he contemplated confronting Huras, that streak of light suddenly flashed in Yang Ying’s mind again. The six avatars currently cultivating on the Floating Continent immediately entered deep meditation, beginning to comprehend that light.

Originally, Yang Ying expected this time to be like previous instances—a fleeting glimpse that would vanish before he could grasp anything concrete. But this time, it was different.

Yang Ying sensed something internally, akin to a profound spiritual revelation that left a deeply ingrained impression. Though lacking specific language, Yang Ying understood what that feeling represented.

"I need to fight Huras!" Yang Ying articulated this feeling.

After Yang Ying understood, the light quietly receded.

"Do you decide to adopt a defensive approach, waiting until you attain the Master realm before confronting Huras?" Kalia inquired.

Yang Ying shook his head: "Not after attaining the Master realm. Now."

"What!" Kalia and Catherina exclaimed simultaneously.

"Sir, this is not a trivial matter. Huras is a Peak Master, and you are currently only a Quasi-Master. The gap in levels is too vast; challenging Huras now is tantamount to suicide," Kalia offered his immediate opposition.

"Yes, wouldn't that play exactly into Huras's hands?" Catherina also urged caution. "Sir, do not let anger control your judgment!"

"This is not being controlled by anger. It is what that light instructed me to do. I was just wondering what I lacked that prevented me from grasping that light, and Catherina’s words reminded me, making me understand what was missing in the ethereal connection."

"What is missing?" Catherina and Kalia asked in unison.

"The need for external pressure. You must understand, most of my psychic energy is not cultivated by myself; it is supplied through tribute from the Zerg. As such, controlling it is not as seamless as it is for a native Psion. Psions cultivate all their power internally; they should find advancing to the Master realm easier than I."

"For someone in my situation, there are only two paths to becoming a Master. One: block the Zerg tribute and convert entirely to self-cultivation. In that case, I would likely regress to a low-level Psion—a monumental step backward. I do not wish for that path, so I choose the second: I need to face pressure exceeding the Master level, using external conditions to compensate for internal shortcomings."

Catherina voiced her worry: "But he is no ordinary opponent; he is Peak Master Huras. Can a Quasi-Master truly defeat a Peak Master?"

"The probability of winning is still only eighty percent," Yang Ying admitted soberly. "But defeat is not certain either."

"Have you forgotten that I possess this many avatars, and I have never deployed them simultaneously? Mobilizing all twelve avatars along with my main body has never been necessitated by an enemy until now. Coupled with the ability to transfer my soul instantly, and the hundreds of reserve bodies prepared on the Floating Continent—with all these advantages combined, I might not necessarily lose to a Peak Master."

"But Sir, doing this is undeniably risky," Kalia cautioned once more. "I beg you to reconsider. Acting purely on a feeling, this is..."

"I will consider it thoroughly. But that doesn't mean I will change my resolve," Yang Ying nodded. "Since that light first appeared, it has never given me such a powerful sensation. No, it isn't just a feeling; it's more like guidance, an instinctual direction, indescribable in words, yet I trust it has its reason. Perhaps this is what the biographies written by those venerable Master Psions referred to—the trial every Master undergoes before advancement, where the spirit reveals where fortune lies."

Yang Ying smiled faintly at them. "I am immortal; I have countless lives to attempt this. If I go this time and fail, I might regret it for a moment. If I don't go, I might regret it for a lifetime."