Chapter 179: Portal Whispers Kael walked through the snow layered streets with an unhurried pace, boots pressing into the frost while strangers glanced at him for a heartbeat before returning to their own concerns, as though a young man dressed for something between war and divine intervention was a perfectly ordinary sight. The lack of reaction unsettled him more than open hostility would have. His attire was not subtle. It was the kind of presence that should have drawn whispers, stares, or at least a raised brow. Instead, the city treated him like a background detail in its own painting. He decided not to question a blessing when it presented itself. If the world wished to ignore him, he would let it. He passed taverns heavy with laughter and the smell of strong alcohol, then storefronts that displayed ammunition with open pride. Bullets, magazines, mechanical parts polished to obsessive perfection. This city, Driftmoor,

Healing System C181: White Silence “Kael?” ‘…I’m here,’ Kael replied, his mind sluggish, his thoughts dragging themselves through mud as if waking up was an act of violence. His vision was smothered in darkness so thick it felt physical, like a blindfold made from tar and bad intentions, and what disturbed him even more was the sensation of cold crawling up his spine, sinking into his ribs, and spreading across his chest like an invisible frostbite curse. It made no sense. Kael was not supposed to feel cold, not like this, not when his body had been reinforced by mana, by healing algorithms, by layers of unnatural resilience that should have laughed at something as basic as temperature. Yet here he was, shivering like a rookie thrown into winter without a coat. He tried to move, scrambling instinctively, but the moment he attempted to shift his arm he felt resistance, endless resistance, as if the darkness itself had hands and those hands were holding him down with patient crue

Healing System C183: Dragon Gate Trials “Hu Rong… are you sure this is the place?” Kael asked, and for once his hesitation was not an act, because the building in front of him looked less like a guild entrance and more like the front gate of a noble family that casually collected rare artifacts as a hobby. The words Escort Guild were carved boldly above the entrance, so technically it matched what Hu Rong had promised, yet everything else about it screamed wealth, influence, and the kind of power that did not welcome random wanderers unless they came with either money or a death wish. The gate itself was thick oak, polished until it looked almost alive, and its surface was reinforced with metal bands engraved with strange patterns that faintly shimmered when Kael’s senses brushed against them. Coiled around the frame was a golden dragon carving, spiraling upward with such detail that its scales seemed ready to shift and crawl off the wood at any moment, and beside it were several l

Healing SystemC186: Brothel Contract“Hu Rong,” Kael asked with a soft, polite smile that looked saintly enough to fool strangers and idiots, which was convenient since he was currently surrounded by both categories, “do you have any money on you?”“Yes, Master Mujin!” Hu Rong answered instantly, sounding proud enough to make it seem like having money was a martial achievement rather than a basic life requirement. He hurriedly flipped his daoist robes inside out, exposing a hidden pocket stitched deep into the fabric, as if he had been trained to treat coins like secret weapons.He extended his hand with complete confidence, digging into the pocket as though he was about to pull out an entire treasury.Seconds passed.Nothing came out.His fingers searched again, slower this time, and his confidence began collapsing like wet paper.His face went pale, then red, then pale again, and finally he turned to Kael with a miserable expression that looked like someone had stolen his dignity a

Healing System C186: Brothel Contract “Hu Rong,” Kael asked with a soft, polite smile that looked saintly enough to fool strangers and idiots, which was convenient since he was currently surrounded by both categories, “do you have any money on you?” “Yes, Master Mujin!” Hu Rong answered instantly, sounding proud enough to make it seem like having money was a martial achievement rather than a basic life requirement. He hurriedly flipped his daoist robes inside out, exposing a hidden pocket stitched deep into the fabric, as if he had been trained to treat coins like secret weapons. He extended his hand with complete confidence, digging into the pocket as though he was about to pull out an entire treasury. Seconds passed. Nothing came out. His fingers searched again, slower this time, and his confidence began collapsing like wet paper. His face went pale, then red, th