The battlefield was a mess. Dust, shattered stone, flashing blades—everything collided at once in a storm of violence and noise. At its center stood Kaelen Viremont, eyes sharp and focused, calm in a way that felt almost unnatural. He wasn’t just watching the chaos. He was controlling it.Around him, the core disciples of the Shadowfang Sect moved like living shadows. Fast. Clean. Fearless. Every strike landed where it mattered.“We have people backing us as well,” Kaelen said, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade. Steady. Absolute.The moment the words reached them, the disciples straightened. Something hardened inside their chests. They all understood—this mission wasn’t ordinary. Not even close.When Kaelen set out, Senior Dragon accompanied him.That alone changed everything.A figure spoken of in whispers. A presence that felt less like a cultivator and more like a living legend. Knowing he was nearby gave them the courage they didn’t even realize they’d been lacking.

“An Innate Dao Embryo?”Kaelen Viremont paused, a faint crease forming between his brows. Just for a split second, doubt flickered through his eyes.At first glance, the thing didn’t look all that special. A humanoid stone embryo is lodged deep inside the mountain. Rough surface. Awkward proportions. It almost felt… unfinished. Like something nature had casually tossed aside and forgotten.But the moment Kaelen actually focused on it, everything changed.A quiet pressure rolled over him. Not loud. Not aggressive. Just heavy. The kind that settled into your bones and refused to leave.Before he could think too deeply about it, a surge of emotion slammed into his mind.Excitement. Shock. Disbelief.All at once.Kaelen stiffened.That reaction didn’t come from him.It came from Talan—the old demonic dragon.Kaelen’s pupils shrank.In all the time he’d known that ancient monster, this was a first. Talan had lived through eras Kaelen could barely imagine. Empires had risen and burned to as

Even after witnessing Kaelen Viremont’s impossible breakthroughs, the disciples slowly began to normalize what they’d just seen. Shock still lingered in their eyes, sure, but memories of Kaelen’s countless feats before made something settle in their minds: maybe this was just who he was. Maybe extraordinary was Kaelen’s baseline.He had ascended to the Seventh-Step Martial Venerable realm. Every fiber of his being thrummed with it. Energy coursed through him in ways beyond calculation. The pressure of raw power wasn’t outside him anymore—it was him. Each heartbeat carried the weight of mountains. Every breath felt like storms roaring inside his chest.Boom!Kaelen thrust his fist toward the horizon. Golden winds erupted from it like molten sunlight, twisting into a colossal tornado that tore through distant peaks. Massive stones flew. Crags shattered. The earth groaned under the sheer force.Rumble! Rumble!Mountains crumbled. Dust choked the sky. The disciples staggered back, shieldi

The chill hit immediately. Sharp. Absolute. Kaelen Viremont breathed, and it felt like shards of ice cutting through his lungs. Even the Flame Woman—brave beyond measure, who had faced horrors that would make most tremble—shivered. The air wasn’t just cold. It was alive. Ancient. Heavy with power that even time itself hadn’t dared erase. Frost clung to every surface, glinting faintly where the light managed to seep through cracks in the stone ceiling, turning the cavern into some frozen cathedral of dread and beauty.Kaelen didn’t care. Not one bit. Fear? Hesitation? Gone. Only focus. Only purpose.Three thousand years of curses, of ruined families, of nations torn apart by his frail, doomed body—those memories burned in him. His imperial father, trapped in a fate no mortal should endure. Even now, the Tongtian Divine Dynasty probably still pulled the strings, invisible, relentless. And Kaelen had vowed—no sacrifice, no effort, no shred of power would be spared—to become stronger than

Buzz!Crimson light exploded, rippling outward like fire licking the sky, wrapping the Flame Woman from head to toe. She floated, weightless, as if the light itself held her up.Her eyes were closed, calm but fierce, drinking in the power of the Nine-Headed Phoenix Bird trapped in the icy sculpture before her. Energy poured into her, molten and wild, making the air shimmer like heat above a forge.“Not bad… not bad at all,” Kaelen Viremont muttered, narrowing his eyes. A spark of excitement flickered through him. “It’s been years since I’ve seen an opportunity like this.”A roar cut into his thoughts. Not loud, not outside, but inside—burning through his mind.“Sigh already? Hah! That pitiful Phoenix Bird is nothing. You’re staring at dozens of ancient, ice-bound beasts and hesitating?”Talan—the ancient demonic dragon—seethed in Kaelen’s consciousness. Its presence was immense, a shadow pressing at the edges of his mind, yet intimate, shared.Kaelen smirked. “Then tell me, Talan… whe