Ghost Wailing Ridge.A place swallowed whole by shadow.Black mist drifted everywhere, thick enough to blot out even the closest shapes. It swallowed the horizon, the ground, everything. Kael Draven stumbled through it with nothing left in the tank. After falling into Robert Anderson’s trap and taking that vicious hit straight to his soul, he couldn’t even stay standing. His legs just gave out, and he collapsed onto the damp, icy ground.Eldric appeared beside him without making a sound, expression calm as ever—like someone carved his face out of stone.“Little one,” he said, almost too calmly, “go on and devour the Dark Energy. As much as you want. This is the perfect opportunity. I’ll help you break through to the peak of the Human King Realm.”A small shadow flickered nearby. Nyxar popped out, shivered once, and immediately started gulping down the Dark Energy like a starving beast. As a Nine Nether Earth Tiger, this kind of energy was basically his favorite snack.Eldric didn’t pa

Every ten years, the entire Eryndor Continent seems to hold its breath.From Celestia all the way to distant Grimward, whispers begin to spread—because the Wind and Cloud Battle is coming.It’s a simple event on the surface: each of the nine provinces takes its top one hundred young powerhouses—those listed on their respective Wind and Cloud Ranking—and sends them to clash on the grandest stage imaginable. A thousand prodigies. One arena. Endless ambition.Only the top ten walk away with both glory and rewards that could change a person’s fate forever. To reach those heights is to carve your name into the bones of history.Oddly enough, though Celestia is considered “the foremost province” in name, it always ends up last in the Wind and Cloud Battle. Always. And because of that humiliation, the Six Great Sects treat every upcoming battle like it’s a matter of life and death.Zeric Jasper and Jack Holden understood that better than anyone. They exchanged a long, heavy look—the kind tha

Borrowing someone else’s knife to do the killing.Allen Draven knew himself well enough. With the strength he had now, killing Kael Draven with his own hands was basically a joke. A nice dream, maybe. Reality? Not a chance.Morgan, the Nine Nether Earth Spider, wasn’t stupid either. He saw through Allen Draven’s little scheme instantly. The man wanted to use him as a weapon.Morgan didn’t care.Because he wanted Kael Draven dead, too.“Emberfall Town.”He said the name calmly, almost lazily. With his strength, taking control of a place like that would be effortless. Too effortless, really.“Allen Draven?”Kael Draven stiffened the moment the two figures appeared. His mind went blank for half a breath as he stared at the familiar face in front of him.That couldn’t be right.Allen Draven was supposed to be dead.So how was he standing here, alive, just outside Emberfall Town?“You still recognize me?” Allen Draven asked, lips curling into a strange smile.“You can change your face,” Ka

The Nine Nether Earth Spider was never afraid of Kael Draven.What truly made its skin crawl was the Nine Nether Earth Tiger.They came from the same clan, yes—but rank was rank. That gap wasn’t something effort or bravado could bridge. The moment their auras collided, the Spider was crushed flat, its presence suppressed so thoroughly that fighting back became pointless. Under that kind of pressure, calling it a “battle” would’ve been a joke.Still, when Kael Draven left, the Spider saw opportunity.A rare one.In its mind, the plan was clean and simple. Take over the Draven Family in Emberfall Town. Once that was done, Kael Draven would have no choice. He’d come crawling back, tail between his legs, begging like a beaten dog.The Spider was confident—overconfident, even. With its current strength, it believed it could roll straight through Emberfall Town without slowing down. The Draven Family included.No exceptions.Emberfall Town.The Draven Family estate.A terrifying aura swept

Inside the spirit vein.Following the faint trail of aura Eldric left behind, Kael Draven kept moving forward, not really paying attention to how far he’d gone.It wasn’t until he slowed down that he noticed the surroundings.The tunnels were smooth. Too smooth. Not carved by tools, not shaped by hands—this was the kind of passage the world itself formed when left alone for long enough. Kael Draven glanced along the stone walls, and a quiet sense of awe crept up on him.So this really was a spirit vein.The spiritual energy here was overwhelming. Dense to the point it almost pressed against his skin. Easily ten times richer than what existed outside.And that difference wasn’t just something you talked about in theory.Take two cultivators. Same talent. Same realm.Let one train outside and the other stay here.The one inside would advance ten times faster.Not a little faster. Ten times.And that gap would only keep growing.After walking for what felt like ages, Kael Draven stepped