Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!Flashes of fire erupted from the muzzle of the terrorist’s assault rifle. Hot shell casings ejected into the air, dancing in slow motion in Artur’s eyes. Five deadly projectiles hurtled straight toward his heart, tearing through the air with a sharp whistle. To normal eyes, death was certain within a fraction of a second.But Artur was no longer a normal human.Time didn't just slow down; time now bent to his will. In his mind, an instinctual command—not from the system, but from the dormant consciousness of the War Emperor—took over.His body responded before he even had time to think. He didn't dodge sideways or jump. Instead, he leaned his body forward at an impossible angle, his feet seemingly glued to the asphalt while his upper body swayed like a dancer avoiding a spotlight. His movement was so fluid and unnatural that it looked like a cheap visual effect.The first bullet merely grazed the air besid

The silence that enveloped the hotel room felt thick and heavy, filled with the remnants of swirling energy. Ayu lay in Artur’s embrace, her breathing slowly returning to normal. She could feel a strange warmth spreading through her plastered leg, a soothing, tingling sensation as if thousands of tiny ants were diligently working to repair every cell of her fractured bone. “Artur…” she whispered, her voice hoarse from exhaustion and pleasure. “My leg… the pain is gone.” Artur looked down, gazing at the tough officer’s face, which now seemed softer and more fragile. He could feel it—Ayu’s disciplined energy now flowed within him, not as a wild surge like Amel’s or Diana’s, but as a focused, regulated stream. That energy acted as a catalyst, organizing and harmonizing the two other Yin energies already present inside him. Suddenly, a clear, majestic

Ayu could only stare, words caught in her throat. The man before her still looked like Artur, but the aura surrounding him was completely different. If before he was like a warm yet potentially searing bonfire, now he was like the calm core of the sun—radiating silent yet absolute power. The layer of black grime sloughing off his skin was silent proof of the brutal metamorphosis he had just undergone.“Dragon’s Fury?” Artur murmured, reading the notification on the System Screen. The name sounded powerful and ancient. “System, explain.”[Dragon’s Fury (Level 1): Basic spiritual energy release technique. Converts the Yang energy within your body into an offensive shockwave. Effect: Destroys low-level non-spiritual targets. Stamina Consumption: Moderate.]Artur clenched his fist. He could feel the new energy swirling in his core, restless, waiting to be unleashed. He needed to test it. Right now.“Ayu, stay he

The first step felt like plunging into a sea of mercury. The silver portal swallowed Artur and Ayu silently, but the sensation they felt was the opposite. Their ears rang with unheard cosmic frequencies, and their bodies felt squeezed by invisible forces from all directions. Their vision fractured into a kaleidoscope of insane colors—nebula purple, emerald green, and blood red—spinning so fast it induced nausea. There was no up, no down, only the sensation of being simultaneously pulled and pushed through a narrow tunnel of reality. *“Swallow this,”* Alice’s voice briefly echoed in their minds just before they jumped. Two small, silver jelly beads appeared in their palms. They tasted strange, like cold mint mixed with static electricity, but as soon as they dissolved on their tongues, Artur and Ayu instantly understood the crackling energy around them as a universal language. “Hold you

The silence in the bamboo grove was instantly shattered, not by a shout of victory, but by a long groan filled with pain and terror. The second man—the metal claw user whose wrist Artur had crushed earlier—was still alive. He had witnessed with his own eyes how his leader, the proud disciple of the Black Crow Sect, had died instantly with five gaping holes in his chest. The smell of burnt flesh mixed with pungent ozone made him nauseous. Primal fear crawled up his spine, paralyzing his cultivator logic. “M-monster…” he hissed, his voice shaking violently. He scrambled backward, his feet kicking frantically at the damp ground. The pain in his crushed hand was forgotten; his survival instinct screamed one word: run. Disregarding pride or revenge, he turned and forced his trembling legs to sprint as fast as possible through the dense bamboo, abandoning his foolishly dead comrade.