The stench was the first thing that hit him.It wasn't the clean, medicinal aroma of the Nine Heavens Alchemy Palace or the sweet scent of Spirit Peaches from the celestial gardens. No. This was the rank, suffocating smell of damp concrete, stale urine, and dried blood.Han Chen’s eyelids felt like they were lead-plated. Every breath was a jagged blade scraping against his throat. But the real agony? That came from below. His legs didn't just hurt; they screamed with a white-hot, agonizing pulse that suggested the nerves had been shredded and left to rot.I’m… alive?The last thing he remembered was the sky turning black—not from clouds, but from the combined spiritual pressure of the Seven Celestial Emperors. His own disciple, the one he had hand-fed Divine Pills for centuries, had driven a poisoned dagger into his back just as his Alchemy Cauldron reached the point of transcendence.The explosion should have erased his soul from existence.Slowly, painfully, he forced his eyes open.

The emergency sirens were a jagged, rhythmic scream that tore through the red-lit corridors of the hospital. Every boom from the lower levels sent dust raining down from the ceiling tiles. Arkas City was used to tremors, but this wasn't nature. This was something heavy, something mindless, and something very, very hungry.Valerie stood by the ICU window, her knuckles white as she gripped the frame. "The main gates are gone," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the chaos. "They didn't use explosives. They just... walked through the reinforced steel. My men are being slaughtered out there.""Then stop looking and start moving," Han Chen snapped.He was slumped in a swivel chair, his breath coming in short, ragged hitches. Every nerve in his legs was misfiring, sending jolts of electricity through his spine that made his teeth ache. He didn't have time for a soldier's grief."The lab, Valerie. Now. Or you can stay here and watch those things turn your General into a buffet."Val

"We’re going to do what? You want to drive a military transport through the front gates of the Richard Estate in broad daylight?"Valerie’s voice was borderline hysterical. She was standing in the hospital’s underground garage, watching Tigor effortlessly toss a massive crate of medical supplies into the back of an armored personnel carrier (APC). The ten men of the Eternal Guard stood around the vehicle like statues carved from shadow, their presence making the reinforced concrete of the garage feel cramped.Han Chen leaned against the side of the APC, casually checking the edge of a combat knife he had "borrowed" from the armory. "Not broad daylight, Valerie. The sun hasn't come up yet. Besides, Richard was kind enough to invite me via video call. It would be rude not to show up.""It’s a fortress!" Valerie insisted, stepping into his line of sight. "He has automated turrets, a private security force of over a hundred men, and God knows what other biological nightmares he’s cooked u

The basement of Sector 7 didn't look like a laboratory anymore. It looked like a forge from a nightmare.Han Chen had stripped off the Italian silk tuxedo, tossing the ruined rags into a corner. He stood shirtless in the center of the room, his skin glistening with sweat that evaporated the moment it touched the air. Around him, three industrial-grade heaters were pushed to their limits, but the real heat wasn't coming from the machines. It was radiating from the bronze vat in front of him—a repurposed coolant tank he’d etched with jagged, glowing runes."How much longer?" Valerie asked. She was standing near the reinforced door, her hand white-knuckled on her sidearm. The ventilation system was struggling to suck out the thick, herbal steam that smelled like ozone and old earth."The Dragon Grass is stubborn," Han Chen grunted, his eyes fixed on the simmering liquid. "It’s been growing in a world of trash. It doesn't want to let go of its impurities. If I rush this, the pill will cra

The morning after the rooftop massacre didn’t bring the usual city bustle. Instead, Arkas City felt like a man holding his breath, waiting for a heart attack.Han Chen sat on the edge of his bed in the Grand Imperial, his eyes closed. He wasn't sleeping; he was watching. His consciousness, now bolstered by the Foundation-Forging core, had expanded into a thousand invisible threads, snaking through the hotel’s ventilation, down the elevator shafts, and out into the streets.He could feel the nervous sweat of the snipers stationed on the rooftops two blocks away. He could hear the frantic tapping of keyboards in the police precinct as they tried to erase the drone footage of a man tearing through steel with his bare hands."They've declared a Level 5 Lockdown," Valerie said, walking into the room. She looked exhausted. Her uniform was wrinkled, and there were dark circles under her eyes. "The Council didn't brand you a terrorist. They did something worse. They issued a 'Bio-Hazard' aler