The sun stood high above the Nolan clan’s training grounds, flooding the wide stone arena with harsh golden light. Heat shimmered above the slabs, bending the air in slow, wavering ripples. Dust drifted lazily in the breeze, carrying the dry scent of earth mixed with the faint metallic tang of released spirit power.Energy pressed in from every direction.Nolan stopped at the edge of the field and simply watched.Dozens of spirit masters trained in organized formations. Blue streams of water twisted through the air like living serpents. Crimson fire burst outward in violent flares, folding in and exploding again. The ground trembled in steady yellow pulses. Sharp blades of wind cut through space in spinning arcs. Threads of violet lightning snapped with a sound like splitting stone.Five elements.Five paths toward power.And somehow, standing there, Nolan felt as though he were still trailing far behind.For several days he had locked himself away in cultivation. No noise. No distrac

Nolan did not realize how exhausted he truly was until he was halfway down the stone path leading away from the training grounds.At first, he walked as he always did. Back straight. Shoulders squared. Expression calm. Anyone watching would have assumed he had finished another ordinary session.Then the world tilted.His vision blurred at the edges. The ground seemed farther away than it should have been. His knees trembled so violently that for a heartbeat he honestly believed he might collapse face first onto the cold stone.He forced himself to keep moving.Every muscle in his body ached. Not the simple soreness of a hard workout, but something deeper. It felt as though a blacksmith had laid him across an anvil and struck him repeatedly with a hammer. His arms felt hollow. His shoulders burned. His palms were raw, skin split open in thin crimson lines.He had cast Flower Burst again and again against the red-blood timber until his spiritual energy ran dry. In the moment, fueled by

“Nolan King! If you’re a man, nod your head!”The shout cut across the training grounds and lingered in the warm afternoon air.Several young members of the clan had gathered beneath the wide canopy of an old spirit oak. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, laying strips of gold across the packed earth. At the center of the circle stood a broad-shouldered youth with dark, sunburned skin and a thick neck that strained against the collar of his training robe. He crooked a finger toward Nolan and grinned as if the outcome had already been decided.He was enjoying the attention. Anyone could see that.Off to one side stood a crimson spirit pillar planted deep into the ground. Faint patterns glowed across its polished surface, pulsing gently like a sleeping heart. It was a common strength-testing tool in the clan, used to measure power and technique. Nothing rare, but useful enough to draw a crowd when someone decided to show off.Nolan stood opposite the youth, hands resting loosely at h

The moment Nolan King finished speaking, a faint reaction crossed Nie Xiuzhu’s face. His brows tightened, just slightly, but it was enough to show the words had landed.For a heartbeat, the forest felt unnaturally still. No birds called. No branches creaked. Even the leaves seemed reluctant to move.Then the air shifted.It was subtle. A ripple. The kind of movement you might miss if you blinked.And Nie Xiuzhu disappeared.Not stepped away.Not blurred.Gone.Nolan did not hesitate. His body reacted before thought could catch up. His arm snapped backward in a sharp arc, slicing through empty air. He already knew it would not connect. Nie Xiuzhu was too fast for that. But sometimes a strike is not meant to hit. Sometimes it is meant to buy a breath.And in a fight like this, a single breath can decide everything.Inside Nolan, power stirred.The three core energy centers within him flared open quietly. Not violently, not recklessly. Beneath muscle and bone, hidden channels awakened. S

Nolan King simply stood there.For a long heartbeat, maybe two, he could not think of a single thing to say. His mind was blank. Completely blank.Then, slowly, he looked down at his own arms.He turned them slightly under the light, studying them as though they belonged to someone else. Lean muscle. Hard-earned strength. Months of brutal training had carved them into something solid and defined.He flexed once, just to be sure.Carrots?Across from him, the girl burst into laughter. Not the restrained kind people use to be polite. This was loud, bright, and entirely unfiltered. She nearly bent in half from it, clutching her stomach as if the joke had physically struck her.There was no cruelty in her laughter. No insult. She genuinely found it funny.And honestly, Nolan found it difficult to be offended. When someone laughed like that, clear and unguarded, it was hard to take it personally.When she finally caught her breath, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, Nolan tilted his