"Five thousand merit points for a basic hunting permit." Chase looked through the grate at the pavilion secretary.The man sat on a padded stool surrounded by neat stacks of requisition forms. He wore pristine green silk that contrasted sharply with the mud covering the outer disciples standing in line. The secretary sneered at the bruised billionaire and tapped a heavy ink pen against his wooden desk."That is the price for a new arrival, Lu Chen," the secretary stated with a dismissive wave of his hand. "The inner mountain is reserved for proven assets. You do not get to hunt spirit beasts just because you survived one day carrying water basins."Chase kept his hands relaxed at his sides to hide his growing frustration. He had spent the previous night sitting on a cold dirt floor calculating the brutal math of the sect economy. The numbers formed a perfect inescapable cage designed to crush ambition."Outer disciples earn ten points a day for manual labor," Chase presented the logic

The five silver masked executioners dropped from the high canopy without a single sound. They landed in a perfect tactical circle and immediately severed the only escape routes leading back up the mountain ridge. The men wore sleek dark combat uniforms devoid of any sect insignia. They carried slender curved blades that hummed with a sickly pale blue energy.Chase tightened his grip on the hilt of his obsidian sword. He pushed himself upright and ignored the fresh claw marks burning across his chest. He had just spent twenty minutes wrestling a Spirit Beast in the deep mud. His muscles screamed for rest and his lungs burned from filtering the ambient toxins.He activated his Medical God interface to quantify the new threat before they moved.The diagnostic text flooded his vision and painted a grim reality across his retinas. Four of the masked men possessed dense liquid spiritual auras operating around the eighth stage of condensation. They were elite killers dispatched for a specifi

The cold stone slab bit into his bare back. Chase stared at the dark ceiling of the cavern while the gray venom crawled up his throat. Every breath tasted like copper and wet earth.Lin knelt beside the stone block. She let her faded green tunic pool on the damp floor. Her skin appeared pale in the dim light of the glowing spiritual barrier."This process requires a complete physical merger," Lin said. Her voice did not shake. "My father guarded the Shogun Serpent method because it demands the absolute surrender of the royal bloodline. It merges two souls."She looked down at her bare hands."Dual cultivation means I will lose my virginity to a stranger," Lin stated the blunt reality of the cure. "I was raised to save myself for a political marriage that would secure the mountain borders. The elders taught me that my purity was the final piece of my royal dignity."She raised her dark eyes and met his golden gaze. The timidity of the water carrier was dead."But my uncle Yuan took my

Dr. Yan tapped the screen of his mobile phone to verify the recording light was active. He adjusted the lapels of his bespoke Italian suit and offered a wide arrogant smile to the camera lens."To the esteemed board of directors at the European Medical Institute," Yan began his broadcast. His voice dripped with condescending venom. "I am sure you recognize my face. You spent three years trying to ruin my reputation and bury my research."He turned the camera away from his face to showcase the sprawling cabin of the private jet. He made sure the lens captured the mahogany wood accents and the fully stocked crystal bar."You laughed when I shifted my focus toward experimental cellular stabilization," Yan spoke into the phone. "You sat in your cheap office chairs and called my methods reckless. You expelled me from my own clinic and revoked my medical license."Yan paused his monologue. He walked over to the bar and picked up a glass of expensive vintage wine left for him by the flight s

Headlights cut through the freezing rain as a silver sedan pulled up to the curb of the Elmwood Suites. Victoria stepped out from the dark awning and gripped the passenger door handle."Sarah," the driver asked through the open window."Yes," Victoria replied."Hop in back," the young man offered. "The weather is terrible tonight.""I prefer the front seat," Victoria said.She opened the door and slid into the cabin. The heater blasted warm air against her wet clothes. She looked at the driver. He wore a local sports jacket and a tired smile. A digital tablet rested on the dashboard displaying the routing software. He was a normal civilian working a late shift."We are heading to the private terminal on Miller Avenue," the driver confirmed the route. "You flying out of the city.""I am picking up a colleague," Victoria answered."Must be nice flying private," he noted. He put the car into gear. "No security lines to deal with."Victoria calculated the tactical geometry of the impendin