Chase and Lin stood alone at the table. They looked at the five markers surrounding the central peak."You built an empire in three days," Chase noted quietly. He pushed himself away from the table. The withdrawal pain flared violently in his spine. He grit his teeth and forced his breathing to remain steady."We built an army," Lin corrected him. She looked up at his pale face. "You secured Sima. You forced the neutral elders to respect our strength. I could not have shattered the old laws without your kinetic leverage."Lin walked around the table and stopped in front of him."But you are failing Lu Chen," Lin stated the undeniable medical reality. "The drug is stripping your vitality. Your hands are shaking. If you try to lead the charge across the stone bridge tomorrow morning your heart will stop before you reach the central gates.""I have the energy locked in my system," Chase argued. He clenched his trembling fists to hide the weakness. "The Medical God interface assimilated d

The heavy wooden doors of the central throne room slammed open. A scout wearing the white armor of the summit guard sprinted across the polished marble floor. He collapsed to one knee at the base of the elevated stone dais and held up a torn piece of parchment. Sect Master Yuan looked down at the terrified soldier. The ruler of the mountain sect expected a routine patrol report from the lower rings."The eastern and northern arrays are dark Sect Master," the scout reported breathlessly. "We sent messenger hawks to Elder Teng and Elder Yin. The birds returned with arrows in their wings. The western barricades are fully fortified. The rebels locked the stone bridge."Yuan did not shout. He stood up from his carved stone throne and walked down the steps. The opulence of the central hall masked the sudden vulnerability of his empire. He had spent five years consolidating power and purging traditionalists. He believed the outer camps were too starved to mount a resistance."Where is Elder

A massive steel bolt shattered the high stone terrace.The kinetic impact pulverized the marble floor and threw Lin across the Kaelen courtyard. She crashed hard against a stone pillar while a thick cloud of dust and debris washed over the training grounds. The deafening sound of heavy artillery echoed across the western peak.Sect Master Yuan did not wait for the formal duel. The usurper rejected the sacred mandate of the Supreme Elders. He launched a preemptive military strike to crush the rebellion before the true heir could set foot in the central square.Three loyalist pavilions marched down the main mountain road. Thousands of elite central guards formed a relentless wall of steel and shields. They dragged heavy wooden siege ballistas into position along the high ridges overlooking the rebel stronghold. Elder Kaelen led the vanguard. The disgraced master returned to reclaim his territory with overwhelming lethal force.Chase Lu pulled Lin from the rubble. The air hummed with the

Kugar threw the dying rogue onto the wooden medical cot. The thick oak frame splintered under the immense weight of the armored giant and his bleeding cargo. Chase gasped for air as black sludge bubbled past his lips and stained the white linen sheets. His eyes rolled back into his skull. The enclosed canvas tent immediately smelled of sulfur and rotting copper as the acidic blood began to eat through the fabric of the bedding.Outside the thin canvas walls the sounds of artillery fire shook the muddy ground. Elder Kaelen was blasting the rubble blockade in the lower gorge to clear a path for his vanguard. Time was a rapidly expiring resource for the rebellion."His pulse is a ghost," Sima reported in a panic. The corrupt elder pressed his trembling fingers against the neck of the billionaire. "The dark alchemy melted his liver and his heart is skipping beats. We lost our sword.""Get out," Lin ordered the two men. She stood at the edge of the cot and pulled a small jade vial from her

A severed iron spear clattered against the wet stones of the courtyard.Elder Kaelen scrambled backward through the deep mud and dragged his boots across the ruined barricades. The disgraced master abandoned his front line without a second thought. He watched the golden eyed rogue dismantle twenty elite guards in less than ten seconds. The sheer kinetic density of the Stage Ten Condensation aura crushed the loyalist shield wall like dry timber.Chase Lu flicked the dark blood from the edge of his obsidian sword. He stood in the center of the slaughter and watched the surviving central guards retreat toward the main gate. He possessed the raw power to chase them down and butcher the next hundred men. The golden Qi pulsed in his veins with a stable terrifying rhythm.He lowered his weapon and stepped back.He refused to fight a war of attrition. He turned around and walked back toward the defensive perimeter established by the Vanguard laborers. Lin and Sima waited near the charred rema