The strongest weapon is sometimes the power your enemy never realizes you possess.Ken spent the entire morning pretending to be tired, and it was almost insultingly easy.Everyone had already decided what his exhaustion should look like, shoulders a little low, steps a little slow, the natural toll of a boy who'd clawed his way to Level 17 and paid for every inch of it. Ken simply gave them what they expected. He let his aura sit weak and unremarkable, let every curious glance land on the same flat answer."Beast Geek Level 17. Nothing more."Exactly what he wanted them to see.Beneath that borrowed weakness, something far more dangerous was already coiling, waiting for the doors to lock.That night, once his cultivation room was sealed, Ken sat cross-legged on the cold floor and Mirinda materialized across from him, her expression stripped of its usual mockery."Your foundation can't hold what you've accumulated anymore," she said. "It's past the point of containing it quietly."Ken

"If they insist on treating the weak me, then the weak me will gladly accept their medicine."By the second morning, the rumor had calcified into fact. Le Ken was sick, not exhausted, not merely bruised from the expedition, but genuinely, visibly failing. Some claimed the Dead Zone had scarred his meridians. Others insisted the forest's wild energy had poisoned him from the inside. A few, more dramatic than the rest, swore his Thunder Panther itself had gone unstable.Ken sat wrapped in a blanket outside his courtyard, coughing on cue, checking that no one watched before allowing himself a private smile. “This is almost too easy.”Someone was watching.Mu Qing stood a few paces off, arms crossed, eyes narrowed like she was solving a puzzle she resented being handed. "You look terrible."Ken coughed harder, on reflex. "I feel terrible.""You didn't look terrible yesterday.""Illness develops quickly. Ask any physician.""I'm asking you." She stepped closer. "You just smiled. Sick men d

“When the sect finally arrives, the competition stops being a clan affair. Every genius suddenly becomes a target."The Grand Le Clan had never been this crowded.For days now, carriages had rattled through the main gates in an unbroken line, until the courtyard looked less like a training ground and more like a market square. Flags belonging to a dozen different clans snapped in the wind above the rooftops. Young cultivators strode the streets in robes stitched with their family crests, each of them wearing the particular confidence of someone who had already decided they'd come to win.The upcoming competition had pulled in attention from the entire region. But today, something even bigger than clan rivalry was arriving.The representatives of the Pai Zhua Sect were coming through those gates.A formation of white horses swept in first, hooves striking the stone in perfect unison, followed by a plain black carriage marked only with the sigil of a claw. No gold trim, no excess. It di

"A thunder attribute cannot refine pills."That was what everyone believed.By the time the first competition officially opened, the Grand Le Clan's central arena was packed shoulder to shoulder, clan elders, visiting delegations, young disciples, and the two representatives of the Pai Zhua Sect seated in the place of honor.On the highest platform, A Li sat quietly, composed. Beside her, Lu rested one hand on his knee, watching the contestants with the lazy interest of a man expecting to be bored.Today wasn't combat. No swords, no Beast Skills, no fists.Today was alchemy.Ken stood among the contestants looking appropriately pale, letting the rumors about his expedition injuries do all the work for him. Whispers followed him anyway."Why is Le Ken even participating?""He's practically dying on his feet.""He'll be lucky to produce a Tier 2."Ken pretended not to hear any of it, right up until someone decided to say it to his face."Why are you even holding a furnace?"He looked ov

Winning wasn't always about defeating your opponent. Sometimes, it was about making them defeat themselves.The arena had transformed overnight. The furnaces were gone. The medicinal tables had vanished without a trace. In their place stood a massive circular platform carved into dozens of individual combat zones, gleaming under the morning light like a promise of violence to come.The second stage had arrived. Combat qualification.Ken stood among the contestants, still wearing his carefully rehearsed sickly expression, his cultivation suppressed to a public Level 17. Around him, stronger disciples were already releasing their Martial Spirits in a dazzling parade — tigers, wolves, eagles, lions, rhinoceroses, snakes, panthers, each one crackling with its own natural attribute. Fire here, wind there, earth, water, lightning, and a rare hybrid or two that made the crowd gasp.The stands were ecstatic. Lu stood on the judging platform, voice carrying easily over the noise. "Today's rule