By the time Jayden returned to the villa, most of the morning had already passed.He brought the three Peak Level Seven beast corpses with him, but none of them went anywhere near the kitchen. The strange Neen he had sensed inside their bodies during the battle still bothered him, and until he knew exactly what had happened to them, he was not going to let Mira or Nia eat even a piece.Instead, he stored the corpses separately inside his ring and took out some of the clean high-grade beast meat he still had from the previous day.The moment he entered the kitchen, his mood changed almost automatically.Fighting beasts was simple. Investigating whoever might have sent them would come later. Right now, Mira and Nia needed food.Jayden cleaned the meat, divided it into separate portions and began refining each one differently.Nia’s portion barely needed any work.After discovering her Gluttonous Body, Jayden had stopped treating her meals like those of an ordinary child. Her physique wo

Far beneath the eastern district of Skyreach, hidden below an abandoned wine warehouse that had not opened its doors in years, three men sat inside a sealed underground chamber.The room had no windows and only one entrance, protected by several sound-blocking formations. A long mahogany table stood at the centre beneath dim crystal lamps, while a map of Skyreach covered one wall. To anyone aboveground, the building was dead property. Down here, however, some of the most dangerous conversations in the city had taken place.Darius Ravelle sat with one hand wrapped around a glass he had barely touched. The swelling on Cassel’s face from the previous night still burned in his mind, and every time he remembered his son describing how Jayden had slapped him across the mall before defeating the Ravelle guards, his expression became uglier.Alaric sat beside him, much calmer, his walking cane resting against the chair. The old patriarch had spoken very little since entering the chamber. His

By the time Jayden and Elias reached Crowne Holdings’ flagship mall, the place barely looked like the same luxury centre they had visited the night before.The main plaza was in chaos. Mud had been dragged across velvet carpets, several glass display cases had been smashed open, and expensive goods lay scattered beneath broken shelves. Employees who should have been welcoming wealthy customers were gathered near the walls instead, some bruised, some bleeding lightly, while others simply stared at the destruction in silence. A few security men had already been beaten badly enough that they could no longer stand.Elias stopped near the entrance, dor a moment, he said nothing then his jaw tightened.“They did all this in a few hours.”Jayden looked around once. “They wanted it seen.”That was obvious now, this was not an inspection but theatre.At the centre of the ground floor, a large man stood on top of what remained of a crystal display counter. His arms were thick, head shaved, and

By noon, the whole of Skyreach had heard what happened at Crowne Holdings.Some heard that Jayden Jian had walked into the Ravelle blockade alone and broken thirty elite guards with his bare hands. Others swore House Ravelle’s contracted phantom beast had knelt in fear before disappearing on the spot. The more dramatic versions claimed Darius Ravelle had been beaten so badly he had to be carried home like a corpse. Whether the details were exaggerated or not hardly mattered. One thing was certain, Darius had gone to crush the new City Lord in public, and instead he had been humiliated in front of merchants, workers and half the city’s growing rumour network.What truly shook Skyreach, however, was not the beating.It was Jayden’s ultimatum.Twenty-four hours.Half of House Ravelle’s total assets to the City Lord treasury, or their bloodline would be wiped from Skyreach.That single sentence spread faster than any fight ever could. By evening, the heads of the other Great Houses had al

When Jayden and Nia returned inside, the little girl was still laughing about the dragon burning Lady Marnie’s wig.She had repeated the story twice before they even reached the sitting room, each version somehow making the dragon’s breath larger and the noblewoman’s scream louder. Jayden let her enjoy herself until he noticed Mira sitting alone beside the large bay window.She had not noticed them yet.Her hands rested open across her lap, palms facing upward while she stared at them with an expression Jayden had not seen since bringing her away from the arena. It was not pain exactly. Something quieter sat behind her eyes.Doubt.Nia followed his gaze and started toward her mother, but Jayden gently caught her shoulder. “Go put your butterfly away first.”The little girl looked between them, then nodded and hurried upstairs.Jayden waited until she disappeared before crossing the room.Mira heard him this time. She closed her hands almost immediately, as though she had been caught d