2025-02-25 16:33:57Sophia Miller gripped her phone, her lips pressed into a thin line as she listened to her mother and sister rant about Nathan.
Margaret’s voice was shrill with indignation. "That damn racoons actually walked out of that store like he was someone important! You should have seen the look on his face—so smug, so arrogant! It was disgusting!"
Jessica snickered. "Oh, don’t worry, Mom. He’ll be put back in his place soon enough."
Sophia exhaled sharply. "Let him have his little moment. Tomorrow, at Imperial Corp’s anniversary event, Lucas will deal with him."
Margaret perked up. "Lucas?"
Sophia smirked. "Yes. I’ll be attending the event with him. And believe me, Lucas won’t let Nathan walk away unscathed."
Margaret and Jessica burst into laughter.
"Oh, that’s perfect!" Jessica clapped her hands. "Lucas’s father already has a strong foothold in Imperial Corp, doesn’t he?"
Sophia leaned back in her chair, confidence radiating from her tone. "Exactly. He’s been working closely with insiders, and the final project proposal is already nearly approved. Once the new chairman signs it tomorrow, Lucas’s family will rise to second-tier status in the city."
Margaret gasped. "You mean—"
Sophia smiled. "That’s right. Once the deal is secured, the Miller and Milton families will both benefit. This is our chance to move up in status, Mother. Lucas and his family will ensure that."
Jessica was practically buzzing with excitement. "And when Lucas sees Nathan tomorrow? He’s going to tear him apart!"
Margaret grinned. "Oh, I can’t wait to see that filthy stray humiliated in front of the entire city!"
Sophia smirked. "Let Nathan enjoy his little fantasy for one more day. Tomorrow, he’ll learn where he truly belongs."
Back inside the store, the atmosphere had completely changed.
The store owner, still wiping sweat from his brow, stood before Nathan and Harper Valente, his hands trembling slightly.
“Sir, I am really embarrassed about the misbehaviour you had to endure. I have already refunded the amount to your card, just please…”
He cleared his throat, adding;
"It would be a great favor if you accept the Golden Ginseng as a small token of apology from us.”
The store owner stammered, bowing deeply and hoping that Harper wouldn't scold him once again. But thankfully, her lips were pressed into a grim line.
“It was entirely our fault for the disrespect you faced. I… I hope this can make amends! Please come visit our store again."
The clerks, now standing silently in the background, dared not even breathe loudly, afraid they’d be fired next.
Nathan glanced at the herb, then back at Harper.
Harper remained impassive, her expression unreadable.
Nathan smirked. "Giving it to me for free, huh? Are you trying to get on my good side?"
The store owner gulped. "I-It’s the least I can do, sir! Please, don’t hold this against us!"
Nathan studied him for a moment before casually picking up the herb. "Fine. I’ll accept it."
The store owner sighed in visible relief.
Harper turned on her heel, still not satisfied with their apology.
"We’re done here."
Nathan followed her, the store staff bowing deeply as they left.
Nathan sat cross-legged in the villa’s meditation room, the Golden Ginseng placed carefully before him. The room was dimly lit, silent except for the faint hum of energy vibrating in the air.
He took a deep breath, letting the knowledge of the cultivation techniques flood his mind. The moment he began circulating his energy, he felt it.
A surge of raw power pulsed through his veins.
His muscles tightened. His skin prickled. His senses sharpened.
The energy flowed through his meridians, clearing blockages, refining his inner force, and strengthening his body at an unnatural rate.
Hours passed like minutes. His focus was absolute. His body absorbed the essence of the Golden Ginseng, and his strength soared.
By the time dawn’s light streamed through the windows, Nathan opened his eyes.
His heart was steady. His mind was clear. His body was overflowing with power.
Despite not sleeping all night, he didn’t feel the slightest bit tired.
He stood up, stretching his fingers. His movements felt… different. Stronger. More controlled.
Nathan smirked. "Not bad. Not bad at all."
Today was going to be fun.
Dressed in a sleek black suit that fit him perfectly, Nathan arrived at Imperial Corp’s headquarters, exuding a presence that commanded attention.
The massive glass skyscraper loomed over the city, its exterior a reflection of power and dominance.
As he stepped toward the entrance, he felt it—eyes on him.
A sneer. A scoff. A presence filled with familiar disdain.
Nathan turned his head slightly, and his smirk widened.
Standing there, blocking the entrance, was Lucas Milton—Sophia's new fiancé.
And right beside him, dressed in an elegant designer outfit, was Sophia Miller.
The moment her gaze met Nathan’s, a flicker of shock crossed her face—but it was quickly replaced by a cold smirk.
Lucas, arms crossed, let out a mocking chuckle. "Well, well, look who we have here. A stray dog sniffing around places he doesn’t belong."
Sophia folded her arms, tilting her head. "Nathan, what are you even doing here? Last time I checked, Imperial Corp doesn’t allow beggars through the front door."
Nathan let out a low chuckle, completely unfazed.
He slid his hands into his pockets, his posture relaxed. Too relaxed.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Ch-170
The memory of Senna faded with the morning light, like mist burning off the cliffs of Ardent Cradle. Nathan stood for a long time at the edge of the vault, hands open, letting the silence settle into his skin. The Severance Protocol was complete. The unraveling had slowed. But not stopped.In the heart of the mountain stronghold, where six rings once hummed in distant synchrony, five figures now gathered around a slab of origin stone—unchiseled, untouched since before the Codex had been written.The chamber pulsed faintly. Not with power, but with intention.Miko arrived first, her eyes rimmed in pale gold, probability still flickering off her fingertips like static. Harper followed, silent as a shadow, her projected memory brushing the minds of those present in greeting. Nyx stood with one foot in reality and the other humming with digital decay, her eyes two cold blue points wired into half a hundred dead satellites.And the last: the Echochild.Nathan's half-brother.He said nothin
Ch-169
As the last threads of memory dissolved into stardust, the Astral plane began to settle, shimmering with the aftermath of the Severance Protocol. Harper’s breath slowed beside Nathan, her hand still faintly glowing from channeling the Rite. But time had not fully healed—and across the collapsing corridors of forgotten thought, a deeper fracture pulsed. The echo of Praelor’s dominion, buried but not broken, stirred in defiance. Nathan turned. His work was not done.---Nathan stepped through the silver breach, his coat whipping against the ripples of untime. The chamber he entered was both infinite and enclosed, walls bending around paradoxes—scrolls burning in reverse, ink flowing back into pens, relics whispering their own creation. At its center, Praelor waited.The proto-Sovereign stood tall, his body stitched together from archives of civilizations that never existed, eyes smoldering with stolen insight. “You dare walk into my sanctum,” he hissed, “with broken time hanging off you
Ch-168
The vision lingered long after the vault sealed behind Nathan.Even as he stepped into the windswept outer corridor of the Ardent Cradle, the world no longer held its shape. The stars had turned unfamiliar again—constellations writhing into spirals. Wind sang in reverse. Far below, valleys flickered between seasons, time stuttering like a failing engine.Harper met him halfway up the ridge path, her eyes wide and haunted. “The dreamworld’s unraveling. People are waking in wrong bodies. Entire cities are forgetting their names.”Nathan didn’t break stride. “We don’t have much time.”They spoke little as they moved. A shared rhythm between them had long since replaced the need for words. At the summit, they knelt side by side, not in prayer—but in preparation. Their bodies slowed, breath synced, minds unspooling like threads through layered thresholds.Their astral selves emerged beneath a shattered aurora sky.---The Astral Plane twisted like broken glass.Where once there had been cl
Ch-167
The sky no longer followed rules. Over Nova Point, sunlight refracted at strange angles, casting shadows that bent against their own grain. Clocks stuttered, skipped, and sometimes reversed. Birds flew in circles, then vanished mid-flight. The oceans swelled without wind. On the western coast, the stars flickered in broad daylight—entire constellations rearranging as though the heavens were remapping themselves by will alone. The End Convergence had begun. At the southern edge of the world, buried beneath the granite shelves of Ardent Cradle, Nathan descended into a chamber known only to the original Sovereign lineage. A vault with no key, no door, no defined space—only threshold and silence. The six rings hung around his neck in a tempered alloy chain, each nested in its dormant state. Power coiled beneath his skin like static. Dominion, Vision, Continuum, Flux, Sacrifice, Renewal—each represented a sliver of what had once been unity. And now, for the first time, he needed all o
Ch-166
The skies hadn’t healed since Cairo.The rift still hovered like a wound carved across the upper atmosphere, glowing faintly even by daylight. Nathan had barely slept in forty hours. His body ran on willpower, his mind tethered to too many coordinates—relief zones, kinetic shields, Sovereign Council reports.But it was Miko who hadn’t spoken since touching the corrupted fragment near the Sinai fissure.She sat on a bench just outside the rebel command bunker, hood drawn over her eyes, hands clenched tightly in her lap. The ring of Vision, once a warm pressure along her skin, now felt… absent. No glow. No whisper of potential futures. No shift in probability. Just silence.Nathan approached quietly, stopping when she didn’t look up.“You feel it too?” she asked.He didn’t pretend. “Like a missing limb.”Miko finally looked at him. Her eyes weren’t dull—they were too sharp, if anything. Raw. Exposed. “I touched something I shouldn’t have. It didn’t just take my sight—it stripped my anch
Ch-165
The ink hadn’t yet dried on the declaration of war.Nathan stood in the central chamber of the Nova Point sanctuary, palms braced against a schematic sprawled across the long obsidian table. The air was thick with the scent of old ozone and fresher arguments. The hologram above the table spun slowly—an image of the Ring fragments glowing like stars orbiting a storm.Harper stood beside him, silent but alert. Her voice had returned, but not entirely hers. The words she spoke now echoed faintly, like memory echoing down a canyon. Even Nathan, who could read storms in a person’s silence, didn’t fully know what price she’d paid for that partial return.“There's a way,” Nathan finally said. “To sever a fragment without killing the bearer.”The others looked up.“But?” Miko asked.Nathan tapped the schematic. “It requires a sacrifice. One of us would have to willingly part with their ring. Entirely. Permanently.”Silence spread like frost. Even the monk, usually unreadable, stiffened.Harpe
You may also like
Rising from the Ashes
Only For You1.2M viewsXayne Xavier, The Ironclad Protector
Blanco Burn177.5K viewsThe Gilded Man With A Thousand Lives
Kaiser Ken81.9K viewsUnderrated Son-In-Law
Estherace105.2K viewsNolan Lancaster: Rejected, Revenged, And Richer Than Ever
Icy popsicles436 viewsFrom Doormat to Tycoon: The Rise of the Useless Husband
Rissa8.3K viewsThe Super Son-in-law
Camellia1.9K viewsThe Masked General: Tale Of Vengeance
Nova2.8K views