2026-08-02 19:38:03
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Bab 9—Carving the Name
Chen didn't wait for the applause or the inevitable outrage. He simply tucked his notebook back into his apron and turned on his heel, his worn leather boots clicking against the polished marble of the auction house floor. Behind him, Tamsynor Night was a statue of radiating arrogance, his skin flushed with a sudden, artificial vitality that looked more like a fever than a breakthrough."Don't go too far, Master Carpenter!" Tamsynor shouted, his voice booming with a hollow, metallic resonance. "I'll need you to see me ascend to the Core Formation stage by sundown! Maybe then I'll hire you to build me a throne instead of a box!"The crowd erupted in sycophantic laughter, but Chen didn't stop. He pushed through the heavy oak doors of the auction house and stepped out into the humid afternoon air of Azure Wood Town. His cart was exactly where he’d left it, tucked into a narrow alleyway. It was a sturdy, unglamorous thing, laden with a fresh slab of Grade-A Spirit Cedar and a heavy tool c
Bab 8–The Auction of the Doomed
The man from the Night Clan didn’t stay to chat. He turned on a polished heel, his silk robes fluttering with an arrogance that only comes from generations of inherited wealth, and began walking toward the center of Azure Wood Town. Specifically, he was headed toward the jagged, obsidian-colored spire of the Azure Auction House.Chen didn't follow him immediately. His body felt like it had been put through a grain mill; the mental strain of peering 900 years into Sylphara’s future had left a throbbing ache behind his eyes, and his stomach was currently voicing its displeasure with a loud, hollow growl. He hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon, and his hands were still stained with the bitter resin of the Spirit Sandalwood."First things first," Chen muttered, wiping his sweaty palms on his apron. He detoured to a roadside stall, tossed a few copper coins at a startled vendor, and snatched up two steaming buns filled with spiced pork. He ate them in three bites each as he walked, t
Bab 7
The cold radiating from Sylphara wasn’t just a metaphor; it was a physical weight that caused the moisture in the air to crystallize, dusting Chen’s eyelashes with a fine layer of frost. Her eyes, two orbs of unyielding glacial blue, didn’t blink. She was serious. If he got this wrong, or if he tried to bluff his way through with some vague "cultivator’s fate" nonsense, he wouldn’t live to see the sunset.Chen didn't flinch. He couldn't afford to. He took a slow breath, feeling the frigid air bite at his lungs, and reached deep into the interface of the Destiny Ledger that hovered in his mind's eye.System, initiate Deep Scan. Target: Sylphara Ash. Projection: Final Fate.[Warning: Deep Scan requires high mental synchronization. Projected duration exceeds host's current spiritual capacity. Risk of neurological backlash: High. Proceed?]Chen’s jaw tightened. "Proceed," he muttered, the word barely a ghost of sound.Suddenly, the world didn't just blur; it shattered. The bustling timber
Bab 6
The nib of the quill scratched against the parchment with a sound like a dying insect. Ulricar’s signature was jagged, the hand of a man whose grip on life was slipping as fast as his dignity. The moment the last loop of his name closed, the Destiny Ledger hummed. It wasn't a sound heard with the ears, but a vibration that rattled Chen’s teeth.In Chen’s vision, the red timer hovering over Ulricar’s head, which had been a frantic, pulsing blur of minutes, flickered and reset. The 'Internal Betrayal' status vanished, replaced by a dull, steady countdown of thirty-four years."The contract is sealed," Chen said, his voice flat and professional. He reached out and snatched a small, rusted chisel from his workbench. "Hold still. This is going to sting, and I don't offer refunds for flinching."Ulricar didn't have time to protest. Chen’s hand moved with the precision of a master surgeon. He didn't use Qi; he didn't have any. Instead, he leveraged the physical mechanics of the human body th
Bab 5
The heavy broadsword clattered against the cobblestones, the sound echoing through the cramped, sawdust-laden shop like a funeral knell. Ulricar’s hand didn't just tremble; it buckled, his fingers spasming as if the nerves were being systematically unraveled by an invisible hand.He didn't wait for an explanation. With a sudden, violent grunt of exertion, Ulricar seized the porcelain tea cup and hurled it against the far wall. It didn't just shatter. Where the amber liquid splashed against the stone, a thick, acrid grey smoke billowed upward. The stone hissed, bubbling and dissolving into a jagged, corrosive pit. Silver-melting poison. A concoction designed specifically to bypass the reinforced meridians of a Foundation Establishment cultivator by liquefying the very Qi that protected them."Raelith," Ulricar wheezed, his voice cracking like dry parchment.The subordinate, a woman with sharp features and eyes that had always seemed a bit too cold, didn't bother with a denial. The mome
Bab 4
The wood of the shop’s doorframe groaned behind Chen’s shoulder blades. Ulricar’s hand wasn’t just a hand; it felt like a slab of iron pressing into his collarbone, pinning him against the dusty remains of his livelihood. The captain’s breath smelled of bitter tea and stale tobacco, and his eyes, sharp, gray, and devoid of humor, searched Chen’s face for even a flicker of guilt.Around them, the townspeople of Azure Wood hovered like vultures, their whispers a low-frequency hum of excitement and dread. Vaelen Kane’s body, or what was left of it after the violent Qi explosion, lay just a few feet away. The cheap pine coffin Chen had polished that morning sat beside the corpse, an invitation and a prophecy fulfilled."I’m waiting, Coffin-maker," Ulricar growled, his grip tightening. "Men don't just pop like overripe melons because a carpenter tells them to. You’re either a demonic cultivator hiding your base, or you’re the most sophisticated poisoner I’ve ever had the misfortune of arre
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