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Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 155 - Earlton's request
The sun had slipped below the treetops, casting long, bronze shadows across the quiet estate of . The air smelled faintly of herbs and polished wood, earthy and grounding. A modest dinner table had been set outside under the arbor, where fireflies blinked lazily and cicadas hummed through the dense hush of forest twilight.Alex sat opposite General Earlton and her granddaughter, Sisi. The meal was simple: steamed greens, rice, and a fragrant stew that hinted of ginseng and lotus. Sisi chatted comfortably, teasing both her grandmother and Alex in equal measure. Alex offered quiet responses, trying not to seem too detached.After the final bites were taken, Sisi collected the plates. “I’ll wash up,” she said with a smile. “You two obviously have serious grown-up things to talk about.”Earlton gave a small nod of thanks, then turned to Alex as her granddaughter disappeared inside.“You didn’t come to Trim City for politics or fame,” she said without preamble. Her voice was calm, but its
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 156 - Come in when you are ready.
The mist clung low to the earth like a forgotten veil, drifting in wisps between the slender trunks of the ancient trees that stood as silent sentinels around General Earlton’s secluded estate. Dawn had only begun to breathe over the horizon, and the sky wore a faded palette of violet and gray, cut through with the slow awakening of golden light.The gravel crunched under Thea Walton’s boots as she walked up the winding path to the main house, shoulders stiff beneath her military jacket. She had always been punctual, but today, she had made sure to be early out of both habit and curiosity. General Earlton had summoned her with strict orders to report before sunrise. No details. No explanation. Just come.As the main house came into view, Thea slowed her pace. The silhouette of a man stood at the edge of the porch, hands in his pockets, posture relaxed like he’d been waiting for a while.Alex Cole.He was wearing a simple black long-sleeved shirt rolled at the forearms, paired with l
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 157 - Breathing exercise
The floor of the dojo creaked softly beneath their feet as Thea followed Alex into the training space. The dim amber light of morning filtered through the paper-paneled windows, casting long rectangles of golden warmth across the tatami mats. Incense from an earlier offering still lingered faintly, curling in wisps near the rafters.Alex walked calmly to the center of the room and turned to face her. His expression was unreadable, calm but not cold. There was a certain serenity about him in this space, as if the dojo answered to him more than the other way around.Thea, however, stood with arms crossed, one booted foot tapping with restless irritation."We start with breathing," Alex said, voice low but firm. "Three rounds. Inhale, hold, exhale. Center your energy."Thea rolled her eyes. "I didn’t come here to chant and do yoga, Alex. Let’s get to the part where I wipe the floor with you."He ignored the jab. "Your core isn’t balanced. Your last two battles showed that. You lead with
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 158 - When you are ready
Alex watched Thea’s chest rise and fall as she struggled to hold her stance. Her arms were tight against her sides, her breathing shallow, impatient. She wasn’t used to standing still. Her body screamed for motion, for action, but Alex gave no command to strike.He circled her slowly, hands folded behind his back, observing every muscle twitch with a detached calm that made Thea grind her teeth."Focus on the breath," Alex said."I'm focused enough," Thea snapped."Then you wouldn’t be shifting your weight like a drunk soldier," he said without raising his voice.Her nostrils flared. She straightened, forcing her heels to root into the ground as he had instructed earlier, but her mind raced ahead to the sparring she expected. She wasn't here to meditate. She was a fighter, not a monk."Again," Alex said.Thea closed her eyes and tried to inhale as slowly as he had demonstrated: steady, filling her lungs from the diaphragm, not the chest. It felt unnatural. It felt wrong. She could be
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 159
Thea was still leaning against the far wall of the dojo when the door slid open quietly. She straightened instinctively, wiping the emotion from her face as General Earlton entered. The older woman moved with a calm, powerful grace that made it clear she didn’t need to raise her voice or brandish a weapon to command respect. Her gaze flickered briefly between Alex and Thea, as if weighing the temperature of the room.Without a word, Earlton walked to the center of the mat and stood there, her hands clasped lightly behind her back. Thea noticed the faint bulge under her robe, but said nothing.Alex, always observant, stepped forward first. He moved into position without needing to be told, standing a respectful few paces from Earlton, his posture straight but relaxed.Earlton smiled slightly, the kind of smile that held more warning than warmth."Stand still," she said to him.Alex gave a slight nod, his face expressionless.Thea folded her arms, skeptical. Whatever this was, she doub
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 160 - Jealousy
Thea was already in the dojo when Alex arrived.She stood in the center of the mat, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently against the wooden floor. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and her eyes narrowed the moment the door slid open and he stepped through.Alex moved with his usual lazy grace, one hand tucked casually in his pocket, the other swinging a water bottle loosely at his side. He looked refreshed, relaxed, and completely unbothered by the fact that he was several minutes late.Thea's eyes narrowed further."Nice of you to finally show up," she said, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.Alex raised an eyebrow as he tossed the bottle onto a bench against the wall. "Morning to you too."She didn't smile. "Let me guess. Late because you had a busy night?"Alex tilted his head slightly, pretending to think. "Define busy."Thea scoffed, the sound sharp and bitter. "I saw you yesterday. With her. You were too busy playing chauffeur for your girlfriend to bother show
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 161 - Late night practice and Chicken
The door to the dojo slid open, and General Earlton entered with the authority of someone who didn’t need to announce herself. She carried something wrapped tightly in dark cloth. Thea straightened without thinking, the exhaustion in her limbs forgotten the moment she saw Earlton’s face.Alex stood not far away, loose and at ease, but he still shifted a little when the general scanned the room with her eyes.Earlton crossed to Thea and unwrapped the cloth with a flick of her wrist. A set of throwing knives shined in the dim light, their sharp edges catching every stray sunbeam that slipped into the dojo.Without a word, she handed them over.Thea took them, feeling how heavy they were as they settled into her palms. These weren’t training toys. These were real, deadly tools.Earlton’s voice broke the silence. “You will throw at him.”Thea’s head snapped up. “At him?”Earlton’s eyes didn’t waver. “Stand in place. Throw.”Alex didn’t protest. He just walked to the center of the mat and
Phenomenal Alex Cole Chapter 162 - Lord Thor Walton’s health
Two weeks later, the training came to an end.It had not been marked by any grand announcement, no ceremony or formal dismissal. It simply faded away, as naturally as the sun giving way to the stars. One morning, the dojo felt different. Not empty, but finished. Thea stood on the mat after her final sparring session with Alex, her body humming with the familiar ache of exertion, her breathing steady and deep.She still hadn’t beaten him.Not even once.No matter how fast she moved, how sharp her instincts grew, Alex stayed ahead of her, always calm, always just out of reach. It used to enrage her, that casual mastery, but now it stirred something else. A challenge, yes, but also a quiet, deep respect.Thea knew exactly how far she had come.When she first stepped into this place, her strength had been a hammer heavy, wild, effective only when brute force was enough. Now, her strength had edges. It cut clean where before it only crushed. Her movements were no longer reactive but int
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Chapter 176 - Half brother
The first light of morning filtered through the lattice windows of the Crown Prince’s private strategy hall, casting long golden bars across the polished floor. Outside, the palace was waking. Gardeners swept fallen petals. The temple bells rang softly in the distance. Couriers moved with quick steps, carrying missives sealed in jade tubes.But inside, the tension was suffocating.Alex Cole stood near a long scroll table, arms folded across his chest. He had cleaned and dressed his wounds, though the bandage around his left bicep was still fresh. His expression was unreadable.Across from him stood Thea Walton, her cloak removed and tossed across the nearest chair. Her uniform was partially undone, revealing the tight linen beneath, but she looked less like a war general today and more like a woman on the edge of something personal.The Crown Prince sat at the head of the room, leaning slightly on his right arm. His sword, wiped clean of the assassin's blood from the night before, la
Chapter 175 - Alex goes down
Moonlight spilled across the cobblestone pathways of the imperial courtyard like liquid silver. The garden here, nestled between the east wing of the inner court and the outer temple pavilions, was designed for silence. No servants wandered here after dusk. The lanterns had been dimmed to faint embers, and only the distant rustling of wind-touched bamboo broke the stillness.Alex Cole stood alone beneath the blossoming night cherry tree at the garden’s edge.His breath was shallow. Fatigue gnawed at his bones.He had not rested since the completion of the cure. The strain of channeling high-tier flame Qi during refinement had pushed his meridians close to overload. Though he had masked it well, his energy was fractured. Spiritual channels that usually ran like rivers now trickled slowly, choked by internal strain.Still, something had drawn him outside.A whisper at the back of his mind. A prickle at the base of his neck.He had sensed it earlier at his window—a shift in the palace’s
Chapter 174 - Wraith Needle
The lanterns had long dimmed across the inner court, but in a secluded corner of the Physician's Wing, a single chamber glowed with light. Alex Cole sat at a low lacquered table, the air thick with the fragrance of crushed herbs and warmed spiritual energy. Golden runes shimmered faintly across the floor in a formation meant for concentration and Qi stabilization. The walls were lined with jade tiles, each engraved with protective symbols inscribed by royal talisman artisans. This was no ordinary guest chamber. The Crown Prince himself had ordered it prepared. Alex’s robe had been shed and folded neatly at the side of the table. A light inner tunic clung to his body, damp with sweat. Before him lay a tray of rare ingredients: the White Snake Flower, now fully harmonized; a dish of powdered Thunder Leaf; and a sealed vial of jade resin, freshly extracted from the spiritual trees near Mount Qingshan. Everything had been checked for purity three times. Still, Alex performed his
Chapter 173 - The princess’s offer
The Grand Celestial Hall was radiant.Golden lanterns floated high above, suspended by unseen formations, casting a warm light that made the entire space shimmer like sunlight on water. Court nobles stood dressed in their most formal silks, their heads adorned with jade pins, gold-threaded hats, or embroidered veils depending on their rank. The occasion was an impromptu court gathering organized by the Crown Prince. It had been called to celebrate the stabilization of his condition and to officially welcome a guest who had become the subject of whispers in every corner of the palace.That guest was Alex Cole.He stood at the far end of the hall, flanked by two royal aides. His robe was midnight blue, gifted by the Crown Prince himself. It bore no family crest but was trimmed with silver lining and celestial cloud embroidery that marked him as someone favored by the highest echelons of power.He did not seek the attention of the room.But the room gave it to him all the same.Dozens
Chapter 172 - Spirit Guardian
The greenhouse was silent.Too silent.Alex Cole stood motionless, the crystal case housing the White Snake Flower still warm in his palm. Princess Serena had vanished into the maze of luminous vines to inspect a sacred fern said to release spiritual mist under moonlight. The glass dome above shimmered, reflecting the glow of suspended spirit-lanterns, yet the energy inside the room had changed.He felt it first in his skin like a static charge in the air.Then, deeper within his core.The Qi of the White Snake Flower… was no longer calm.Alex frowned.The flower in his hand pulsed unnaturally. Instead of the gentle rhythm of a living plant, its spiritual essence felt… jagged. Fractured. Like a song suddenly off-key.He set the crystal case on a stone pedestal and knelt beside it. His fingers hovered just above the jade-sealed latch as he closed his eyes, letting his senses extend outward.At first, he sensed nothing unusual.But the deeper he probed into the flower’s essence, the mor
Chapter 171 - Orchid Blade
The midday sun glinted off the curved rooftops of the Jade Pavilion as a cooling breeze swept through the palace grounds. Underneath a shaded colonnade near the eastern garden, Alex Cole stood, gazing out at the koi pond below. The serene scene before him was interrupted only by the murmuring of distant court attendants and the flutter of palace banners.He had barely stepped out of the treatment chamber when the summons came. A young maid had approached respectfully and, after bowing, informed him that Princess Serena awaited him at the Jade Bridge, the symbolic entryway into the Imperial Greenhouse.Now, he waited.He had heard the name before. Serena, one of the Crown Prince’s cousins—was no ordinary princess. Known as the “Orchid Blade” among palace circles, she was a celebrated martial arts prodigy, the youngest in decades to win the Royal Combat Trials and the only princess to ever defeat a member of the palace guard in single combat. But she was also known for her mercurial te
Chapter 170 - Nine Dragon silver needle box
The jade-tiled chamber was one of the most sacred rooms within the Imperial Healing Pavilion.Located at the innermost wing of the inner court, it was accessible only by the royal family, top-ranking imperial physicians, and the occasional war hero brought back on the edge of death. The floor was carved from ancient sea jade, a rare mineral believed to channel cooling energy and absorb pain. The ceiling glistened with embedded pearls that reflected sunlight through gilded lanterns, bathing the room in a soft halo of calm.Alex Cole stood alone at its center.He was dressed in ceremonial black robes trimmed with silver, tied tightly at the waist. His sleeves had been rolled back, revealing forearms covered with faint acupuncture scars from years of self-training. In his right hand, he held a long, rectangular wooden case, the Nine Dragon Silver Needle Box, a gift passed to him by Dustin before his journey began.The box had remained unopened for years.Now, it whispered to him.The he
Chapter 169 - Not here for the court
Thea’s thoughts were already unraveling, tangled in disbelief and reluctant curiosity as she stood just outside the Imperial Hall. Her fists were clenched behind her back. Her knuckles were pale beneath her black gloves. From the moment Alex revealed the Phoenix Seal to the time the Crown Prince had dismissed her objections without hesitation, her emotions had been lurching in directions she didn’t like.And now, this.As Alex followed the Crown Prince deeper into the Imperial Garden Pavilion, his eyes flicked briefly toward Thea, not with smugness, not with triumph, but with a knowing calm that somehow grated on her more than arrogance ever would.She stayed behind in the hallway, but a whispering palace aide lingered at the curve of the hallway, catching her attention with words that hit her like a slap."Did you hear? The Divine Physician and His Highness met before. In the city. At a bar of all places."Thea's breath caught.At a bar?She strode after them without permission.***
Chapter 168 - Princess Serena
Thea Walton’s boots echoed sharply across the white jade tiles of the east wing. Her cloak, bearing the golden sigil of Mericania’s War God, billowed behind her like a storm front. Every palace servant she passed instinctively stepped aside. Her presence demanded it. Her fury announced it.Moments earlier, she’d been in the Royal Infirmary, standing beside the unconscious figure of her grandfather, Lord Thor Walton. The Royal Physician had been explaining the lack of progress with a carefully worded diagnosis, trying to avoid admitting defeat.Then the whisper came.“General Walton,” a young eunuch had said, bowing deeply. “Forgive the interruption, but… a man from the outer court gained access through the East Gate. He used a Phoenix Seal. The Imperial Guards escorted him into the side court and offered him hospitality.”The tea cup in Thea’s hand shattered.“A what?” she hissed.“A Phoenix Seal, my lady,” the eunuch replied, trembling. “Confirmed by Elder Xu himself. The court recog