Time flowed silently onward.
For Su Yu, the following week was both hell and a crucible for forging a new self.
The back mountain of Cloudtop Manor in District A, once a picturesque garden, now reeked of blood and death. From dawn till dusk, the roars of feral beasts and the clang of metal never ceased.
Su Yu's progress was nothing short of astonishing.
He had gone from struggling against early E-grade Ironclad Porcupines to single-handedly slaying mid-E-grade Gale Wolves, and now...
The setting sun painted the clearing on the back mountain crimson.
Huff... huff...
Su Yu stood shirtless, his once pale skin now a healthy bronze. Though his muscles weren't as exaggerated as a bodybuilder's, each one seemed to pulse with explosive power.
His body was covered in scars, large and small—badges of his growth.
Opposite him crouched a feral beast with crimson fur ablaze, its throat emitting a low, menacing growl.
A Crimson Flame Demon Fox!
This terrifying creature was on the verge of reaching D-grade. Not only did it possess astonishing speed, but its cunning vertical pupils even hinted at a human-like intelligence.
"Come!"
Su Yu gripped his alloy battle blade, now riddled with chips and notches, his eyes as cold as ice.
After a week of grueling training, the scholarly air that had once clung to him had vanished completely, replaced by a chilling aura of murderous intent.
Whoosh!
The Crimson Flame Demon Fox moved.
Instead of charging straight ahead, it propelled itself forward with a powerful leap from its hind legs, transforming into a crimson blur that left afterimages in its wake.
Exploiting the terrain, it bounded off tree trunks and boulders, its movements erratic and unpredictable, as if three foxes were attacking simultaneously from different angles!
"So fast!"
Su Yu's pupils contracted slightly.
This fox was twice as fast as the Gale Wolf he had faced before!
A sharp gust of wind slammed into his face.
A claw as sharp as a dagger materialized silently beside Su Yu's left throat.
A week ago, Su Yu would have been dead by now.
But now...
Without even turning his head, Su Yu felt the chaotic vortex in his dantian begin to spin violently.
Every shift in the surrounding air currents, every fluctuation in temperature, even the faintest ripple of killing intent emanating from the Crimson Fox—all registered with perfect clarity in his mind.
His upper body arched backward at an impossible angle!
Shriek!
The claw grazed his nose, severing a few strands of hair.
In that life-or-death moment, Su Yu didn't retreat. Instead, he seized the Crimson Fox's momentary paralysis—the instant between its old strength fading and new strength surging.
"Got you," Su Yu said, a cold smirk curling his lips.
His body, which had been leaning backward, snapped upright like a spring. His left hand formed a claw, not to strike directly, but to grasp at the empty air above the Crimson Fox's abdomen.
Buzz!
An invisible black hole seemed to materialize in the air.
The Crimson Fox, which had been about to change direction and flee, suddenly felt its qi and blood stagnate, its movements slowing by a fraction of a beat.
It let out a terrified shriek.
"Too late!" Su Yu roared, his right hand already poised with his long blade. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The sea-like qi and blood within his body surged into the blade, causing a faint golden halo to shimmer along its edge.
Sky-Piercing Blade, Second Form: Po Jun!
This strike abandoned extreme speed in favor of overwhelming momentum. A thousand armies, I shall cleave them all with a single blade!
Boom!
The blade descended like a falling meteor, tearing through the air with a thunderous roar.
The Crimson Fox desperately swung its claws to parry, but against Su Yu's monstrous strength—amplified by his Chaos Body—its resistance was as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Crack! Splatter!
The sickening sound of bones shattering echoed through the air.
The Crimson Fox's claws were severed in a single strike. The blade's momentum carried through, slashing diagonally from its shoulder and pinning it to the ground.
Blood gushed forth, staining half of Su Yu's body crimson.
The Crimson Fox twitched twice, its eyes rapidly losing their light before its body went still and cold.
Su Yu remained in his downward-slashing stance, his chest heaving violently.
He slowly withdrew his longsword, gazing at the corpse on the ground. The thrill of conquering a formidable foe surged through him, making him want to roar in triumph.
"Even a near-D-grade feral beast... I can kill it!"
Clap, clap, clap.
On a nearby lounge chair, Su Wu set down his teacup and clapped softly.
"Not bad. You've learned to harness the Chaos Body. The final strike of 'Po Jun' carried seventy percent of its true power. This week's training wasn't wasted."
Su Wu's voice remained languid, but his eyes couldn't hide his pride.
In just seven days, Su Yu had transformed from a bookish student into a warrior capable of slaying cunning feral beasts beyond his rank. Such talent was truly terrifying.
No wonder he inherited his mother's gift.
Just as Su Wu was about to rise and hand his son a towel, that familiar system notification chimed in his mind like heavenly music:
Ding! System detected that descendant Su Yu has experienced dozens of life-or-death battles within the past week, resulting in a significant improvement in combat skills, now at the 'Mastery' level!
Father-Son Glory System assessment: Descendant's skills have advanced. Host receives critical feedback!
Congratulations, Host! Combat skill realm breakthrough achieved—Microscopic level!
Boom!
Su Wu felt as if a bolt of lightning had cleaved through the chaos in his mind.
An indescribable warmth surged from Su Wu's dantian, instantly coursing through his limbs and every part of his body.
But this warmth didn't strengthen his physical body; instead, it enhanced his perception and control.
The world had transformed in his eyes.
What had once seemed like mere "air" now decomposed into countless microscopic currents. The trajectory of a distant falling leaf slowed to the pace of a slide show, allowing him to predict exactly where it would land on the ground in a few seconds.
The energy flow within every inch of his muscles, every strand of fascia, and even every cell was now completely under his control.
Microscopic!
This was a realm that countless martial artists spent their entire lives striving for, yet few ever touched.
The so-called Microscopic realm represented the pinnacle of power control.
One unit of force could be wielded with tenfold efficiency; he could anticipate his opponent's moves before they even began; he could pass through a sea of flowers without a single petal clinging to him.
Su Wu instinctively reached out, his two fingers gently pinching a drifting speck of dust in mid-air.
"So this is... the Microscopic realm?"
If before he had possessed the raw power of the Martial King Realm but wielded it like a child with a sledgehammer, relying solely on brute force, now he was like a surgeon with a scalpel, capable of dissecting any opponent with precision.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Su Yu asked, wiping blood from his face as he noticed his father standing there in a daze, his fingers still frozen in an odd gesture.
Su Wu snapped out of his reverie and flicked the dust from his fingertips. "Nothing," he replied, tucking his hands behind his back. He gazed at his son, radiating a palpable aura of killing intent, and chuckled. "I'm just deeply gratified by your rapid progress. It seems I'll have to work harder myself, or I won't be able to keep you, you little monster, in check much longer."
"Heh, Dad, don't be so modest," Su Yu said, scratching his head. "The stronger I get, the more I realize how vast the gap between us truly is." Even though he could now kill the Crimson Fox, he still felt like he was facing an insurmountable mountain when standing before his father.
"Alright, enough flattery," Su Wu said, tossing him a bottle of restorative fluid. "Drink this."
Meanwhile, at the City Lord's Manor in the heart of Azurewave Base City, the usually dignified and solemn office of City Lord Pan Hong was now suffocating under an oppressive atmosphere.
As the highest authority in Azurewave City, Grandmaster Pan Hong stood trembling beside his desk like a misbehaving schoolboy, his forehead slick with cold sweat.
Seated in his leather chair, a symbol of his power, was a middle-aged man dressed in a white, antique-style robe. The man's features were delicate and refined, his slender fingers slowly toying with Pan Hong's most cherished jade paperweight.
This was Liu Yun, the special envoy from the Jiangnan Great Base—a Martial King Realm cultivator at his peak!
"Your Excellency, Special Envoy, this... this is how it happened," Pan Hong said, swallowing hard. His voice dry and strained, he recounted the events that had transpired at First High School that day, leaving out no detail.
He described Su Wu's airborne arrival, how he had crushed Wang Heng with a single stomp, how he had casually killed Deputy Commander Wang Meng, and how Pan Hong himself had "endured humiliation" to offer compensation...
He dared not conceal a single word, nor embellish the truth in any way. For he knew that this special envoy from Jiangnan Main City could crush him even more easily than Su Wu had.
As Pan Hong finished his report, Liu Yun's hand froze mid-motion.
Crack.
The priceless jade paperweight in his hand shattered into dust, the fragments slipping through his fingers.
Pan Hong's heart clenched.
"Martial King?" Liu Yun tilted his head, a flicker of interest sparking in his narrow eyes, a playful curve tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Intriguing. Who would have thought this backwater Azurewave Base City would harbor a hidden dragon? Su Wu... the disgraced genius Master from twenty years ago?"
"It seems he's stumbled upon some extraordinary opportunity. Not only has he recovered from his injuries, but he's also turned misfortune into blessing, breaking through to the Martial King Realm."
Liu Yun's voice remained soft, yet it carried a chilling undercurrent of murderous intent.
"Special Envoy..." Pan Hong ventured cautiously, "Su Wu is indeed quite formidable, and fiercely protective of his own. The Wang Family's branch this time... has truly kicked an iron plate. Do you think we should... perhaps reconsider?"
"Reconsider?" Liu Yun shot Pan Hong a sidelong glance, his gaze plunging the city lord into an icy abyss.
"City Lord Pan, have you been stuck in this backwater for so long that your mind has rusted?"
Liu Yun stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the steel city below. His voice was as cold as water:
"Wang Heng and Wang Meng were useless trash. Their deaths mean nothing. The Wang Clan Main Branch has countless such peripheral branches; we wouldn't even flinch if ten thousand of them died."
"But..."
Liu Yun's tone shifted abruptly, and a terrifying pressure instantly filled the room, making Pan Hong's knees buckle. He nearly collapsed to the floor.
"Even when punishing a dog, one must consider its master."
"Su Wu killing them would have been one thing, but his public humiliation of the Wang Family and his blatant disregard for our authority were unforgivable!"
"If the Jiangnan Wang Clan allows a mere Martial King from the countryside to trample our dignity without retaliation, how can we continue to rule over the hundreds of millions of citizens in Jiangnan?"
Liu Yun turned to face Pan Hong, a cruel glint in his eyes.
"Though the Wang Clan Patriarch remains in seclusion, he has issued his decree: Canglan Base City has no need for Martial Kings. Especially... disobedient ones."
Pan Hong's heart froze with terror.
This meant... a fight to the death!
"Then... when does the special envoy plan to act?" Pan Hong asked, his voice trembling.
"There's no rush."