The shattered glass from the executive boardroom windows crunching beneath Grant Cross’s heavy work boots was the only sound left on the 40th floor.
He didn’t spare another glance at his cousin Bradley, who was still hyperventilating on the wet marble floor, clutching his plastered arm in absolute terror.
Grant stepped back into the private elevator, his broad shoulders relaxed as the steel doors slid shut with a smooth, rhythmic hum.
He tapped the button for the underground parking garage.
The corporate tower was secure for now, but Grant knew the chess board had just grown significantly larger.
By taking back the northern harbor and freezing Bradley’s corporate assets, he hadn’t just slapped his cousin—he had stepped directly on the tail of the Ghost Hand Sect, the corrupt underworld syndicate that secretly controlled the city’s illegal shipping lanes.
« SYSTEM ATTRIBUTE EVALUATION »
• Host Status: Stable / Stage 2 Evolution Consolidated
• Unassigned Stat Points Available: +5 Points
• Current Combat Strength: 1,800
• Tactical Warning: High-density tracking signatures detected in the immediate metropolitan area.
The elevator doors opened to the dimly lit, concrete expanse of the basement garage.
The air down here was thick with the scent of stagnant dampness and exhaust fumes.
Grant stepped out, his golden pupils automatically casting a faint glow in the shadows as his sensory network expanded.
He didn’t rush.
He walked calmly toward a dark corner of the garage, his boots echoing sharply against the concrete pillars.
“You’ve been following my energy trail since I left the docks,” Grant said, his voice entirely soft, yet carrying an unnatural, vibrating resonance that bounced off the low ceiling.
“Stop hiding in the dark like a dog waiting for scraps.
Step out.”
A low, mocking chuckle drifted from behind a massive concrete pillar twenty meters away.
A shadow separated itself from the darkness.
A tall, slender man stepped into the dim fluorescent light, wearing a tailored charcoal suit that contrasted heavily with the deep, toxic purple aura pulsing around his hands.
His eyes were completely void of emotion, dead black, and a jagged scar ran down the left side of his neck.
Over his head, Grant’s system interface flashed an aggressive, warning color block.
« HIGH-RISK HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED »
• Identity: Commander Kaelen (Head of Enforcement, Ghost Hand Sect)
• Cultivation Realm: Tier 1: Iron Body (Stage 9 – Half-Step Tier 2)
• Current Enemy Combat Strength: 1,150
• Hostile Intent: 100% (Sent to retrieve the Master Code and eliminate the variable) This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Impressive,” Commander Kaelen said, his voice smooth and dripping with casual arrogance.
“A simple dock worker who managed to awaken a primitive domain and break Bradley’s useless guards.
No wonder the third elder didn’t report back from the harbor tonight.
You killed him, didn’t you?”
Grant didn’t answer.
He simply watched the man with absolute indifference.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kaelen sneered, clicking his tongue as the toxic purple mist around his hands began to condense into sharp, metallic claws.
“A Stage 2 stray is still just a stray.
You think your little 4-million-dollar stunt inside the boardroom makes you the king of this city?
To the true masters of the Iron Shroud, you are nothing but an ant holding a gold coin.”
Kaelen took a sharp martial stance, the concrete beneath his leather dress shoes freezing over with a purple, corrosive frost as his internal energy meridians flared to their absolute limit.
“Hand over the black card and your spatial ring, boy,” Kaelen hissed, his combat strength surging by another fifty points as he prepared his lethal technique.
“Do it now, and I will leave your corpse intact for your family to bury.”
Grant slowly reached into his canvas jacket, but he didn’t pull out the titanium card.
Instead, his fingers wrapped around the leather hilt of the Basic Mortal Sword he had looted from Elder Baltis.
The moment his skin touched the handle, the system interface flashed a real-time modification grid across the blade.
« SYSTEM WEAPON SYNCHRONIZATION »
• Equipping: Basic Mortal Sword (Tier 1 Steel)
• Base Durability: 100 / 100
• Attack Modifier: +50 Piercing Force
• Dragon Qi Channeling: Ready.
(Current Host strength attribute allows for 100% efficiency conversion)
The standard steel blade hummed violently, a brilliant line of golden draconic energy bleeding from Grant’s palm straight down the center groove of the sword.
The weapon, which was originally a dull grey, transformed into a weapon of radiant gold, the air pressure around the edge of the blade vibrating so intensely that the concrete floor beneath it began to turn to dust.
Commander Kaelen’s arrogant expression shattered instantly.
His pupils dilated in sheer horror as he felt the baseline 1,800 Combat Strength pouring out of Grant’s body.
“A…
a Tier 1 weapon channeled with pure Sovereign Qi?!” Kaelen stammered, his legs physically locking up as Grant’s Sovereign Pressure slammed down onto the garage like a falling meteor.
“You’re not a Stage 2 stray…
Who the hell are you?!”
He didn’t use a flashy, complex martial sequence.
Moving with his 120 Agility, Grant’s physical body completely blurred, vanishing from Kaelen’s sight in a fraction of a millisecond.
“Too fast—!” Kaelen gasped, frantically spinning around to defend his blind spot as his toxic purple mist erupted into a desperate defensive shield.
But it was already too late.
Grant materialized directly behind the commander, his golden pupils entirely cold as his right arm moved in a clean, vertical downward arc.
The golden-infused steel blade cut through the air with a terrifying, high-pressure screech.
SLASH!
The strike was absolute.
Grant’s 160 Strength combined with the sword’s piercing modifier didn’t just break through Kaelen’s Stage 9 defensive shield—it popped the toxic purple aura like a fragile balloon.
The golden blade sliced clean through the commander’s reinforced shoulder armor and buried itself deep into the concrete floor, spliting the ground open for twenty meters.
Kaelen didn’t even have time to scream.
The massive kinetic back-pressure of the dragon energy exploded inside his chest, shattering his internal meridians and launching his limp body across the parking garage.
He crashed violently into a support pillar, sliding down into a bloody heap, his Stage 9 cultivation completely destroyed in a single second.
« SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: COMBAT CONCLUDED »
• Target Defeated: Commander Kaelen (Stage 9 Elite)
• Experience Points Gained: +900 EXP
• Current Experience Progress: 1,100 / 2,000 (Level Up Milestone Met!)
• Automated Prompt: Host has enough experience to advance to Stage 3.
Initialize now?
[YES / NO]
Grant casually flicked his wrist, clearing the remaining traces of purple blood from the golden steel blade before sliding the sword back into his inner coat.
He looked down at the unconscious, ruined commander with an expression of pure, unbothered calm.
“Stage 9,” Grant muttered, checking the slight steam rising from the cracked concrete beneath his feet.
“Still just an insect.”
He walked past the broken body, moving toward the garage exit.
The low-level enforcers of the city had tried to contain him, but with his leveling loop scaling exponentially, the cage was already broken.
The true hidden lords of the Ghost Hand Sect were going to have to step out of the shadows themselves if they wanted to stop the dragon from reclaiming his throne.
Grant has officially gathered enough experience to hit Stage 3 and unlock the Spatial Vault!
What kind of god-tier skills will he find inside the system inventory next?