He slamd into rock on the far end and slid down like a squashed bug.
"Senior!" Luo Min’s voice was thin, scorched. "The roots—"
"Don’t drop the babies," he said, and then his domain shivered.
A third figure, lower on the fin and unseen until now, flicked a knifeblade of pure heat sideways.
Victor sent out Invisible hands of qi, slapping the blade out of trajectory before it could make contact.
The knife shaved his robe instead of his gut, and then he vanished.
With shadow blink, he reappeared behind the third one.
"Frost Bloom Palm!" He thrust an icy palm forward, slamming into the masked woman’s back.
She swept forward and spun repeatedly.
Behind him, the first man had clawed up with a shocked expression.
"He’s only a Nascent Soul Realm like us... why is he so strong?" Thr man whispered in disbelief as he tried to flee.
Victor flicked two fingers, conjuring a void thread that was naked to the invisible eye.
The man felt his leg heavily collide with sothing the mont he took a step forward, sending him tumbling to the ground the second ti.
"Nas," Victor voiced with a conversational tone as if they were at tea and not in an oven. "Who hired you? Don’t say ’no one.’ You don’t risk your eyeballs for four stalks unless soone’s paying very well."
"I am Fen Min, This is Wu Min and Shen Min," the first man voiced while pointing at the other two.
"We’re just hired hands... a rchant wanted the fire Sprouting stalks for his daughter. We couldn’t let it get into the hands of soone else," he added.
Victor sighed and turned to Luo Min to see if she was fine.
The roots were intact and her lips were cracked due to the intensity of the heat but her gaze was steady. She looked at him without flinching.
"You did well," he said to her. "On three you’re going to hand the two, tuck two inside your sash, and we’re going to leave in. One. Two—"
The second man, Shen Min swiftly jumped to his feet and threw out a handful of black powder that burned blue when it touched air.
Victor snapped his fingers and the air inside his domain flipped, causing the powder to blow back into the man’s mask.
He coughed and choked while holding his neck.
The girl Wu Min quickly knelt before him and put a pill in his mouth.
"That," Victor stated, "is retribution..."
He proceeded to squat before Shen Min and took two stalks out of his sash before walking back towards Luo Min.
He grabbed her and and Shadow Blink twice away from view.
Soon they arrived where the others were located and Nie Lan’s activated the cooling technique again and the disciples breathed like drowning people finding air.
"Luo Min," Zhang Rui said while reaching for her; "sit. Water, small sips."
She obeyed for once, easing to the stone with the stalks mothered against her belly.
Victor kept his eyes on the fin. The masked trio hadn’t followed. Smart. He’d left them with enough bruises and a very clear story to tell.
If they had a boss, the boss would hear it and either get cautious or get ambitious. Either way, Victor didn’t care.
"Senior," ng Xinyi voiced with both relief and anger, "who were they?"
"People who like money more than eyeballs." Victor crouched and set the two stalks down like babies in a cradle.
He turned the roots so the little hairs didn’t tangle. "Hired hands. The Red Furnace borders aren’t ours; sect lines blur, and herbs don’t carry brand marks. Soone with coin puts word out; the masks fetch."
Yao Lin bristled. "We should have killed them."
"You an I should have killed them. There was no point. Luo Min is safe," Victor pointed out.
He looked over the group.
"Count," he said. "How many did we get?"
"Twelve," Nie Lan said promptly. "Eight for refining at the hall, Four for contribution."
...
...
Days Later, they returned to the sect.
The mission clerk stared at the bundle as if soone had dropped a dragon on his counter. "Twelve? In one outing?"
"Luo Min has sticky hands," Victor said gravely.
The clerk spluttered, then laughed where he wasn’t supposed to, and stamped the slips so hard the ink nearly tore the paper.
The juniors drifted off in clumps, clutching their reward slips like festival lanterns. So would go straight to the pill hall, hands greedy and hopeful; so would fall over on their mats and sleep until their nas were shouted. Luo Min paused at the edge of the square and turned back.
"Senior Fang," she voiced roughly, "thank you for everything."
"You are welco," he said solemnly. "Let’s do this again so ti... never?"
Luo Min made a noise like a wounded ox. "Senior!"
Victor grinned, then sobered enough to add, "You were good. Next ti, you can be great without the screaming."
"That was a tactical scream," Luo Min yelled and he barked a laugh.
...
...
That sa night, Victor exhaled slowly as he sat cross-legged on the jade-matted floor of his core disciple quarters.
The light of three moons filtered through the windows, reflecting on his slightly sweaty face. A successful escort mission under his belt, fresh disciples safe, and the fire sprouting stalk now secured in the hands of the sect.
He had successfully completed one of the two annual missions expected of a Core Disciple.
A system prompt blinked across his vision, detailing the rewards he’d earned:
> [Core Mission Completion – Escort Duty]
• Contribution Points: 12,000
• Sect Reputation: 3
• Additional Reward: Customizable Qi Compression Elixir ×3
• Promotion Eligibility Unlocked (Requires 2nd Core Mission Completion)
Victor acknowledged the ssage and let it fade.
"One more to go," he muttered, then swiped away.
But rather than taking on another mission imdiately, he decided he would log off and train in the real world.
After all, it had been several days since he arrived at his premium real-world accommodation, and he hadn’t used it to its full potential.
---
[Real World – Mana-Fused Underwater Cityscape, Private Sector of Awakened Academy]
Victor opened his eyes and took off the neural headset.
The scent of high-tech polish and disinfected mana panels greeted his nose.
The marvellously crafted room with incredibly smooth floors, echo-resistant walls, arcane lighting that adjusted to his mood, and an artificial mana temperature that could be customized with a thought all surrounded him.
And also a lot of the mana perks were wasted on him since he couldn’t use an ounce of mana, he still didn’t mind.
He could now play Ascendant Realms whenever he wanted which was training in itself.
So long as he had that freedom, there was no doubt that he’d continue to improve.
He walked across the black-tiled floor to a wall rack, and grabbed his legacy weapon.
The four feet long blade encased, had warm electric currents frizzing through his limbs the mont he lifted it.
He’d been trying to figure out how to activate its hidden perk, but so far, nothing had worked.
"Ti to get serious."
---
[Private Training Sector – S-Rank Facility]
Victor stepped into a wide hexagonal chamber. This was a private training field.
It was up to hundred feet of simulated open terrain layered with high-durability impact tiles, a defensive mana do overhead, and a full arsenal of test dummies, mana-based targets, and weight-enhancing constructs.
The mont he entered, the door sealed behind him. A glowing console floated near the wall, awaiting his command.
Victor spoke out loud: "Level 4 resistance field. Combat feedback active. Weapon sync enabled."
> [Acknowledged. Training Environnt Calibrated.]
His blade snapped into his hand with a magnetic hiss, and Victor rolled his shoulders.
He slowly launched into a basic stance of the Lingyun Martial Arts.
His footwork turned swift as his body beca fluid like water, but sturdy as a mountain with every pivot.
He transitioned into a spin, activating Phantom Mirage Steps and leaving a bunch of afterimages in his trail.
In the next step, he accumulated qi in his throat as his chest swelled.
"Dragon’s Breath."
A spiraling torrent of crimson fla erupted from his mouth, taking the form of a roaring dragon head.
It slamd into the dummy thirty ters away, exploding with concussive force. The impact distorted the air, sending simulated wind pressure rippling across the room.
A defensive layer activated as the dummy’s armor lit up blue but it shattered after a second.
Victor frowned.
"Still not enough output. In the ga, this would’ve blown it in one shot."
There was no doubt about it... for reasons unknown, he couldn’t use as much power as he did in the ga.
He had always known this but expected that by now he’d be able to use his full strength.
He didn’t stop. He dashed forward, twisted in mid air with Wind Glide, pulled a double-jump maneuver and slashed downward mid-air.
"Gale Strike!"
A violent wave of compressed wind energy roared from his blade, cleaving through a wall of newly summoned tal constructs.
He landed with barely a sound as sweat clung to his brow.
"Again."
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