Damien's eyes stung. His vision shimmered and bent under the assault of the light's aftershock. He stumbled, his boot scraping across the battered cloudstone, his spear trembling in his hand.
The air itself had grown hostile. Every breath scraped his lungs raw. The light didn't just shine, it sought, threading into the marrow of his bones and testing the limits of his elemental fusion.
His mind raced, even as his body began to collapse inward.
This wasn't just a powerful opponent.
Wu Jinhai was a revelation.
No cultivator Damien had ever fought, no beast, no general, no monster, no chosen child of fate, had ever made him feel like this. Not even the undying mecha tyrants or the awakened abyssal fiends of the battlefield. Those had been storms, threats, disasters.
Wu Jinhai was a truth.
And that truth was terrifyingly simple.
Damien was not yet ready.
Not for this level.
