The system window hovered faintly before his eyes.
[
System Resumed. Welcome back, User.
Status Update:• Affinity Sync (Obsidian Flame): 8%
• Affinity Sync (Null Echo): 3%
• Soul Integrity: 69%
• Body Compatibility: 61%
• Cultivation Rank: 5th Stage Qi Gathering Realm
• Core Activation Path: Unlocked (Still Unready)
• Tournament Countdown: 5 Days
]
Andras stared at it for a long time. Then said aloud:
"Shut down Null Echo path. I don't have time."
The system responded immediately.
Null Echo Path suspended. Progress preserved.
It was a clean break. No hesitation. Not even a moment of doubt.
He had five days.
Five days to leap a mountain that took others years to scale.
So he narrowed his entire existence to two things:
Cultivation.Obsidian Flame.
Day One: The Fire Beneath His Skin
He slept for only four hours that first night, his body coiled like a drawn bow. When he awoke, he didn't stretch. Didn't yawn. He sat cross-legged on the floor and summoned the system interface.
Core Pressure Resistance: 92%Qi Circulation Flow: 146%
Every movement, every breath, every cycle was designed for efficiency. He didn't meditate with passive intent—he followed a brutal pattern the system had optimized for him. Compress. Pulse. Refract. Stretch. Over and over, until his Qi no longer seeped through his veins like a gentle stream—but roared like a tide restrained by unbreaking steel.
By nightfall, he broke through to the 6th Stage of Qi Gathering.
Update: Cultivation Rank - Mid 5th → Late 6thBody Compatibility: 66%Soul Integrity: 69%
He barely noticed the pain. He ignored the tremble in his fingers. Ignored the blood that ran from his nose once, wiped away with a sleeve that was never changed.
He was focused.
Day Two: Fire Finds Fuel
The next day was worse—and that made it better.
At noon, the system issued a soft ding.
[
System Alert: Chaotic Qi Simulation Available.User has not found a source of chaotic Qi. One-time simulation granted via internal spiritual duplication. Caution: Spiritual strain possible.
]
"Do it," Andras said before the warning even finished.
What followed felt like drowning in electricity.
The air didn't shimmer. The world didn't shake.
But his soul did.
His vision blurred. His chest buckled inward like a paper cup. Pressure drilled into the back of his head, blooming into white noise. He couldn't tell if he was screaming.
He kept cultivating anyway.
Soul Integrity: 69% → 64%Obsidian Flame Sync: 8% → 17%New Trait Unlocked: Flame Within – Slight regeneration when burning internal Qi.
He collapsed onto the floor after twenty-seven minutes of uninterrupted chaos.
His mouth was dry. His hands trembled. His breath came shallow and erratic.
He passed out for three hours.
Then got back up.
Day Three: Burn Through It
He stopped eating full meals. A few steamed buns. Water. Just enough to function.
His body was shutting down.
He felt it in his joints, in the pain behind his eyes.
The system began issuing warnings:
[
WARNING: Qi depletion symptoms detected.*Training efficiency reduced by 31%. Suggest rest or recalibration.*
]
Andras ignored it.
He wasn't trying to be smart.
He was trying to survive.
But the system—designed to prevent fatal overtraining—eventually shut down all active cultivation pathways by force.
Training functions temporarily locked. Estimated cooldown: 12 hours.
For a moment, Andras sat frozen.
Then his lips curled.
He opened the [Skills] tab.
There it was:
Skill: Minor Healing Function – 1/9 Consume Qi to rapidly heal fatigue, nerve damage, and micro-tears.
Efficiency: 32%
Cooldown: 4 hours.
Caution: Overuse may lead to internal Qi rot.
He didn't care.
When he finally let himself sleep that night, he activated it—twice while unconscious.
By the time he woke up, his body was sore, but functional.
Healing Log:Muscle micro-fractures repaired. Core pressure stabilized. Fatigue level: Mild.
He got back to work immediately.
That night, he broke into the 8th Stage.
Cultivation Rank: Late 6th → Late 8th Stage Qi GatheringObsidian Flame Sync: 17% → 23%
Day Four: Obsidian Flame Awakens
His system interface now pulsed with heat.
Not metaphorical—not imagined. There was an actual warmth behind the blue of the screen, like it had begun to radiate from within him. From the Obsidian Flame.
Obsidian Flame Sync: 23% → 26%New Trait Unlocked: Flame Grip – Close-range attack. Burns corruption and Qi pathways on contact.
He held out his hand.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A black spark.
Not red, not orange. Black as shadow, flickering like the afterimage of a flame burned into the back of one's eyes.
It hovered above his palm like a held breath. No heat. No light.
But it felt… dangerous.
He thrust it forward.
It vanished with a soft hum—but the wooden floor smoked where his fingers had pointed.
A single charred handprint remained. Burned through the lacquer. Deep.
He smiled for the first time in days.
Not wide.
Not warm.
But real.
Status Report: Night Before the Tournament
By the time he finally stopped, the system interface was glowing with quiet awe.
Status Panel:
• Name: Andras Le
• Core Alignment: ZERO
• Cultivation Rank: Peak 9th Stage Qi Gathering Realm
• Body Compatibility: 72% (High-Stress Recovery Loop Active)
• Soul Integrity: 64%
• Obsidian Flame Sync: 26%
• Trait Unlocks: - Embersteel Focus - Obsidian Fortress - Flame Within - Flame Grip
Core Activation Readiness: 88%
Warning: Full activation before tournament not advised. Suggest further stabilizing core pathways.
Andras sat, legs trembling beneath him.
He had done it.
From 3rd Stage to Peak 9th in just under five days.
It wasn't supposed to be possible.
No manuals described such growth.
No elder would even believe it.
It had taken everything: his sleep, his stability, pieces of his soul.
He was no longer sure if he was Andras or John.
Sometimes he felt like both. Other times, like neither.
But he was something else now.
Someone new.
Someone dangerous.
He flexed his hand again, and the black flame sparked. Only for a heartbeat—but it was there. A weapon no one knew he had.
System Prompt: Bloodroot Arena Begins in 12 Hours.
Objective: Survive the Initiation Round.
Current Threat Assessment: HIGH
Recommended Strategy: Unknown. Variables outside system parameters.
Andras leaned back against the cold wall, his body still aching in places healing couldn't fully reach.
He let out a tired breath.
"I'm happy," he whispered. "But I'm not satisfied."
He had done more in five days than most did in five years.
But surviving the tournament?
That wasn't enough anymore.
He wanted to do more than crawl out of the arena alive.
He wanted to walk out unchallenged.
Not because they let him.
But because they couldn't stop him.