Imperial Martial Academy – Midnight, Garden of Tranquil Blades
The moon bathed the courtyard in silver. A light mist clung to the moss-covered stones. Most of the academy slept.
But Ashen Vale was not among them.
He moved silently beneath the cherry blossom trees, barefoot, copying the low stances detailed in the scroll. Sweat clung to his back. His breathing was steady, controlled. The Flowstep had begun to take shape. His movements no longer dragged — they glided, cut, and rebounded like a serpent through fog.
Then the wind changed.
Snap.
A branch cracked.
Ashen's instincts screamed. He pivoted—too slow.
A blur of black cloth surged from the shadows — a dagger gleaming with poison. The assassin moved fast. Too fast for a Body Tempering student.
Ashen twisted just enough to avoid a fatal strike, the blade grazing his shoulder. Blood spilled.
"Target confirmed," whispered a voice beneath the assassin's mask. "Orders from the Vann family. Make it clean."
Ashen's mind raced. No time to think.
Manual Response Detected...
Critical Danger: Emergency Unlock Enabled
The scroll hidden beneath his robes burned red. His body trembled. And then—
A new page exploded open in his mind like a thunderclap.
Stone Pulse Breathing – UNLOCKED
"Breathe through the spine. Anchor the soul to the marrow. Harden the blood."
Effect: Enhanced stamina recovery, minor wound sealing, pain suppression
Ashen felt heat rush through his chest. The bleeding slowed. His vision sharpened.
The fear vanished.
The assassin lunged again — low and precise. Ashen stepped aside with Flowstep, just barely evading the strike. He felt the dagger pass within a breath of his ribs.
He countered.
Not with technique. Not with finesse.
But with a punch.
A punch born of months pounding stone.
A punch fueled by raw will.
CRACK.
The assassin flew back, slamming into the stone lantern with a groan. Mask cracked. Blood on the ground.
Ashen didn't wait.
He limped forward, each step a hammer to his legs, and drove his elbow into the assassin's throat. The man gagged and slumped, unconscious.
Ashen collapsed against a tree, heart thundering, blood dripping from his side.
The scroll whispered again:
"You are hunted now. But good. Only in blood does iron become steel."
Elsewhere…
Gareth Vann stood beneath the academy's inner walls, arms folded, as another assassin stepped from the shadows.
"Failed?"
The man bowed. "Not entirely. The boy fights like an animal. No signs of qi, but…"
"But?"
"…he broke a third-rank assassin's jaw with one hit."
Gareth's eyes narrowed. "Then send two next time."
Deep underground, far from the academy…
In a chamber of sealed jade, an old man opened his eyes. His senses had brushed something ancient. Something… once thought lost.
"The Worldbreaker breathes again…"
"Find him. Before the Empire does."