On the training grounds, a particularly volatile situation was brewing.
In the hours following the tense confrontation between the Duke and the General, word of the Royal Army's "request" had spread like wildfire among the Duke's soldiers. Many now viewed the newly arrived army not as allies, but as predators.
They feared for their wives and children, and a palpable tension began to develop between the two camps, transforming the castle courtyard into a powder keg waiting for a spark.
A small group of the Duke's soldiers, their faces grim, approached a Royal Army man who was loudly boasting to his comrades.
"Let's have a spar," one of the Duke's men said, his voice low and challenging.
The royal soldier turned, a mocking smirk spreading across his face. "You? You want to spar with me, country boy?"
"Unless you don't have the balls for it," the Duke's man retorted.
The smirk vanished. "What did you just say to me?"
"You heard me, eunuch."
"I'll fucking kill you!" the royal soldier roared, drawing his sword with a sharp rasp of steel.
"Bring it on, asshole!" the Duke's man yelled, drawing his own weapon in response.
With a deafening CLANG, their swords crashed together. Both men moved with practiced familiarity, their footwork and parries belonging to the same orthodox style: the kingdom's standard martial arts.
Commander Lionex, witnessing the scene from across the courtyard, immediately strode over to intervene.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the clang of steel.
Both soldiers froze, their blades locked together.
"We were just sparring, Commander," his man said, breathing heavily.
"You call that a spar?" Lionex shot back, his eyes blazing. "It looked like you were going for the kill!"
Just then, another figure arrived, the crowd of soldiers parting before him. It was the General, sitting leisurely atop his warhorse.
"Let them be, Commander," the General said, his voice calm and dismissive.
"What?!" Lionex exclaimed, turning to face him.
"We have a great battle ahead of us. Let the men blow off some steam," the General continued, a malicious glint in his eye. He then raised his voice, addressing the royal soldiers who were now gathering after their dinner. "The good Duke did not wish for us to be... amused... by the local hospitality, so we must find ways to amuse ourselves! Am I right, men?!"
A thunderous, jeering roar answered him.
"YES, GENERAL!"
"You—" Lionex started to say, but he cut himself off, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw ached.
"Now, now, Commander. Please don't anger yourself," the General said with a condescending smile. "We are still brothers-in-arms, after all. So, chin up." He paused, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Oh, and I forgot to ask. I assume the Duke keeps female slaves?"
"This bastard," Lionex thought, his rage boiling. "What about them?" he managed to ask through gritted teeth.
"Well, I haven't enjoyed female company in quite some time," the General said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "So, if you don't want my men to... ravage this lovely little castle of yours, please be so kind as to send a few to my chambers for the night."
"The Duke would have to approve such a request," Lionex stated, his voice cold as ice.
"I'm sure he will," the General replied with a final, dismissive smirk. And with that, he turned his horse and rode away, leaving Lionex trembling with fury.
"Inform the Duke of what just transpired," Lionex ordered one of his men, his eyes still locked on the rowdy royal soldiers. "I will remain here and keep watch over them." The soldier nodded and immediately ran toward the main keep.
Later that evening, the Duke approved the request. He did so with great reluctance, his heart heavy with shame, but he felt he had no other choice.
Fearing a revolt from the volatile Royal Army, he sent two female slaves, captives from a foreign nation, to the General's chambers.
He loathed himself for bowing to such a man after anticipating their help so eagerly, but he reasoned that sacrificing the slaves was a bitter price he had to pay to protect his own people from the General's depravity.
The evening passed under a cloud of great tension. Neither the Duke's men nor the royal soldiers closed an eye, each camp watching the other with suspicion and hostility.
Commander Lionex patrolled the castle grounds, a stoic guardian determined to uphold order, while the General amused himself with the slave women in his private tent.
Jin, however, was oblivious to it all, locked away in his room and lost in his cultivation. He had broken through to the fourth layer of the Bronze Stage with ease and now stood on the precipice of the fifth.
Reaching the fifth layer was a critical milestone. It meant his new body would finally be strong enough to withstand about ten percent of the "Wrath" he could channel in his past life. The power output would be a pale shadow of its former glory, but it would be enough to handle most mortal threats without suffering a backlash.
He had to break through to the fifth layer before the night was over.
"The sheer amount of energy in this body... it's immense!" Jin thought, a thrill running through him. "This vessel is a true marvel of cultivation! The pathways are so clean, so pure... they allow me to circulate energy at an incredible speed!"
He focused all his will on the raging torrent of power within him.
"Just... one... more... circulation," he growled through clenched teeth. As he spoke, his eyes began to shine with a dark, crimson light. A violent, blood-red aura—the manifestation of his WRATH—erupted from his body, swirling around him like a miniature hurricane.
He began to levitate, still locked in his lotus position, as the raw power forced him not just through the fifth layer, but through the sixth as well. With a final, explosive surge, the breakthrough was complete, and he fell back to the floor with a heavy thud.
He lay there for a moment, panting, his mind reeling. "Why... why was the circulation so fast all of a sudden?" he wondered aloud. "It seems... I broke through two layers at once."
A wide, unrestrained smile spread across his face, the first genuine expression of joy he had felt in this new life.
"It couldn't have gone better!"
After the dual breakthrough, a profound exhaustion settled over him. He finally allowed himself to crawl into bed, his body aching but his mind buzzing with excitement.
His goal of facing Arthur again, once a distant dream, now seemed closer than he had ever dared to imagine.
At that very same moment, in another wing of the castle, Kelly was also getting into bed. She wasn't exhausted from cultivation, but from the overwhelming flutter of new emotions.
As she drifted off to sleep, her thoughts were filled with the memory of the kiss and the simple, dizzying realization that she was in love.