The next day, Gu Yanshu woke up and looked around.
The sunlight was already in the room.
It was a clean morning, the kind that made the air feel open and quiet at the same time. He had slept for thirteen hours, which was longer than usual, but his body still got up without delay. He sat at the edge of the bed for a second, then stood, then walked out of the room and headed straight for the training hall.
Inside, his disciples were still training.
They were still moving their bodies through the same forms, still repeating the same steps, still pushing their qi through their limbs in the early light. Their clothes were damp with sweat. Their breathing was steady but tired. The yard already had that used-up feeling that comes after people have spent too many hours on the same stone ground without stopping.
Gu Yanshu looked at them for a moment and said, "You did not even sleep?"
They looked at him and answered that they had not slept at all.
Gu Yanshu did not complain.
He did not ask why they were still training.
He only watched them for a second longer, then walked out of the training hall and left Clock Family behind him.
Now he needed more disciples.
Now he knew it clearly.
He needed more people under him, more hands, more bodies, more minds that could train, survive, and grow with the sect. He looked up at the sun for a short while, then walked to the side of the yard where a tree stood alone.
He sat down near it.
Then he closed his eyes.
The tree was not an ordinary tree.
It was a golden tree.
That was why Gu Yanshu had come there in the first place. He had decided to refine it, to pull the power out of it and fold it into his own body. Golden trees were not normal. They carried a strange kind of force in them, and just looking at them made it easy to tell that they were special. They did not feel like normal wood, not normal roots, not normal leaves. They felt heavy in the air, like they were already holding power before anyone even touched them.
So Gu Yanshu began the refining.
It started slowly.
Then it kept going.
And going.
And going.
The golden tree did not resist in a loud way, but it did not give up easily either. The refining pushed through its layers little by little, and the hours passed one after another. The light changed above him. The shadows moved. The air got warmer, then softer, then dimmer again. The whole process lasted eighteen hours.
By the time it was done, Gu Yanshu was exhausted.
His body felt drained, but he still had something on his mind.
The Library of Learning.
He still wanted to go there and find the mysterious book again. He wanted to understand what had happened, what that book really was, and whether there was some hidden reason behind everything that had already started moving around him.
So he went back.
He entered the Library of Learning with the same calm face, though now his body was tired from the refining. The shelves were still there. The old air was still there. The books were still lined up neatly in their places, waiting for someone to open them.
Gu Yanshu moved through the shelves and picked up a golden book.
Nothing unnatural happened at first.
No shock. No scream. No strange pressure.
He opened the first page.
The first page was about the jungle.
Gu Yanshu started reading carefully.
The book said the jungle was indirectly connected to things that were lustful or strange or maybe something else hidden under the surface, but the jungle itself was not simply a place to enter without danger. It was dangerous, yes, but not in the same way most people thought. The jungle creator was not the Man of Power alone. The jungle creator was the Upper Man.
But it was not only one hand.
Nato and the Upper Man made it together.
They had built the jungle with a purpose. They wanted to make something beautiful, but also something that could still scare humans a little. They did not want to ruin human history, so they made the jungle in a way that balanced both joy and fear. This was almost like the beginning of Earth itself. Before even the dinosaurs, before the human age, the Upper Man and Nato had already shaped the jungle. Nato was the second Upper Man, or at least the first helper who stood close to the Upper Man and worked beside him.
Then more of them came later.
They were all artificially created.
Their role was to guide the Upper Man or protect the Upper Man.
Then the jungle existed.
And inside it were all kinds of things.
Animals. Trees. Fruits. Guardians. Shahar. Tea. Seeds. Earth. Ocean. Wild animals. Special people called figures. And many, many more things hidden inside the layers of it.
The most powerful thing in the jungle was the golden tree.
That part made Gu Yanshu stop for a moment.
He read it again.
The golden tree was not normal.
It was one of the rarest things in existence. If someone refined a golden tree, their power would increase without them even fully understanding it at first. Their strength would multiply. Then multiply again. Nine times. More and more. The power would keep spreading through them because they had refined the tree's own force.
Golden trees were the best to refine.
They were rarer than diamonds.
If someone found a golden tree near their house, then that meant some kind of blessing had already touched their side. It meant something was giving them luck. It meant they had found something that should almost never appear by chance.
Gu Yanshu remembered the tree he had just refined.
He had been outside.
He had not seen any golden tree before.
It had simply appeared there.
That made him think immediately about the book.
Could that book be the reason?
Could the book have brought the golden tree there?
If that was true, then what exactly was this book's power?
Gu Yanshu's eyes stayed on the page for a while.
The mystery was growing.
This could benefit him.
That much he already knew.
But the book still did not feel trustworthy.
It felt like a fifty-fifty thing.
It could help him. Or it could be hiding something dangerous.
The question was bigger than that too.
Who made this book?
Was it the Upper Men? Was it the Man of Power? Or was there something beyond them?
What was the book?
Gu Yanshu moved to the next page and kept reading.
This next page started explaining the armour bodies.
Those were the strongest materials.
Even stronger than beast material.
The book said they were created 596 billion years ago. They were originally part of another test belonging to the Man of Power. After an even longer span of time, the Man of Power created what was called the solar system. When that was almost finished, Earth was created and this material was hidden in the mountains.
At first, it was not armour at all.
It was only a black stone.
Then the dinosaurs died out.
Millions of years later, humanity found it in the mountains.
When they studied it, they found out it was stronger than diamond.
So they began making armour from it.
And they called that material armour bodies.
Then they gave that material another name too.
Liamond.
Gu Yanshu read all of that and kept his expression flat.
The book had too many pages. He had already gone through two pages, but it was enough to feel that this book was not ordinary in the slightest. It held history. It held old creation lines. It held dangerous knowledge. It held the kind of details that did not belong in random books.
He closed it slowly and walked out of the Library of Learning.
That should have been the end of it.
But then the strange book moved again.
It started moving on its own.
The pages opened.
Then closed.
Then opened again.
Then closed again.
The motion repeated as if the book itself was breathing or trying to respond to something invisible in the room.
Then, somehow, without even needing direct eye contact in a normal human way, the book created eye contact with Gu Yanshu.
The moment that happened, the book immediately went back toward the exploded trash.
It moved quickly, like it knew it had already been noticed.
Gu Yanshu stopped and stared at it with an expressionless face.
He did not rush forward.
He did not shout.
He did not act confused in a loud way.
He simply watched.
Then he turned and walked away from the Library of Learning.
He did not continue after that.
He kept going forward, leaving the library behind for the moment, while the strange book and the golden tree and the words about jungles and armour bodies stayed in his mind all at once.
The morning had become something else now.
He had entered it with normal training and a tired body.
He came out of it with a golden tree refined, a mysterious book still unclear, and old truths about the jungle and the armour bodies sitting in his head like stones.
The sect remained behind him.
The library stayed silent.
And the strange feeling around the book did not disappear.
Gu Yanshu moved away from the Library of Learning slowly, still carrying the weight of the pages he had read, still thinking about the golden tree, still thinking about the book that moved by itself, and still thinking about whether the mystery had only just started opening in front of him.The morning light spilled across the training grounds of the Clock Family sect, soft yet crisp, illuminating the dew that clung to every blade of grass and the ornate structures that formed the heart of the sect.
Gu Yanshu stood at the highest balcony, looking outward with his eyes wide, taking in the calm that belied the tension of the world beyond.
His gaze stretched across the mountains and valleys surrounding the sect, feeling the weight of everything that had happened, everything that could happen, and everything that must be faced.
Within the sect, the morning was alive with movement.
The air hummed with energy as disciples went through their daily routines, honing skills, practicing forms, and refining their inner strength.
Every footstep on the stone ground echoed with purpose.
Every breath carried discipline.
Every motion of the trainees was an attempt to become stronger before the world forced them to become strong by pain instead.
Across the valley, hidden from the view of the sect, Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama had settled into a secluded grove.
They had grown immensely since being cast out, mastering magic in a way that transcended normal understanding.
Not cultivators in the traditional sense, they had become formidable mages, each capable of manipulating multiple elements with precision and devastating potential.
Fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, and even more subtle energies—they had absorbed and mastered them all, not through innate talent alone but through relentless practice and discipline.
Each day, they repeated the elemental exercises again and again, pushing themselves beyond their limits, feeling the pulse of the elements and learning to bend them to their will.
The grove shimmered with residual energy from countless attempts, sparks of fire dancing along the ground, arcs of lightning stretching across the sky, water forming swirling orbs and crashing waves that vanished as soon as they were created.
The earth under their feet had been cracked and reshaped so many times that it no longer looked like a place of simple rest.
It looked like a place where power had been forged.
Their planning sessions had become precise and deliberate.
They were no longer impulsive youths but strategists, carefully considering every angle.
Revenge was not merely a desire—it had become a calculated inevitability.
Xon Leon spoke first, his voice calm but sharp, carrying the authority that came from years of disciplined control.
"We have all the elemental mastery we need, Karna.
The time is coming when we execute the plan.
Everything Gu Yanshu has done, every slight, every betrayal, every insult—he will pay.
But first, we must perfect our strategy."
Karna nodded, his eyes bright with focus, reflecting the dancing light of the elements swirling around them.
"I have been studying his movements, his disciples, the structure of the Clock Family sect itself.
We know the limits, we know their strengths, and we know where he will be weakest.
Everything has been calculated.
The only remaining step is to ensure our execution is flawless."
The grove remained alive with elemental motion while they spoke.
A thin ring of water coiled and collapsed.
A pulse of flame rose and then died.
A blade of wind cut through a hanging leaf and vanished.
Their bodies had already learned the rhythm of magic.
They no longer forced the elements like strangers trying to command a wild thing.
They had become part of the movement itself.
They absorbed.
They practiced.
They repeated.
They sharpened speed.
They improved reaction.
They refined control.
That was how magic worked for them now.
Not a gift.
Not an accident.
A conquest.
Meanwhile, within the heart of the Clock Family sect, Gu Yanshu trained relentlessly with his disciples.
The morning had already seen hours of practice, yet he pushed further, understanding that the threats approaching would require unmatched preparation.
The disciples were diligent, eager to prove themselves under the guidance of their master.
Among them, the second strongest disciple approached cautiously, his eyes searching Gu Yanshu's face for answers beyond what was visible.
"Master, this is the first time you are training with us directly.
I must ask… have you discovered anything about that mysterious book?"
Gu Yanshu's expression remained composed, neutral yet with the slightest flicker of thought behind his gaze.
He shook his head slowly.
"Not completely.
There are hints, fragments… but the mysteries are not yet fully revealed.
I have seen enough to understand there is more than meets the eye, but it is not time to uncover all of it."
The second strongest disciple pressed further, curiosity laced with cautious respect.
"At least, has there been something… odd?
Something that stood out?
Can you tell us even a part of it?"
Gu Yanshu paused, feeling the weight of the book's strange influence in his memory.
He recalled the moment when he had attempted to leave it, when the book had moved on its own and somehow forced an eye contact with him despite having no eyes.
"Yes," he said finally, his voice calm, steady.
"There is something… unusual.
The book is not passive.
It observes, responds, and connects in ways that are beyond ordinary perception.
But the full truth, the deeper knowledge it contains, is not yet within my reach."
The disciples absorbed his words, nodding slowly, understanding that their master's caution was not fear but strategy.
They returned to their training, their movements flowing more naturally, inspired by the presence of their master yet aware of the larger forces at play.
The courtyard echoed with the clash of training tools, the hum of ki, and the controlled release of elemental energy, as the disciples refined both body and spirit.
Gu Yanshu's attention shifted momentarily to the outer grounds of the sect, observing the students practicing their elemental defenses and martial techniques.
He noted their growth with a critical eye, aware that strength alone would not suffice in the coming conflicts.
Strategy, anticipation, and unity were equally necessary.
He adjusted the training regimen subtly, weaving in exercises that would strengthen reaction times, coordination, and elemental control.
Every motion was deliberate.
Every sequence of attacks and defenses was a rehearsal for what was yet to come.
A disciple stepped forward with a practice spear and struck at the air in a long clean line.
Another answered with a short burst of elemental energy.
A third corrected his footing and took the movement again, this time more tightly, more sharply, more successfully.
Gu Yanshu watched all of it.
He saw the flaws.
He saw the progress.
He saw the fear hidden under the discipline, and he saw how the fear was slowly becoming determination instead of weakness.
That mattered.
The sect could survive hesitation, but it could not survive emptiness.
It needed people who could keep moving.
Back in the hidden grove, Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama continued their meticulous preparation.
They had mastered the flow of elements to a degree that allowed them to combine them in ways ordinary mages could not imagine.
Fire and water intertwined to create scalding steam, lightning and wind formed cutting currents that could slice through stone, and earth could be shaped and hardened at the speed of thought.
Yet mastery alone was not enough—they were crafting the strategies that would allow these powers to be unleashed with precision and impact.
Every possible counter, every response Gu Yanshu might have, every protective measure of the Clock Family sect, they considered and integrated into their plan.
They drew intricate diagrams in the dirt with their elemental manifestations, each symbol representing sequences of attacks, diversions, and traps.
The diagrams were not simple lines and marks.
They were maps of intention.
They were maps of revenge.
They were the shape of a future strike still waiting to be born.
Xon Leon narrowed his eyes and looked over one of the drawn formations.
"If he reacts quickly, the first wave must create confusion."
Karna Aoi Kama answered without hesitation.
"Then the second wave must cut off retreat.
If he tries to protect the sect, he will expose himself.
If he tries to save himself, the sect will suffer.
Either way, the opening must force his hand."
Xon Leon nodded.
That was the kind of thinking they needed.
Not anger alone.
Not pride alone.
Planning.
Measured force.
Execution.
The hidden grove grew quieter after that, but only because their minds were still working.
They were not resting.
They were preparing in silence now, letting the plan settle into place the way water settles into a carved basin.
Meanwhile, within the sect, Gu Yanshu's training intensified.
The disciples moved faster.
Their attacks were sharper.
Their coordination tighter.
Gu Yanshu's guidance was subtle but decisive, ensuring that the foundational skills of his students were polished, even as they explored the outer limits of their abilities.
The second strongest disciple watched him carefully, understanding that their master was preparing for something far beyond ordinary skirmishes.
"Master, the war… how close is it?" he asked, his voice low, respectful, yet tinged with apprehension.
Gu Yanshu did not answer directly.
Instead, he gestured toward the horizon, toward the mountains and forests beyond the sect.
"It is approaching, inevitably.
We train not just for strength but for awareness, for control, for the ability to act decisively when the time comes.
Every motion, every breath, every thought counts."
The disciple lowered his head slightly and returned to training with a deeper seriousness than before.
The words had not been dramatic.
They had not been loud.
But they carried weight.
The kind of weight that settles into the bones.
As the morning advanced, the sun climbed higher, casting long shadows across the training grounds.
Gu Yanshu allowed a brief pause, giving his disciples a moment to recover, to drink water, and to reassess their techniques.
Yet even in these moments of relative calm, his mind was active, calculating potential scenarios, observing the subtle interactions of the disciples, measuring their growth and weaknesses, anticipating the strategies of those who had been cast out yet now plotted in secret.
Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama did not rest either.
Their planning sessions were punctuated by bursts of magical practice, each attack and defensive maneuver tested against the potential responses of the Clock Family sect.
They communicated silently, gestures and elemental surges conveying complex ideas and adjustments with incredible efficiency.
The grove itself seemed alive with the energy of their presence, responding to the layers of magic they had woven over months of practice.
At times, a tree bark split from the pressure of heat.
At times, a patch of grass burned black and then regrew faintly under a different element.
At times, the sky itself looked as if it had been touched by electricity.
Yet all of it remained hidden from the Clock Family sect.
Gu Yanshu's presence continued to inspire and challenge.
The second strongest disciple approached once more, his expression serious.
"Master… should we focus more on elemental absorption or combat coordination today?"
Gu Yanshu considered briefly, then spoke with measured clarity.
"Both.
The elements are a tool, but coordination and instinct allow them to be used without hesitation.
A warrior who knows the path of combat and a mage who understands the flow of elements are formidable individually—but together, they become unstoppable.
Train them in tandem.
Repeat the drills, adjust the formations, and watch for instinctive errors.
Those are the moments where victory is gained or lost."
Time passed, measured not by the sun but by the intensity of practice and the refinement of skill.
Gu Yanshu moved among the disciples, correcting forms, adjusting stances, demonstrating techniques that blended physical prowess with elemental control.
The disciples responded with focus, sweat and energy mingling in a dance of growth, learning, and relentless effort.
A spear shifted cleanly into position.
A sword line became straighter.
A burst of energy was controlled instead of wasted.
A breathing rhythm became steadier.
Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama, in the grove, concluded their planning session.
Though they had yet to act, their preparation was complete.
They had charted every scenario, tested every sequence in simulation, and committed to memory the myriad outcomes that could unfold.
They rested briefly, allowing the elements to calm around them, yet their minds remained sharp, calculating, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Back at the Clock Family sect, Gu Yanshu continued his relentless training regimen, ensuring that each disciple pushed beyond their comfort zone.
The courtyard was filled with the sound of exertion, of ki and elemental energy being channeled with precision.
Gu Yanshu observed with a critical yet guiding eye, knowing that strength alone would not decide the coming conflict—it was insight, adaptability, and the will to act decisively that would determine the outcome.
By late afternoon, the disciples had achieved remarkable growth, each movement more fluid, each elemental interaction more controlled.
Gu Yanshu allowed a short respite, standing quietly atop the balcony once again, observing the calm yet aware of the undercurrents of preparation that had woven through the day.
He felt the subtle energies shifting, the potential in every disciple, and the distant but undeniable presence of Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama plotting beyond the mountains.
The stage was set.
The calm of the sect belied the storm that was approaching, and Gu Yanshu knew that every moment spent in preparation, every disciplined action, would be critical in the battles yet to come.
And so the day ended with practice, strategy, and silent observation, the Clock Family sect alive with energy and anticipation, the disciples honing their skills, and Gu Yanshu preparing for what would inevitably arrive.
The mages outside plotted, and within the walls of the sect, the foundations of defense, power, and unity were laid, each element, each motion, each thought a piece in the intricate puzzle that would determine the future of all involved.Gu Yanshu had only just stepped outside the sect when the light changed in front of him.
He had come out expecting the usual morning sun.
Instead, he saw two figures standing ahead of him.
Both of them were wearing masks.
Their presence was quiet at first, but it was the kind of quiet that immediately felt wrong. The air around them was too still, too controlled, as if they had been waiting there for a long time and had already decided exactly what they wanted to do the moment Gu Yanshu appeared.
He stopped.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The two masked figures stood in the open ground beyond the sect entrance, where the stone path met the outer field and the edge of the jungle line could still be seen farther away. One of them stepped forward first.
The mask was removed.
Then the second one removed his mask too.
And Gu Yanshu saw their faces clearly.
Xon Leon.
Karna Aoi Kama.
The two rivals stood there with calm expressions, as if they had not come to provoke him at all. But Gu Yanshu did not react with surprise for long. His face stayed steady, and for a brief moment he looked at them carefully, searching through his memory.
Then he remembered.
They were not truly his brothers.
Not in the real sense.
They were not blood brothers, not natural brothers, not the kind of brothers formed by family and birth.
They were step-brothers.
Adopted by others.
Taken into the same path, placed near the same structure, and given a bond that was never real enough to survive loyalty.
That was why they had always been rivals.
That was why they would remain rivals forever.
Gu Yanshu looked at them both without emotion.
He remembered the past immediately.
The way things had begun.
The way Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama had once spoken together in secret.
The way they had decided to challenge him.
The way the junior brother had once asked the senior brother if they should kill Gu Yanshu.
The way the senior brother had accepted the deal without hesitation.
It had been sudden at the time.
A sharp decision.
A cruel one.
They had not come as allies.
They had come as enemies from the beginning, even before the words were spoken aloud.
And when they had come at him that first time, Gu Yanshu had already defeated them.
Badly.
That defeat had changed everything.
From that moment on, they had become true rivals.
Every time they met, they fought.
Every time they saw each other, the tension returned.
Every time their eyes crossed, the desire for revenge became stronger.
Now they were here again.
For revenge.
Xon Leon took one step forward.
His voice was calm, but the calm itself carried hostility.
"You should remember us clearly."
Gu Yanshu's expression did not move.
"I remember."
Karna Aoi Kama's fingers twitched slightly, as if he was already preparing an elemental strike.
"We came back," he said, "because you humiliated us."
Gu Yanshu looked at them both.
His voice remained level.
"You were the ones who chose the path of rivalry."
Xon Leon's eyes sharpened.
"Rivalry?"
He gave a short, almost cold laugh.
"No. This is punishment."
The air between them became heavier.
The disciples inside the sect could already feel something strange outside the walls.
The second strongest disciple, Qin Jinzhe, was the first to notice the change in pressure. He stepped out of the sect not long after, sensing that the atmosphere had become dangerous.
Then more disciples followed.
One by one, they emerged from the sect gates and saw the scene outside.
Gu Yanshu standing there.
Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama facing him.
The tension was immediate.
The junior brother moved first.
A rush of wind gathered around Karna Aoi Kama's body.
It formed in sharp spirals around his feet, then climbed upward in twisting sheets, as if the air itself had begun to obey him. His body leaned forward slightly as he raised one hand.
The wind became visible.
It sharpened.
It pressed outward.
The junior brother stepped in as if to join the attack, but before he could release the full force of his element, Gu Yanshu moved.
He did not retreat.
He did not brace.
He did something far more direct.
He pushed the senior brother, Xon Leon, straight toward the jungle edge.
Xon Leon's eyes widened a fraction.
His body was thrown off balance and forced into the outer field.
The movement was sudden enough that for one instant, all of the pressure in his body broke loose.
His elemental technique rose up with the force of the motion.
Fire erupted from his body.
Not as a small flame.
As a full technique.
The fire shot into the sky, rising upward violently, stretching past the clouds like a pillar of burning force. Then it climbed so high and so fast that it seemed for a moment like a meteor had been launched into the heavens.
The disciples standing at the sect gate all looked up.
The fire technique pierced the sky.
It moved toward the moon's direction above the cloud line, and then the entire upper air glowed red.
A huge explosion followed.
The sound thundered across the open ground and rolled through the valley like a distant war drum.
It looked like a meteor had been dropped at the moon.
But it was not a meteor.
It was Xon Leon's fire technique.
Gu Yanshu watched the entire thing with an expressionless face.
No shock.
No fear.
No praise.
Just observation.
He saw the movement.
He saw the release.
He saw the structure of the technique itself.
And in that moment, he adapted to it.
Xon Leon landed back on the ground and immediately tried to recover.
He understood that Gu Yanshu had not pushed him by accident.
The move had been deliberate.
Gu Yanshu had wanted to see the technique.
To force it out.
To measure it.
To understand the rhythm of the element.
Xon Leon narrowed his eyes and tried the attack again.
This time he stepped forward more carefully.
His hand rose.
The same fire began to gather.
But Gu Yanshu had already seen it before.
His mind had already recognized the shape of the technique.
He had already watched the way the energy rose, the way it tightened, the way it burst upward.
This time, instead of pushing Xon Leon away again, Gu Yanshu let the energy move closer.
He reached into the motion not with his hand, but with his cultivation.
He could not fully control the element the same way they did.
He could not create and shape it like a mage.
But he could absorb it.
He could suck the elemental force into his body through cultivation.
That energy would not become a weapon in his hand like theirs.
It would settle into him.
It would become part of his foundation.
It would strengthen him.
But it would not obey in the same way their magic did.
That was enough.
Gu Yanshu looked at Xon Leon and spoke calmly.
"I have already seen this technique before."
Xon Leon's face tightened.
Gu Yanshu's cultivation power drew at the fire's edge.
The energy began to collapse inward.
The technique's force weakened.
The moment Xon Leon felt the drain, his expression changed.
He understood.
Gu Yanshu was not trying to resist by force.
He was eating the technique.
Taking the power out of it.
Breaking the flow from the inside.
Karna Aoi Kama stepped forward sharply.
Wind burst around him again.
This time the air moved faster.
A dense pressure of wind cut forward in a straight path, rushing toward Gu Yanshu with enough speed to rip the stone dust off the ground.
The disciples at the sect entrance stepped back at once.
But before the wind could reach Gu Yanshu, a second wave of qi cut through it from the side.
The wind split apart instantly.
The force was sliced open like cloth.
The second strongest disciple had moved out.
Qin Jinzhe stood in front of the sect line, his face stern, his eyes locked on Karna Aoi Kama.
His qi carried a clean, cutting pressure.
It was not a magical element.
It was cultivation force.
Sharp.
Controlled.
And strong enough to tear the junior brother's wind attack apart before it could land.
The disciples behind Qin Jinzhe began to spread out slowly.
More of them exited the sect.
One by one.
Wen Zhaolin stepped out next, followed by the others.
They did not rush.
They did not panic.
They simply took their positions.
The sight of the disciples gathering made Xon Leon's mouth curl slightly.
Karna Aoi Kama's face turned colder.
"You brought out all of them?" he asked.
Gu Yanshu did not answer.
Xon Leon looked at the disciples and then back at Gu Yanshu.
His tone sharpened.
"All of you are still pretending to stand on righteousness," he said.
The disciples did not reply.
Karna Aoi Kama laughed softly and spoke with clear disdain.
"Pathetic."
Xon Leon added, "You all act noble, but you are weak."
The disciples still did not answer immediately.
Then Wen Zhaolin, standing near the front of the formation, gave a quiet smile.
It was not a mocking smile.
It was calm.
Controlled.
As if he simply found the whole thing beneath his concern.
That small smile made the two rivals grow more irritated than any shouted insult could have.
Karna Aoi Kama's wind gathered again.
Xon Leon's fire began to return.
But Gu Yanshu's face remained unchanged.
He looked at the two of them and at the disciples behind him.
The scene was clear now.
The rivals had returned.
Their hatred was still alive.
Their strength had grown.
But Gu Yanshu had also already adapted.
He had seen the technique.
He had felt the elemental pressure.
He knew now how to counter them.
The junior brother moved first again.
Wind rushed out in a sudden strike.
The senior brother followed with another wave of fire.
But Gu Yanshu only took one step forward.
His cultivation force moved through him in a steady line.
The elemental power from the fire technique had already been absorbed once.
The shape of the attack was familiar now.
Its rhythm was known.
Its motion was no longer mysterious.
Gu Yanshu angled himself slightly and let the energy sink inward instead of meeting it head-on.
The wind attack broke against the qi barrier created by Qin Jinzhe.
The disciples moved together behind him.
And the rivals, standing outside the sect in the open air, realized that this time, Gu Yanshu had not only remembered them.
He had already anticipated them.Qin Jinzhe stood there without moving.
Behind him, Yu Cheng came forward too.
And then He Mulin stepped in behind Yu Cheng, forming a tighter line with the others as the pressure outside the sect kept rising.
The air was heavy.
It was not just the air.
Even the ground itself felt tense, as if it knew a battle had already begun before anyone had said another word.
Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama did not wait.
They were already staring straight ahead, and Xon Leon's expression had gone colder now, sharper now, as if the sight of the disciples only made his anger deeper.
Without any thought, the senior brother attacked again.
This time it was lightning.
A powerful lightning strike shot forward with brutal speed, crackling through the space between them and aiming directly for Gu Yanshu.
The strike was so fast that most people would not have seen it clearly.
But Gu Yanshu saw it.
He tilted his body to the side just enough to avoid the direct hit.
The lightning cut through the space where he had been standing and crashed into a nearby tree instead.
The tree exploded instantly.
Not just the tree.
The force spread outward in a violent shock, and the blast tore through a whole line of trees nearby.
Three hundred and forty-nine trees exploded across the edge of the field, their trunks shattered, their leaves thrown into the air, their branches broken apart by the force of the impact.
The sound was huge.
It rolled through the land like thunder made flesh.
The animals nearby woke up in fury.
Birds scattered from the branches.
Small beasts rushed out from the broken forest edge.
Even the larger creatures turned toward the explosion with fierce anger, as if the entire land had been insulted by the strike.
And now they were surrounding Xon Leon.
The senior brother turned his head slowly and looked at the animals closing in from the sides.
For one second, he stayed still.
Then he smiled.
"I do not want destruction," he said, almost casually, "but I do want to kill everyone and get my revenge."
That smile was cruel.
It was calm, but it carried no mercy.
Then he lifted his hand and began firing lightning strikes at the animals one after another.
One bolt.
Then another.
Then another.
The lightning fell like punishment from the sky.
The animals rushed.
The lightning cut them down.
Some tried to escape.
Some tried to attack.
Some tried to defend themselves.
But Xon Leon did not stop.
In only three minutes, the animals were destroyed.
The whole area was left in broken smoke and scattered dust.
But Gu Yanshu still did not react with fear.
Without a thought, he raised his blade and moved forward.
His body was fast.
His steps were sharp.
He went straight toward the rivals.
But before he could land the strike, Karna Aoi Kama blocked him.
The junior brother moved in with perfect timing and released a powerful water strike directly at Gu Yanshu.
The force hit him so hard that he was sent flying backward at once.
He crashed into a massive tree with enough strength to break the bark and crack the ground around it.
Dust rose into the air.
For a few seconds, everything around him was only dust and broken light.
Gu Yanshu's body shook from the impact.
He was bleeding now.
The blow had not been shallow.
It had gone deep enough to hurt, deep enough to force blood from his body.
But even then, he did not want to end the fight.
He pulled his sword free.
Then he threw it toward the tree.
No hesitation.
No panic.
Just a clean motion.
Then he removed his black gloves.
The gloves came off slowly, and when they did, his hands were revealed.
They were completely black.
Black in a way that did not look natural.
Black in a way that looked like a mark that had stayed with him forever.
Black in a way that the sunlight could not soften.
Gu Yanshu looked at those hands with a steady face.
"I do not have any special abilities," he said.
"But people used to say I was ugly because of my black hands."
He looked forward again.
"Those hands are even blacker than anything in this world.
The sunlight cannot make them light.
They cannot burn.
They cannot do anything to me."
His voice was calm.
Very calm.
"This black hand was always part of me.
It has always been part of me.
And because it is visible, it makes me even stronger than before."
Then he moved.
At extreme speed, he closed the distance and hit the junior brother directly.
Karna Aoi Kama did not even fully react before the strike connected.
He was knocked backward and sent off balance instantly.
But Xon Leon was already furious.
The senior brother launched a fire beam at Gu Yanshu without delay.
The beam struck him directly.
The explosion was huge.
The force spread across a nineteen-kilometer range and lit up the field with a terrible blast of heat and pressure.
The Clock Family sect was protected by the barrier.
Qin Jinzhe, Yu Cheng, He Mulin, and the other disciples forced their energy into it together.
The barrier shook hard.
It nearly shattered.
The whole sect was trembling from the impact.
Inside, panic spread fast.
The disciples could not see Gu Yanshu clearly through the explosion.
They only knew that the blast had hit him directly.
The fear came quickly.
"What happened to Master?" one disciple asked, voice tight.
"Is he still standing?" another one said.
Qin Jinzhe pressed harder into the barrier.
Yu Cheng's hands trembled, but he kept pushing.
He Mulin adjusted his stance and added his energy too.
The barrier held for a moment longer.
But the pressure was terrifying.
Then Gu Yanshu rose again.
His figure appeared through the smoke.
He stood up slowly, and his black hands were still visible.
His body was damaged, but his face remained steady.
He looked straight at Xon Leon and Karna Aoi Kama.
Then he spoke again.
"I do not have any special abilities."
His voice was low, but it carried clearly.
"But people used to say I was ugly because of my black hands."
He lifted one hand slightly.
"Those hands are even blacker than anything in the world.
The sunlight cannot make them light.
They cannot burn.
They cannot do anything to me."
He stepped forward.
"This black hand was always part of me."
Then he moved again.
This time, he landed a direct hit on the senior brother.
Xon Leon reacted instantly and shot water at the strike.
The water blocked the attack.
But it did not stop Gu Yanshu.
His hands did not become wet.
The water could not slow him.
He grabbed Xon Leon by the neck and lifted him up.
The senior brother's face tightened immediately.
His throat was trapped.
He could not speak.
The pressure was so strong that for one moment it felt like he was dying.
His body stiffened.
His power surged in panic.
Then the memories came back to him.
The rivalry.
The first defeat.
The humiliation.
The rage.
The endless need for revenge.
He remembered all of it at once.
He needed to win.
He needed to take everything back.
He took his other hand and released a huge flame strike directly at Gu Yanshu's hand.
The force exploded.
Gu Yanshu was sent flying away from the strike.
The barrier around the area burst apart at the same time.
Qin Jinzhe's barrier and the others' barrier both shattered and turned to dust.
Even Gu Yanshu's own barrier broke.
The blast had been strong enough to threaten the Clock Family sect itself.
The second strongest disciple reacted at once.
He created another barrier.
This one was smaller, but it was strong enough to stop the damage from spreading farther into the sect.
Then his body gave out.
He fell into the ground with no energy left.
He could not move.
He could not stand.
He could only breathe.
Gu Yanshu rose again.
The fire, the water, the lightning, the pressure, the rage—none of it made him step back for long.
He moved with high speed and rushed in to punch Xon Leon again.
But Karna Aoi Kama had already recovered.
The junior brother blocked the attack and countered with an extreme lightning strike.
The lightning moved forward with overwhelming force.
But Gu Yanshu had already seen this technique before.
It was the same one.
The same movement.
The same direction.
The same pressure that had almost taken him down before.
He adapted instantly.
His eyes tracked the strike.
He understood its direction.
He understood the timing.
He understood the exact path it would take.
Then he countered it.
At the same moment, he grabbed his blade and cut the elemental force in half.
The lightning split cleanly apart.
The senior brother stared in shock.
Gu Yanshu did not stop there.
He threw the blade again, and this time it went straight into the same tree once more, the impact sharp and exact, as if every movement had already been calculated before it happened.Gu Yanshu looked down at his black hand.
For a brief moment, the noise around him seemed to fade.
The smoke.
The dust.
The broken trees.
The pressure from the rivals in front of him.
The exhausted barrier behind him.
All of it stayed there, but his mind went somewhere else for just a second.
Will I actually be able to beat those monsters?
The thought came sharp and cold.
He stared at his own hand, black from wrist to fingertips, and his expression remained unreadable.
I can adapt their skills.
I am a genius in fighting.
The same attack will not work on me twice.
But that thought did not fully calm him.
Because another thought followed right after.
They are going to change.
They are going to come at me with new attacks.
New patterns.
New forms.
Attacks I cannot adapt in time.
Damn it.
What will the outcome be?
Will I lose?
Will I be able to destroy them?
At the very least… how can I destroy them?
He lifted his head slowly.
The senior brother and the junior brother were still standing there, both of them battered, both of them furious, both of them holding onto their revenge like it was the only thing keeping them upright.
Then Gu Yanshu shouted loudly.
"Why did you come here?"
His voice cut through the air.
It was strong.
Clear.
Sharp enough to make the disciples behind him straighten again even though most of their energy had already been drained by the battle.
The senior brother answered without hesitation.
"To get our revenge."
The junior brother gave the same answer almost at the same time, his voice thick with anger.
"To get our revenge."
Gu Yanshu did not change his expression.
No anger.
No surprise.
No fear.
He simply stood there and watched them.
He already knew.
They had not come for peace.
They had not come for discussion.
They had not come because anything had changed.
They had come because revenge had become their reason for breathing.
Gu Yanshu kept staring at them.
Still no expression.
Still nothing.
Inside, though, he was thinking.
Maybe I can manipulate him.
But how?
How do I use their anger against them?
How do I make them move the way I want?
How do I force a mistake before they fully adjust?
He was already watching the senior brother's body language.
The junior brother's breathing.
The small shift in their feet.
The way their shoulders tightened before an attack.
They were not going to let him stand there and think forever.
They were going to strike again.
And they were going to do it hard.
Just like how he had killed the strongest disciple before.
The memory of that earlier kill still hung in the air like a warning.
The strongest disciple had once thought he could stand in the same place and hold the line.
But that had not been enough.
And now the rivals were about to do the same thing again.
The second strongest disciple suddenly forced himself to stand back up.
He had been nearly drained.
Nearly broken.
But he rose anyway, his body shaking, his face pale, his energy nearly gone.
Still, he spoke out loud so everyone could hear him.
"Everybody, I was going to kill those fake junior brothers and senior brothers."
His voice carried across the battlefield, even though it sounded weak from exhaustion.
"They are all fake, and they will remain fake."
The senior brother's eyes narrowed.
The junior brother's jaw tightened.
The second strongest disciple continued, louder now, as if the words themselves were part of the defense.
"You call that a junior brother and senior brother?"
He gave a bitter laugh.
"No. That is not the correct way. Brothers should be happy together, not like this. Not as rivals. No matter what they do, brothers should be happy together."
His expression sharpened with conviction.
"That is the law for brothers. And we must be nice to brothers. We cannot be nice to enemies, but we have to be nice to brothers."
He pointed toward the two rivals.
"You are not brothers. You are enemies pretending to be family."
Gu Yanshu's eyes flicked toward him.
The second strongest disciple was saying too much.
The senior brother and the junior brother had already heard enough.
The senior brother's face darkened.
The junior brother's fingers twitched with fury.
Gu Yanshu spoke immediately, his voice flat and controlled.
"Shut up."
The second strongest disciple turned toward him.
Gu Yanshu did not look at him for long.
"Do not interrupt my fight."
The disciple paused.
Then he bowed his head slightly and answered at once.
"As you wish, Your Highness."
The battlefield went silent for one brief second after that.
Then the senior brother erupted with anger.
His lightning surged again.
A powerful strike shot downward, more violent than before.
But just as the attack began to form fully, the ground near him exploded.
Not from his own technique.
From impact.
The blast threw the junior brother and the senior brother upward for an instant, shaking their balance and breaking their rhythm.
The explosion had barely settled when another figure entered the battle from the shadows.
The junior sister.
Saralatha.
She came in fast.
No hesitation.
No warning.
Just a sudden violent movement forward, as if she had been watching the whole time and had finally chosen her moment.
She threw her punches directly into the battle.
Her fists struck with speed and precision.
First the senior brother.
Then the junior brother.
Then the senior brother again.
The force of each punch made them both bleed more heavily than before.
Their bodies staggered.
Their expressions changed.
The two rivals stared at her in disbelief.
For the first time in this fight, their rhythm was broken by someone they had not expected.
The junior brother coughed slightly and looked at her with wide eyes.
The senior brother wiped blood from the side of his mouth and glared at her.
Then both of them spoke at once, in low, furious whispers.
"Junior sister… why are you here?"
The junior brother's voice shook with anger and shock.
"Why?"
The senior brother repeated it too, almost unable to accept what he was seeing.
"Why, why, why?"
Saralatha did not answer.
She only moved again.
Her next punch landed on the senior brother.
Then the next one hit the junior brother.
Then another.
And another.
Every strike was clean.
Every strike was heavy.
Every punch made the bleeding worse.
The rivals were forced to step back.
Their eyes widened as they stared at her, trying to understand why she had appeared here, why she had come from the shadows, why she had chosen this exact moment to enter the fight.
Gu Yanshu stood still and watched all three of them.
The senior brother.
The junior brother.
And now the junior sister.
His face remained calm.
But now the battlefield had changed.
The balance had shifted.
He could feel it.
The battle was no longer only about him and the two rivals.
Now it had become something larger.
Something more dangerous.
Something that could break in any direction at any moment.
And Gu Yanshu did not look away.
He watched the junior sister punch them again.
He watched the rivals bleed.
He watched the pain grow in their eyes.
And he waited to see what would happen next.