The Crisis Comes

“I can only guarantee you five days of usage time—you’d better make it count!”

Zhang Heng looked at the gradually adapting Su Xuan and spoke silently in his heart.

With Zhang Heng’s connections, it wouldn’t be a problem to let Su Xuan use the machine for half a month.

But was his reputation something that came free of charge?

If he didn’t think Su Xuan was a promising talent, Zhang Heng would never have swallowed his pride to ask for usage rights.

That guy was not someone easy to deal with.

Don’t make me lose face in front of him.

If it took half a month just to master energy control, that could hardly be called a “strong” genius.

But if he could grasp it in just five days, then the boy would be a true monster—someone even more gifted than a genius.

A monster’s talent eclipses that of the brightest prodigies.

Those who could be called monsters would never grow up to be weak.

Most of the top names in today’s army had all been monsters or geniuses in their youth.

Late bloomers were few and far between.

And this fellow here, this mysterious young man who seemed to appear out of nowhere, turned out to be the younger brother of Su Chen.

The Light of Lingnan.

Major General Chenxi.

Su Chen—one of the representative figures of that super–platinum era ten years ago—possessing unparalleled talent and combat intuition, able to stand toe-to-toe with veteran third–form War Gods while still in his second form.

Su Chen was one of the rare few in recent years who might break through to the third form.

Zhang Heng couldn’t help wondering if his younger brother could possess even half his monstrous talent.

If he did, he too would be an undeniable monster.

“Let me see just how strong Major General Su Chen’s little brother can be.”

Zhang Heng fixed his gaze on the body slowly bracing itself under the weight, and pushed the pressure adjustment lever upward.

There was still a long way to go before it reached the top.

Inside the machine, Su Xuan was doing his utmost to adapt to the external pressure while straining to control the dissociation of energy particles.

The crushing force compelled the particles to convert into energy, generating power to offset the outside pressure.

After a period of resistance, Su Xuan was gradually able to endure it, though he still could not truly master the art of energy control.

Those threads of control were like faint, elusive strands—only visible if he strained his senses—but the pressure wasn’t yet enough to make them stand out clearly.

For now, his control over the energy particles was little more than a flickering presence.

He could vaguely sense clusters of cells releasing energy to resist the external force.

Just when Su Xuan thought things would remain this way, the pressure suddenly spiked.

If the earlier force was one unit, it now jumped to 1.2—an immediate twenty-percent increase that shattered the delicate balance.

The surplus force surged into Su Xuan’s body like a tidal wave.

Weakened cells shattered in the flood of pressure.

Faint red blotches seeped across his pale skin as countless capillaries burst, letting blood seep into the interstitial fluid, giving him an oddly bewitching appearance.

Survival of the fittest—the weak are eliminated, the strong endure.

“Steady your breathing—”

Su Xuan felt his lungs burning as if set aflame, his entire body steeped in boiling water, a searing heat consuming every inch of him.

Within that scorching agony, his perception became sharper.

The faint threads seemed to solidify, though they were still beyond his control.

Every cell was working at full tilt.

Energy particles coursed through his veins into the cells, where the energy cores contracted relentlessly.

The massive circulation of particles allowed Su Xuan to feel every shift inside his body with stark clarity.

The large meal he’d consumed at noon now revealed its value: under the stimulation of surplus life–source energy and the crushing pressure, countless new cells were born, replacing those that had perished.

The pressure outside continued to mount.

His brain was constantly immersed in the sensation of energy flow, trying to seize control of some particular point, but still falling short of success.

Compared to the muddled state of that morning, however, Su Xuan was far more experienced now.

He was certain it wouldn’t be long before he could fully analyze the method of using the body’s energy particles—and achieve true energy control.

---

In the dark, remote basement of a secluded villa, an elderly man with graying hair sat with his eyes closed in meditation.

Before him stood an altar of bizarre geometric beauty, carved with unfathomable, mysterious symbols.

Five slots were set into the altar; four were already filled with black metal blocks.

If Su Xuan saw them, he would be overjoyed—for those black metal blocks were the very Black Energy Stones he dreamed of obtaining.

The old man idly rubbed the rough shaft of his cane with his fingers.

Behind him knelt a middle–aged man, head bowed low.

They were members of the Black Luster Sect, who had lain in wait for over twenty years in this great southern metropolis to unleash a devastating calamity.

For the sake of their sinister plan—and the so–called promise of immortality—they had endured two decades of hiding, ready to welcome liberation.

But the failure to transport the final Black Energy Stone had forced them to adopt an alternative plan.

On the other side of the basement loomed a massive machine, its body linked to numerous pipes.

At the other ends of those pipes lay people breathing weakly.

At a glance, one might take their white hair to mean they were elderly—but on closer inspection, their youthful faces betrayed them as mere teenagers.

The wicked machine was extracting life–source energy from the youths’ bodies, channeling it into the unnameable altar to take the place of the missing Black Energy Stone—summoning the Black Evil and plunging the bustling city into terror.

“When will we act against that Su Xuan boy?”

“We plan to wait until the day of the big test,” the middle–aged man answered cautiously.

“After all, he’s a senior in high school—snatching him too soon would risk exposing our movements.”

“Fool!”

“By then, do you think we can still get anything useful out of him? In a month, that Black Energy Stone will have been long gone without a trace!”

“The extraction machine is nearly ready. We only need five or six more people. Within a week, I want him in front of me!”

The elder’s tone was seething with fury.

The middle–aged man lowered his head even further.

“Yes.”