Discussion

“Alright then, Uncle Heikale. Fight me once.
I want to see the gap between myself and a Gold Vein tier.”

“Huh? Me? You mean me?”

“Fine, fine. Just don’t cry when I beat you.”
Heikale sighed and stepped forward at a leisurely pace.

To him, this was nothing more than humoring a child.

At least, that’s what he believed at first…

“Ready? Three—two—”

A golden flash tore across the skies, condensing into a streak of thunder that exploded suddenly behind Heikale.

So fast!

Though there was definitely some hint of cheating on Sui Ming’s part, Heikale was still a [Soul Invoker] at Gold Vein tier.

And Gold Vein was a stage designed specifically to hone the physical body.
A [Soul Invoker] at this stage would have physical attributes far exceeding Mortal Dust tier—and naturally, reaction speed as well.

Sui Ming raised White Cry.
In an instant, a torrent of multicolored elemental energies surged toward the dagger’s edge, erupting straight for Heikale.

“But… still not enough.”

Heikale spun, seizing Sui Ming’s right hand—the one holding White Cry—and with a sudden motion, hurled him over his shoulder!

Even a body as strong as Sui Ming’s couldn’t resist such force and was sent flying into the air.

But the strongest assassin of the 21st century wasn’t someone so easily subdued.

Gripping Heikale’s arm mid-throw, Sui Ming clamped down with his other hand.

[Inch Force—Step on the Sky]

To exert power while in midair should have been an impossible feat.
After all, one lacked any leverage point to act upon.

So why not become that leverage point—and in doing so, perform impossible movements?

Heikale’s eyes widened in shock.
Dragged by Sui Ming’s momentum, he too was yanked off the ground and sent crashing violently into the distance.

“Hiss… you little brat, you do have some skill.”
Heikale clambered up from the grass looking more than a little disheveled.

“But now… I’ll get serious!”

In an instant, dark clouds multiplied, layers upon layers stacking above the heavens like an oppressive tower pressing down on the world.

[Soul Invocation—Thor!]

Boom!!!

Lightning gathered from the storm and condensed into a searing beam, roaring straight at Sui Ming.

Seeing this, Sui Ming only chuckled lightly.
“Today, let me teach you a little physical science. It’s called…”

“The principle and application of a lightning rod!”

[Miracle—Convergence!]

With a flick, a long iron rod materialized in his hand.
He thrust it into the ground with force, and as thunder cracked, the lightning slammed into the rod instead.
The earth swallowed every last spark.

In that same instant, a blur of thunder and light split the air like aurora.
A silver-white warhammer came crashing down toward Sui Ming.

“That’s… the Thunder God’s Hammer—Mjölnir? Why—”

Heikale was already above him, hammer falling.

“Kid, you’re still too green!”

The roar of thunder crashed like a thousand-ton boulder, the surging tide of lightning crashing forward like an unstoppable wave.

Boom!!!

But glancing down, Heikale’s eyes went wide—the boy’s figure had vanished!

Only Sui Ming’s cold voice echoed from the sky:
“[Engraving—Law’s Descent!]”

An endless storm of blue swords rained down as he swung his arm, each blade plunging like torrential downpour.

Heikale swatted one aside, but his face tightened immediately—these swords had peculiar properties.

“They can suppress Invocation?!”

Mjölnir danced in his hands.
Clashes of lightning and azure swords blasted against each other, splitting the heavens in an epic struggle.

But while Heikale’s eyes fixated skyward, a crisp sound clicked behind him—Sui Ming loading a weapon.

“My apologies, Uncle Heikale. You underestimated me.”
Sui Ming smiled faintly.

“Tch… fine, I’ll admit it. You’re impressive, brat.”

Of course, Sui Ming knew Heikale wasn’t fighting seriously.
But Sui Ming hadn’t gone all out either.
So long as both gave each other face, what did it matter?

“You… really are a freak,” Heikale muttered.

“With mana only around Mortal Dust tier five, you actually fought evenly with a peak Gold Vein tier two [Invoker]. Can you even call yourself human?”

“Haha… but Uncle, didn’t you also hold back?”

Heikale instantly flared up in anger.
“Hold back, my ass! If you didn’t hold back, I’ll eat my hammer!”

“Ahaha… ha…”

“Alright, enough. At least now I can confirm you’ve got the power to defend yourself. I can go back and report.”

“Report?”

“I don’t know if it’s the merit you saved up over lifetimes, or people you once saved… but she sure worries herself sick over you.”

By she, Heikale clearly meant Bai Luoxia.

Even if her methods were aggressive, her feelings for Sui Ming were genuine.

The entire reason Heikale was here was to test whether Sui Ming could protect himself—or if she needed to stay by his side as constant guard.

And so, this spar became the trial to decide Sui Ming’s freedom.

At least he hadn’t pulled the usual protagonist stunt—hiding all his trump cards just to reveal them in a dramatic reversal.
Otherwise… well, he’d be facing either chains or shackles.

“Bai Luoxia, you damned woman!!!”

Sui Ming didn’t know whether to feel warmed—or chilled.

Deep within an unreachable corner of the Abyss, light became corruption within an endless void.
Twisted creatures crawled through ravines, devouring one another, evolving endlessly.

This was the origin of all despair, the birthplace of nightmares—
The Abyss.

Even [Immortal] tier beings struggled here.
After all, Abyssal Resistance and mana levels were two wholly different matters.

This gave rise to the so-called Abyssal Travelers: warriors with resistance far beyond mortals, pioneers who braved the Abyss to secure survival for the surface world.

But even they… knew there were places not even they could tread.
And here, now, was one of them.

In a shadowed chamber, twelve chairs loomed in a circle around a round table.

At the head seat, a cold figure asked as another entered:
“Chariot. Where’s the Hanged Man?”

“Dead. Killed by the Inheritor of Order.”

“Tch. Never liked that useless trash anyway. Maybe we should thank them instead!”
A hearty male voice laughed.

“Sun. Keep it down. You’re too loud.”
A cool female voice cut his laughter short.

“Oh please, Empress. Don’t pretend—you hated that freak too,” Sun sneered.

Empress said nothing.

“Did he leave behind anything useful?” Sun asked again.

“There’s one existence. Worth paying attention to.”

From the last fragments of the Hanged Man’s memory, an image flickered forth—
A youth, turning his very existence into a weapon, cutting down the Hanged Man completely.

“I believe, given time, he’ll become a threat to us. So I recommend—”

“No need.”
The figure at the head of the table finally spoke.

“He’s… special. For now, leave him be.”

For some reason, Chariot thought he heard something unusual in that tone—
Was it… expectation?

But he quickly crushed the thought.