Two months pass.
Kanoru steps out of the castle into the light drizzle of spring. As he walks across the frozen lake, the waters beneath the ice begin to boil. Cracks spiderweb across the surface, and the towering ice castle behind him starts to melt. Shards of ice rain down, hissing as they hit the bubbling water below.
He approaches a large bronze-colored rock and punches it.
The rock shatters.
Droplets of water drip from Kanoru's fingers onto the fragments. The water immediately devours the chunks, dissolving them like acid. Then, the liquified remains float into the air, spiraling toward Kanoru and merging into his body.
He takes another step. His skin flushes red for a moment, glowing with heat. Then a smile creeps across his face.
His body has finally advanced to the Spirit Lord Realm.
Until now, only his spirit had progressed. Every rune formed in his spiritual space added pressure to his soul, tempering it. As his spirit grew stronger, so did his chakra—denser, more refined. Chakra, being a fusion of cellular and spiritual energy, gradually enhanced his body's vitality and energy reserves… but not its physical strength.
That changed today.
Now, with this breakthrough, his raw physical power matches the might of a Spirit Lord. A single punch can unleash the destructive force of a Spirit Lord-ranked spell. Lesser spells will struggle to even scratch him.
He achieved this not through sheer cultivation, but by leveraging two rare elements: Steam and Devouring Water.
Steam doesn't offer much direct attack power. Unlike explosive energy, it isn't well-suited for ranged combat. But then Kanoru remembered something from an old novel—about warriors who burned their own blood to temporarily boost their strength.
He thought, Why not try?
Steam wasn't dangerous by itself, but its heat could be weaponized in the body. So, he developed a technique where he rapidly boiled his blood using the steam element. The result: for ten minutes, his physical strength, speed, and reflexes all double.
But there's a catch.
After ten minutes, all his blood turns to steam.
Boiling away his blood won't kill him—his unique physique can survive that—but the technique damages parts of his body. The sensation reminds him of his early days, when he'd open his chakra gates, let energy tear through his body, and then heal to grow stronger. Using the same logic, he adapted. He succeeded.
Still, it comes with limits.
He can only use the technique once every two days. Regenerating his blood takes time. Healing the internal damage consumes vast amounts of chakra. He could speed up recovery by burning more chakra, but even activating the technique requires a large amount to begin with.
So, he turned to the Devouring Water element.
This strange element could consume nearly anything in the world. Whatever it devoured—whether metal, flesh, or spirit—it carried the essence back into Kanoru's body, fueling his recovery with the material energy of what was lost. It accelerated his healing, replenished his chakra, and made the cost of his techniques far more manageable.
Now, all preparations were complete.
It's time to kill the Silver Man, Kanoru thought.
He could wait. He could delay the assault and focus on creating his Phantasm. He could even deepen his comprehension of more runes to ensure absolute victory. But the longer he waited, the more likely the opportunity would vanish. The Silver Man was alone in this region—for now. That wouldn't last.
Tomorrow, he decided. Tomorrow, I'll launch the attack.
The Silver Man had assaulted Kanoru's army like clockwork—once every week, forcing Kanoru to intervene and repel him. But now, he paused mid-step.
It's been two months, he realized. Two full months without a single attack.
Is he planning something?
Or… did he finally realize he can't hurt me? Is he abandoning pointless attacks?
He smirked. It didn't matter.
Tomorrow, Kanoru thought again, the death knell will sound. The first Spirit King of the invaders will fall.
So far, four Spirit Kings from our side had been lost—one killed and three forced to self-destruct. All because of him. Or, more specifically, because of the Bone Clown. Kanoru couldn't kill the Clown—he couldn't even harm him. But the next best thing was to crush the Clown's allies.
And the Silver Man's death would shake their forces. Spirit Kings were rare. Their numbers were fewer than those of the defenders. Every one they lost brought the defenders one step closer to turning the tide.
Kanoru was now confident in his strength.
As he walked through the misty morning, he eventually reached the main camp. The guards at the gate didn't stop him—they recognized him instantly. After all, he was their commander.
Soldiers saluted as he passed. He nodded in return.
The camp was quieter than usual. Most of the cultivators had already departed for battle, either to defend or seize nearby nodes. It was always like this in the mornings—empty, save for the wounded and the organizers.
Kanoru lifted the flap of his tent—and paused.
Asuna was asleep at the table, her arms folded over a pile of maps and reports.
His frown deepened slightly. He might be the official commander of this camp, but Asuna… she was the real one holding everything together. She coordinated the attacks, managed the defenses, issued orders, and kept everything moving.
His job was simple—he fought.
Hers was the burden of the entire battlefield.
He reached her side and gently lifted her from the chair. Asuna stirred in his arms, her body recognizing him before her eyes did.
"It's you," she mumbled.
"Sleep on the bed," Kanoru said softly.
Still half-asleep, Asuna shook her head, blinking as she tried to wake up. "No… I still have some work left. Then I can rest."
"I'll handle it," he replied.
"No…" she whispered, trying to push herself out of his arms.
Kanoru smiled, then pursed his lips into the shape of a whistle—but no sound came out. The silent whistle carried something else entirely: a vibration only Asuna could sense. Her tense body relaxed immediately, a faint smile forming on her lips as she drifted off to sleep in his arms.
He laid her gently on the bed, brushed a few strands of hair from her face, then turned to the table.
He sat down, looking over the documents she had fallen asleep on—but he didn't even know where to begin. Lines, maps, diagrams, spell formations… all of it felt like a maze.
Then his eyes widened.
Without wasting another moment, he left the tent and summoned a 0-tier female cultivator. "Stand guard here. Don't let anyone disturb Asuna," he said.
"Yes, Commander," she replied, taking position by the tent entrance.
Kanoru shot into the air and flew east, fast as a streak of light.
After several minutes, he spotted it—a massive silver lizard floating above the ground, its silver-scaled body radiating energy as it unleashed destructive beams down at the earth below.
Kanoru's eyes narrowed. So that's your game…
He threw several energy spheres toward the lizard. The beast immediately responded, forming its own silver orbs and launching them back. The sky lit up as the two clashed—and the battle began.
Kanoru held back.
He didn't use any of his other five alien energies, nor did he empower his spells with the full weight of his cultivation realm. Something felt off. The lizard hadn't shown itself for two months, and now, suddenly, it appeared and started attacking?
It's bait, Kanoru thought. Something shady is going on.
The alarm bells in his head screamed louder with each passing second. It wasn't just instinct—it was his spirit. After stepping into the Spirit Realm, his spiritual awareness had sharpened, letting him sense subtle changes in the world around him. But this wasn't just the world whispering danger.
This was his mind itself sounding the alarm.
That meant the threat wasn't fatal—but it could injure him. Badly. And if he wasn't careful, it could become fatal.
Still, he didn't retreat.
He and the silver lizard circled each other, exchanging long-range attacks in bursts of silver light and crackling chakra. The sky roared with energy, streaked in blinding trails and deafening thunder. Neither fighter committed, each probing, testing, calculating the other's rhythm.
The lizard reared its head back and let loose a beam of dense silver energy, slicing through clouds and the wind like a blade. Kanoru twisted midair and dodged, letting the beam pass beneath him as he flung three explosive chakra spheres in return. They struck the lizard's side and detonated midair, throwing smoke and fire into the sky—but the lizard spun through the blast, almost unharmed, and whipped its tail forward.
Silver beams rained down in a barrage.
Kanoru didn't flinch.
A thin, near-transparent energy film shimmered across his skin. The incoming attacks collided against it with sharp flashes. Where they would have torn flesh or broken bone before, they now left only red streaks that faded within moments.
His body had changed.
Stronger. Denser. His vitality regenerated minor injuries instantly, and anything weaker than a full-powered Spirit Lord spell barely scratched him.
The lizard lunged, flaring its wings, and fired another volley. Kanoru darted to the left, then dropped into a dive, flipping mid-spin as he released a trail of explosive spheres behind him. They curved upward and detonated one after another around the lizard's body.
The beast screeched, caught in the cascading fire, but emerged again with a roar, silver light blazing from its chest.
Kanoru narrowed his eyes. His speed was leagues above what it was two months ago. His chakra pool had increased by nearly thirty percent. Every movement came smoother, faster, sharper.
But still, he held back.
He didn't tap into his other five alien energies. Not yet. The alarm bell in his mind hadn't stopped ringing since the fight began. That feeling—deep and primal—kept whispering:
'This is not the real threat.'
The lizard whipped its tail forward again, and Kanoru ducked, then lunged with a burst of speed and appeared above its head. He drove a condensed explosive ball downward, striking its skull with a sharp crack of heat and force. The beast flailed, stunned for a moment, but quickly retaliated.
Silver energy gathered at its mouth.
Kanoru prepared to dodge—
But then, just as he moved to the side, the alarm in his mind screamed louder than ever before.
A flicker.
From the corner of his eye, he caught it.
A black beam of energy, silent and sharp, slicing through the air toward him from the shadows of the clouds.
His pupils contracted.
He twisted midair, barely managing to shift his weight in time—
The moment his senses touched the incoming beam, a cold jolt ran down his spine.
'Death.'
Just as fire and wind could be felt through orange energy, this black beam pulsed with something far more sinister—pure death energy. And in this world, there was no elemental comprehension for death. No cultivator could naturally command it. Which meant only one thing.
An invader.
And not just any invader.
His mind screamed a single name—*the Clown.*
His body tensed. He tried to dash away, but froze mid-movement. His limbs were locked in place. Spiritual pressure weighed on him like a mountain, anchoring him in the air.
He could break free—but not fast enough. By the time he escaped, the beam would have already pierced his chest.
His thoughts raced. His instincts howled for survival. If that black energy touched him, he would die. No healing. No regeneration. Just death.
*One alien energy won't stop it. I need all six.*
For the first time, Kanoru forced his body to its limit.
His skin flushed red as steam hissed from his pores. His blood began to boil—his secret technique, never used in battle until now. An overwhelming surge of power flooded through his limbs as his speed, strength, and reaction shot beyond their peak.
Desperation burned in his veins.
He didn't even have time to draw his swords.
With a roar, he thrust his hand forward.
For the first time ever, all six alien energies surged together, clashing and merging in a storm of raw, unnatural power. A blade of wind formed in his palm—not orange, not white, not green or red—but grey.
A blade forged from all his alien energies.
He hurled it.
The grey wind blade collided with the death beam midair. The sky went silent for a heartbeat as both forces clashed.
And then—
The death beam cracked.
Only slightly, only briefly—but that single moment was enough.
Kanoru threw his body sideways, ripping himself free from the spiritual lock. The beam tore past him, missing his heart by inches.
But in that moment of evasion, the silver lizard struck.
A beam of silver energy slammed into Kanoru's back.
He grunted as pain exploded through his spine, and his body spiraled downward, trailing smoke and blood as the skies roared above.