"Trash like Liam Knight doesn''t deserve to breathe the same air as talents like you, Young Master ckthorne," Zaria Beaumont said with a simpering smile.


    Dashiell ckthorne''s head snapped toward her, his dark eyes narrowing dangerously.


    "What did you just call me?" he growled, stepping closer to Zaria.


    She paled instantly, realizing her mistake. "No! Not you, Young Master! I meant him—" she pointed frantically at me "—Liam Knight is trash. You''re magnificent!"


    I almostughed at the panic on her face. The tension in Dashiell''s shoulders eased slightly as his bruised ego recovered.


    "Of course," he replied smoothly, though his eyes remained cold. "I misunderstood."


    Zaria nodded eagerly, relief washing over her features. "Knight is nothing. A nobody who somehow stumbled into our world. Unlike you—an Inner Strength Master from the illustrious ckthorne family!"


    I remained silent, watching this pathetic disy unfold. Around us, curious onlookers had formed a circle, hungry for confrontation. Evelyn Norton stood nearby, her expression unreadable as she observed Dashiell.


    "Young Master ckthorne," Evelyn suddenly called out, her voice carrying clearly across the gathering. "I''ve heard so much about your family''s legendary techniques. They say a true ckthorne can shatter mountains with a single strike."


    I noticed the calcted gleam in her eyes. She was baiting him, and Dashiell was too blinded by his own pride to notice.


    Dashiell''s chest puffed out immediately. "The rumors hardly do us justice," he boasted. "My family''s techniques have been perfected over generations."


    Evelyn stepped closer, her expression one of exaggerated admiration. "Then surely someone of your caliber wouldn''t need subordinates to handle a ''nobody'' like Knight? Such menial tasks would be beneath you, of course, but..." She let her voice trail off suggestively.


    I caught her gaze briefly, understanding her game. She was manipting Dashiell into confronting me directly rather than letting hisckeys do it. But why?


    Dashiell''s expression hardened as he nced between Evelyn and me. I could almost see the gears turning in his head—his desire to impress this beautiful woman warring with his reluctance to dirty his hands.


    Pride won out.


    "You''re absolutely right," he dered, motioning for Dirk to step back. "I''ll handle this myself. It will only take a moment."


    He strode toward me with confident steps, his aura ring impressively as he channeled his inner strength. The crowd widened the circle, hungry for entertainment.


    "I hear you''ve been causing trouble, Knight," he said, stopping a few feet away from me. "Disrespecting your betters, forgetting your ce." His lip curled in disdain. "I''ll teach you the proper respect."


    I met his gaze steadily. "Are we going to talk or fight, ckthorne?"


    Anger shed across his face. Without another word, he lunged forward, his fist glowing with concentrated inner strength. The punch came straight for my chest—a textbook power strike meant to shatter ribs and rupture internal organs.


    I made no move to dodge. The Heaven Swallowing Skill hummed within me, ready to be tested.


    His fist connected with my chest with thunderous force. The impact sent a shockwave through the air, causing nearby onlookers to stumble back.


    But I didn''t move an inch.


    Dashiell''s eyes widened in disbelief as I stood perfectly still, not even flinching from his supposedly bone-crushing blow. The energy from his strike dissipated harmlessly against my body, absorbed by the Heaven Swallowing Skill.


    "Is that all?" I asked calmly.


    Confusion shed across his face before quickly morphing into rage. With a snarl, he unleashed a flurry of punches, each one enhanced with his inner strength. The attacks came like a storm—rapid, powerful, and precise.


    And utterly ineffective.


    Each impact made a sound like thunder, yet I remained unmoved, absorbing the energy as if it were nothing more than a gentle breeze. The Heaven Swallowing Skill worked perfectly, converting his attacks into energy that strengthened me instead of harming me.


    "Impossible!" Dashiell growled, leaping back. Sweat beaded on his forehead—not from exertion, but from growing fear and frustration. "What trickery is this?"


    Evelyn''s voice cut through the stunned silence. "Perhaps the Young Master should try his family''s special technique? Surely that would be sufficient?"


    Her words dripped with false innocence, but the challenge was clear. And Dashiell, backed into a corner by his own pride, couldn''t refuse.


    "Fine," he spat, his face contorted with fury. "You want to see the power of the ckthorne family? I''ll show you!"


    He stepped back, drawing his hands in aplex pattern through the air. Qi energy gathered between his palms, condensing into a spinning disk of pure power. The temperature around us dropped noticeably as he channeled more and more energy into the technique.


    Brought to you by the folks at *.


    "The ckthorne Severing Disk," someone whispered from the crowd. "That could cut through solid steel!"


    "Knight will be sliced in half," another added.


    I stood my ground, my expression unchanged. Conrad tried to move toward me, but Evelyn held him back, shaking her head slightly.


    "Die!" Dashiell roared,unching the gleaming disk directly at my chest.


    The attack streaked through the air like lightning, trailing wisps of condensed Qi. The crowd gasped collectively, expecting to see me cut down where I stood.


    The disk struck me squarely in the chest—and shattered like ss.


    Fragments of energy scattered in all directions before dissipatingpletely. I remained standing,pletely unharmed, my clothes not even singed from the attack.


    The silence that followed was deafening.


    Dashiell staggered back, his face pale with shock. "That''s—that''s not possible," he stammered. "No one can withstand the Severing Disk!"


    "Apparently someone can," I replied quietly.


    Evelyn''s voice cut through the stunned silence once more. "How disappointing," she sighed dramatically. "And here I thought the ckthornes were truly as formidable as legends im."


    Her words struck Dashiell like physical blows. His face flushed red with humiliation as he looked between me and the beautiful woman who had just witnessed hisplete failure.


    "One more try," he growled, desperation evident in his voice. "I''ll put everything I have into this!"


    He gathered his strength, channeling all his remaining power into his right fist. The air around him distorted from the concentration of energy as he prepared for one final, all-or-nothing attack.


    With a primal roar, heunched himself at me, his fist zing with power as it hurtled toward my face.


    I didn''t flinch. Didn''t dodge. Instead, I simply raised my hand at thest second and caught his fist in mid-air.


    The impact created a thunderous boom, yet my arm didn''t budge an inch. I held his fist effortlessly, as if restraining a child rather than an Inner Strength Master.


    Dashiell''s eyes widened in disbelief as he tried and failed to pull his hand free from my grip. The crowd around us had gonepletely silent, watching in stunned disbelief as I held one of the ckthorne family''s young masterspletely immobilized with a single hand.


    I looked directly into his eyes, no longer bothering to hide my disdain. A cold smile spread across my face as I tightened my grip slightly, causing him to wince.


    "Isn''t it my turn now?" I sneered.