## Liam''s Perspective


    Pain. Indescribable, all-consuming pain.


    Every breath felt like swallowing fire. My chest was a shattered ruin of bone and torn flesh. Blood pooled in my mouth, metallic and warm.


    "Elder Foster," Josiah Hale snapped, his attention diverted from the mysterious new arrival. "Finish him now!"


    The distraction was my only chance. Time slowed as I forced my broken body to move.


    Elder Foster lunged at me, palm crackling with deadly energy.


    "Your cultivation ends here!" he roared.


    I twisted, summoning every ounce of my remaining strength. His strike grazed my side instead of hitting my dantian directly. The impact still sent waves of agony through my body.


    "You missed," I snarled through bloody teeth.


    Fury contorted his face. "Impossible! No one could move after Master Hale''s attack!"


    Iughed, spraying blood. My Chaotic Body was my salvation. The unique constitution that let me absorb both light and dark energies was keeping me alive when I should be dead.


    "Again!" Josiah ordered, his voice cold. "No more games!"


    Foster struck again, this time aiming for my head. I barely dodged, the force of his palm splitting the stone floor where I''d been.


    "Stop struggling," Foster hissed. "Die with dignity!"


    "Not... today." My hand shot out, grabbing his wrist.


    His eyes widened in shock. "What—"


    I twisted, using his own momentum to throw him off bnce. My other hand mmed into his chest, channeling the remnants of my Divine Dragon Power.


    Foster stumbled back, more surprised than hurt. "You dare!"


    Josiah Hale stepped forward, his patience gone. "Enough of this farce."


    His power crashed down like a mountain. The air itself seemed topress around me, forcing me to my knees.


    "This is the difference between us," he said coldly. "You''re not even worthy to kneel in my presence."


    I struggled against the invisible weight, blood vessels rupturing in my eyes from the strain. "I''ll... never... kneel..."


    Josiah''s expression darkened. "Then die standing."


    He drew back his fist. I recognized the technique immediately – the Void Copsing Fist. A Martial Marquis level attack that could crumple a man''s body into itself.


    There was no dodging this. No blocking it.


    So I didn''t try.


    As his fist rocketed toward me, I gathered every remaining scrap of energy in my body. Not to defend – but to attack.


    I met his strike with my own.


    The collision was catastrophic. My arm shattered instantly, bone fragments tearing through muscle. Pain beyond imagining overwhelmed me.


    But I''d calcted precisely.


    The force of ourbined strikes created an explosive shockwave that radiated outward. The invisible barrier – his precious Marquis''s Cage – strained under the pressure.


    Hairline fractures appeared in the formation. Small, but growing.


    Josiah''s eyes widened in realization. "No!"


    Toote. The barrier shattered like ss.


    I didn''t waste a second. With thest vestige of my strength, I activated the Shadow Step technique and hurled myself through the opening.


    "STOP HIM!" Josiah''s roar echoed behind me.


    I crashed through a window, ss shredding my already broken body. The ground rushed up to meet me from three stories high.


    The impact knocked what little breath I had left from my lungs. Something vital ruptured inside me.


    But I was outside. Free.


    I stumbled to my feet, every movement pure torture. Blood trailed behind me as I limped into the shadows of the city.


    Behind me, the Ascendant Saints Order erupted into chaos. rms red. Disciples poured from buildings.


    Too slow. Much too slow.


    By the time they organized a proper search, I was already gone – hidden in a drainage tunnel beneath the streets, half-dead but alive.


    As darkness imed my consciousness, one thought burned in my mind:


    I will return. And when I do, none of them will survive.


    ---


    The news spread like wildfire across Veridia City. <q ss="in-imprint-b">My Virtual Library Empire (*) hosts the original.</q>


    The mighty Ascendant Saints Order – one of the most prestigious cultivation sects in the region – had locked downpletely. Gates barred. Guards doubled. No one in or out.


    All because of one man: Liam Knight.


    "Is it true?" a merchant whispered to hispanion at a tea house. "Did he really fight Josiah Hale and escape?"


    "My cousin works security there," his friend replied quietly. "Says Hale''s gone mad with rage. Ordered everyone to hunt Knight down, dead or alive."


    "A Martial Marquis... afraid of a young cultivator?"


    "Afraid enough to lock his entire sect behind walls."


    Laughter rippled through the establishment. The mighty Ascendant Saints Order, cowering in fear.


    ---


    Inside his office, Josiah Hale mmed his fist through his desk, splitting the hardwood down the middle.


    "Master Hale," Elder Foster ventured cautiously, "we''ve tripled the guards and—"


    "Silence!" Josiah roared. "Do you understand what''s happened? What we''ve done?"


    Foster bowed his head. "We... failed to eliminate the target."


    "No." Josiah''s voice dropped dangerously low. "We''ve created a monster."


    He paced the room, barely containing his fury. "Knight should be dead. The injuries he sustained... no ordinary cultivator could have survived them, let alone escaped."


    "Perhaps he died after fleeing?"


    "Don''t be naive," Josiah snapped. "I sense his life force still. Weakened, yes, but enduring. Even now, he recovers."


    Foster paled. "How is that possible?"


    "His constitution is unlike anything I''ve encountered. The legends of the Chaotic Body..." Josiah shook his head. "We should have killed him instantly. Now he knows our strength, while we still don''t understand his full potential."


    "Surely he wouldn''t dare attack us again?"


    Josiah''sugh was bitter. "That''s exactly what he''ll do. Men like Knight, when driven to the edge... they be something else entirely. And now he has a personal vendetta against us."


    He turned to the window, staring at the city below. "Lock down the entirepound. No one enters or leaves until further notice."


    "But Master, the mockery we''ll face—"


    "Better mockery than destruction," Josiah replied coldly. "When Knight returns – and he will return – I want to meet him on our terms, not his."


    ---


    Three dayster, Corbin Ashworth stormed into Josiah Hale''s office without knocking, his face flushed with rage.


    "Do you have any idea what you''ve done?" he demanded, throwing a newspaper onto the remnants of Josiah''s desk. "The entire city isughing at us!"


    The headline screamed: ASCENDANT SAINTS COWER BEHIND WALLS – FEAR OF ONE MAN PARALYZES ANCIENT SECT


    Josiah barely nced at it. "Your concern is noted."


    "Noted?" Corbin''s voice rose dangerously. "Is that all you have to say? Your failure has made us aughingstock! The Ashworth name is being dragged through mud because of your ipetence!"


    Josiah''s eyes narrowed. "Choose your next words carefully, Corbin. I am not one of your subordinates to be berated."


    "You promised me Knight''s head," Corbin continued, undeterred. "Instead, you''ve elevated him to legend status! Do you know what they''re calling him now? ''The Man Who Made a Marquis Hide.'' Stories of his escape grow more outrageous by the hour!"


    "Better a living sect than a dead hero," Josiah replied coldly. "You don''t understand what we''re dealing with."


    "I understand weakness when I see it," Corbin spat. "The ckthornes are reconsidering our alliance. The wedding ns are in jeopardy. All because you couldn''t kill one insignificant upstart!"


    Josiah rose slowly from his seat, power radiating from him in palpable waves. "That ''insignificant upstart'' survived attacks that would have obliterated anyone else. He has the Chaotic Body, Corbin. Do you understand what that means?"


    For the first time, uncertainty flickered across Corbin''s face.


    "Let me be clear," Josiah continued. "I will handle Knight, but on my terms. Not yours. Not the ckthornes''. Mine."


    "You have one week," Corbin hissed. "One week to restore our honor and eliminate Knight permanently. Otherwise, find yourself another patron."


    The tension between them was interrupted by the shrill ring of Corbin''s phone. He nced at the screen, his expression changing instantly.


    "Mr. Lowell from Oceana City," he murmured, eyes widening slightly.


    Josiah watched as Corbin''s face paled. Whatever news awaited him from Oceana City, it clearly wasn''t what he''d been expecting.


    The pieces of a muchrger game were beginning to move.