## Liam''s Perspective


    Blood trickled down my shoulder where Jim Cobb''s sword had struck. The pain was sharp but manageable. His "Heavenly Hand" technique was impressive—even I had to admit that.


    "You''re bleeding, Knight!" Cobb taunted, his voice echoing from different directions. "Not so invincible after all!"


    I remained silent, focusing on his movements. The blur of his body circling the temple followed a pattern. There was something familiar about the energy signature of his technique.


    "His speed is light-based," I muttered to myself. A spatial technique that bent light to enhance movement.


    Another barrage of attacks hit me from multiple angles. I blocked most but took a few more cuts. Minor wounds, but they were adding up.


    The Man with the Mustache shouted from his corner, "Knight! Do something! I''m too young and handsome to die here!"


    I closed my eyes, ignoring the pain. My "Heavy Falling Space" technique had always been aboutpression—making distance negligible by warping space itself. But what if I expanded it outward instead?


    "Time to finish this!" Cobb yelled, preparing another assault.


    I took a deep breath and reversed my technique. Instead ofpressing space inward, I pushed it outward. The energy rippled from my body in invisible waves.


    "What the—" Cobb''s voice suddenly slowed.


    The entire temple seemed to shift as my expanded spatial field took effect. Cobb''s blur became visible—his body now moving at half speed, caught in my gravity well.


    "My body... feels heavy!" he gasped, his light-enhanced movements now sluggish.


    "You''re not the only one who can manipte space," I said, walking toward him casually.


    "Help!" the Man with the Mustache wheezed from the corner. "Can''t... breathe... properly!"


    I hadn''t ounted for how my expanded technique would affect others. Even Sofia and Eamon looked strained under the increased gravity.


    Cobb frantically tried to escape my field, but his movements became increasinglybored. His light-based speed advantage was neutralized by my heavy space.


    I reached him in three strides. My fist connected with his jaw before he could react. The impact shattered bone. He flew backward but moved slowly, as if through thick syrup.


    "Impossible!" he gasped through broken teeth. "No one cancels Heaven''s Swift Steps!" <code ss="meta-ref-static">This version is sourced from MV3L3MPYR.</code>


    I grabbed his throat before he hit the ground. "Who really sent you? The full truth this time."


    "The—the bounty!" he choked. "It''s not just from the Martial Guild... it''s from the Heavenly Council itself!"


    The revtion made my blood run cold. The Heavenly Council—the shadowy group that controlled even the Martial Guild. If they wanted me dead...


    I tightened my grip. "Why does the Council want me dead?"


    "Something about... prophecy..." Cobb gurgled. "You''re not supposed... to exist..."


    His words struck deeper than any de. The pieces were starting to fit together—my mysterious heritage, the jade pendant, my unnatural powers.


    "Where is Isabelle Ashworth?" I demanded.


    Cobb''s eyes widened slightly. "The Ashworth girl? They took her to..."


    Before he could finish, I felt movement behind his sternum. A suicide pill—typical assassin trick.


    "No!" I mmed my palm against his chest, sending a burst of energy to neutralize the poison. "You don''t get to die yet."


    Cobb spat blood. "Toote... Knight... The girl... you''ll never..."


    His body convulsed violently. The poison was fast-acting, designed to kill instantly. I drove my hand into his chest, feeling for his golden core. Every cultivator''s power center—and a source of immense energy.


    I extracted it just before death imed him. The glowing orb pulsed in my palm, still warm with Cobb''s life force.


    "Did you just..." The Man with the Mustache stared, ck-jawed. "Take his golden core?"


    I absorbed the core into my own energy system, feeling its power integrate with mine. "He wasn''t using it anymore."


    I released my spatial field, and everyone in the temple gasped as the heavy pressure lifted.


    "Knight," Sofia called weakly. "Eamon needs help."


    I rushed to where Eamony. His breathing was shallow, skin pale. The strike he''d taken for me had damaged his dantian—his energy center.


    "How bad?" I asked, examining the wound.


    Sofia''s usually confident face was lined with worry. "Bad. His cultivation path might be permanently damaged."


    I noticed Sofia was hiding her own injuries. The left side of her face was burned badly from Cobb''s light attack. The skin was raw and blistering.


    "Your face..."


    She turned away. "It doesn''t matter. Help Eamon first."


    I ced my hand on Eamon''s chest, channeling healing energy into his damaged dantian. His core was fractured but not beyond repair.


    "I can stabilize him," I said, "but he needs specialized treatment. We need to get him to the Celestial Apothecary Guild."


    "And Sofia''s burns?" the Man with the Mustache asked, finally approaching now that the danger had passed.


    I looked at Sofia''s injuries more carefully. The damage went deeper than skin—the light attack had burned away part of her spiritual essence. No ordinary healing method would restore her facepletely.


    "The Guild should be able to help her too," I said, though less confidently.


    Sofia touched her face gingerly. "Will I be... disfigured?"


    The raw vulnerability in her voice caught me off guard. Sofia Carrera, always so fierce and proud, now faced a different kind of battle.


    "I''ll find a way to heal you both properly," I promised. "Whatever it takes."


    The Man with the Mustache cleared his throat. "Speaking of healing... I might have a solution for another problem."


    I raised an eyebrow. "What problem?"


    "The Norton girl," he said. "Evelyn. The one whose soul is partly trapped in that mirror thing."


    My attention snapped fully to him. "You know how to help her?"


    He tapped his fingers together nervously. "Not me personally. But... the Master might."


    "The Master?" I asked. "Who is this master you keep mentioning?"


    "Someone who knows more about soul arts than anyone alive," he replied. "Someone who—"


    My phone vibrated in my pocket, interrupting him. A video message from an unknown number.


    The moment I opened it, my blood froze in my veins.


    The video showed Isabelle. My Isabelle. She was strapped to some kind of medical table, tubes connected to her arms. Her normally vibrant face was pale, almost translucent. Blood—her precious, unique blood—flowed through the tubes into collection bags.


    Her eyes fluttered open briefly in the video. Her lips formed a single word: "Liam."


    The video ended abruptly.


    My hands trembled. My vision blurred. A roaring sound filled my ears as rage and fear collided within me.


    "Liam?" Sofia''s voice sounded distant. "What is it? What''s wrong?"


    I couldn''t speak. I could only stare at the nk screen, the image of Isabelle''s suffering burned into my mind.


    They were draining her blood. Using her like a resource. The woman I loved was being harvested like a crop.


    "Knight!" The Man with the Mustache shook my shoulder. "What happened? You look like you''ve seen a ghost!"


    I finally found my voice, though it came out as barely more than a whisper.


    "They have Isabelle. And they''re killing her."