Morning light spilled gently into Nuoding Academy's training courtyard, glistening off dewdrops and the worn stones beneath Tang San's feet. He moved through a slow martial sequence—each step precise, every strike measured.
His body ached from the previous day's battle, but his heart felt steady.
For the first time since reincarnation, Tang San sensed that he was walking a path that no one else could see.
A path only he could tread.
And within him, the Black Stone had begun to change.
After his morning practice, Grandmaster met him in the inner courtyard, arms folded behind his back. There was a rare hint of approval in his voice.
"You endured longer against the Steelback Wolf than I expected."
Tang San offered a respectful bow. "I used everything I've learned, Teacher. Hidden weapons, footwork, and my martial soul."
"Good," Grandmaster said flatly. "But not enough."
Tang San's expression didn't change.
Grandmaster's gaze narrowed. "The true battlefield is not a controlled duel. It's life and death. To become truly strong, you must be able to adapt—to the unknown, to the impossible."
Then, his tone shifted.
"I've arranged for your next step."
Three days later, Tang San stood in the outer forest, a burlap sack of rations over one shoulder and a sharp gleam in his eye.
He'd agreed to Grandmaster's proposal—to live in the wild for a time, surviving through combat and tracking Spirit Beasts. Not for a ring. Not yet. But to learn how to face killing intent head-on. He would return only when he had adapted.
As he walked deeper into the forest, the Black Stone began to stir.
It no longer whispered with hunger or desire—but Tang San could sense its awareness. It felt like something was watching over him from within. Not hostile. Not kind. Just… observing.
His first week was exhausting.
Every day, Tang San fought beasts—small ones, fast ones, cunning ones. He trapped, outmaneuvered, and occasionally fled. His supplies ran low quickly, forcing him to rely on tracking skills to find edible roots and clean water.
But with each battle, he grew.
His Spirit Energy recovered faster during meditation. The Blue Silver Grass moved more naturally in battle, as if it could feel his will more clearly. He could bind a moving target mid-leap now, where once he needed perfect stillness.
And in moments of desperation, when Spirit Energy was about to run dry, the stone would pulse once, and a faint surge of spiritual vitality would restore him—just enough.
Not too much.
Never obvious.
Never more than what he might achieve through extreme focus and discipline.
Tang San understood—this was no longer a technique.
It was a second existence inside him.
On the tenth day, he found something strange.
In a ruined outcropping far north of the forest's edge, he stumbled upon a broken structure of obsidian and jade. Though most of it had crumbled with age, one thing remained intact:
A broken wheel of black stone etched into the ground.
The symbol matched the one he'd seen in his dream—the one that had begun spinning in his sea of consciousness.
He knelt before it, pressing his hand to the cold surface.
The moment he touched it, the Black Stone in his dantian pulsed violently, and for the first time, Tang San felt true fear.
Something ancient had responded.
Something far beyond the scope of this world.
But it passed in seconds.
When he opened his eyes, the broken wheel had vanished—crumbled into dust like it had never been there.
Only his pulse, racing within his chest, remained.
That night, he dreamed.
A cloaked man, wreathed in fading light, stood on a crumbling altar beneath a purple sky.
"You can't use it now," the man said, voice distant. "The rules here are shallow. But once the seal is broken—once the gap between realms thins—"
Tang San stepped forward. "What are you?"
The man turned. "I am the one who brought the stone. I couldn't use it. I wasn't chosen. But you were."
Then he began to vanish.
"Twenty-five years, Tang San. That's all I bought you."
And then the dream ended.
The next morning, Tang San awoke with cold sweat on his brow. The Black Stone was silent again, but the image of the Wheel remained, slowly spinning in his sea of consciousness.
He clenched his fists and stood, ignoring the tightness in his muscles.
"I don't care if I was chosen. I'll grow stronger on my own terms."
Back at Nuoding City, Grandmaster received a report through an obscure Spirit Message Talisman. He opened it quietly, brows furrowing.
"Tang San encountered the Obsidian Fragment."
He didn't say anything more, but a shadow crossed his face.
"I must accelerate the plan."
End of Chapter 13