The forest was quiet, but Sol Jin felt no peace. His chest still pulsed with the Core's rhythm, a heartbeat that seemed almost separate from his own. Every fiber of his body had been sharpened by the Dire Wolf, the Voidborn Warg, and the mysterious man's teaching. But strength alone was not enough. He needed knowledge, observation, and cunning.
> "The world bends to those who plan… not just those who strike," he whispered to himself.
He stepped outside the cave, moving silently along the underbrush. The sun had barely risen, yet the forest already hummed with life. Birds, insects, the distant growls of beasts—they all became data points, threads of possibility.
---
In the distance, he spotted a camp. Small, roughly built, but unmistakable: human. Three cultivators were practicing techniques, laughing and showing off their skills. They were the type that would dominate tournaments, geniuses from minor clans, likely underestimating the forest's dangers.
Sol Jin crouched, eyes scanning. Every movement they made was predictable. The boy noted stances, breathing patterns, favored strikes. He did not move to attack—yet. The Infinite Schemer's Core whispered, reminding him that knowledge was the deadliest weapon.
> "Observe. Wait. Strike only when advantage is certain."
He smiled faintly, a grin that promised mischief.
---
The first of them, a girl named Li Mei, executed a high kick, leaving her left flank exposed. Sol Jin mimicked the Core's suggestions, stepping silently through the shadows, positioning himself to test his new abilities. He let his pulse resonate outward, subtle enough to remain hidden, yet enough to probe their awareness.
The cultivators froze for a heartbeat. Subconsciously, they sensed something unusual, but could not locate it. Sol Jin felt the thrill—the first taste of stealth and manipulation.
> "They think they see the world clearly… but their eyes are blind to the shadows," he muttered.
---
He let the moment pass. Knowledge had been gained. Their strengths, weaknesses, timing, and teamwork were all recorded in his mind. Sol Jin smiled wider. A plan was forming. He would not fight blindly. He would humiliate, manipulate, and conquer without revealing his true power.
---
Hours later, the cultivators set up traps in the clearing—rudimentary ones, but lethal to ordinary travelers. Sol Jin studied them, predicting each trigger, each flaw. By nightfall, he had memorized every layout, every motion. He could navigate the traps blindfolded. And he could turn them against their owners.
> "Patience… timing… observation. This is how a schemer wins," he whispered.
---
Night fell. The forest became alive with unseen eyes. Sol Jin moved through the clearing, carefully avoiding the traps. The cultivators slept, exhausted, unaware that someone had been watching, noting every move. Then, with calculated precision, he shifted a few branches, dislodged a trap slightly, and left subtle clues pointing toward another danger—one that would trigger tomorrow.
When the cultivators awoke, their first steps activated the misdirected traps. They stumbled, slipped, and fell in ways that looked like humiliation from fate itself, not a boy hiding in the shadows. Sol Jin watched silently from afar, a grin curling on his lips. He did not gloat—he had learned restraint—but the thrill of strategy coursed through him like fire.
---
High above, the cosmic presence stirred, threads of fate intertwining around Sol Jin.
> "Ah… yes. Not brute strength alone, but cunning. The boy begins to weave patterns the world cannot anticipate. Soon, even geniuses will tremble at his name."
The man in the cave watched too, still hidden, still patient. He could feel the Core's growth in Sol Jin. The boy's first lesson in strategic humiliation was complete. From now on, every battle, every monster, every enemy would become a step in his long climb.
Sol Jin exhaled, feeling the Core resonate, stronger now. He flexed his fingers, feeling muscles still raw from the previous encounters. A dark thought crossed his mind:
> "They laughed at me once… they will regret it. Every last one of them."
The first seeds of vengeance were planted. Not blind revenge, but planned, precise, inevitable. He would rise not only stronger, but smarter, faster, and more ruthless than anyone could imagine.
---
The forest night deepened. Stars shimmered above, distant yet watching. Somewhere far away, geniuses from clans slept unaware that their future humiliation had already been written. Sol Jin's pulse throbbed with the Core, a heartbeat that now dictated his rhythm of survival, of observation, and of inevitable domination.
He returned to the cave before dawn, quiet as a shadow. Inside, the mysterious man awaited, eyes gleaming faintly in the dark.
> "You have begun to understand," he said softly. "But this is only the first step. Schemes are stronger than fists, and patience sharper than swords. Remember this, Sol Jin. The world will mock the clever… until it can no longer escape them."
Sol Jin nodded. His grin was quiet, confident. The first trial was over. The first lesson in strategy had been learned.
And deep in his chest, the Infinite Schemer's Core pulsed, whispering of greater battles, greater monsters, and greater schemes yet to come.
The boy who had been nothing was no longer just surviving. He was plotting his rise.