Chapter Sixty-Two: The Moment of Destiny

Alice Gaine was already nineteen years old this year, at the most beautiful age in anyone’s life. At present, she was attending the finest university in the entire Eastern Kingdom—Saint Eng University.

With her increasingly radiant beauty as she matured, her distinguished family background, and her gentle, water-like temperament, Alice had become the central figure of the whole university. Every movement of hers captivated countless hearts.

Yet, as the old saying goes, gentle girls are gentle to everyone. In front of all people, Alice always maintained a flawless smile, kept the perfect distance—close to all, yet intimate with none.

Many knew that Alice’s gaze had never truly lingered on any of them, merely brushing past like a hazy, dreamlike bubble.

Still, there were always those deceived—or self-deceived—by her gentleness, believing themselves to be the special one, launching their pursuit of Alice. Then, they would discover the cruel truth: Alice Gaine was gentle to everyone.

Some, more astute, tried to draw closer through family connections, seeking to narrow the gap little by little. Yet they would find that Alice almost never attended the gatherings arranged by her family.

The only time they could see Alice was when she appeared at school, and if they wished to probe further, the truth of the world would unfold before them.

Power, wealth, status—these are forms of strength. Yet these seemingly solid, but in reality illusory strengths, always reveal their weakness before a purer form of violence. Before absolute power that decides all, anything not grounded in violence is nothing.

“Ah, I wish time would hurry up,” Alice murmured, sitting atop the roof of her private dormitory, arms wrapped around her knees, resting her face against them. Gazing out over Saint Eng University’s scenery, even as she complained, the corners of her lips lifted slightly, as if smiling. “If only I could graduate soon, I wouldn’t have to deal with this bothersome school and these annoying classmates. Adventure, adventure—I want to explore ruins all over the world…”

“I’ve decided! I’m skipping class!” Suddenly, Alice clapped her hands as if making a final decision. Wearing a skirt with safety shorts underneath, she leapt from the castle-like dormitory tower, landing soundlessly, as light as a drifting butterfly. “I’m off to find A-Tian!”

Had anyone witnessed this scene, they would have glimpsed part of the truth beneath Alice’s gentle exterior—the truth that she could effortlessly leap from a height of several dozen meters and land as if gravity held no sway.

Nowadays, those who attended Saint Eng University were either wealthy, noble, or exceptionally talented, some possessing extraordinary abilities. Yet even as the practice of secret martial arts became mainstream due to several major news events, those able to leap from a tower’s pinnacle so easily numbered fewer than five at the university.

Alice, a young lady never seen practicing secret martial arts, whose physique did not betray signs of rigorous training—how did she achieve this?

And who, indeed, was A-Tian?

………………

“So tired! How much longer will the preliminary matches of the Bright Moon Saint King tournament drag on? It’s been nearly a year—still not finished. Is watching weaklings peck at each other really that entertaining…?”

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“No news from Second Brother, and Blue Dream Corporation has gone silent. Did they feud themselves into oblivion? Doesn't seem likely…”

The midsummer sun pierced through thick leaves, shining directly down on Liu Tian, who stood balanced on one leg atop a branch, swaying with the wind. No matter how the breeze blew or how the branch trembled under his weight, he seemed nailed there, without the slightest sign of falling.

This skill would have seemed unimaginable to him a year ago.

Muscle brings strength, muscle brings speed, muscle brings mass. Even with secret martial arts forcibly controlling one’s form, mass remains unchanged.

Under such circumstances, how could a mere branch bear the weight of this human tyrannosaurus?

The answer lay in the wind, in a spirit grown strong enough to affect reality, in secret martial arts cultivated to unfathomable depths.

A shadow, visible to ordinary people only in the briefest glimpse, covered the man’s body and spread outward, aided by the wind-flow secret martial arts centered on controlling air currents. Rather than standing on the branch, Liu Tian was distributing his weight across the vast atmosphere, treading upon air itself.

The branch was merely a medium; his feather-light presence was owed to most of his mass’s gravitational pull being transferred to the surrounding air.

A year of relentless effort, harnessing the power of the entire kingdom—no, several powerful coastal kingdoms—following Heaven’s painstaking research into the creation of the world’s ultimate organism, Liu Tian’s strength had reached unprecedented heights.

Had he finally surpassed Heaven? Surpassed Bai Second Brother? Surpassed all creatures on Earth?

“Bright Moon sent a letter.” As Liu Tian idly pondered, a phantom flashed, and Heaven appeared atop another giant tree. “They’ve decided to hold the final match one month from now, on Black Smoke Island. Bright Moon will bring the prism and the gold to the tournament, and your brother Second as well as Blue Dream Corporation have also confirmed their participation.”

Heaven, now nearly ninety years old, looked like a man in his forties or fifties. Having broken through as a fighter to become the King of the Century, with excellent mental condition, his lifespan seemed greatly extended. Not to mention, Liu Tian, a worthy sparring partner, was always by his side.

Over the past year, the two had battled and pushed each other, relying on decades of foundation and Heaven’s talent far exceeding Liu Tian’s, Heaven managed to barely keep pace with Liu Tian’s rapid progress. Now, both had reached another bottleneck.

A bottleneck where secret martial arts could simulate nearly all animal traits in this world, and their spirits were strong enough to clearly affect reality.

What was the next step? How should they proceed?

Even the path of the King of the Century, as recorded in ancient texts, had been traversed by the two. To force another step where no road remained, Heaven pondered, Liu Tian waited.

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They were in no rush. Not to mention Liu Tian, only twenty-one years old, even Heaven likely had a century of life left. They could proceed slowly, step by step.

Of course, the premise was to survive the impending ordeal.

To live was to have the chance to move forward; to die was to lose everything.

Over the past two years, as time marched on, Liu Tian keenly sensed the prism pressed to his chest growing hotter. Especially after fusing with two other prisms found in neighboring countries, the warming accelerated.

Now, regardless of ambient temperature, the prism was constantly at fifty degrees Celsius.

If not for Liu Tian’s accomplished cultivation, carrying the prism day and night, he would have been hospitalized for burns long ago.

A prism that had never changed suddenly behaving differently—this meant something, something was about to happen.

So Liu Tian, who once believed time was on his side, was beginning to feel restless.

He could not lose the prism—the source point that contributed three-quarters of his total points, his best partner.

And before anything happened, to gather all the prisms was the best solution Liu Tian could devise.

“Is it finally about to begin?” Taking the letter from Heaven, Liu Tian glanced at it, and a powerful feeling welled up within him.

It was starting. At last—it was starting: the destined moment, the hour that would decide fate…

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