After organizing the loot and sealing the last of the jade slips into his Expansive Space, Tian Lei leaned back and stretched his neck until it cracked.

"Well," he muttered, "one night of chaos turned profitable."

The following morning, after a quick meal downstairs, he met with Su Liyue in the inn's quiet courtyard. She was already waiting, dressed in a plain robe that concealed her noble air. Her expression was calm, alert—eyes sharper than most would expect from someone recovering from an assassination attempt.

He didn't waste time.

"We'll remain in Mist leaf City until the Grand Competition begins," he said, arms folded. "I'll be cultivating and refining my techniques. You should focus on recovery—stabilize your spirit essence and keep your identity hidden. Once the competition ends, I'll escort you home."

Su Liyue nodded slightly. "Agreed. My meridians still ache from the battle. I'll need time to recover anyway."

"Good," Tian Lei said. "The fewer variables, the better."

With that, they parted—Su Liyue to a rented courtyard of her own, and Tian Lei to his modest room upstairs. Once inside, he locked the door, sat cross-legged on the floor, and closed his eyes.

The air in the room thickened faintly as Tian Lei entered his cultivation state. Though outwardly he appeared to be cultivating like any other spiritualist, his method was entirely different. The world around him was steeped in spirit energy, not mana—true mana was faint here, scarce enough that ordinary cultivators wouldn't even sense it.

He could.

He reached inward, past the spiritual essence circulating in atmosphere, feeling for the subtle glimmers of mana hidden beneath the layers of the world's spiritual flow. Slowly, painstakingly, he drew it in—refining each thread through his soul until it resonated with his hidden foundation.

But without his Golden Fortune Core, sealed in this trial, his progress was sluggish. What once took him mere hours now stretched into days.

Twenty days passed.

Each day bled into the next, silent and precise. Tian Lei barely left his room except to eat or rest briefly. His soul pulsed faintly now with three newly forged Arcane Soul Marks, each one engraved deep within his spiritual consciousness. They glimmered faintly in his inner vision, intricate and alive, connecting his will to the threads of mana that still lingered in this world.

He exhaled softly, eyes opening to the quiet hum of distant city life.

"Three marks in twenty days," he murmured. "Back then, I'd finish a dozen before sunset… seems my edge has dulled without the Fortune Core."

Still, his control was sharper, his understanding deeper.

"Juts nine days left, I better learn some more gold Elemental Spells" he mumbled as he accessed the Magus King legacy the Gold or metal element spells to be precise and begun to learn them.

His spiritual sense dove into the ancient golden scroll, threads of luminous script unfolding like streams of molten sunlight. Each rune shimmered with power—sharp, metallic, and heavy with the weight of dominion.

Within the legacy, countless spells floated before him like blades forged of pure will. [Golden Edge Manifestation], [Metal Vein Resonance], [Ironwall Skin]—each was a masterpiece of precision and control, demanding both immense mental focus and a perfect harmony between body and soul.

Tian Lei's eyes narrowed as he hovered over one—[Auric Tempest Slash].

The inscription pulsed brighter, reacting to his affinity.

"Condense the metal essence into motion. Let sharpness become flow, and flow become destruction."

He raised his right hand, golden energy swirling into form. Threads of metallic light coiled around his arm like living serpents, spiraling faster and faster until—

Slash!

The air itself split, a shockwave leaving a shallow cut across the training hall wall. The faint glint of gold lingered in the air, humming with residual power.

"…Still unstable," he muttered, flexing his wrist as the glow faded.

Tian Lei wiped the sweat from his brow and sat cross-legged again. The room was quiet except for the sharp hum of power that filled the air. Golden light pulsed faintly around him—raw and solid, not delicate.

Each session was a grind. No wasted motion, no wasted breath. He pushed his mana to its limit, broke through barriers, and rebuilt control from the ground up.

By the second day, two Tier-2 gold spells were already under his belt.

By the third, he didn't need to chant anymore—he could fire them off in an instant, crisp and deadly. His learning speed was monstrous; what took others months, he handled before the next sunrise.

[Ironwall Skin]—tested under pressure, flawless.

[Auric Tempest Slash]—fast, silent, and lethal.

[Metal Vein Resonance]—fine-tuned for instant activation.

By the fifth day, the air around him vibrated whenever he focused. By the seventh, his aura had turned sharp enough to make even hardened cultivators uneasy. Tier-3 spells followed one after another, his mana flow clean and absolute.

And by the ninth day—

He stepped onto the balcony at dawn. The first rays of light caught on his golden aura, now refined to perfection. A casual wave of his hand split the air—hundreds of golden slashes tore through the open space like blades through silk, each one stable, controlled, and deadly.

"Now that," Tian Lei said, watching the faint golden trails fade, "feels right."

He let the last traces of golden energy fade before turning back inside. The room was a mess—scorched marks across the floor, cracked tiles from mana recoil, and lingering traces of dense spiritual pressure. A small price for the progress he'd made.

Tian Lei stretched his shoulders, feeling the raw strength coiled beneath his skin. His mana was steadier, heavier—each movement carried weight. "Good," he muttered, flexing his fingers as faint golden light shimmered between them.

He moved to the table, pulling out a dark spirit crystal and rolling it between his fingers. "Still… this isn't enough. The competition will draw prodigies, nobles, sect disciples—some even backed by major clans. I'll need more than basic spells to stand out."

"But first lets register for the competition, " he mumbled coming out of te training room and paying the receprionist for the damage he have caused he left.

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