It was a stupid thing to say, but the message had landed.
Tianlei held the woman's stare without blinking, meeting the pressure head-on as if inviting her to escalate. Her fingers paused above her phone, tension lingering for a breath too long, before she finally relented with a faint click of her tongue.
"Miss Xue Ren is on the top floor, in the pre-evaluation chamber," she said, eyes dropping back to the screen with practiced dismissal.
"What? You let him through, but what about me?" the young man protested, frustration leaking into his voice.
Tianlei didn't spare him a glance. He moved straight for the elevator, stepped inside, and the doors sealed shut with a soft hiss. The ascent was smooth, almost unnervingly so, the cabin gliding upward as if time itself had been streamlined for efficiency.
When the doors opened, he was already facing her.
"Miss Xue," he said.
Xue Ren turned from the holographic interface hovering before her. Oversized spectacles rested on her nose, an unusual choice that somehow amplified her sharp, composed presence rather than dulling it. She studied him for a brief second, then exhaled and removed them, folding the frames with deliberate precision.
"You're finally back," she said, neutral, yet weighted with expectation.
"Yeah." Tianlei's reply was flat, his eyes drifting instinctively across the room.
The space was immaculate to the point of unease. White walls and in one dim corner, a reinforced bed fitted with polished metal restraints. Empty, but not forgotten.
Xue Ren's heels tapped against the tiles as she approached, each step measured, controlled, closing the distance with intent. She stopped directly in front of him.
"Your strength has reached seven-star," she said.
The words hit harder than any blow. Tianlei grinned before he could stop himself, warmth spreading through his chest. Recognition carried weight, especially from someone like her.
"Congratulations. The Great Di Forest seemed to have been productive."
His breath hitched. "Great Di… how did you know?"
"The people I questioned are no longer capable of conversation," she replied, tone unchanged.
The casual delivery sent a chill down his spine. Her eyes were calm, devoid of hesitation.
She clicked her tongue. "Still, the outcome aligns. Miracles do happen a lot in cultivation, don't they?"
Her gaze sharpened, reassessing him. Then she raised a hand and placed it on his shoulder.
The pressure arrived instantly.
It wasn't force in the conventional sense. It was gravity, absolute and overwhelming, slamming into his shoulder and driving his knees toward the floor. Tianlei's bones groaned under the weight, breath escaping from from his lungs.
"Miss Xue—"
Her hand withdrew, but the pressure didn't. It shifted inward, compressing around his spirit core like a clenched fist . His chest burned as if space itself was collapsing inside him.
He clawed at his chest, gasping. "What… is this?"
Xue Ren touched her forehead. A brownish-red flame bloomed in her palm, radiating authority rather than heat.
"Annoying pesticide," she said calmly. "Come out."
She extended her hand.
Pain detonated.
A scream tore from Tianlei's throat as his vision warped, agony ripping through every channel of his being. His spirit core convulsed, demon Qi surging outward in violent waves, scraping against his skin like a trapped beast searching for an exit.
Something shifted deep inside him, wrong and invasive. His flesh tightened, tugged forward by an unseen pull, until with a brutal wrench, it was ripped free.
He hit the floor hard, breath knocked from his lungs. Through blurred vision, he forced himself to look up.
An illusory Hell Minotaur hovered in the air, its massive horned silhouette writhing as Xue Ren's flames wrapped around it. The fire didn't burn outward. It crushed inward, erasing it layer by layer. The creature could only emit low, distorted grunts as it was consumed.
"A Hell Minotaur…" Tianlei rasped. "How is that possible?"
"Possession through concealment," Xue Ren said. "Rare, but feasible."
"The pill," Tianlei muttered, realization snapping into place. "It hid its consciousness there."
Inside his mind, Shi Guyin's voice surfaced, tight with unease. Even I failed to detect it. Her mental and soul power are abnormal. This level exceeds standard beast masters.
"An alchemist…" Tianlei whispered.
The flames intensified. Xue Ren slowly curled her fingers, then clenched her fist.
The Minotaur collapsed in on itself, compressed into a dense orb no larger than a bead. She bit her finger, drew a single drop of blood, and flicked it forward. The droplet merged seamlessly with the orb.
A thunderous boom followed.
The shockwave tore through the room. Tianlei was pushed backward, sliding across the floor as pressure crashed into him like a controlled detonation.
"So much force," he breathed, bracing himself.
The orb shifted colors, cycling from clear to brownish-red, then softening into a muted pink-brown before stabilizing. It drifted toward Xue Ren. She inspected it briefly, then tossed it his way.
He caught it with both hands and nearly staggered. Power radiated from it, dense and volatile, setting his blood ablaze.
"When you reach nine-star Soldier Class," she said, already turning back to her screen, "consume it. Vanguard-level will follow within days."
"Vanguard…" Tianlei repeated, disbelief curling into a grin. Years of cultivation, compressed into days. It was disruptive, revolutionary.
"Tianlei thanks Senior Xue Ren," he said, bowing.
Xue Ren was already tapping digits into the interface, seemingly absorbed in her work.
"How did the military branch treat you?" she asked suddenly.
Tianlei stored the pill inside his storage ring.
"I passed the test after doing something foolish, like you suggested. Before that, I got beaten up, taken to a psychiatrist, promoted to provisional Executor, tested again… and then abandoned," he said, bitterness leaking through. "The military branch is wicked."
"The military branch is part of a system designed to create the most capable students," Xue Ren replied evenly. "Those with strong willpower and a clear understanding of the real world."
Tianlei scoffed, crossing his arms.
She immediately glanced up, and he unfolded them at once.
"They only intend to break people," he said. "Especially that drug they inject, it makes people see things, delusions, all kinds of—"
"That drug is not meant for those purposes," Xue Ren interrupted, her eyes returning to the screen. "It isn't designed to break students, but to heighten their thinking."
Somehow, it made sense. Tianlei had always been smart, but under its influence his mind had gone into overdrive using light to identify tempered glass, outthinking card games, even matching a Vanguard-level master with sheer ingenuity.
"That drug is actually…" Tianlei began.
"Designed to break," Xue Ren said calmly, "and rebuild the mind."
"Then what happens to those who fail and are broken?" Tianlei asked, remembering Bai Chen's warning.
"Like failed samples, they are removed," she replied flatly.
"So this is what you do. Do you think all those who pass remain stable?"
Xue Ren ran a finger along the side of the screen, and two more holographic displays materialized.
"That is the order of the world," she said. "Rule the system, or let the system rule you. What you experienced was only a fraction of the military branch's methods, since you didn't complete the program."
"I was forcibly removed," Tianlei said. "It was clear they wanted to torment me."
"They only torment the weak," Xue Ren replied. "The strong possess their own will. No one defines their destiny or desires for them."
Silence settled over the room. Xue Ren's eyes remained fixed on the screens, whatever her work was clearly demanding constant focus.
Tianlei walked over and sat on the bed, memories resurfacing of him waking restrained and helpless.
He didn't know how many days had passed. Whether he'd been in a coma or whether parts of his memory had been erased by the academy, he couldn't tell. But it was clear they had ways to tamper with minds.
If he was going to fight everything that sought to break him, he needed an unyielding will and the strength to challenge impossible odds. If the military branch demanded sovereign will and high intellect, he would prove he possessed both.
"Miss Xue Ren," he said finally, his voice steady, "what if you taught me alchemy?"