He took a careful breath, steadying himself. The air filled his lungs, not a gasp but a asured intake. Breathing was a challenge, but he managed. His gaze shifted to Harvey, who was kneeling on one knee.
His left shoulder was still feeling the effects of the Twin Dragon Fang's brutal double hit. He looked at it, tried to raise it a bit—just two centiters. Then he gave up.
He tried again. Sa result. The joint had compressed inward—the splitting force from two simultaneous angles doing what a single angle could not have done alone. The shoulder's internal structure had taken both strikes as a combined load rather than two separate ones.
Harvey understood what that ant before Robert needed to say anything.
He had spent his whole life training alongside Zilton Walker. He understood the effects of joint compression damage caused by cultivation techniques. He was also well aware of the recovery tiline.
He knew what it ant for cultivation progression during that tiline.
Weeks minimum.
The energy that had surrounded him completely dissipated. Ti was up. He was down on one knee in the depths of the zone. His left shoulder was gone, his right wrist was gone, and his reserves were completely depleted.
One month of Zilton Walker's personal guidance and a hidden technique that had nearly ended the fight three tis.
And there was Robert, still on his feet. Just barely, but he was standing. Harvey gazed at him for what felt like an eternity. The surrounding forest was wrapped in silence as they locked eyes, both aware of the weight of everything that had unfolded over the past three days—the planning, the gaps in resources, the differences in their approaches, the techniques they had kept hidden. All of it had led to this singular mont, shrouded in darkness among the ancient trees.
Harvey extended his remaining hand, unclipped the storage ring, and placed it on the ground between them. "Take it." Just two simple words, devoid of anger or theatrics.
The flat acknowledgnt of soone who had arrived at a result through honest effort and was acknowledging it the sa way. Robert stepped forward. Picked up the ring. He looked at Harvey one more ti.
Harvey looked back.
You were never at Level 6 Mid-Stage. He did not say it out loud, but Robert could read it in his expression. Neither of them spoke another word. Aaden made a move. The storage ring had done its job. The agreent to observe was over. Current Flow Step — activated — full output.
His approach angle shifted sideways with each step—neither a straight line nor a perfect curve, but sothing in between that made it really tough to predict where he would land.
Splitting Wind Blade — a swift diagonal cut aid right at Robert's chest, where Harvey's last strike had landed. He could see the injury clearly. Targeting that compressed area? Clever. Risky. Sai was already stepping in between them. Shadow Cross Slash — the crossing arc t the committed path of the Splitting Wind Blade.
The blade shifted, narrowly missing Robert's chest by just four centiters. Aaden took a step back and glanced at Sai, who stood firm between them. His left side was exposed, but both swords were ready at hand. His expression revealed nothing. Without hesitation, Aaden launched his attack.
Current Flow Step—a lateral push—aid at Sai's left side, where the gaps in his footwork revealed the incomplete step due to an inquiry that was not fully a recovery from the Crimson nd Pill. Sai moved in sync with him.
Aaden glanced at the Nine Shadows Step, which focused on a single point afterimage pressure. In a re half a second, he made the necessary corrections, surprising himself with how quickly he did it. He was all set for the Nine Shadows Step.
The Splitting Wind Blade ca in at an adjusted angle, striking from below where the afterimage had not quite reached. It hit Sai on his left side, but thankfully, the partial recovery from the Crimson nd Pill was still holding up. Sai took a step back to regain his footing.
His left side showed the impact in how his weight was redistributed—the compensation pattern was visible to soone looking for it. Aaden was looking for it.
Current Flow Step — a quick press with no chance to recover. He did not give Sai a mont to regroup. Splitting Wind Blade — a powerful overhead strike. Sai unleashed Nine Shadows Step—at full strength.
Three simultaneous afterimage pressure points appeared—the technique's maximum misdirection field rather than a single departure reduction.
Aaden managed to read two out of the three. He was set on the third, thinking it was Sai's actual position. But it turned out he was mistaken; Sai was actually in position one. With a swift move, he executed the Shadow Cross Slash—the full arc of the attack coming in from the angle Aaden had already taken care of.
The blade struck Aaden's left shoulder with a clean hit. He felt the joint compress instantly, causing him to drop to one knee. The force of the impact traveled through his shoulder, down his arm, and into his wrist, causing the clasp of his storage ring to fail.
Hit the forest floor. Sai picked it up before Aaden's knee fully settled. Aaden looked at his wrist. Then at Sai. Sai looked back. Calm.
Present. Giving nothing.
The four of them were completely still. Harvey was on one knee, Aaden mirroring him. Robert stood tall, but his chest was tight, his right shoulder felt off, and his left arm was numb, leaving him with absolutely no energy left.
Sai was standing there, with the left side reduced and both storage rings securely in place. The ancient trunks surrounding them bore the marks of the battle that had just unfolded. Two of them were completely shattered, while three others had cracks running through them.
The ground between them was broken and compressed from the repeated impact of techniques at full power from both sides.
Harvey looked at Robert across the result. Robert looked back.
Two storage rings are in Osborn's possession.
Everything the Walker pair had spent three days building—two Rank Four cores, six Rank Three cores, every Rank Two—is now sitting in Sai's hands.
Harvey's expression did not produce anger.
What erged was sothing softer and more sincere than re anger. It was the acknowledgnt of soone who had reached their peak and found another individual who was performing at an even greater height.
He said nothing. Robert said nothing. The extraction point was still ahead of them.
He looked at Sai. Sai gave one nod. They moved toward the extraction point.
Behind them, the deep zone held its silence. Harvey Walker remained on one knee between the shattered trunks and watched them until the forest took them completely.
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