Chapter 704: Chapter 704: The Phantom Threat
The Vice Sect Leader leaned back, his old eyes hardening into a cold, decisive look. "Let us execute this procedure correctly. If this black compound is important as you claim—and I believe your judgment, Doctor Ethan—then I will immediately contact both the Supreme Sect Master and Tarsh. Give me a brief moment."
The old master executed a sharp hand gesture toward General Henry. The veteran commander nodded silently, stepping quickly toward the primary control console of the heavy flagship. He entered a sequence of high-tier authority runes, activating the maximum security protocols of the war room before initiating a direct, dual-encrypted transmission to the pavilion headquarters.
While the high command waited for the communication link to stabilize chaos and panic were unfolding down on the valley floor.
The elite disciples of the vanguard were sprinting frantically in every direction. They aggressively began erecting heavy, runic steel barriers and assembling automated defense turrets, rapidly constructing an impenetrable military fortress around the mountain fissure. High in the freezing sky, the fifteen Invictus-class dreadnoughts fanned out into a massive, wide-interval patrol formation, constantly scanning the rugged terrain with their primary thermal arrays to ensure no secondary foreign vanguards could approach the sector.
Yet, despite their overwhelming military numbers, a deep, collective panic seized the entire army.
Every single soldier felt a phantom, burning itch crawling violently up their spine. Their eyes darted erratically toward the rocky earth as they frantically searched the stone piles for a single black or blood-red beetle. Cultivators who had faced massive demonic beast tides without flinching were now losing their minds over every stray insect, violently crushing every single small crawling creature that looked even slightly abnormal or different from the local fauna.
This specialized war faction, trained exclusively to execute brutal front-line slaughter, was suddenly mortally terrified of a invisible, biological enemy—a microscopic predator they could neither track nor understand, but one they knew with certainty could reduce a peak expert to a dried mummy in a matter of seconds.
Bzzzt.
The communication array at the center of the obsidian table violently flared to life, casting a bright, runic blue projection into the tense air of the war room. The signal was successfully established. Every person inside the cabin instinctively held their breath, their postures stiffening with a heavy, nervous anticipation over what was about to transpire.
The only entity entirely unaffected by the suffocating tension was Ethan. He sat perfectly still, his hands clasped casually over his knee as his amethyst eyes watched the light stabilize. His expression was entirely detached, looking exactly like the supreme architect who had calculated and organized every piece of this geopolitical board from the very beginning.
"Vice Leader, report," a sharp, remarkably clear voice echoed through the transmission array.
Ethan had naturally expected the Supreme Sect Master to be an ancient, weathered sword scholar or a legendary old patriarch radiating an unmatched blade intent. However, as the light fully materialized, the figure revealed was a remarkably young woman.
She appeared to be in her early twenties, clad in pristine white robes. Yet, the moment Ethan’s sharp gaze locked onto her face, he noticed a striking anomaly: her pupils were structurally bisected by a sharp, diagonal slash resembling a /, splitting each irises into two distinct halves that hummed with a terrifying, hidden spiritual power.
Her dual-pupiled gaze swept across the war room before locking directly onto the young doctor.
"So, you are the legendary Master Ethan," she said, her voice sounding surprisingly soft and youthful, making the brutal military atmosphere of the flagship feel entirely out of place. "You have caused an immense amount of administrative disruption within my pavilion since the millisecond of your recruitment. Tell me... you are fully aware that you are officially a registered disciple of our organization, correct? Everything you currently possess, you owe to the sect’s backing. And yet, you possess the sheer audacity to demand a formal, independent business negotiation with your superiors?"
The generals and the Vice Sect Leader instantly lowered their heads, a cold sweat breaking out across their brows at her sharp rhetoric. But Ethan didn’t flinch. He maintained his perfectly calm, relaxed posture, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Supreme Sect Master," Ethan began, his gravelly voice sounding incredibly smooth as he met her dual-pupiled gaze head-on. "Could you precisely indicate to me what exact assistance your pavilion has provided to facilitate my current baseline?"
The young woman’s eyes narrowed slightly, her lips pressing into a thin line. "What...?"
"Did the elders of this pavilion teach me my unique medical knowledge?" Ethan asked, his voice steady.
"No," she murmured.
"Have your grand masters taught me my advanced alchemical refinement techniques?" Ethan continued, his amethyst eyes flashing with an intellectual coldness.
"They have not," she admitted.
"Did your high-tier advisors train me in the deployment of complex runic formations?" Ethan mocked smoothly. "Even my core martial sword style originates entirely from the ancestral heritage of my own Brightsword family line. So, you must forgive my profound confusion, Sect Master... what exactly has this pavilion done for me that strips away my right to negotiate?"
The Sect Master’s dual-pupiled eyes flared with a sudden, volatile fury. The blue projection rippled violently as her spiritual pressure began to crackle across the transmission array.
"Annie, please, remain calm," the Vice Sect Leader interrupted quickly, raising his hands in a soothing gesture. "Do not lose your composure. This is absolutely not the moment."
The young woman closed her eyes, executing a deep, controlled breath before her expression flattened into a cold glare. "Fine. You are structurally correct in your evaluation, Doctor Ethan. This pavilion has not provided you with your core foundations. Consequently, I will permit you to retain that specific leverage in this negotiation. State your precise desires. What exactly is that viscous black fluid, and why do you calculate it to be so exceptionally valuable?"
On the secondary projection screen right next to her, a third figure finally stabilized. Until this millisecond, no one in the war room had given him any importance.
It was Tarsh. He was a heavily weathered old man who looked profoundly wise and unyielding, sitting unperturbed as if nothing in the mortal realm could disrupt his mental baseline.
"Yes, young man, indicate your precise terms," Tarsh said, his voice deep and perfectly steady as he broke his silence. "We can undoubtedly reach a rapid agreement here. I have temporarily halted an ongoing slaughter against the hostile vanguard along the southern border to attend this session, and I highly desire to return to the active combat theater as soon as possible."
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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinement Realm
Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion
Golden Core Realm
Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction
Spiritual Sea Realm
The Melting Tide / The Tidal Horizon / The Sea Mist Ascension
Dao Manifestation Realm
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
Spiritual Transcendence
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
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Sword mastery levels
Sword Intent.
Sword Aura.
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