(Rodova Military Academy, The Mess Hall)

    By the end of Day 2 at the academy, Leo finally felt like he was beginning to get a handle on things.

    He had secured a solid foothold among the students—forming a competitive alliance with Mu Shen and Su Yang, who now reserved him a seat at their corner table during dinner and ran beside him during the grueling morning sprints.

    He had unwillingly acquired an annoying yet oddly useful companion in Mu Ryan, who clung to him like a shadow for no apparent reason—but at least she was good for helping him navigate social situations and tutoring him in studies.

    And most importantly—he had established dominance.

    After his brutal dismantling of Jiang Gu, word had spread fast. His name carried weight now, and no one in the class seemed particularly eager to test his limits.

    Overall, everything was falling into place.

    His personal goals were on track—except for his ongoing struggles with meditation—but that was a problem for another day.

    For now, for the first time since stepping foot into Rodova Military Academy, Leo allowed himself to relax, loosening his shoulders, sinking into his seat, and actually enjoying a meal among his companions, as being no longer as worried about his memories as he was a couple days ago, he found his overly tense behaviour relaxing just a little.

    However, unfortunately for him, lowering his guard during dinner was apparently a bad choice, as just when he least expected it, disaster struck.

    *TAP* *TAP* *TAP*

    The rhythmic footsteps of senior cadets echoed through the mess hall as they marched in, their uniforms dirtied with mud and blood, their boots leaving faint imprints of dust and grime across the polished floors.

    The academic session had started a few days ago, however, this particular group of senior students looked like they had just arrived, as they entered with wide smiles and loud cheers, like a victorious troop returning home after a long mission.

    They looked like they had just crawled out of hell itself— bloodied, battered, bruised, but still standing tall, as they carried themselves with the confidence of battle-hardened veterans.

    "The Rodova Military Academy Interschool Circuit Team has returned from the SUMMER CAMP!"

    The declaration sent a ripple through the hall.

    Murmurs turned to whispers.

    Whispers turned to cheers.

    And then, like a wave cresting over the entire room, all hell broke loose as the second year students broke into wild cheers, while the first years joined in with excitement.

    In Rodova Military Academy, the circuit team members were like the star athletes, who carried-on the pride of the institute, and they were treated as absolute superstars back home.

    Almost immediately as they were back, potion bottles were opened and thrown over the team in joy, as the mess hall turned into a literal mess, as the expensive potion juices mixed with the dirt and grime off their bodies.

    "YU SHEN! YU SHEN! YU SHEN!"

    Slowly, the chant for Yu Shen erupted from the crowd, as standing at the centre of the group, Yu Shen pushed away everyone else around him, hogging all the spotlight as he raised his hands in the air with pride.

    As a transcendent-level talent, and the Captain of the current Rodova Military Academy Interschool circuits team, he was the institute’s pride, and the current most popular student of all.

    It was common knowledge that qualifying for the circuits as a first year student was next to impossible, however, Yu Shen somehow managed to do it last year, becoming the only first year from his batch to be on the circuits team.

    A living legend amongst his batch, and an inspiration for all the new joinees this year.

    "Alright, relax people, Yu Shen is here–" he said, grinning wildly, as he basked in the adoration, before proudly raising his fist in the air, which had the whole mess hall roaring for him even louder.

    However, just as effortlessly as he raised their volume, he silenced them as well, as with a simple gesture of raising a single finger and bringing it to his lips, he silenced the entire crowd that had gathered.

    "Shhh—" he said, as the crowd obeyed, turning absolutely silent.

    Then—

    With a smirk still playing on his lips, Yu Shen turned back to his team, shaking his head in amusement.

    "I was happily training at the camp with my second-year boys—who have worked themselves to the bone this summer— worked hard to become worthy of representing this academy at circuits— worked hard to kick GENEVA’S ASS THIS TIME AROUND—" Yu Shen began, his voice dripping with pride as he gestured toward his teammates behind him.

    "—When I suddenly heard some news."

    His smirk widened.

    "Not one, but two Monarch-level talents have joined our academy this year!"

    A ripple of murmurs spread through the crowd.

    Yu Shen let the tension build, then barked out a sharp, amused laugh.

    "Hahaha! Isn’t that great, guys? Not just one—but TWO!"

    He clapped, his enthusiasm contagious, prompting the gathered students to clap along with him.

    "Come on, then! Tell me who they are!" Yu Shen’s eyes gleamed with interest. "Where are our superstars?"

    At that moment, he finally decided to drop the act that he had been performing since the start, as he started to leak some of his true intentions.

    His black irises bled into a deep, unnatural purple and a suffocating pressure crashed down upon the mess hall—

    *Crackle*

    The temperature dropped.

    Frost bloomed across the floor.

    As the warm mess hall suddenly turned frigid, as if cold tundra air had suddenly swept the entire room.

    *Crash*

    The weak-willed collapsed immediately.

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    The pressure Yu Shen exuded was too unbearable for them, while even the stronger ones, those who could resist passing out, began to shiver as they couldn’t escape the deep, primal fear that clawed at their senses.

    And at the center of it all—

    Yu Shen smiled.

    "[Bloodline Move: SUBDUE]" he mouthed softly, as at that instant both Leo and Su Yang froze in time.

    Not from shock.

    Not from fear.

    But froze absolutely in time, as if their physical bodies had turned into an ice-sculpture that simply could not move.

    ’What the fuck? Why the fuck can’t I sense my body?’ Leo asked himself in alarm, as despite his mind screaming at him to move, his body simply refused to obey.

    It was as if he had been ripped from reality.

    Trapped in a dark, formless void—a place where he existed, but couldn’t act.

    And in this paralyzed state, his senses heightened—

    Allowing him to feel everything.

    The ice-cold chill sinking into his bones.

    The phantom sensation of chains coiling around his body.

    The sheer power pressing down on his soul.

    However, although he felt that way, his eyes and ears still saw everything happening around him in the real world, which told his brain that he was not in an actual phantom world, but still within the confines of reality itself, which created a weird jumble of senses in his head.

    ’What in the hell is happening to me? Is this Yu Shen’s true power?’ Leo wondered, however, before he could figure the answer to his question, Yu Shen moved.

    Slowly.

    Deliberately.

    As he approached Leo without any hurry in the world.

    "You want to join the circuit team? You think you have what it takes to go toe to toe with the best young fighters in the universe?" Yu Shen asked in disgust, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he raised a single finger— before dragging it lightly across Leo’s throat.

    "Dead." He said, looking straight into Leo’s eyes, as at that moment, Leo truly felt like his breath had been caught in his throat.

    The fear of death was a primal instinct.

    And at that moment, Leo experienced it firsthand, as this was the closest he had ever felt to death in his entire life.

    However, as if humiliating only him was not enough, Yu Shen then moved on to Su Yang, doing the same to him as he said "Dead" once again.

    Only then—

    Only after making his point to the both of them, did he finally release the pressure, allowing the duo to move, as the room returned to its normal temperature.

    The mess hall breathed a collective sigh of relief, as Yu Shen’s fake smile returned once more.

    "Welcome to Rodova Military Academy Rookies, Members from my team will face both of you this Sunday, just to show you the gap between Heaven and Earth.

    Don’t worry about Major Hen. He’ll allow it—

    See you in class," Yu Shen said, as he turned and left the mess hall, with the rest of the second year circuits team following behind him.