Haah... I'm dead tired, like a rag flung on stone.

Flat on the rough cliff, I can’t move; panic beats in my chest like cold rain. In a moment I still have to face the Warden of the Cliff of Thunder. What am I supposed to do? Ten minutes might only get me back on my feet.

Wow, worthy of a Sword Wielder—your strength rings like a bell in a storm.

Didn’t expect you to block our strongest strike. Even for a Divine Novice, challengers rarely stop that move; it’s like catching a falling boulder bare-handed.

Jixiu and Leixi glided down, scales cutting the air like shards of night. I can only give a bitter smile; blocking it means nothing. There’s still the Warden ahead—surely stronger than Jixiu and Leixi. How am I supposed to stand against that tide?

My face must be an open map of worry; they see through me in one glance.

Your Excellency Yumigawa Sumeragi, your condition looks bleak, like a lantern guttering in wind.

Jixiu studies me, eyes steady, thoughts ticking like hidden gears.

Right. In ten minutes you’ll face the Dragon King. In this state... you’re walking into a thunderstorm with a paper umbrella.

Leixi keeps sighing, pity falling from his gaze like drizzle. If you pity me, couldn’t you think of a way to help? The complaint ripples through my chest like heat.

After a beat, Jixiu speaks again. Yumigawa Sumeragi, as you are now, you can’t take the Dragon King’s trial. But I want to see your limit. I have a method to put you back at peak in ten minutes. Want to try?

Jixiu? Don’t tell me—! My heart crackles like static.

It can’t be simple or safe. But do I have a choice? I’ve clawed my way to the sixth layer of the Nine Cold Labyrinth; I won’t let go now. I draw a deep breath, look up at Jixiu’s massive frame like a cliff of iron, and say, steady as a blade, I’ll try.

Good.

Jixiu smiles, a flicker of dawn over stone, and tosses me a bottle. It arcs down like a shard of ice.

What’s this?

I manage to catch it; confusion pricks like thorns. It’s a sacred crystal vial, the kind that holds saint-tier and higher elixirs. Useless to the Mizumi Clan back home, but beyond the Central Continent it’s priceless; at auction, the hammer falls like thunder, and the price climbs into hundreds of millions of gold.

Huh?!

I pop the stopper. A rich fragrance rolls out like spring wind. Inside sits a multicolored pill, no bigger than a nail; the aura rising from it glints like starlight—definitely not ordinary. At least high saint-tier.

It’s a recovery elixir called “Chasing the Limit.” As the name says, it snaps you back to peak when you’re at the brink, forcing your body to challenge its limits. But its miracle walks with a monster—its side effects bite deep.

Side effects?

I force my mind sharp, like a blade under water; I need to think before I swallow. Jixiu’s smile is light, like a cloud that knows the rain.

Mm. “Chasing the Limit” lasts half an hour. When it fades, the mild case is ten days to half a month of paralysis and pain, like being bound in ice. The severe case is two or three months of coma, and while you’re out, your strength keeps sliding back like sand in a glass.

This...

I suck in a breath; cold runs down my spine like sleet. The price is brutal. Do I take it? If I do, I might clear the sixth layer—but the backlash looms like a cliff. If I don’t, I’ll likely fail here, but I can walk out of the Nine Cold Labyrinth whole.

Don’t worry too much. In the end, “Chasing the Limit” is only a saint-tier pinnacle elixir. A Divine Realm powerhouse can strip off the side effects. In other words, if your third trial impresses the Dragon King, he may help you purge it. He’s generous—he rewards those who pass with excellence to a certain degree, Leixi adds, voice as calm as rain.

Is that so?

His words scatter my last hesitation like leaves in wind. I flick the pill into my mouth. Mmm—delicious, sweet as ripe fruit. Warmth floods me like sunrise. Exhaustion melts; body and spirit blossom back. Strength and focus surge, rising like a tide.

Half the rest time has already slipped by like sand in a glass. We’ll leave you be. We look forward to your brilliance in the third trial, Yumigawa Sumeragi.

Do your best!

Their figures turn translucent, thinning into mist, then vanish into the bright sky. I keep channeling the recovery, too pressed for seconds to shout thanks.

…

The last few minutes race past like deer. Ten minutes end; I stand and roll my shoulders. I’m shocked—peak state, crisp as a new blade. Energy hums under my skin like a river in spring. The elixir’s power is real. I have to go all out. I need the Warden satisfied, or once the backlash hits, I stop here.

BOOM!

Lightning spears the high sky, a volley of white lances; thunder drums without end. A crushing aura falls across heaven and earth like a mountain. I flare my Sword Intent in time, a blade of will that steadies me.

Good, good. Your first two performances pleased this king. Don’t let me down this time.

A vast shadow blankets the glare, eclipsing the lightning like a storm-front. I look up on reflex—huge. My first thought is simple. It’s a dragon, of course. But compared to Jixiu and Leixi, this one is colossal—mountain upon mountain. What matters more is its strength. Through Sword Intent, I gauge at least mid-tier Divine Realm, a thunderhead bristling with power.

Weaker than the Emperor of Flames from the second layer, yes. But the Emperor of Flames was simple to outmaneuver; this time I face a true Divine Realm titan head-on. Breath quickens like a hunted deer; sweat beads on my palms as I grip the Shattered Light Sword.

This king will introduce herself first.

Seeing me silent, the Warden of the Cliff of Thunder speaks, voice rolling like distant storms. This king is Tianyao·Slotua, Warden of the sixth layer of the Nine Cold Labyrinth.

Ah—sorry, I zoned out. I bow, heat flaring in my cheeks like embers. I’m Yumigawa Sumeragi. Please guide me.

Naturally.

Tianyao studies me for a moment, gaze violet as twilight. Purple light flashes across her colossal body; the glow peels away like silk. When it fades, she stands in human form—a woman, strikingly beautiful, allure like a fox at midnight—no more than thirty by the look of it, and dangerous as a smile before lightning.