Eastern Continent, Xuanyuan Clan.

This room was terrifyingly vast. Four giant pillars of white jade held up the corners, while wooden furniture exuded an ancient, distinctive fragrance. By the window where a guqin rested, white gauze curtains fluttered in the breeze.

A young man with long black hair stood before a painting hung on the wall.

The painting depicted a delicate woman, eyes gently closed as she inhaled the scent of a white lotus in her hand.

Xuanyuan Yinghan—next patriarch of the Xuanyuan Clan. Beyond mastering Release, Summoning, Combat, and Enchantment disciplines, he also wielded the formidable Inheritance discipline.

His inherited power came from Hua Shan Temple Moon Day, a Grand Magus renowned for swordsmanship across Aire Continent—the "Holy Sword Bearer."

*"How utterly incompetent are those Celestial Carving Academy mages? Failing to capture just two people. And Situ Sheng of the Northern Kingdom’s Five Dragon Kings? Pathetic."*

Yinghan’s gaze drifted to the stream flowing through the courtyard outside. He sighed.

*"But if the patriarch commands it, I must obey. What a tedious errand."*

News of Situ Sheng, Cecilia Xuelian, and Wilkor’s defeat reached the four masterminds behind the scenes. To prevent further erosion of the academy’s authority, Xuanyuan Xingluo—the clan patriarch—finally dispatched his own blood.

*"The exit of the Flame Archipelago lies ahead,"* Xia Feina said, peering forward.

After Wilkor’s ambush, Sharkai Bai—his wounds reopened—had accepted only hasty healing magic and bandages before fleeing the town with Xia Feina to save time.

Ahead lay Svana Forest, a famous continental tourist spot.

*"Crossing Svana brings us to the Western Sea,"* Bai said.

*"Good. Once we reach the Western Sea, we’ve reached our destination."*

Bai’s destination was his family—the Sharksea Clan, nobles of the Western Sea. As for why Sharkai Manwei hadn’t intervened? Likely suppressed by those four masterminds behind the academy.

*"Hey there! Need a ride?"*

A carriage approached as they stood at Svana Forest’s entrance.

*"I’m headed for the Western Sea."*

*"No problem. Hop in—I’m going that way."*

Exhausted, Sharkai Bai finally escaped walking. He and Xia Feina boarded the carriage.

The driver kept glancing back at them.

*"Are you two lovers?"*

*"Your hair colors are fascinating."*

Even under Xia Feina’s furious glare, Bai kept grinning and nodding at the driver’s suggestive questions.

After all—he couldn’t exactly say they were fugitives wanted by Celestial Carving Academy.

Leaving the volcanic isles behind, they traversed mist-shrouded Svana Forest. Sharkai Bai stepped onto familiar cobblestones.

After thanking the driver, Bai led Xia Feina into Roseld, a border town of the Western Sea.

*"Roseld’s a famous frontier town. Want souvenirs?"*

*"Are you joking? This isn’t a vacation!"* Xia Feina dismissed his suggestion as nonsense.

*"No romance in you at all. Let’s just get to the station. We’ll take a carriage to the capital."*

The Sharksea Clan resided in the Western Sea’s capital. Bai guided Xia Feina toward Roseld’s station.

Gradually, they noticed pedestrians thinning.

——Until they passed a cinema. A place never lacking crowds stood utterly deserted.

A long-haired youth in robes blocked their path, a slender Great Sword in a black sheath at his waist.

*"This is troublesome."*

*"A barrier spell. They’re attacking in broad daylight within a town?"*

*"And this opponent... is hopeless."*

Sharkai Bai clenched his fists.

*"Ah, you’re my target. We’ve met before—you remember?"*

Xuanyuan Yinghan yawned, his eyes fixed on Bai.

Two years ago, in the Xuanyuan Clan’s reception hall courtyard, he’d encountered this white-haired man. His arrogant demeanor had instantly grated on Yinghan. Etiquette forgotten, they’d brawled before elders.

*"You..."*

Recognition sent a chill down Bai’s spine.

This Xuanyuan heir was a Combat Magus specializing in swordsmanship. Two years prior—before Bai joined Celestial Carving Academy—he’d needed Berserk Mode just to barely defeat him. One of the few opponents Bai truly respected.

*"It hurt. Your fist. Right here on my face."*

As Yinghan spoke, his black-sheathed sword was already in hand.

*(I’m dead...!)*

Without Berserk Mode, Bai felt zero chance of victory.

Just as he feared—

Yinghan vanished. A crimson blossom bloomed before Bai’s eyes.

The flower bloomed where Yinghan’s blade had sliced his chest.

*"Tch. Can’t even dodge this?"*

Feeling steel cut flesh, Yinghan glanced at the white-haired man collapsing behind him, his tone weary.

*"Heard you enrolled at Celestial Carving later. So much for the continent’s famed academy—just a place that breeds weakness."*

*"Puh—!"*

Blood sprayed from Bai’s mouth as he lay sprawled, too weak to reply. Each breath gurgled crimson.

*"Sigh. I expected more fun from my target. My mistake. Mission—complete."*

Yinghan turned away from the fallen man, striding toward Xia Feina.

*She* was the one to eliminate.

*"...I’m not dead yet!"*

Bones crackled as Bai forced himself upright on trembling arms. He swallowed fresh blood, teeth gritted. Pure willpower dragged his unsteady body vertical.

*"The mission said ‘bring you back alive,’ right? Hmph. Then I’ll beat you to ‘almost dead’!"*

Yinghan’s icy gaze seared into Bai’s pupils.

*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*

The sound of a sword sheath slamming into Bai’s body.

The blade itself lay discarded in the dirt nearby.

Bai’s eyes were dull, consciousness fading. Blood spattered Yinghan’s face and robes as the sheath struck again and again.

He couldn’t even clench a fist now.

Yet he didn’t fall. One thought alone held him upright:

*If I collapse, the girl behind me—the one I swore to protect—dies.*

*"FALL ALREADY—!!!"*

Yinghan’s kick sent the blood-soaked Bai flying. He crashed to his knees.

Swaying like a corpse reanimated, Bai rose again.

As Yinghan charged, he spotted bandages beneath Bai’s torn clothes.

He froze.

*"You’re... injured?"*

Silence. But shock flooded the white-haired man’s eyes.

*(Injured?! I assumed someone of his strength wouldn’t get hurt by those incompetents!)*

*(No wonder he couldn’t dodge! He was wounded all along!)*

*(I dueled an injured man!)*

*(Damn it! I’ll make Xingluo answer for this! Sending me against a wounded opponent!)*

Yinghan sheathed his sword in one fluid motion. His voice cracked with panic.

*"I—I’m sorry! Truly! I didn’t know you were hurt! I said I’d cut you ‘to near-death’ out of old grudges, but had I known—I’d rather die than accept this mission! I’d never strike a wounded fighter! Especially not someone who once bested me!"*

Apology bled into his frantic words. Striking the injured was his deepest shame. To preserve his honor before this former victor, he babbled explanations regardless of whether Bai heard.

Xuanyuan Yinghan—a genius mage of unmatched prowess.

His blade carried a vow: *Never strike the wounded.*