Gaining a tiny bit of weight every day, my weight is a billion tons.

At the same time.

Jiangcheng No. 1 Courtyard.

The second basement level houses the Zhao family's exclusive cultivation room.

Two Iron-level bodyguards deftly fastened the last piece of dark red scale armor onto Zhao Kuo's shoulder armor buckle, then stepped back three paces.

Zhao Kuo stood in the center of the training room and slowly opened his arms.

The C-grade fire-type armor, the Crimson Flame Armor, clung to his body.

Faint fire-like patterns flowed across the surface of the dark red scales, and it looked as if magma was slowly flowing inside the armor.

The belly skin of a Tier 3 fire lizard is tanned using a special process, absorbing 30% of physical impact and increasing fire-type talent by 20%.

Mr. Zhao spent four million to acquire this valuable item.

Zhao Kuo stretched his shoulders, the armor plates making a slight rubbing sound, and the corners of his mouth turned up.

"How is it?"

The two bodyguards behind him exchanged a glance and cheered in unison, "Young Master Zhao is mighty!"

"Stop flattering me." Zhao Kuo said this, but his chin was already raised.

He turned and walked to the combination lock in the corner of the training room, entered the six-digit password, and the lock popped open.

The box was lined with velvet, and in the very center lay a crystal the size of a pigeon's egg.

It is dark red all over, with a faint liquid glow flowing inside, like a miniature magma ball.

Second-tier fire-type alien beast crystal.

Zhao Kuo held it in his palm and turned to look at the corner of the training room.

Inside the Spirit Gathering Array, Liu Ruyan sat cross-legged, her long hair loose, her eyes slightly closed.

Her slender fingers formed intricate hand seals as she activated the A-rank special skill, [Qi Companion].

She looked quiet and focused.

But inwardly, he was sneering.

[Aura Anchoring] has already been attached to Zhao Kuo's origin, and [Private Domain Interception] has long been ready.

When Zhao Kuo absorbed the crystal, the fire-elemental energy released was transmitted through the dual cultivation chain. She took 90% of it and left 10% as dregs for Zhao Kuo.

She has practiced this routine countless times.

It's very smooth.

Giving back to your parents? Ha.

She never intended to give Zhao Kuo anything.

This man has S-level talent, family resources, and a top-tier cultivation environment.

All she had was this body that naturally attracted good fortune, and a heart colder than anyone else's.

Five days from now, Su Ming will surely die in the arena.

Riding on the luck of these two men, she rose to bronze level within six months and silver level within two years.

Once she reaches that level, whether the only son of the Zhao family in Jiangcheng is worthy of carrying her shoes depends on her mood.

"Like smoke".

Zhao Kuo's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Liu Ruyan opened her eyes and gave a perfectly timed gentle smile.

"Ready."

Zhao Kuo strode over, held the crystal up to her face, and looked smug.

"See this? It's a second-tier fire crystal. My dad pulled three strings to get it. Once I absorb this, plus your feedback..."

He leaned close to Liu Ruyan's ear, his voice low and passionate.

"We'll be able to touch the bronze door tonight."

There was a pause.

"Five days from now, I will make Su Ming's bones burn to ashes inch by inch in front of the whole school."

The coldness in Liu Ruyan's eyes vanished in an instant, but the gentle curve of her lips remained unchanged.

"I trust you."

Zhao Kuo took two steps back with satisfaction.

His right hand clenched tightly.

"broken!"

The second-order crystal shattered in my palm.

The crimson, violent energy burst forth like a miniature volcano, instantly unleashing the S-rank talent [Lava Fire].

Dark red liquid fire seeped from every pore of his body, sweeping outwards in all directions with scorching heat.

The temperature in the training room rose sharply.

The two Iron-level bodyguards and three henchmen standing at the door were forced back several steps by the heatwave; one of them, who was too slow, even had his eyebrows singed.

"Holy crap..." The third henchman covered his face and backed away, "Young Master Zhao's move was too intense!"

"An S-class is an S-class... If he threw a punch like that, the whole street would melt."

The bodyguard sternly told them to shut up, but the awe in his eyes was unmistakable.

In the center of the training room, Zhao Kuo was enveloped in dark red flames, and the patterns on the surface of his Crimson Flame Armor shone brightly.

Like a fire god rising from the earth.

This force is too strong.

He could feel the energy within his body expanding wildly, getting closer and closer to the threshold of the Bronze level.

Just one step away.

Just one last step.

"Like smoke! Giving back!"

Liu Ruyan formed hand seals, activating her talent sequence.

[Aura Anchoring] Locking onto Zhao Kuo's origins, successful.

[Private Domain Interception] Begins to draw in fire-elemental energy...

An anomaly has occurred.

There were no signs whatsoever.

The underlying energy within Liu Ruyan's body that sustains her innate talent.

The "minor luck" that had been absorbed from Su Ming for three whole years suddenly began to dissipate.

It's not a slow loss.

It's a collapse.

Liu Ruyan's face turned deathly pale instantly.

What happened?!

She didn't have time to analyze the reasons.

That aura was the foundation of her awakened talent, the trump card she had accumulated over the past three years by absorbing it bit by bit from Su Ming.

Without this foundation, her A-level talent is like a building on sand.

Now, the sand has been pumped away.

The substance she had been using for three years was being taken back by its original owner.

She didn't know that Su Ming had broken through to the second-tier bronze level last night, but her talent did.

At the other end of the anchor of fate was that piece of waste that she had once drained dry as nourishment.

The power of the origin is now strong enough to allow ownership to be corrected on its own.

The flow of fortune is returning.

She couldn't stop it.

The talent sequence is severely disrupted.

[Aura Anchor] Without the foundation to suppress it, the connection collapses instantly.

[Energy Interception] Not only did it fail to intercept Zhao Kuo's energy, but it also created a terrifying energy vacuum due to the sequence jamming.

The vacuum needs to be filled.

The innate, fundamental instinct made the most primal reaction: to inhale.

It wasn't about absorbing Zhao Kuo's fire-type energy.

It is the source of Zhao Kuo's power.

Zhao Kuo froze.

The molten lava fire flowing around his body suddenly stopped, and the light on the surface of the Crimson Flame Armor dimmed by a third.

"What...?"

He looked down at his hands.

The flames are shrinking.

It's not that he's taking it; it's that it's being taken away.

That power surged back through the dual cultivation chain, like a bottomless pit swallowing everything he had.

"Ruyan?!" Zhao Kuo turned his head sharply.

Liu Ruyan's face was completely bloodless, her forehead was covered in cold sweat, her hands were trembling violently, and she was swaying precariously.

She was desperately trying to stop the backlash.

It couldn't be stopped.

"Zhao Kuo...something...is interfering..." she gritted her teeth and squeezed out a few words.

Zhao Kuo wouldn't listen to any of that.

Energy is being lost.

In front of his bodyguards and henchmen, at the crucial moment when he was about to break through to the Bronze level, energy was flowing outwards.

This is worse than killing him.

"Come back here!!!"

Zhao Kuo roared and suddenly activated his S-rank origin, forcibly pulling back the leaking fire energy.

That pull caused a complete disaster.

The backlash from Liu Ruyan's internal energy had reached a critical point.

The chaotic collapse of the underlying fortunes, the out-of-control interception sequence, and Zhao Kuo's violent pull back.

The three forces were tangled together in the dual cultivation chain.

The A-level talent [Born with Luck] triggered the most primal parasitic instinct for self-preservation.

To protect oneself at all costs.

All the backlash damage and all the energy turbulence were transferred along the anchoring chain.

Target: Host Zhao Kuo.

Zhao Kuo was completely unprepared.

The liquid fire, which had been cut off and was now flowing back in, was completely out of control.

Along with the shockwave from the backlash of luck, it slammed heavily into his own chest.

"Bang!!" A muffled sound.

The Crimson Flame Armor blocked the external impact, but it couldn't stop the internal explosion.

Acrid black smoke billowed from the gaps in the armor, and Zhao Kuo's body suddenly arched forward, a metallic taste rising in his throat.

"puff……!"

A large mouthful of blood spurted out, splattering all over the ground.

Zhao Kuo's knees buckled, and one knee slammed onto the floor of the training room.

The entire room fell silent.

The bodyguards reacted the fastest, rushing over to help the person.

The three henchmen stood frozen in shock, their expressions shifting from awe to terror.

"Young Master Zhao...?!"

Zhao Kuo supported himself on the ground, his whole body trembling, with blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He didn't understand what had happened.

Everything was perfectly fine just now, the energy was increasing, the bronze was beckoning, how did it suddenly...

He turned to look at Liu Ruyan.

Liu Ruyan had already "timely" collapsed in the spirit-gathering array, looking extremely weak.

But her mind was racing.

A backlash from bad luck.

The foundation has crumbled.

She figured out the reason in less than two seconds, Su Ming.

The man whose luck she had drained for three years.

He became stronger.

It was so powerful that the portion of the fortune she had absorbed began to flow back automatically.

But I can't say that.

You absolutely cannot say that.

To say it out loud would be tantamount to admitting that her A-level talent was stolen.

Liu Ruyan propped herself up, her eyes red-rimmed, truly red.

The backlash from her bad luck caused many of her capillaries to rupture, and she rushed to Zhao Kuo's side, her face full of panic.

"Zhao Kuo...it's not a problem with the cultivation technique." Her voice trembled, but every word was carefully calculated.

"I just sensed... a cause and effect carrying death energy is interfering with the feedback mechanism."

That energy signature... seems to be a byproduct of a mutated talent.

Zhao Kuo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, the blood trailing long.

"What do you mean?"

Liu Ruyan bit her lower lip, revealing just the right amount of hesitation and fear.

"Su Ming".

"His secondary petrification mutation... is not simply physical petrification."

Do you remember? His talent was 'increasing weight,' which essentially meant consuming his own life force to increase his weight.

This mutated talent that overdraws one's lifespan will produce a kind of... causal pollution.

"He is cursing us with his life."

The meditation room was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

The third lackey shivered and stammered:

"A curse...a curse? That dying piece of trash can curse an S-rank?"

Liu Ruyan didn't speak, but lowered her eyes and let the tears silently slide down her cheeks.

The performance was flawless.

Zhao Kuo's face was contorted.

Humiliation, pain, anger, and a trace of fear locked deep within my heart...

He abruptly shook off the bodyguard's hand and stood up unsteadily.

He grabbed an expensive crystal glass from the table and slammed it against the wall.

"Bang!" Shards flew everywhere.

"Bring over the people we've been sending to keep an eye on Su Ming these past two days!"

Zhao Kuo wiped away the last trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes bloodshot.

"I need to know what that good-for-nothing has been up to these past few days."

……