Global Descent: I Alone Can See Hidden Evolution Paths

The first official day of the tournament brought an unbelievable crowd to the central grounds. The floating jade bridges were packed with thousands of shouting onlookers, their colorful robes looking like a bright sea under the morning sky. In the middle of the lowest pavilion sat fifty giant bronze furnaces, each one pulsing with intense fire-law heat.

Gu Bylai stood in front of the central pedestal, looking incredibly calm. Her long, white and pale ice-blue silk gown swept smoothly against the stone blocks. Her heart was beating fast, not out of fear, but because she could feel Min-jae’s quiet focus anchoring her back.

Min-jae sat in the front row of the premium viewing box directly above her lane, his forearms leaning comfortably against the dark wooden deck railing. He wore his simple black silk shirt, his dark eyes fixed entirely on her face. Beside his flanks, Yoo Ji-a and Medusa were leaning their soft, heavy curves tightly against his shoulders, their faces still slightly pink from the morning’s bickering.

"Don’t worry about the noise down there, sister Bylai!" Han Chae-won yelled happily from the back of the box, her cheeks puffed up with high-energy excitement. "We have the best herbs in the entire realm!"

A loud, deep-frequency bronze gong echoed across the floating towers, signaling the start of the first round.

Immediately, the forty-nine other master alchemists opened their internal channels, dumping massive columns of red and orange fire qi straight into their cauldrons. The entire pavilion turned into a suffocating oven of heat. But when Gu Bylai moved her fingers, the room fell into a sudden, breathless silence.

She didn’t use fire. She slammed her palm flat against the bronze base, unleashing a blinding, majestic wave of absolute-zero cosmic frost straight into the center of the flames.

"What is she doing?!" an old judge in the front row gasped, his eyes widening in total shock. "She’s using ice to refine a spiritual pill! She’s going to ruin the ingredients!"

But the silver spirit-herbs inside her cauldron didn’t burn or turn to ash. The extreme cold froze the impurities instantly, cracking them into pieces while keeping the pure medicinal juice perfectly intact. The liquid inside began to glow with a brilliant silver light, out-shining every other furnace in the arena.

Min-jae watched from above, a small, genuine smile appearing on his handsome face. He could feel her progress through their shared dual-cultivation loop, a steady thread of pure, refined energy flowing directly back into his own chest.

"She’s doing perfectly," Liu Xiao whispered softly, her exotic emerald eyes shining with a deep, adoring love as she leaned her voluptuous frame even closer to his side, her fragrant hair brushing his neck.

The first round concluded in a total blowout. While the other masters were still sweating and struggling to balance their heat, Gu Bylai smoothly floated a perfectly round, silver-glowing pill out of her cauldron. It was a flawless, top-tier breakthrough medicine, forcing the entire judging panel to give her the absolute highest score of the session.

-------

Later that evening, the heavy wooden doors of their private residential pavilion glided shut, sealing out the noisy celebrations of the plaza.

Min-jae walked into the inner bedroom suite to review the map coordinates for the next round. He sat down on the edge of the large wooden bed, his body carrying a slight trace of post-battle exhaustion. Before he could call out to his interface, the door gently opened, and Gu Bylai walked inside.

She had unsealed her outer robes, wearing only a soft, loose white silk lounging gown that clung beautifully to her narrow waist and full, heavy curves. Her smooth porcelain shoulders were completely bare, and her long dark hair fell loosely past her waist. Her alluring eyes were wide, filled with an intense, breathless shyness as she walked over and sat down right next to him on the mattress, her thighs lightly brushing his.

"Bylai?" Min-jae said, his face turning an immediate, flustered red as his neck burned deep pink. "Are you not resting for tomorrow?"

"I wanted to see you first," Gu Bylai said softly, her voice trembling just a little bit with real human emotion as she reached out and gently grabbed his hand. Her fingers were warm, and her face was flushed a beautiful, deep crimson. "When I was standing in front of that furnace today, everyone was looking at me like I was a freak for using ice. But then I looked up and saw your eyes. You didn’t doubt me for a single second."

Min-jae stood still under her close touch, his standard shyness short-circuiting his cold focus. He gently turned his palm, locking his fingers firmly with hers.

"I told you before, you earned the slot," Min-jae said smoothly, his voice dropping into a low, seductive baritone that made her heart race violently. "I trust your skill. You don’t have to prove anything to the crowd, just do it for our family."

pure, desperate happiness pooled in Gu Bylai’s eyes. She didn’t stay a polite distance away. She aggressively threw her soft, exceptionally heavy curves straight into his chest, her slender arms wrapping tightly around his neck as she buried her face against his collar.

"Thank you, Min-jae," she whispered breathlessly, her lips brushing against his skin. "Having you as my husband is the greatest reward I could ever ask for. Let me stay like this for a little while."

Min-jae didn’t pull away. He smoothly wrapped his strong arms around her small waist, pulling her tightly against his black silk shirt, his heart beating fast as he enjoyed the deep, quiet romance of the room.

The intimate warmth was suddenly interrupted by a microscopic, scratching sound coming from the outer window frame. Min-jae’s dark eyes instantly narrowed into a cold, predatory focus. He gently patted Bylai’s shoulder, telling her to stay back as his system interface automatically unsealed in mid-air.

[Sovereign Cultivation Interface Active!]

[Warning: Three stealth units from the Fire Clan have deployed a ’Sovereign Disintegration Poison Gas’ through the ventilation struts!]

[Target Intention: Destroy Gu Bylai’s internal meridians before the final round begins!]

[System Check: Your family holds ’Absolute Poison Immunity’... Hazard completely negated!]

Outside the window, a thick, glowing purple gas was siphoning through the wood seams, designed to rot a cultivator’s soul core in seconds. But the moment the deadly vapor touched the air inside the room, it simply turned into a harmless gray dust, completely erased by the family’s passive immunity.

Min-jae stood up from the bed, a dark, ruthless grin spreading across his handsome face. He walked over to the window and forcefully threw the shutters wide open.

Standing on the roof tiles outside were three elite elders of the Fire Clan, their faces completely contorted into masks of pure, humiliated terror as they saw him standing there perfectly healthy, breathing the poison like it was fresh air.

"W-what?!" the lead assassin gasped out, his body trembling violently in total, breathless panic. "How can a mortal human breathe the Sovereign Disintegration Gas without his lungs melting?! You’re a monster!"

"You chose the wrong ledger to mess with," Min-jae murmured flatly.

Before the three elders could even finish compiling a single escape array, Min-jae didn’t even draw his sword. He simply unleashed a massive, white-hot counter-blast from his underlying Vajra Retribution loop, the 250% true damage reflection detonating directly through their chests. In less than a fraction of a millisecond, the three high-stage assassins let out a choked shriek and were completely vaporized into a clean cloud of white experience particles, leaving a pile of gold coins on the roof tiles.

Min-jae casually closed the shutters, turning back to look at Gu Bylai who was watching him with absolute, fanatical pride. The sneak attack was cleared, the final round was calibrated, and the absolute throne of the higher realm was waiting for them tomorrow at dawn.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!