Holden locked the door and opened the portal.
The Instanced Dungeon had changed again. It wasn’t the corridors from the train or the cramped tower from the Spire practice. This time, the System had created something completely different.
White space.
Floating white platforms stretched in every direction, suspended in a void filled with golden light. There was no ceiling or floor, only an endless expanse of luminous nothing, dotted with hexagonal platforms that buzzed with faint energy.
Holden stepped onto the nearest platform.
He pulled up his System menu.
[Breakthrough Acceleration]
[Current Rank: 2 (9-Star)]
[Next Milestone: RANK 3 (1-Star)]
[WARNING: This is a Major Realm Breakthrough. The transition from Rank 2 to Rank 3 represents a fundamental transformation of the user’s energy system. This is not a minor star advancement. This is an evolution.]
[Cost: 100,000 KP]
[Accept?]
One hundred thousand points.
Holden stared at the number for a moment. He had 205,890 KP, meaning this breakthrough would cost more than half of everything he’d accumulated.
Months of grinding, gone in a single payment.
He didn’t hesitate.
Accept.
[Major Realm Breakthrough: INITIATED]
[STATUS: Catalyst Required]
[The user must consume a Rank 3 or higher catalytic item to stabilize the energy transition. Without a catalyst, the breakthrough has a 94% failure rate and may result in permanent meridian collapse.]
[Detecting Catalyst: Divine-Spark Gem (Rank 3)]
[Consume Catalyst?]
Holden reached into his inventory and pulled out the gem.
It was small enough to fit comfortably in his palm, a golden marble that pulsed with warm light. Even before he activated it, he could feel the dense energy trapped inside.
He closed his fist around it.
The gem cracked.
Golden light exploded between his fingers.
For a moment, the entire white void lit up like a second sun. The light poured into his palm, raced up his arm, and flooded into his chest like liquid fire.
Then the pain hit.
This wasn’t like his previous breakthroughs. Those had been intense, but there had always been a sense that he was pushing through something. This felt like his entire body was being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time.
The golden energy surged through his meridians and ripped them apart.
His internal energy pathways, the channels that had carried his cultivation since the day he awakened, were being shredded from the inside. Golden light tore through them, destroying the old Rank 2 structure and making room for something new.
Holden dropped to one knee.
His vision went white as his body locked up. Every nerve in his body screamed at once.
Then the 10,000x multiplier engaged.
It had been waiting for this.
The moment the golden energy entered his system, the multiplier kicked in at full power, processing the divine catalyst with the same flawless efficiency it applied to everything else. The pain didn’t disappear, but it became manageable as the processor took the overwhelming flood of energy and distributed it through his body before it could destroy him.
The golden energy rebuilt what it had destroyed.
The meridians reformed, but they were no longer the same. They were wider and stronger, carrying a faint golden glow that made them look like tiny rivers of light beneath his skin. They could hold and transport vastly more energy than his old Rank 2 channels ever could.
Then his core began to change.
The energy reservoir in his chest expanded once more. But this time, it didn’t simply become larger. The dense sphere of Rank 2 energy unfolded like a flower blooming in fast forward, spreading through his torso as a series of golden light connected to every newly formed meridian.
His body changed with it.
The Iron-Body enhancement that had accompanied him since Rank 2 began to evolve. The metal density that had made his bones nearly impossible to break at 9-Star pushed beyond its previous limits. His skeleton became denser, stronger, its very composition changing as the old calcium and iron structure was replaced by something far harder.
A faint golden glow appeared beneath his skin.
[Aether-Steel Body: Evolution Complete]
[Description: The user’s physical form has transcended mortal limits. Bones reinforced with condensed Aether-Steel. Skin density increased to diamond-equivalent hardness. Energy reserves expanded to oceanic capacity. This body is the foundation of true master-level combat.]
His muscles burned as the transformation spread through him. His tendons tightened, his skin tingled, and every cell seemed to be pulled apart and rebuilt into something stronger.
The golden light inside him pulsed once.
Twice.
Then it settled.
The pain vanished.
There was no gradual easing. One moment Holden was on his knees, barely able to breathe, and the next he was standing, feeling better than he ever had in his life.
He looked down at his hands.
They looked the same. But when he flexed them, the air around his fingers cracked.
It sounded as though the atmosphere itself had become too fragile to contain the strength his body was casually producing.
Holden took a slow breath.
Even the air felt different. He hadn’t realized how thin the world had felt before until now. His 10,000x processor was running faster too, the upgraded meridians feeding it more energy than ever before.
[Major Realm Breakthrough: COMPLETE]
[Congratulations!]
[Rank Updated: 3 (1-Star)]
[New Body Type: Aether-Steel]
[Welcome to the realm of true power.]
Holden exhaled.
A cloud of golden steam poured from his mouth, rising into the white void like dragon’s breath.
Rank 3.
And he was just sixteen years old.
Holden summoned the Solar-Forged Sword.
The crimson blade appeared in his hand, and he immediately felt the difference. It was lighter than before, almost weightless, responding to the slightest movement of his hand. When he pushed energy into it, the power flowed like a river instead of a stream, and the blade erupted with enough brilliance to turn the white void crimson.
He swung once.
It was a simple horizontal slash.
The air didn’t just split.
It detonated.
A wave of compressed fire burst from the blade in a perfect arc, traveling thirty feet before finally dissipating.
He dismissed the sword and looked down at his hands again.
Aether-Steel Body. Diamond-hard skin. Oceanic energy reserves. A 10,000x processor running through upgraded meridians. The Void Mantle. The Sovereign’s Pendant. The Abyssal-Bone Wings. Perfect-tier Hellfire Cleave.
He had spent months hiding his true strength.
Not anymore.
The portal flickered behind him before closing, leaving Holden Voss standing alone in his hotel bedroom, a Rank 3 powerhouse in a world that still believed he was nothing more than a Rank 1 freshman.
He opened the door.
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