The Lava Pool roared.

Tony sat at its center like a stone at the bottom of a river while everything around him churned and screamed.

Molten energy crashed against his spinal tree, forcing pathways wider, burning away weakness the way fire burns away dead wood.

He didn’t flinch.

’Almost...’

The word echoed somewhere deep in his chest. The barrier between his current realm and the next was thin now. Paper thin. He could feel it flexing with every breath, every surge of energy the Body Refinement Card pushed through him.

Just a little more.

***

In the last two days, many things happened while Tony cultivating inside the Lava pool.

Inside the Healing Tower’s announcement hall, Hikaru watched the projection with increasingly tight fists.

The video played again.

The cancer girl spoke clearly about Tony treating her cancer and she urged everyone to stop misunderstand Tony.

Absolute proof... And yet the comment feeds scrolling beside the projection were a disaster.

"This is obviously fabricated."

"Rich families always find a way to bury the truth."

"Lady Hikaru is involved now? Of course she is... Birds of a feather."

She spun toward her servant.

"How?" Hikaru asked with an irritated look. "I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. We have the patient standing right in front of them, and they still don’t believe it?"

"My lady." The servant’s voice was gentle but honest. "People do not reject evidence because it is weak. They reject it because accepting it would require them to change what they already believe."

Hikaru stared at him... Then she turned back to the screen.

The comments kept scrolling.

She had spent the last two hours pushing the truth through every network her family’s name could reach. Moon Goddess lineage connections... Academy contacts.. Outer city messengers. She had thrown resources spread the truth about Tony’s haling ability.

The result?

The conspiracy theories only grew larger.

"Now even the Moon Goddess clan is covering for him?"

"How deep does this go?"

"What more do they want?!" The words tore out of her before she could stop them.

Her servant didn’t answer.

Because Hikaru already understood that she had spent her entire life believing truth was a weapon. Show people the facts... Show them proof... Win.

She had never considered that some battles couldn’t be won that way.

Truth alone isn’t enough.

The realization sat in her chest like cold iron.

***

Sword Peak...

Mark Smith’s chamber smelled like spilled wine and barely contained rage.

The glass had shattered three minutes ago. Fragments still glittered across the marble like tiny red-stained stars. His servant hadn’t moved to clean them— too afraid to draw attention.

Mark stood near the window, hands clasped behind his back.

"Kevin Ten killed Max Pitt," he said with an ugly look.

"Yes, my lord. Tony Clark provided the earth rank sword and even stopped the Arena elder."

"Mm..." Mark’s jaw tightened. "And before that, he sent Kelly to kneel at my gate."

"Yes, my lord..."

"Twice." The word dropped like a stone into still water. "He has slapped my face twice. In front of the entire academy." He turned slowly. "Do you understand what that means?"

The servant wisely said nothing.

"It means he’s not afraid of me." Mark’s voice almost sounded impressed. "He looked at everything I represent— my family, my influence, my reputation and decided it wasn’t worth fearing."

He walked to his chair and sat.

"So killing him quietly accomplishes nothing. A dead enemy is forgotten. A humiliated one becomes a lesson."

He folded his hands together.

"Send word to the Pitt family. We need to help them at least in this way. We offer revenge for Max Pitt... Give them Kevin Ten’sn family location and enough resources to act." A pause. "When Kevin suffers, Tony will feel it. And when Tony feels it..." A slow smile crossed his face. The kind that never reached his eyes. "He’ll understand that protecting people has a price."

The servant bowed deeply.

"Understood, my lord."

After they left, Mark sat alone in the quiet. He poured himself another glass from a fresh bottle.

Tony Clark.

He turned the name over slowly, the way one turns a coin to examine both sides.

"Let’s find out what matters to you."

***

The Clark family main hall...

Sukoy... Third Elder, sharp-tongued and sharp-tempered– stood at the center with the expression of a man who had been waiting years for exactly this moment.

"This cannot continue, Patriarch. Every day, another disaster. Another headline. Another reason for the other great families to laugh at us behind closed doors!"

"Agreed." The Seventh Elder stepped up beside him. "Tony Clark is a liability. We should begin discussing his replacement before—"

"Before what?" Patriarch Rion Clark’s voice wasn’t loud.

Both elders stopped.

The Patriarch placed a single document on the table and slid it forward.

"Read it."

Silence fell as the elders crowded around. Eyes moved across the page. Expressions shifted— skepticism to surprise to something approaching discomfort.

The Healing Tower’s official declaration. Tony Clark is innocent and Kelly Don got exposed.

Signed and sealed by the Tower’s highest authority.

"This..." Sukoy’s voice lost some of its edge. "This could still be—"

"Fabricated?" Rion met his eyes. "By the Nine Lotus Academy? Using their official seal?"

No one answered.

Then the messenger burst through the doors.

"Patriarch! Urgent! The Imperial family has dispatched forces toward the Philippines— the Ten family is being targeted!"

The hall erupted immediately. Voices overlapping, chairs scraping, someone knocking over a tea set.

Rion didn’t move.

"And our forces?" he asked calmly.

The messenger caught his breath. "Already there, sir. Acting on pre-positioned orders. The Ten family is secure and under Clark protection."

Silence... Complete silence.

Rion leaned back in his chair, and something shifted in his expression. Pre-positioned.

Tony had seen this coming before it happened. Had moved pieces into place before the threat even materialised. The family manager Malkin already made enough arrangements to save Ten family from facing disaster.

"My boy," Rion said softly.

Sukoy blinked. "Patriarch?"

Rion picked up the document and set it aside.

"Tony is always one step ahead." He looked at neither elder in particular.

"As the family rules mentioned, the person who crosses the Grand Master Peak stage first, will become next prince. So, stop bringing this matter again." Rion declared in a cold tone.

***

Inside the Lava Pool, the barrier cracked.

Tony felt it— a hairline fracture running through the ceiling of his current limits, light bleeding through from the other side. His aura surged violently, compressed, then exploded outward in a controlled wave that sent the molten pool rippling to its edges.

There... He exhaled slowly... There it is.

His eyes opened with satisfaction.

Grand Mastr Warrior!