December 2027, Azure Profound Continent

  Lord Ironhorn never believed in Karma until recently.

  All those Karma masters would drone on endlessly about the subject. They spoke of invisible threads connecting every living being. They warned of Heart Demons born from accumulated Slaughter Qi. They cautioned that a cultivator's greatest enemy was always themselves.

  Lord Ironhorn had dismissed them all. Utter nonsense, every word of it.

  He did not need to understand Karma to be good. He just needed to be true to himself, true to his brothers, and true to his sect. That had always been enough.

  But here it was. His heart demon.

  And just like clockwork, the little pervert was flying over. Exactly one day after Lord Ironhorn had last killed him.

  The exasperated sect leader watched the approaching figure with weary resignation.

  The silver lining? Lord Ironhorn had proven every single Karma master wrong.

  They all warned that a heart demon would corrupt and consume his memories and purpose. An invisible, unavoidable, undefeatable enemy.

  Lord Ironhorn's heart demon was neither invisible nor unavoidable. The boy was extremely visible. Obnoxiously so. And if Lord Ironhorn didn't have to guard the profundity during this critical time in its cycle, he would have simply run away, avoiding his heart demon entirely.

  But he was trapped here, bound by duty and obligation to protect the Iron Rhinoceros Sect's most sacred site. He could only confront his heart demon directly.

  "Lord Ironhorn! I have come again for my training session!"

  "Go away, Leo. Please go away."

  Leo descended to hover at a respectful distance, which Lord Ironhorn had learned meant 'getting ready to infiltrate his domain.' The boy's smile remained infuriatingly bright.

  "I told you, Lord Ironhorn. Once I figure out how to descend the lava chute, I'll go away. A month at most, I promise."

  Lord Ironhorn had already tried to make peace with his heart demon. Turns out this Leo boy didn't actually care for peace and just wanted a training partner.

  "I appreciate the gesture," Leo had said during that particular attempt, "but I really just need to figure out how to ride the lava chute. It's important for my future."

  Lord Ironhorn had never met someone as death-seeking as his heart demon. The boy was attempting the impossible: threading the hollow interior of his domain like he was threading a needle.

  Lord Ironhorn had never heard of this suicidal cultivation technique. His heart demon called it his 'lava chute,' describing a small passage that he claimed was a weak point.

  Lord Ironhorn was well aware of said 'lava chute.'

  It was absolutely, categorically, definitively not a weak point.

  In fact, the passage served as one of his most devastating weapons. The dramatic differences in gravitational force within the chute allowed him to 'whip' opponents to death if they tried attacking from above.

  Lord Ironhorn had killed his share of Nascent Soul cultivators using that technique. He relied on the chute to cripple and kill opponents that were not well educated on the trump card of the Mountain Domain.

  And now his heart demon was claiming this trump card was a weak point?

  Truly terrifying. This was the only thing the Karma masters were right about. A heart demon trying to turn his greatest strength into a perceived weakness. Undermining his confidence. Making him doubt the very foundations of his cultivation.

  Lord Ironhorn released another sigh.

  "What have I done to deserve this calamity? What karma do I need to resolve to rid myself of you?"

  Leo scratched his head.

  "I told you before, I'm not a heart demon. I'm just an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator. I just need you to help me cultivate this technique of riding the lava chute. Once I figure it out, I'll leave on my own."

  The boy's expression brightened.

  "And I'll owe you a great favor!"

  Lord Ironhorn did not want the favor.

  Lord Ironhorn especially did not want the heart demon to 'help' by resolving the profundity of the Iron Rhinoceros Sect.

  The sect leader sighed, remembering his white-hot rage when his heart demon had first suggested that particular form of assistance. The boy had casually mentioned that he could 'probably handle' the profundity and 'earn them both a great merit'.

  The sheer audacity. The absolute gall.

  "Relax," Leo said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "I already promised that I would leave profundity alone. In fact, you can come with me next time I go resolve a profundity. You can earn a great merit too! If I can get a merit, you can too!"

  Leo reached into his storage ring and took out a jade stamp. He stamped himself on his forehead and threw it over to Lord Ironhorn.

  Lord Ironhorn caught the object. A jade merit stamp, glowing with the unmistakable proof of Merit verified by the Heavenly Dao.

  This was another place where the Karma masters had failed him.

  They had refused to believe Lord Ironhorn when he reported that his Heart Demon possessed genuine merit stamps. They had smiled those condescending smiles that Karma masters always wore. They had explained, slowly and patiently, that Heart Demons were manifestations of accumulated Slaughter Qi given form by a weakened Dao Heart.

  Yet here it was. Yet another merit stamp, showing undeniable evidence of a profundity resolved. The Heavenly Dao's signature was unmistakable.

  Lord Ironhorn added the stamp to his growing collection. He now had seven of them from Leo.

  The sect leader sighed once more.

  "Let's get this over with."

  "Thank you, Lord Ironhorn! I really appreciate your patience!"

  It was bad enough that the boy wanted to thread the needle of his deadliest weapon. Worse, the heart demon insisted that Lord Ironhorn attack with genuine killing intent.

  Once, Lord Ironhorn had attempted to simply sit still and ignore his heart demon. Let the boy do whatever foolish thing he wanted without participation.

  However, the heart demon had immediately pulled out a green hat from his storage ring. Arthur had prepared them before Leo's training began, pressing the silk monstrosity into Leo's hands with far too much enthusiasm.

  "Trust me on this," Arthur had said, grinning. "In the Azure Profound Continent, putting a green hat is one of the worst insults you can give."

  Leo had stared at the hat. "I'm not putting this on anyone's head."

  Arthur had it into Leo's hands. "Insurance. In case Lord Ironhorn decides he wants to cultivate the Dao of stillness and ignoring pests."

  Leo had taken it reluctantly, feeling like he was carrying contraband.

  As it turned out, Arthur knew exactly what he was talking about.

  Leo had threatened, with the same casual cheerfulness he brought to everything, to do his best to put the green hat on Lord Ironhorn's head.

  After that, Lord Ironhorn participated in the boy's training wholeheartedly with genuine killing intent. He varied his timing, his techniques, his moves, and even added in Spell Arts.

  And the boy died.

  Repeatedly.

  Painfully.

  And then returned the next day, slightly better at surviving.

  At least the progress was satisfying to witness. Lord Ironhorn had to admit, watching the boy improve at doing the impossible carried a certain sense of satisfaction. Each day, Leo survived a fraction of a second longer. Each day, the claw would get closer when released at the critical ten meter mark.

  Lord Ironhorn was a little worried that he was training a great enemy.

  But his heart demon had promised that he would leave after mastering the technique. The boy would depart, never to return, bound for whatever other profundities he wanted to steal.

  Then the little pervert would become someone else's problem.

  ---

  Leo progressed rapidly.

  Unfortunately, he had put his divine sense training on hold. His range remained stuck at 6,903 Si while he focused entirely on figuring out how to attack the Mountain Domain. The technique demanded every scrap of his attention and energy.

  Every day he spent sixteen hours at the simulated nascent soul training center below the Frick Formation Laboratory. For the other eight hours, he would spend his time in the Azure Profound Continent game world cultivating and pressuring Lord Ironhorn to practice.

  He relied on the sleep provided within the Azure Profound Continent to completely refresh himself.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  He wouldn't have been able to do it by himself. It was a team effort. The US military had invested heavily Leo to maximize his chance of success.

  Zhao had arranged a coach as well as a dedicated sports psychologist to help train the mental aspect, encourage him, and keep up his spirits. The military spared no expense, applying the best of modern sports medicine to Leo's training regimen. A rotation of specialist trainers worked with him on everything from conditioning and recovery protocols to biomechanics and performance optimization.

  The US Military had been working for many years to teach Gold Core flyers this technique of countering the Mountain Domain. They had developed numerous training methods and aids while teaching other flyers. Refined data analysis systems, hours watching film with Leo's coaches, and mental recovery techniques that would have been impossible for any individual to access.

  They even flew in some of the successful flyers who had already mastered the threading technique. Major Isabella Santiago, one of only twelve Gold Cores who could consistently execute the technique, spent three days giving Leo expert pointers and tips.

  But Leo had another advantage of course. Every day he could put the skills he developed beneath the Laboratory into immediate practice. He would fly over to Lord Ironhorn and attempt to thread the Lord's lava chute.

  Failing the threading technique usually meant weeks of recovery from injuries caused by the sudden shift in gravitational forces when exiting the hollow.

  But Leo could practice daily using the Azure Profound Continent. This kept his progress fresh and his experience sharp. Failure only meant waiting fifteen hours for his death cooldown to reset.

  A few days before the operation to take the T3 spirit vein was set to commence, Leo had reached the point where he could consistently guide the claw onto Lord Ironhorn's head.

  The breakthrough came suddenly. One moment he was struggling with the final approach vector, and the next everything clicked. His control over his divine sense reached a new level. In the area it covered, he felt like he had the rudimentary beginnings of omniscience.

  To make sure that Lord Ironhorn was truly trying his best to kill him, Leo finished his training by attaching the Green Hat to Lord Ironhorn's head.

  The descent had been perfect. After passing through the peak of the domain, Leo located the lava chute and threaded it with ease. At the critical ten-meter point, he launched the Green Hat and fitted it squarely on Lord Ironhorn's head. All while the Lord was simultaneously trying to escape and kill him.

  Lord Ironhorn turned an impressive shade of purple after that.

  Leo returned the next day to apologize.

  And then he took out a green hat and did it again.

  Just to make sure the Lord wasn't holding anything back.

  ---

  New York City

  The flying cultivator car banked east over the Hudson, and Leo pressed his face against the reinforced glass like a child seeing snow for the first time.

  Below them, the skeleton of old Manhattan sprawled across the island. A massive crater dominated what had once been Midtown. The few pre-war buildings that still stood had been reduced to a wasteland of fused glass and twisted steel.

  Today was the day of Leo's practical test. Over past month Leo had reached a new level of control and awareness he never had before. The intensive regimen, backed by the military's cutting-edge resources and expertise, had transformed his capabilities in ways he couldn't have achieved alone.

  He had met and exceeded every one of the military's expectations. Not only could he clear difficulty fifteen easily, he was making solid progress on the hardest setting, difficulty twenty. Every benchmark they'd set, he'd surpassed ahead of schedule.

  But time was running out, there was only a few more days before the operation. Zhao informed Leo that simulator practice was over. They would need to go to New York for a full practical test involving a real Nascent Soul Mountain Domain, complete with real armor, safety tether, and the Scorpion weapon platform.

  They would need a space big enough for a Nascent Soul to spar with Leo, as well as secure enough to hide the classified Scorpion weapon platform. New York had the closest facility capable of both.

  "1978," Zhao said, adjusting his spectacles as he leaned over to follow Leo's gaze. "The first time the catacombs breached the Earth and invaded. One hundred thousand dead in the initial emergence alone. Hundreds of thousands in the battles that followed."

  Manhattan lay in ruin, serving as an exclusion zone just like downtown Boston. The Bronx had become something else entirely. Towers of glass and spiritual steel rose in elegant spirals, their surfaces inscribed with formation patterns that caught the light and scattered it into rainbows.

  The car descended toward a massive structure that dominated the northern Bronx, a giant superdome that was larger than even the flying aces fields. Its curved surface was covered in viewing screens that displayed advertisements for upcoming duels.

  Zhao gestured ahead. "Madison Square Garden Dao Discussion Arena. The premier dueling venue in the world. Nascent Soul exhibition matches draw audiences of hundreds of thousands."

  Zhao paused. "The formation work alone required cooperation from Formation Masters inside the Catacombs."

  Leo shot him a glance. Cooperation with the enemy? Zhao caught his look and continued.

  "The New York catacomb exit sits at a border junction where three different Cult territories meet. That convergence made it the primary invasion point during the war, but it also became the lifeline that allowed for such rapid rebuilding afterward. Three competing powers meant cracks to exploit and money to be made in the margins. No eternal enemies, only eternal interests."

  He gestured toward the nascent soul mansions dotting the skyline below.

  "Many of these Lords came from all around the world to make their fortunes through dealings with one Cult or another. The Garrison maintains relationships with all three. Information flows both ways. Materials flow both ways." He paused. "It is an open secret, and it is the reason New York has become what it is."

  Leo considered the implications. He knew the Catacombs had many different cults. Almost every entrance in America faced a unique cult with its own beliefs and doctrines.

  "Lord Newmont secured us access to the arena for your threading test today," Zhao continued. "The medical facilities here are state of the art. You will not be the first Flyer who has attempted to thread the mountain domain here."

  The car touched down on a platform, and Leo could already see the entrance to the arena complex, a massive gateway flanked by statues of famous duelists, their poses frozen in moments of legendary combat.

  "Lord Newmont's story is instructive," Zhao said as the car's doors slid open. "He took out a cultivation loan to advance to nascent soul. A considerable risk. The formation of the divine infant permits only one attempt. Failure would have meant regression to gold core with his immortal path permanently severed."

  "He chose the Mountain domain," Zhao continued as they walked toward the entrance. "His domain allowed him to sense spiritual mineral deposits that conventional detectors could not locate. He discovered untouched Tier Two and Tier Three veins that had been overlooked due to the competing interests of the three Cults."

  "Initially he simply located the deposits, registered the claims, and leased the rights to extraction companies. And then with the profits he cut out the middlemen, created the Newmont Cooperation, and handled everything in house."

  A familiar woman in military dress uniform waited for them. It was Major Isabella Santiago.

  "Classic American dream story, right?" Major Santiago said as Leo and Zhao approached. She had been watching them through the car's descent.

  "Lord Newmont, the self-made man. Bootstraps and bold bets." She smiled, but it carried an edge.

  "Be careful of that boomer talk. What they leave out is how many nuclear detonations cleared the path for those early prospectors. The reason the boomers got what they wanted is because they could just 'boom' away any difficulties. Try replicating that strategy today and see how far you get."

  "Major Santiago," Leo greeted her with a proper salute.

  "At ease." Major Santiago gestured for them to follow. "Lord Newmont sends his apologies for not greeting you personally. The activation order went out three weeks ago and he's neck-deep managing the mobilization. He'll keep the meeting short."

  Over ten million personnel had been mobilized, split between the twenty-seven catacombs of America. The number had been all over the news. Students, reserves, retired military, and even a fresh wave of draftees.

  Arthur and Mike would be among them. They had even encouraged Leo to go, saying he would regret it if he missed out on the fun. It made him feel a little less foolish about risking his life out here instead of staying home, cultivating safely until he reached Foundation Establishment.

  They entered a preparation chamber. Equipment racks lined the walls, each piece tagged with identification codes and maintenance logs. In the center of the room sat a suit of armor that gleamed with formations.

  "Peak Tier 4 grade," Major Santiago said, rapping her knuckles against the chestplate. "The alloy composition resists divine sense seizure. Against even Nascent Soul Lord attacks, it should preserve your life."

  "You already know the armor won't save you from the gravitational manipulation. Exit the lava chute wrong. You'll face the full force of that domain transition, and the gravity differential will turn your organs into paste. We will save your life, but it won't be fun."

  Leo had experienced the sensation every day thanks to Lord Ironhorn. Thankfully Lord Ironhorn would show mercy and kill him shortly after.

  Major Santiago touched a mechanism on the armor's back. A thin cable extended from a concealed housing.

  "The tether system. Sensors in the armor monitor your structural integrity in real time. The moment they detect the domain, you evacuate automatically. It works even if you're incapacitated."

  "Next," Major Santiago said. She produced a small crystalline object, no larger than a coin. "The encryption key. The lifebond process takes thirty minutes. The bond itself lasts about twelve hours before degrading."

  Leo nodded. He was familiar with this process. He had to undergo a temporary lifebond every time he connected to his training claw or green hat.

  Major Santiago pointed to the crystal. "This key connects you to the scorpion claw and guidance system. But there is something in the claw your previous training aids did not include."

  She paused, ensuring she had his full attention.

  "The operational claws carry a formation at their base. Heavenly tribulation lightning." Her voice dropped, taking on the weight of someone who'd seen what happened when people didn't listen.

  "Don't examine that formation with your divine sense. Don't probe it. Don't even brush against it by accident." She met his eyes. "The lightning is said to crush all under heaven."

  Leo felt a chill trace down his spine.

  "For today's test, the formation has been replaced with a signal beacon. When your claw lands on Lord Newmont, the beacon activates and he will immediately disable his domain."

  "Will I need to bond with every Scorpion individually?" Leo asked.

  "The key doesn't create a true lifebond." Major Santiago shook her head. "It trains your divine sense to exploit a backdoor in the formations. Once you learn the pattern, you can interface with any scorpion claw using that encryption schema."

  "For the upcoming operation," she continued, "you may need to bond with multiple keys. Each one corresponds to a different scorpion group."

  Leo had more questions. Especially about the heavenly tribulation lightning. But Major Santiago was already pressing the crystal into his hand.

  "Thirty minutes," she said. "Begin now."

  Leo closed his eyes and let his divine sense sink into the crystal's formation patterns.

  When he opened them again, the crystal crumbled to dust in his palm.

  "Ready?" Major Santiago asked.

  Leo stood and flexed his fingers inside the armor, rolled his shoulders to test the weight distribution. It responded perfectly.

  He tried out the temporary lifebound with the claw and tail. It felt exactly like the practice claw he had used against Lord Ironhorn.

  He grinned. This should be easy.

  The arena floor stretched out before him. Lord Newmont hovered at the center, his domain already active and occupying nearly half the space. Air shimmered and twisted under the Mountain Domain. Reality itself seemed to mark the territory of the Nascent Soul and his exclusive domain.

  Leo launched himself upward.

  The test itself felt a bit anticlimactic. Lord Newmont fought with textbook precision, but there was a measured quality to his movements. The Lord was testing Leo's competence, giving him a proper challenge without the creative viciousness that Lord Ironhorn had developed over their month together.

  Leo threaded the lava chute cleanly, his divine sense guiding the claw through the critical ten meter point with practiced ease. When the claw connected with Lord Newmont's shoulder, the beacon flared and the domain collapsed instantly.

  "That was exceptional work," Major Santiago said as Leo descended, genuine admiration in her voice.

  Leo landed beside her, adrenaline still singing through his veins. A grin spread across his face before he could stop it.

  Zhao was already waiting by the exit, and for once he was actually smiling. "Not bad, Leo. Not bad at all." He clapped Leo on the shoulder, then immediately checked his watch.

  "The team we have assembled for you departs from Garrison Boston in six hours. We need to move."

  The flying car lifted off from the arena platform, and Leo watched the Bronx skyline recede beneath them. Somewhere ahead, inside the Boston Catacombs, twenty thousand trucks were forming up for the attack.

  And somewhere beneath the staging troops, in the minor realms below, the Obsidian Cult was preparing to meet them.