The world was reeling from the debut of the mysterious Epic-Warrior who had crushed the Obsidian Shield. Viktor D. Harper, the self-proclaimed Overlord, spent the next thirty days in absolute, focused cultivation, relying on the combined power of his Special-Tier Aether Well and the continuous repair provided by his Top-Tier Healing Factor.
He needed to cross the power gap before challenging a Master Realm cultivator.
The Thirty-Day Ascent
Week 1: Viktor mastered the control of his Epic-Warrior mana, using it to refine his Phantom Blade Barrage. His constant cultivation pushed him past Stage 1, then Stage 2.
Week 2: The speed of his cultivation stabilized at a phenomenal rate. His mana core grew exponentially. He reached Stage 4 Epic-Warrior. He could now fight confidently against Master Realm cultivators, though their realm manipulation was still an unknown factor.
Week 3 - 4: He dedicated time to understanding the nature of Master Archivist Lena Corvus. She used a hidden office in the city's central financial district, protected by a dense digital and energy encryption network. His All-Sight Scrutiny target was protected by this same complexity.
By the time his Systematic Replication cooldown reset, Viktor was a Stage 5 Epic-Warrior, an incredible feat achieved in just one month. His energy capacity was now immense, giving his Phantom Blade Barrage the lethality of a King-Realm attack.
The Plan: Calculated Disruption
Lena Corvus was guarded by automated systems, not human guards—complex energy barriers and advanced digital traps. These relied on precision and pattern recognition.
Viktor's plan was simple: overload the system, breach the physical barrier, touch the target, and vanish.
Target Day. Replication Cooldown: 0.
Viktor activated a powerful, localized energy pulse—a crude, concentrated wave of raw mana—that he had prepared specifically for this moment. He directed it at a major power junction a kilometer away from Corvus's office building.
Boom! The explosion was non-lethal, but it instantly plunged the entire financial block into a state of semi-darkness, creating digital chaos and physical confusion.
The Confrontation
Viktor used the brief moment of chaos to launch himself at the building. He didn't use the stairs; he ascended the skyscraper's sheer face in seconds, punching through the reinforced glass of the 45th floor office with a focused burst of mana.
Lena Corvus, a small, severe woman in her late seventies, sat calmly at a desk surrounded by holographic screens, her face illuminated by the flickering emergency lights. She was a Stage 1 Master.
Corvus didn't flinch at the shattering glass. Her Master Realm power was internal and refined. She didn't rely on flashy attacks but on subtle, overwhelming pressure.
"The Novice turned Overlord," Corvus stated, her voice quiet but sharp. "I sensed your breakthrough. The brazenness of youth."
She didn't raise her hands to cast a spell. Instead, the very space around Viktor twisted. The air grew impossibly thick, like liquid metal, slowing his muscles and compressing his energy—this was the power of a Master controlling their Realm.
"You will stop, boy," she commanded. "My Realm will crush you."
The difference between an Epic-Warrior and a Master was the manipulation of reality itself. A Stage 5 Epic-Warrior might have the raw mana to match her, but they didn't have the finesse to escape the suffocating power of her Master Realm.
But Viktor wasn't relying on brute force alone.
He channeled the vast power of the Aether Well not into his defense, but into his legs, overcoming the gravity of her Realm. He moved in a sudden, brutal leap.
"Your Realm is too slow," Viktor snarled.
He activated the Phantom Blade Barrage.
Zzzt-Kshh-Tschh!
The Epic-Tier skill, fueled by his Special-Tier core, was not aimed to kill. It was aimed to disable. Dozens of strikes targeted the nerve centers and minor mana conduits in her arms and legs in a blur of motion too fast for her Master-level reaction to intercept.
The sheer velocity of the attack temporarily shattered the coherence of her surrounding Realm. Corvus gasped, a tiny flicker of pain crossing her face as her limbs went instantly numb, her control over her Realm collapsing in a rush of disorganized mana.
In that one, precious second of systemic failure, Viktor closed the distance, his right hand slapping against her head, a precise and ruthless tactical touch.
ATTENTION: New Talent Detected.
Hostile Subject: Master Archivist Lena Corvus.
Talent A: Top-Tier Eidetic Memory. (Information)
Talent B: Epic-Tier Sensory Talent: All-Sight Scrutiny. (Passive - Information)
Systematic Replication Initiated.
Replicating...
Replication Complete.
New Talent Acquired: Epic-Tier Sensory Talent: All-Sight Scrutiny.
Cooldown Initiated: 30 Days.
The Bloody Exit
"I have what I came for," Viktor stated, retracting his hand.
Corvus, now immobile, her eyes blazing with impotent fury, whispered, "You truly are a thief of destiny. The city will hunt you down for this transgression against a Master."
Viktor looked down at her, his face a mask of cold logic. "They can try."
He then delivered one, focused Phantom Blade Barrage to her chest—a final, overwhelming strike that was neither quick nor merciful. The attack pulverized her internal organs and shattered her mana core, ensuring she would never pose a threat again.
The Overlord left no witnesses. He didn't need to be merciful; he needed to be feared, and leaving the corpse of a Master cultivator was the ultimate statement of dominance.
He glanced at his status, the new Epic-Tier talent already integrating into his perception.
Suddenly, the world changed. The static white noise of data, mana flows, and radio waves that had been surrounding him was now organized into distinct, readable streams. He could see the network security protocols as translucent blue walls, and the frantic mana signatures of the incoming authorities as burning red trails.
He found the quickest, most secure escape route instantly—a forgotten ventilation shaft that led directly to a high-speed transit line.
Viktor smiled, a cold, predatory expression. He no longer needed informants or complex scouting; he had the All-Sight Scrutiny.
He was a Stage 5 Epic-Warrior, capable of healing instantaneously, cultivating at a Special-Tier speed, fighting with an Epic-Tier skill, and now, he could see the world's secrets.
The Monarch City wasn't ready for a cultivator with these combined abilities.