Chapter 89: Pre-Match Breakthroughs
Three days had slipped by like smoke on a restless wind, and now, the final night before the long-anticipated match between Su Tianhao and Su Jian had quietly arrived.
Oakwood City lay under the pale glow of the moon, its once lively streets hushed and still. Only the flicker of scattered lanterns remained, casting long, swaying shadows against stone walls. A gentle breeze moved through the alleys, carrying with it a subtle tension—quiet, but unmistakable.
Tomorrow was the day.
The match between Su Tianhao and Su Jian had grown into more than just a family matter. The entire city was watching.
But while Oakwood slept, not everyone rested.
---
Deep within the heart of the Su family estate, in a peaceful courtyard surrounded by lush flowers and flourishing gardens, the scent of blooming blossoms filled the air—carried on the refreshing night breeze.
Amidst this elegant courtyard stood a massive peach tree, its fallen leaves scattered beneath the canopy like a soft carpet woven from spring's blush. A solitary figure sat cross-legged on this natural carpet, eyes closed in meditation, brows furrowed with frustrated determination.
He was dressed in luxurious silk robes, perfectly poised in lotus position. Spiritual energy was being guided to his solitary form in steady currents that spoke of intensive cultivation.
Standing some distance away was a beautiful young woman in elegant green robes—watching like a sentinel. Her brows creased with worry as she observed him.
The young man was none other than Su Jian. And the woman keeping watch was Xie Ling—his personal attendant, and the woman who had once served Su Tianhao not just as a servant, but as a friend.
Xie Ling's expression was filled with complex emotions. As someone with considerable status in the clan thanks to Su Jian's influence, she had naturally heard of Su Tianhao's current achievements and meteoric growth.
His sudden rise had greatly shocked her. After all that had happened, she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of regret.
Although she was now a 3rd level Martial Adept thanks to Su Jian's assistance, she had always harbored guilt for betraying Su Tianhao. She had consoled herself with the idea that she had made the right choice—that aligning with Su Jian was what was best for her future. Now that Su Tianhao was no longer the person everyone thought he was, that guilt had intensified tenfold.
'Turns out I didn't make the right choice after all,' Xie Ling thought inwardly with bitter regret, a forced smile spreading across her face.
Although it may have seemed like she had a good relationship with Su Jian on the surface, it was never truly so. He had only taken her as a personal attendant to make Su Tianhao jealous, and had fulfilled his promise to her out of nothing but pride.
In truth, to him she was just a worthless commoner who relied on others to survive—someone who would never truly go far on the path of cultivation. A far cry from how Su Tianhao had treated her. He had treated her like an elder sister.
But there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Sigh.
Xie Ling let out a heavy sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the past year.
'How did the young master even manage to cultivate so fast?' she wondered inwardly.
The young master she referred to was naturally Su Tianhao. More than a month ago, when Su Tianhao fought against Yu Chen—one of Su Jian's followers—she had personally probed into his cultivation base and discovered he was just an ordinary mortal without any cultivation whatsoever.
But miraculously, after just a single day, she came to learn that the same Su Tianhao now possessed the strength of a 4th level Martial Apprentice. And it only escalated from there—not even two weeks later, she had personally witnessed Su Tianhao demonstrate the strength of a peak Martial Apprentice when he fought Su Hai.
"Now a month has passed... who knows how much of a monster the young master has become..." Xie Ling mumbled, complex emotions overwhelming her—guilt, fear, curiosity, and anticipation all swirling together like a tempest.
A month ago when Su Tianhao first declared the match, she had been filled with worry. Now?
There was no worry whatsoever. Only anticipation.
After finding out about how Su Tianhao had defeated Ye Wenjie two weeks ago, she didn't think Su Jian had any chance at all.
"Tomorrow is the match. I'll finally get to see how much of a monster the young master has become..." she murmured quietly, her eyes narrowing with analytical focus. "Perhaps I can get some answers..."
It could be said that in all of Oakwood City, Xie Ling was the only one who truly understood Su Tianhao's rate of growth. She had witnessed it since he was nine years old. To others, Su Tianhao had been quietly accumulating strength during his year of solitude. To her, who knew the truth—he had started from nothing after coming out of solitude, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, hiding wings strong enough to defy the sky.
---
While Xie Ling was lost in her own thoughts, Su Jian was desperately pushing himself to the edge of breakthrough. He too had heard of Su Tianhao's sudden rise—news that had deeply unsettled him, planting a seed of doubt in his heart.
But Su Jian refused to let that seed consume him. Instead, it bloomed into motivation—an intense, almost obsessive will to grow stronger.
'No way I'm letting that bastard defeat me tomorrow!' Su Jian growled inwardly, veins bulging across his temples as he desperately sought to break through his bottleneck and reach the 6th level of the Martial Disciple Realm.
The wind stirred around him as spiritual energy surged into his body in dense, steady streams. His muscles and meridians strained under the pressure, pushed to their absolute limits.
'I, Su Jian, have always been a victor! Nothing can change that!' he reminded himself, clenching his teeth as the flood of energy pounded relentlessly against his bottleneck.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It sounded like a sledgehammer crashing into stone—his dantian shaking violently under the force of the assault.
"Still not enough!" Su Jian's eyes snapped open, a flicker of unwillingness gleaming in their brown depths like dying embers refusing to be extinguished.
"More pills... I need more," he muttered, his voice trembling on the edge of obsession. He didn't even register Xie Ling's distant gaze. In that moment, his entire world had narrowed to this single breakthrough.
Without hesitation, he retrieved a pill bottle containing eight pills, popped the cap, and swallowed one whole without ceremony.
These were Essence Refinement Pills—the precious resources meant to aid Martial Disciples in their cultivation.
As the pill dissolved down his throat, a fiery wave of energy surged through his meridians, slamming toward his dantian like a raging tide crashing against a dam.
"Now!" His brow tightened, sweat streaming down his face as he gritted his teeth and braced himself. With every ounce of willpower, he directed the fierce energy into his dantian—hoping this final push would be enough.
Everything went smoothly. The energy wave flooded into his dantian and slammed into his bottleneck like a raging bull charging at a gate.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Then—
BOOM!
A sharp, explosive sound echoed through the quiet courtyard. Spiritual energy immediately surged toward Su Jian, drawn to him like iron filings to a magnet.
Startled by the sudden change, Xie Ling's eyes widened as she turned sharply toward him, genuine surprise flashing across her face.
"H-He broke through?"
It had only been two weeks since his last advancement to the 5th level. Even with his six-star talent, achieving another breakthrough in such a short time was truly impressive.
"6th level Martial Disciple Realm!" Su Jian exclaimed, his eyes snapping open and filled with uncontainable joy.
"Hahahahahaha!"
He threw his head back in laughter, the sound piercing through the still night air like a blade cutting silk.
"Su Tianhao… just you wait! Tomorrow, I'll have you crushed beneath my foot!" he spat, his grin wide and cruel, twisting his handsome features into something almost monstrous. "So what if you defeated Ye Wenjie? So what if you have an ancient mortal rank technique? You're still destined to be defeated by me!"
Another wave of arrogant laughter burst from his throat—loud, manic, unrelenting—until finally, it faded into silence.
His expression gradually shifted, a glint of calculating focus returning to his eyes.
"I must consolidate my foundation as much as possible... nothing must go wrong tomorrow."
Without hesitation, he retrieved another pill bottle containing ten pills and swallowed one whole—the motion mechanical yet precise.
This was also a high-level grade two cultivation elixir, but unlike the Essence Refinement Pill—which focused on improving cultivation—this one was designed to stabilize it. Known as the Foundation Building Pill, it helped cultivators solidify their cultivation base and eliminate hidden instabilities that came with rapid breakthroughs.
After swallowing the pill, Su Jian closed his eyes and resumed cultivation, not sparing Xie Ling a glance. As the Su family's young master and only son of the Patriarch, he enjoyed privileges others could only dream of. With the aid of the Foundation Building Pill, it was only a matter of time before his new realm would stabilize completely.
Xie Ling watched him quietly, unbothered by his disregard—she had long grown accustomed to such treatment.
"So he managed to break through at the last moment, huh?" she murmured, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Tomorrow is going to be interesting..."
---
Meanwhile, in the quiet courtyard of the Fei Wu Quarter, Su Tianhao sat cross-legged beneath the ancient oak, his body a beacon of calm amidst the stillness of night. Spiritual energy surged into him from all directions, drawn from within a twenty-meter radius by an unseen, irresistible force.
In the past three days, Su Tianhao had trained relentlessly. By day, he honed his Shadow-Splitting Flash technique, refining every movement. By night, he immersed himself in cultivating the second layer of the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique.
Through constant effort, he had gradually learned to control his devouring ability—tempering its overwhelming force, refining its reach, and preventing unnecessary disruption to his surroundings.
His goal was simple yet monumental: break through to the 4th level of the Martial Disciple Realm.
Though traces of his earlier breakthroughs still echoed within his body, he could feel the next threshold drawing closer with each passing moment. The Supreme Dragon Essence Refinement Art pulsed within his veins, filled with purpose—not driven by tomorrow's match with Su Jian, but by something far greater.
'Currently, I'm only at the 3rd level of the Martial Disciple Realm... One month ago, Lu Ruyi was already a 1st level Martial Adept—and she's also close to comprehending Sword Will,' Su Tianhao thought inwardly, his analytical mind racing through the implications.
A swordsman who comprehended Sword Will would be known as a Sword Warrior—equivalent to a Martial Core Realm expert in terms of combat capability. And when a swordsman's realm of swordsmanship outpaced their cultivation base, the latter would soon catch up, often at an accelerated rate due to enhanced comprehension.
'With her talent and resources, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already become a Sword Warrior,' Su Tianhao thought. 'If that's the case, her cultivation would be advancing rapidly... probably close to the 7th level of the Martial Adept Realm by now.'
After all, her master was the Sect Leader of Lianhua Sect—a Sword Lord. Such progress was entirely plausible, even expected.
The thought hit him like a splash of cold water, grounding his perspective.
'I'm still far behind the true geniuses...' he admitted inwardly with brutal honesty.
Since that encounter with Lu Ruyi, his gaze had shifted beyond the narrow confines of Oakwood City.
Ye Wenjie? Su Jian?
They were nothing more than stepping stones along his path—obstacles to overcome, not destinations to reach.
'Cultivate! Cultivate! Cultivate!'
By now, those words weren't just a mantra—but a principle. A creed. The engine that powered his relentless pursuit.
The night stretched on, deep and quiet, but the darkness only seemed to fuel his determination. With unwavering focus, he poured his full attention into cultivation, the Supreme Dragon Essence Refinement Art surging through his veins like a raging tsunami.
Spiritual energy bent to his will, rushing toward him in a fierce torrent. His aura swelled with every breath, growing sharper, heavier—undeniably stronger.
The air around him shimmered with invisible force, and even the stars above seemed to twinkle in silent acknowledgment of the transformation taking place.
Tomorrow was the match—
But tonight, a dragon continued to awaken.