"I can't sleep…"
Qin Tian lay on the cold carpet, staring into the darkness, turning from side to side as if trying to escape his own thoughts.
It didn't work.
"…Forget it."
He exhaled slowly and sat up.
Sleep wouldn't come. Forcing it was pointless.
His gaze drifted inward—to the system.
Numbers flickered into focus.
4396 Evolution Points.
A harvest soaked in blood.
Green-skinned orcs. Shadow Cats. One Skyborne beast.
All reduced to numbers.
He had already spent 2000 to evolve Shadow of the Spirit Cat into Shadowbone Physique. Just over 2000 remained—enough for one more evolution.
Four green talents lingered before him:
Absolute Gunmastery.High-tier Strength.Quick Recovery.Danger Perception.
Two stood out.
Strength… or recovery.
His thoughts settled quickly.
Recovery was tempting. Push it far enough, and it might become something monstrous—regeneration, agelessness… immortality.
But immortality without power?
Just a body that heals faster while being torn apart.
Useless.
A slaughterhouse of flesh.
Wolverine came to mind—before the metal, before the transformation. Durable, yes. Dangerous?
Not enough.
But if that same immortality were wrapped around overwhelming strength…
That would be something else entirely.
A monster.
A god.
Qin Tian's eyes hardened.
Strength first. Always.
"Enhance… High-tier Strength."
The world inside him trembled.
The green light surged violently, deepening—compressing—until a cold blue glow devoured it whole.
[Steel Bones and Iron Flesh]
It began in his chest.
Then—
Explosion.
Heat roared through his veins like molten metal. His muscles convulsed, swelling, tightening, breaking and reforging in the same breath.
His bones screamed.
Cracking. Grinding.
Densifying.
Each inch of his body was hammered by something unseen—relentless, merciless, precise.
His meridians flared like burning threads, widening under pressure, becoming tougher… stronger… hungrier.
Pain blurred into something else.
Power.
When it ended, silence followed.
Qin Tian opened his eyes slowly.
His fists tightened.
Strength surged beneath his skin—dense, heavy, undeniable.
"…Steel bones. Iron flesh."
A faint smile surfaced.
Agility was useful.
But this—
This was certainty.
Assassins relied on shadows.
But a tank… crushed everything in front of it.
"Being hard… is the real truth."
Sleep drifted even further away.
He leaned back, exhaling.
"Four more hours…"
Too long.
Too quiet.
Too—
A warning cut through his mind.
Sharp. Sudden.
His head snapped toward the darkness.
Something was there.
Something wrong.
The shadows in the tent… moved.
Not naturally.
A shape peeled itself from the ground—fluid, silent—rising into form.
A cat-man.
Long limbs. Pitch-black fur. Eyes like sickly green flames.
Watching.
Qin Tian didn't move.
Neither did it.
Then—
Their eyes met.
"Meow—!"
"Die."
They moved at the same time.
Claws flashed toward his throat—fast, vicious, precise.
Qin Tian leaned back just enough to avoid death by a hair's breadth.
His body reacted before thought could catch up.
His leg snapped upward.
Bam.
Impact.
Something broke.
The cat-man froze.
Its pupils exploded wide, veins flooding its eyes with red as a strangled scream tore from its throat.
"MEOW—!!!"
Fire answered.
A blazing sphere slammed into its skull from the side.
At the same time, a massive figure crashed into it—pinning it to the ground.
Qin Tian stepped in.
No hesitation.
His leg swung again.
A full-force kick.
Thud—
The head burst apart.
Like a crushed fruit.
Red. White. Bone.
Silence.
Qin Tian stood there, still, staring at what remained.
"…That strong?"
For a moment, even he was surprised.
Light flickered on.
The tent snapped back into visibility.
Qin Dadi. Liu Zhaozhao. Xiao Yunlong.
All staring.
At the corpse.
At him.
"…Shadow Feline," Xiao Yunlong muttered, inhaling sharply. "Higher species. Bronze bloodline."
An assassin of the dark.
Faster than Spirit Cats.
Deadlier.
Capable of slipping through shadows themselves.
"If that was Tier Three…" Qin Dadi's voice was low. Tight. "…we'd all be dead."
No one argued.
"Qin Tian…" Liu Zhaozhao looked at him, eyes complicated. "You saved us again."
Again.
The word lingered.
From the battlefield… to now.
Three times.
She had doubted him once.
A clone. Inexperienced. A liability.
Now—
He was the reason they were still breathing.
Qin Tian said nothing.
"Couldn't sleep," he replied simply. "Saw it first."
But inside—
Something stirred.
Two blue lights had entered him.
One merged quietly into Shadowbone Physique.
The other…
New.
Unfamiliar.
Alive.
[Shadow Jump]
Step into the dark.
Become it.
Move through it.
The shadows were no longer just cover.
They were paths.
Weapons.
Escape.
Hunting grounds.
Qin Tian lowered his gaze slightly.
A faint glimmer passed through his eyes.
Now—
Even the night itself…
Belonged to him.