The assault didn’t begin in the training courtyard. It began at 3:14 AM, in the absolute silence of Ethan’s bedroom.

The air shattered. Three figures draped in featureless, hooded grey cloaks materialized from the shadows like vengeful spirits. Before Ethan could even draw breath, a heavy, lead-lined gauntlet smashed into his jaw, spinning his world into a blur of teeth and blood.

"Get up, maggot!" a distorted voice barked.

Ethan tried to roll, his hand reaching for a blade, but a kick to his ribs snapped two bones instantly. He was dragged from his bed by his hair and hurled against the wall. The impact cracked the stone and his collarbone simultaneously.

[Master, threat detected! High-intensity combat subroutines active!] Crul’s voice screamed in his mind, but Ethan couldn’t even focus.

He was being systematically dismantled. These weren’t sparring partners; they were executioners. They used "Unicorn Torture Tactics"—a brutal conditioning method designed to make a soldier feel at home on the doorstep of death.

Every time Ethan managed to stand, he was met with a flurry of strikes that targeted his joints and nerves. A heavy mace-like fist crushed his kneecap. A serrated dagger—dull but jagged—tore through the muscle of his shoulder. He screamed, a raw, guttural sound that was swallowed by the silencing runes of the room.

"Is that all?" a hooded figure hissed, grabbing Ethan by the throat and lifting him off the floor. "The Princess thinks you’re special. I think you’re just soft meat."

The figure slammed him down and forced a vial of glowing, violet liquid down his throat.

It was a Saturated Mid-Grade Healing Potion—a concoction so potent it was equivalent to ten standard potions. It didn’t just heal; it forced the body into a violent, hyper-accelerated regeneration. Ethan felt his bones knitting back together with a sickening crunch, his skin sealing over wounds while the dirt was still inside. The pain of the healing was almost worse than the injuries.

"Again," the leader ordered.

He didn’t get a second to breathe. As soon as the light of the potion faded, a mace-like fist descended again, shattering the newly healed ribs.

The torture didn’t stop for meals. It didn’t stop for the sun. For twenty-four hours, the cycle was absolute. Break. Heal. Break. Ethan’s mind was a swirling vortex of agony and nausea. The concussions piled up, making the world tilt and roar in his ears, but the potions kept his brain from shutting down, forcing him to remain conscious for every agonizing second.

By the tenth hour, something primal shifted.

Ethan was slumped against the bedframe, one eye swollen shut and blood leaking from his ear. As a hooded man stepped in to deliver a finishing kick, Ethan’s hand moved. It wasn’t a conscious thought; it was a reflex born from the sheer repetition of violence. He didn’t use a technique—he simply felt the vibration in the air through his Wind-Path sensitivity and shifted his weight.

The kick whistled past his ear, slamming into the wood.

Ethan didn’t wait. Despite the agonizing pressure in his skull, he lunged forward, his head low. He drove his shoulder into the attacker’s midsection, ignoring the scream of his own collarbone. He was reacting through the pain, treating the agony not as a signal to stop, but as a background noise he had to tune out to find his target.

"He’s still moving!" one of the men grunted, surprised.

They swarmed him. A heavy blow landed on the back of his neck, sending Ethan back into the dirt. His vision went black, then purple. But as the dark tendrils of a coma reached for him, the next potion was forced between his teeth.

The violet fire surged through his veins again. Ethan’s eyes snapped open, glowing with a manic, amethyst light. He didn’t wait for them to strike this time. He rolled, his fingers digging into the stone floor, and used a micro-burst of Lightning to propel himself upward.

He moved like a wounded animal—unpredictable and violent. He took a strike to the face just to get close enough to grab an attacker’s arm, snapping the wrist with a sickening pop before a third man tackled him into the furniture.

The room was a wreck of broken silk, splattered blood, and empty potion vials. The cost of the resources being poured into him was insane—each vial worth a small fortune—but the White Unicorns were spending them without hesitation to forge a soul that couldn’t be broken.

By the twenty-fourth hour, Ethan wasn’t even human anymore. He was a raw nerve of combat instinct. He stood in the center of the room, his breath a wet rattle, swaying on feet that had been broken and healed a dozen times. When the Captain finally signaled the end of the rotation, Ethan didn’t collapse. He stayed in a low, trembling crouch, his one good eye fixed on the Captain’s throat.

"Enough," the Captain commanded, pulling back his hood. He looked at Ethan, who was covered in more blood than skin. "You’re still standing. Most men lose their minds by hour twelve. You just started fighting back."

Ethan spat a tooth onto the floor and reached for the next vial on the table himself, his hand shaking but his grip firm.

"Is that it?" Ethan wheezed, his voice a jagged rasp. "I’m... just getting used to the rhythm."

The Captain felt a cold shiver. The boy wasn’t just enduring the torture; he was absorbing it. He was becoming comfortable in the very place men were supposed to fear most.

-------------------

From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??