Chapter 201: Eve of Storms
Chapter 201: Chapter 201: Eve of Storms
Chapter 201: Eve of Storms
Next morning, whole Stormveil Academy erupted.
A series of thunderous announcements struck everyone, each one more shocking than the last.
Stormveil Academy now had a new Core Palace disciple — a bearer of a True Heavenly Physique, personally accepted as the sole disciple of Vice Dean Myrielle.
A formal ceremony to present this prodigy to the world would be held in exactly one week.
Academy hadn’t produced a new Core Palace disciple in four years.
And now a new Core Palace disciple with a True Heavenly Physique had appeared within their walls.
The discussions that erupted across the Inner and Outer Palaces were deafening.
"A True Heavenly Physique? Are you kidding me? Does that even exist?"
"Who is she? Which noble family does she come from? The Emberfords? The Valemeres?"
"Could she be even more talented than Lyra Emberford? Lyra was always considered the uncontested future queen of Stormveil City!"
Before the disciples could even begin to process the first bombshell, the second announcement dropped mere hours later.
The annual Inner Palace Contest, originally scheduled for the following month, had been rescheduled.
It would now take place on the exact same day as the Heavenly Physique ceremony — one week from today.
This sent a different kind of shockwave through the Academy, particularly among the three hundred Inner Palace disciples whose rankings, resources, and futures depended entirely on the outcome of that contest.
Disciples who had been counting on another full month of preparation suddenly found their timelines compressed.
And then, threading through all of this chaos, was the persistent, unavoidable topic that refused to die — the matter of Rhain and Braxton.
The entire Academy had been holding its breath, waiting for the Disciplinary Hall to announce Rhain’s punishment for his brazen assault on a top-five Gold Badge disciple.
But as the hours ticked by, no announcement came.
Because Rhain wasn’t punished, his Gold Badge status remains entirely active!
He was going to participate in the Inner Palace Contest.
That realization sent an entirely new wave of shockwaves through the elite ranks.
Originally, the upcoming tournament was considered a foregone conclusion.
Everyone had firmly believed that Zane, Preceptor Krell’s finest disciple and the undisputed strongest spear-user, would easily claim the first rank.
But now?
Now there was a youth who could brutally cripple the top-five ranked Braxton without even breaking a sweat.
No one knew what kind of unexpected turns this Inner Palace Contest was going to take.
_____________
The shockwaves of the Stormveil Academy’s announcements did not stop at the academy’s towering gates.
They swept through the entirety of Stormveil City like a catastrophic hurricane.
Inside the ancestral estate of the Emberford Noble Family.
Lyra Emberford stood motionless as she read the report in her hands.
"A True Heavenly Physique," Lyra murmured, her piercing eyes narrowing.
For years, she had stood alone at the peak of her generation.
The thought that some unknown girl could not only match her but potentially surpass her ignited a fire in her heart that she had thought long extinguished.
"Interesting," Lyra whispered, a competitive smile curling at the corner of her lips. "Let me see if this so-called Heavenly Physique is worthy of challenging me."
___________
Across the city, within the Valemere Noble Family’s estate.
"First, the Celestial Elixir Pavilion shattered our alchemical monopoly, and now Stormveil Academy produces a True Heavenly Physique," Valemere Patriarch muttered, his calculating eyes narrowing. "The balance of power in this city is fracturing entirely too fast."
"Prepare the formal delegation. I will attend personally. And ensure our gift is extravagant enough!"
___________
Meanwhile, in the heavily fortified Thunderwood Family estate, a broad-shouldered man with a towering, muscular physique stood by a large window.
Thorian, patriarch of the Thunderwood Noble Family.
Standing before him were two figures.
First was Elara Thunderwood, her serene blue eyes attentive as she listened to her father.
Second was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties, standing half a head taller than Elara.
He possessed the same broad build as his father, though refined by youth into a lean, powerful frame.
The aura radiating from him marked him was at the peak Spirit Manifestation Realm cultivator.
Godfrey Thunderwood.
The eldest son and heir apparent of the Thunderwood family, widely considered one of the three most talented young cultivators in the entire Stormveil City alongside Lyra Emberford and the Valemere family’s prodigy.
"A True Heavenly Physique," Thorian rumbled, his deep voice reverberating through the training hall. "Heavens have blessed this generation."
But the true shockwave was yet to come.
An announcement arrived that eclipsed everything that had come before.
His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Dorian of the Solathane Dynasty, had confirmed his personal attendance at the Stormveil Academy’s ceremony.
The revelation struck the city like a thunderbolt.
The Crown Prince.
The single most powerful political figure beneath the Emperor himself, the man widely expected to inherit the throne of the Solathane Dynasty, was coming to Stormveil City.
The announcement transformed the already feverish excitement into a frenzy.
Stormveil City had not seen a visit from the Crown Prince in over a decade.
His presence elevated the ceremony from a regional event to a matter of dynastic significance.
_____________
Back in the Inner Palace, Rhain was entirely oblivious to the political chaos outside.
Or rather, he just didn’t care.
After the confrontation with Braxton, and the whirlwind of announcements that followed, Rhain had spent a brief but precious day with Seris.
But that reunion was cut short when early this morning, Vice Dean Myrielle had personally descended upon his courtyard and dragged Seris away for "specialized closed-door training" to prepare her for the grand ceremony.
With Seris gone, Rhain was left alone again.
For the next six days, Rhain spent the majority of his time in Combat Chamber Number 7, working exclusively with the Phantom Reaver Quintet.
The five matched daggers, forged from unknown dark metal and inscribed with luminous formation runes, was incredibly efficient in his hands.
Where an ordinary cultivator might spend months learning to control a single Soul Power weapon with adequate precision, Rhain’s spiritual sea, expanded to a dimension approaching the Domain Master Realm allowed him to simultaneously pilot all five daggers with independent targeting and coordinated formation patterns.
By the third day, he could deploy the full five-point lethal array in under two seconds, each dagger striking from a different angle with enough penetrating force to wound a peak Core Formation expert.
Between his training sessions, Rhain would occasionally go to visit Liana.
Ever since he had crippled Braxton and completely dissolved the Astral Alliance, Liana and the Outer Palace disciples had lived in peace.
On the afternoon of the fifth day...
"RHAIN! OPEN UP! I HAVE WONDERFUL NEWS!"
The sharp intrusion of the knock caught his attention.
’Hm?’
Rhain opened the courtyard gates.
Standing there was Neve. Her auburn hair was actually neatly combed for once, and her face was entirely free of its usual soot stains.
"I did it!" Neve practically exploded through the doorway. Cheerful and far too loud. "Rhain! I refined it! An Epic-Grade Pill! I’m a Master Rank Alchemist!"
Rhain looked at her cheerful smile, thinking that this stupid girl finally succeeded.
At twenty-something, she was now the youngest Master Rank Alchemist in all of Stormveil City. It was a monumental achievement.
"Thank you!" Neve grabbed his sleeve, sounding emotional. "If you hadn’t given me those Aetherium Crystals... I would have never been able to afford the materials. I owe you one, Rhain. Seriously."
Rhain gently extracted his hands from her iron grip, waving it dismissively, "You would have gotten there eventually. I merely accelerated it."
"Eventually is not the same as now!" Neve insisted stubbornly. Then her expression shifted, and a sly, calculating grin spread across her face.
"Oh, by the way," Neve said, her voice turning suspiciously sweet, "now that I am a Master Rank Alchemist, my requisition authority has been significantly upgraded. I can now access a much wider range of restricted materials without raising as many red flags. So if you ever need to purchase herbs again..."
Rhain raised an eyebrow.
"...my processing fee has also been upgraded accordingly," Neve finished with a shameless wink.
Rhain let out a low, amused chuckle. Some things never changed.
_____________
The six days passed in this manner — training, visiting friends, and watching the city’s excitement build to a crescendo from a comfortable distance.
Then, on the night of the sixth day, the person everyone had been waiting for finally arrived.
Crown Prince!