Gale Power!

When Jiang Mian returned to that ramshackle home in West City, it seemed the last of the remains had finally burned to ash, and she had at last reached the threshold of the Second-tier.

Those familiar, bug-like words were branded directly onto her retinas:

[Ignite] automatically upgraded: [Fierce Flame]

The marking range increased to twenty meters. Flames could spread along "fuel," and she could control their intensity at will.

The words remained for only a few seconds before quickly changing again:

Please select your Initial Skill. Time remaining: 30s

I. [Crystal Rock]

Generate Energy Crystals, which can be used to construct a Temporary Defense or detonated at will. You can also designate a target within twenty meters and cause them to undergo Crystallization, restricting their movement.

II. [Tide]

Gain Basic Water Control. In battle, attack power gradually stacks with each successive attack. As the ability is used more often, the body grows stronger.

III. [Gale]

Gain Basic Wind Control. Flowing Wind can spread your perception, reduce the traces of your presence, and create a Small Wind Field, allowing you to hover briefly. Attacks inflict Tearing Damage.

Just as expected!

Jiang Mian's lips curled. Things were looking up after all.

After advancing, not only had [Ignite] automatically upgraded, but the other options were also much better than they had been the first time.

[Crystal Rock] offered both control and damage. Paired with the upgraded [Fierce Flame], it would make a pretty good combo.

Compared to the First Order, the other two skills had also changed a little, with some additional effects.

A real man wanted to land every punch up close, but that kind of fighting style made it easy to expose yourself. Especially now, when her identity was sensitive, the more tricks she had, the better.

Right now, what she needed most was the power of [Gale].

What's more, among [Gale]'s new effects were masking her presence and briefly hovering!

That meant her disguise would become even more flawless,

and if she ever found herself in an emergency and had to leap from a height, she could use this ability to protect herself!

It would be an enormous safeguard against the possibility of having to hide or relocate in the future, or even being hunted down by someone else.

Besides, wind fanned flames. If [Gale] could remotely control the direction in which [Fierce Flame] spread...

At the thought, Jiang Mian focused without hesitation on [Gale].

"You're the one!"

As soon as her choice was confirmed, a strange sensation surged from her heart. Just like the first time, it hurt a little, but far less than before.

Jiang Mian let out a muffled groan. Her body trembled slightly as she clutched her chest, cold sweat beading across her back.

She could feel two completely different forces within her converging at her core, coexisting in some strange way.

A few minutes later, the discomfort finally began to fade.

"Phew~"

Jiang Mian let out a long breath. The fabric across her back was soaked through and clung to her skin, making her feel awful.

"Every time I advance, I have to go through this..."

She muttered in discontent, but if a little pain was all it took to level up, she was more than willing to put up with it.

Jiang Mian picked up her nightdress and walked into the bathroom.

Amid the swirling steam, she looked at herself in the mirror, instinctively covering a certain bare, mysterious area with her right hand.

"Such a nice... figure, too..."

Even after all this time, she still felt a little dazed.

Jiang Mian had never been close to a man before. Now, though, she had no choice but to adapt and live on in this identity.

When she had first arrived, she had been completely unaccustomed to it, fumbling through everything she did,

but after her "Awakening," Jiang Mian had no choice but to hide her softer side. She did her best to learn everything she could, hone her acting, learn to scheme, and survive in this wretched world.

She always felt like she was neither Jiang Ming nor Jiang Mian anymore.

Through the combined effects of her nearsightedness and the steam, the figure in the mirror was especially blurry.

Jiang Mian stepped closer and took a careful look.

The girl in the mirror had clear eyes and brows, with a meek, obedient air about her. But her figure was surprisingly curvy, giving her an especially alluring look.

Who would have thought that this seemingly delicate body contained the power of [Cataclysm], with a core of Calamity buried inside it?

Her former male soul and her present female body, human consciousness and a monster's instincts—contradictions of all kinds intertwined within her, leaving her often lost and unable to see the road ahead.

Sometimes she gazed out the window, inexplicable melancholy welling up inside her. At other times, a mere glance from someone could stir baseless violence in her heart.

"Honestly... am I being affected by something...?"

Jiang Mian shook her head, casting aside that sudden bout of sentimentality.

No matter what, this was a reality she had to face.

A while later, Jiang Mian emerged from the bathroom, cheeks flushed, wearing a pure white camisole nightdress.

Since crossing over, she had indeed been under a lot of pressure.

She had wanted to try exploring herself and letting off some steam, but she always felt inexplicably afraid and couldn't bring herself to do it, as if something bad might happen.

"Forget it. Another time."

Jiang Mian nervously straightened her dress and walked over to the wardrobe.

On her way back, she had already picked out a place.

It was probably near the boundary between North City and West City. The area was remote and sparsely populated. The rent was affordable, though the utilities cost a little more than here.

Jiang Mian had already planned to keep her distance from crowds, and the place suited her just fine. She could pack up tonight and move there after work tomorrow.

She rummaged through the wardrobe, stuffed full of all sorts of clothes, most of them old.

Her school uniform... she was about to graduate, so she wouldn't need it, and it took up space. She would keep just one set.

The rest were casual clothes and several skirts she had barely worn. There weren't many, but for whatever reason, Jiang Mian folded them all and put them away.

Just as she had nearly finished sorting the clothes she needed, she suddenly spotted a few unopened pairs of... stockings?

Curious, Jiang Mian spread them out to have a look. Some were thick, some thin, but most were white.

She barely remembered them. Thinking carefully, she realized her mother must have bought them for her.

After her mother died, Jiang Mian had shut herself away. She had shoved a lot of her old things to the bottom of the wardrobe, where they had gradually been forgotten.

"sigh... I'll keep them, even if I might never wear them..."

Jiang Mian's heart was heavy as she carefully put them away.

She shook her head. There was no use in grieving; no amount of remembering could take her back to the past.

Her most urgent task was to get used to the power of [Gale] as soon as possible, then "accidentally kill" Li Hao during the "Awakening."

Each of the five Paths had its own distinct strengths.

Setting rankings aside, [War] was usually the strongest Path in the early stages. After all, its abilities mainly strengthened the body, making its practitioners exceptionally skilled at close combat.

The [Elemental] Path, on the other hand, was for mages. It wasn't very strong at first and needed time to grow.

But the High-tier Sequences ranked in the top fifty were different. They already had something of the shape of an Apex Sequence.

Take [Eye of the Storm], for instance. Its power wasn't determined solely by the Awakened's own energy reserves, but rather...