Doge Bart!

Flowing Frost City.

The Bart Ducal Residence.

The midday sun blazed fiercely, as though it wanted to bake a layer of oil out of the ground.

The training ground was sweltering and oppressive.

But compared to the eight people sparring in the field, that heat was nothing at all.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out.

The heavy blackstone ground burst open in a spiderweb of cracks, shattered stone spraying everywhere.

A burly figure shot backward like a cannonball.

He dragged his boots across the ground, carving two deep trenches before finally stopping when he slammed into the magic barrier at the edge.

Doge Bart wiped the sweat from his forehead and glared ahead, his short hair plastered to his scalp.

He panted heavily, his chest heaving like a bellows.

His arms trembled faintly.

That was the ache of muscles pushed beyond their limits.

"Again!"

Doge gritted his teeth, a blaze burning in his eyes.

He refused to believe it.

He was a Ninth Rank Warrior, someone who had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could he not even touch the hem of this boy's clothes?

The young man standing opposite him wore a simple black training uniform. His hands hung casually at his sides, and he had not even drawn his weapon.

That was his son, Lei Wen.

Lei Wen's expression remained calm, even somewhat absent-minded.

He simply stood there, yet it felt as though the space around him had been sealed off.

That feeling was strange.

The man was clearly right before his eyes, but when he closed his eyes and sensed with his awareness, he seemed to blend into the empty space itself.

"Father."

"Your strength is too scattered."

"A Ninth Rank Warrior could lift something heavy as if it were light, and strike as though it weighed nothing. That is not wrong."

"But you are too fixated on strength."

"A fist is not forged by brute force alone."

Lei Wen spoke slowly.

His voice was not loud, yet every word reached Doge's ears clearly.

The corner of Doge's mouth twitched.

Pretentious.

Too damn pretentious.

Back then, he had taught this brat hand-to-hand.

Back then, he had told him that men had to stand steady as mountains.

Now look at this.

His son had reached the Saint Domain, while the old man had to stand there obediently and take a lesson.

Who was he supposed to complain to?

Doge cursed inwardly, but his movements did not stop.

He bent his knees.

The ground suddenly caved in.

Doge transformed into a gray streak of light. The heavy sword in his hand carried the force of a falling mountain as it came crashing down on Lei Wen's head.

That strike was enough to split apart the city wall.

The air was forcibly torn apart, producing an ear-piercing shriek.

Facing that ferocious blow, Lei Wen merely raised his eyelids slightly.

He did not dodge.

Even his robe did not flutter.

Only when the heavy sword was about to strike him did Lei Wen move.

He did not block it.

Nor did he meet it head-on.

He merely seemed to extend two fingers and lightly tap the side of the sword.

"Go."

That clear, crisp voice sounded especially distinct amid the sword's piercing howl.

It was only a light tap.

Yet Doge felt his violent strength strike something soft and slippery, like a ball of cotton.

The heavy sword that should have fallen straight down suddenly veered uncontrollably to the right.

"How is that possible?"

Doge's pupils widened.

He desperately tried to stabilize himself, but that deflecting force was too strange.

Boom!

The heavy sword smashed viciously into the empty ground beside Lei Wen.

Dust flew everywhere.

Lei Wen still stood where he was, not moving an inch.

Meanwhile, Doge could not stop himself after putting in too much force. His whole body lurched forward three steps before he fell face-first into the dirt.

"Hahahaha!"

"Old Doge."

"You looked ridiculous just now."

"That strike was like a stupid earth bear swatting at flies."

A burst of gleeful laughter came from the side.

In a corner of the training ground lay an enormous ice-frost dragon over twenty meters long.

Xiao Bai flicked his tail, stirring up a chill wind, while mercilessly mocking Doge.

"Shut up, Xiao Bai!"

"I'm your master's father, which makes me your grandfather!"

"You have no respect for your elders!"

Doge climbed to his feet and glared at Xiao Bai.

"Tch."

"I only respect the strong."

"If you can defeat the boss, I'll call you Grandfather. I'd even call you Ancestor."

"Go cool your head."

Xiao Bai rolled its eyes.

It snorted out two streams of white mist, instantly freezing a clump of wild grass in front of it into an ice sculpture.

A Sacred Beast's intelligence had long surpassed that of ordinary people, and it was even cleverer than most humans.

Ever since following Lei Wen—

Xiao Bai's talent for talking back had improved by leaps and bounds.

Doge was so choked up that he could not speak.

Defeat Lei Wen?

That was probably impossible for the rest of his life.

"Forget it, forget it."

"If this keeps going, you'll beat what little confidence I have left into nothing."

Doge sighed and sheathed his heavy sword across his back.

He plopped down on a stone bench, looking half-dead and without a shred of noble dignity.

"You've already touched the threshold."

"That strike just now actually had some mystery to it."

"It was only at the final moment that you still wanted to use strength to forcefully overwhelm your opponent, rather than borrow the power of heaven and earth."

Lei Wen smiled and went over to hand Father a towel.

"Huff..."

Doge wiped away his sweat, looking thoughtful.

He understood the principles.

But putting them into practice was harder than ascending to heaven.

That was the gulf between the Ninth Rank and the Saint Domain.

Countless geniuses who had once dazzled their era were stuck at this step, unable to cross it even until their deaths.

If Lei Wen had not entered the Saint Domain and been able to guide and explain things to him—

He probably would not even have had the chance to glimpse that realm.

"Take it slowly. There's no rush."

Lei Wen comforted him.

In truth, he understood clearly that Father's talent was not poor.

But he had reached the Ninth Rank entirely through years of military achievements to obtain resources, coupled with instincts forged from countless battles to the death.

To break into the Saint Domain, strength alone was not enough. One also needed luck.

"Oh, right."

"That envoy from the imperial capital has left, hasn't he?"

Suddenly—

Lei Wen seemed to recall something.

"He left."

"He left behind a pile of good things, including the Saint Domain decree that had made the entire Empire jealous."

"Duke of the West."

"Flowing Frost City and the surrounding three thousand li of territory."

"And... special permission to establish a duchy."

At the mention of this—

Doge's expression became somewhat strange.

Hearing those last few words—

There was not much delight in Doge's voice. Instead, it carried a hint of teasing.

"What?"

"You're not tempted, old man?"

"Duke Barte Lei, that has quite a ring to it."

"From now on, you'd be the Grand Duke who commands the western frontier. You could even be called a king."

"Mother would probably be thrilled. And there's Annia—when the time comes, she'd be a real princess."

Lei Wen leaned against the stone bench.

His hands rested behind his head as he looked at the azure sky.

Xiao Bai perked up its ears beside him, seemingly quite interested in the topic as well.

Establishing a duchy?

That meant countless delicacies, along with glittering gemstones.

Dragons loved such vulgar things most.

"Stop pretending."

"You brat, your belly is full of tricks. Do you think I don't know that?"

Doge glared at his son.

Of course he could guess what Lei Wen was thinking.

"So-called duchies and thrones are all empty."

"Without sufficient power, even if the Emperor gave me the entire Empire, I couldn't hold it. I would only bring disaster upon the whole family."

"As long as you are strong, as long as we ourselves are strong."

"Even if I'm only a farmer, even if I live in a thatched hut."

"Those dukes and kings would still have to bow and scrape before me!"

"That is true nobility!"

"The King of Sacred Beasts is far greater than any damned Grand Duke!"

Those words—

Left Doge dumbstruck.

His ears twitched.

Lei Wen had not expected it.

His father, who usually looked rough and simple-minded, saw things so clearly.

Lei Wen had originally prepared a whole speech, intending to persuade Father to give up the idea of establishing a duchy.

It seemed he had worried for nothing.