July's air in Fenlai City was thick with summer heat and restlessness.
In the little courtyard, Loa sat cross-legged beneath a tree, his brows tightly furrowed. Sweat seeped from his temples and slid down his cheeks, gathering into beads at his chin before dripping onto the flagstones with a patter.
The bottleneck at the peak of the fifth level was more stubborn than he had expected.
The three types of battle-qi within him had long since reached capacity, like three brimming lakes. All they needed was an opportunity to merge into a river and break through the floodgate leading to the sixth level. Under the daily tempering of the Wind-Thunder Meridian-Expansion Method, his meridians had even reached sixth-level strength ahead of time-this should have happened naturally.
"Just a little more..."
Loa opened his eyes and exhaled a stale breath laced with electrical sparks. He could clearly sense that barrier, thin as a cicada's wing yet incredibly tough. Ordinary warriors stuck at a bottleneck usually lacked sufficient battle-qi or strong enough meridians, but he had exceeded both requirements.
Where was the problem?
Knock, knock, knock.
An urgent knocking interrupted his thoughts.
Loa gathered himself, rose, and opened the gate. Outside stood a wiry man in gray, a scar running from his brow to the corner of his mouth, but his eyes shone with shrewdness. This was Grey Mouse, the man who ran errands and delivered messages for Old Dao.
"Young Master Loa, Master Dao sent this." Grey Mouse handed him a wax-sealed bamboo tube and lowered his voice. "That thing you wanted to ask about... there's news."
Loa's heart gave a leap. He took the tube, then pulled out a few silver coins and handed them over. "Thanks for your trouble."
"You're too kind." Grey Mouse weighed the coins in his