Breaking the Inner Demon

Winter came to Fenlai City a little earlier than in previous years.

The Marquis of Three Elements' residence, in the pavilion in the rear courtyard.

For days, Linley had come to sit alone in the pavilion, his expression gloomy from morning to night.

Ever since Linley learned that Alice and Kalan were together, the anguish in his heart had never faded. The disappointment, unwillingness to accept it, and heartache buried inside him troubled him day and night. He had been pure of heart since childhood, but now he was caught in an exhausting struggle with his own feelings. His magic training was repeatedly thwarted, and his thoughts were so scattered that he could not settle down and condense magic at all. His progress had come to a complete standstill. Restless and despondent, he grew quieter by the day.

Haoyue stood quietly outside the pavilion, watching Linley grow more dispirited by the day, his face forlorn. His own feelings were too complicated to put into words.

Haoyue walked slowly into the pavilion and sat down across from Linley.

"Still can't calm your mind enough to train?" Haoyue's voice was soft, his tone even.

Linley lowered his eyes and clenched his hand, his knuckles tightening slightly. He nodded wearily, his voice full of helplessness and exhaustion. "No matter how hard I concentrate during meditation, distracting thoughts keep coming to me beyond my control. My magic flows sluggishly and stiffly, and I can't make the slightest progress. The more I train, the more restless I feel."

A voice weathered by the passage of years slowly rang out in Linley's sea of consciousness, where only he could hear it.

Doehring Cowart slowly offered his guidance. "Linley, the love, hatred, and obsessions pent up in your heart have not faded. That's what's holding back your training. You're exceptionally gifted, and your Flat Blade stone carving is unmatched among your peers. Why not pour all your feelings into a carving? Give your heart a complete release and empty your mind of distractions. Only then can you regain your clarity and train in peace."

Those words awakened Linley from his confusion.

He raised his eyes to Haoyue, the numbness in them giving way to a measure of resolve. "Brother Haoyue, I want to go carve some stone on the mountain behind the institute and let my feelings out."

Haoyue nodded his consent, his tone calm. "Go ahead."

On the mountain behind Ernst Institute.

Linley chose a gray-white stone half as tall as a person and crouched down right there.

No drawing, no sketch, no planning the shape in advance.

He simply gripped the Flat Blade Haoyue had given him the previous year and slowly closed his eyes.

Doehring Cowart was right. By pouring every feeling in his heart into the carving, he could carve all his unfulfilled love, his helpless regrets, and the pain of his inner conflict into this stone.

The first day.

Linley's eyes were densely streaked with blood. His hands made no move as he simply gazed at the two-meter-tall stone before him.

The second day.

He finally began to move, the shadow of his blade appearing on the stone.

Linley seemed utterly deaf to the sounds around him, his mind completely absorbed in the stone. The Flat Blade in his hand continued to fly.

The fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day...

Linley grew so thin he was almost unrecognizable, his eye sockets sunken, his cheekbones protruding, and his skin deathly pale.

But the hand holding his blade remained steady, never stopping from beginning to end.

His three roommates also came to see Linley every day, but they understood how he felt and had no intention of stepping forward to stop him.

On the night of the tenth day.

When a ray of moonlight pierced the clouds and fell gently on Linley, his hand finally slowed to a stop.

The Flat Blade slipped from his weak, trembling fingers and landed with a clear clatter.

Linley braced himself against the ground and staggered to his feet, turning to look at the work into which he had poured ten full days and nights.

There were five stone carvings of a woman.

They were all Alice: endearing, adorable, shy, passionately in love, and heartless.

Haoyue stood before the carvings, unable to speak for a long time.

He already knew the name of this stone carving in his heart.

Dream Awakening.

The beautiful dream of a young man's first love had shattered completely, coming to an end.

After ten days of pouring out his emotions to their utmost and stripping them away from himself, all the anguish in Linley's heart had dissipated. His Dao heart was clear and pure, and his spiritual power broke through to level seven. Once the magic in his body accumulated, he would become a Level Seven Mage in little more than a month.

Linley's mind went blank, and the exhaustion from days of overexertion instantly swept through his body. He swayed violently, nearly pitching straight to the ground.

"Linley!"

Haoyue reacted quickly, stepping forward and catching him securely.

Before long, hurried footsteps sounded in the distance. Yale and Luo'en ran into the rear courtyard, gasping for breath. The moment they saw how haggard and gaunt Linley was, both froze.

"My heavens..." Yale's eyes widened, full of distress. "Linley, how did you get so thin?"

"Quick, help him to the dormitory to rest," Haoyue said gravely. "Prepare some light porridge and warm water, and help him recover gradually."

Yale and Luo'en hurried forward, supporting the weak and helpless Linley between them.

"Linley, why put yourself through this? Look what you've done to yourself." Luo'en's eyes reddened at once as he looked at Linley's skin-and-bones figure.

Linley opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but days without a drop of water and the strain on his mind had left him with barely enough strength to speak.

He could only let his friends help him into a guest room to rest.

Only after Linley lay down and drank a few mouthfuls of warm water did a little color return to his deathly pale face.

"Brother Haoyue..." Linley's voice was as weak as a mosquito's buzz. "That stone carving... please look after it for me. As for its name, let's call it Dream Awakening."

"Don't worry." Haoyue nodded, his tone firm. "I won't let anyone touch it."

Only then did Linley close his eyes in peace and fall into a deep sleep.

Ten days and nights of frenzied carving had finally come to an end.

Haoyue remained alone in the rear courtyard, looking at the five stone carvings called Dream Awakening that had been brought back.

The light of dawn fell on the carvings, giving the woman a faint golden outline.

Haoyue suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

For ten full days, he had visited Linley every day. Every day, he had watched the young man grow thinner, pushing his body to its limits to complete the carving, yet refusing to stop his blade.

That persistence, that pain of wearing himself down for love, was vivid and real.

At that moment, the ideas Haoyue had held fixed for so long were shaken to their core.

He recalled the fear and confusion he had felt when he first transmigrated into this world. He recalled those years of training with all his might, solely to survive in a world where the strong preyed on the weak. He recalled how, ever since his transmigration, he had deliberately treated himself as an outside observer, keeping his distance from this world and the characters in the book.

He had always told himself with a clear head: The Yulan Continent is just a novel. Linley, Yale, Hogg, Wharton... everyone is an NPC in a predetermined plot.

His only goal had been to grow stronger safely, follow the original plot, avoid risks, and protect himself, never casually interfering with the story or altering fate.

But the Linley before him was alive and warm, a person of flesh and blood.

The boy had grown up close to him, innocent and carefree, with the courage to love and hate. He would take a friend's joking remark seriously for ages, and toss and turn at night over the girl he liked, wearing himself down.

How could such a vibrant, passionate life be nothing more than a cold character in a book?

Haoyue reached out and gently touched a stone carving.

A piercing chill spread from his fingertips.

"You were never the protagonist of a book," Haoyue said softly. "You're my younger brother. You always have been."

He withdrew his hand and turned to leave the rear courtyard. For the first time, he began to question the choices he had made for so long.

In the days that followed, Linley rested peacefully in the institute dormitory, allowing his body and mind to recover.

Yale and Luo'en made time to visit him every day, bringing all kinds of nourishing food. They occasionally chatted about amusing happenings at Ernst Institute and gossiped about their classmates, keeping the atmosphere relaxed and peaceful.

Haoyue, meanwhile, began carving on his own.

Late one night, Haoyue stood alone in the marquis residence's private collection room, staring absentmindedly for a long time at the wall filled with all kinds of stone.

Everything from his ordinary life in his previous world came flooding back to him.

The images he had thought long buried and forgotten were now so clear they seemed within reach.

Dragon Ball.

It had been his favorite cartoon as a child. Goku, Vegeta... those figures who fought to protect their companions held the passionate memories of his entire childhood.

Haoyue picked up a piece of solid black stone and slowly set his blade to it.

He did not have Linley's master-level carving skills, nor could he carve obsessively without sleep or rest. He simply made time whenever he was free each day, calmed his mind, and carved slowly, refining the stone bit by bit.

Three days later, a stone carving of Son Goku carrying a staff stood in the collection room.

The Ruyi Jingu Bang rested diagonally across his shoulder in a classic pose. Even though no one on the Yulan Continent knew the image, the corners of Haoyue's mouth still lifted involuntarily as he looked at the statue.

"Hehe, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."

He picked up another piece of translucent raw stone.

Ultraman Tiga. The giant of light who protected Earth had been the hero countless boys had believed in during their childhoods.

As Haoyue carved, he remembered how he had sat in front of the television as a child, following the show. Back then, his heart had been full of earnest sincerity, and he had imagined becoming a hero and protecting the people around him.

He also carved Doraemon and other animated characters, his various friends and classmates, the female classmate he had secretly loved in high school, and his family.

Next came the final time.

This time, he would carve two mothers.

The first was his mother from his previous life.

The second was Martha Bolei, his mother on the Yulan Continent.

Stroke by stroke, he carved with the utmost care and devotion.

Every stroke and every refinement was a severing of his previous life and an act of feeling for the present.

When the final stroke fell, the collection room was so quiet that only Haoyue's steady breathing could be heard.

The two stone statues of mothers stood side by side, both with gentle expressions. One represented his attachments to his homeland, the other his family ties in this world.

Haoyue reached out and gently stroked the face of his previous life's mother.

The stone was rough and cold to the touch, and the statue had no warmth of its own, yet warmth surged through his palm, as though he had touched his mother's real body heat.

His lips moved slightly, his voice hoarse and broken, barely audible. "Mom..."

He closed his eyes for a long time, then used all his strength to speak the words he had buried in his heart for years. "I love you, Mom."

The moment the words left his mouth, the separation and estrangement pent up in his heart for years burst apart.

In that instant, Haoyue felt his soul tremble violently.

His parents, classmates, lover, friends, and experiences at work from his previous life... all his buried memories surged up, as clear as yesterday.

A vast, weighty power from the depths of his soul suddenly welled up from his heart.

"So that's how it is..."

Haoyue opened his eyes and murmured to himself, complete understanding in his gaze.

He finally understood what he had been missing throughout the nine years since his transmigration.

It wasn't overwhelming power, heaven-defying talent, or support from the system.

It was a sense of belonging.

From the first day he transmigrated to the Yulan Continent, he had deliberately kept part of himself separate.

He trained and grew stronger only to establish himself and stay alive; he built connections only to leave himself ample ways out; he watched the plot closely and predicted where it would go, always treating this continent as a game instance.

Linley was the protagonist of the book, Yale and Luo'en were supporting characters used as tools, and Hogg and Wharton were plot NPCs.

Everyone was merely data serving the plot, never a living, breathing person.

"How... utterly stupid."

Haoyue gave a self-mocking chuckle, the coldness and detachment of the past vanishing completely from his eyes.

Linley was the younger brother who had been close to him and depended on him since childhood, not a protagonist in a plot.

Luo'en was a roommate who treated him sincerely; all were living people of flesh and blood, devoted family and dear friends.

The Yulan Continent was full of dangers, but this was his only home now.

His previous life had settled into dust, and there was no going back.

Everything from his previous life had finally been left behind.

"No matter what happens in the future, I'll protect everyone around me."

At that moment, Haoyue's state of mind underwent a revolutionary transformation.

From a transmigrated outsider seeking survival for his own benefit and watching coldly from the sidelines, from an observer who followed the plot and dared not act rashly, he became a guardian who followed his heart and changed fate against the odds.

The shackles on his soul shattered completely!

His vast spiritual power surged uncontrollably!

His spiritual power, which had already accumulated to its limit and been stuck at a bottleneck, climbed rapidly!

Mid-level eight... late-level eight... Peak Eighth Rank!

Without the slightest pause, it broke through the barrier!

Level nine!

It had crossed an entire major realm!

Haoyue's pupils contracted slightly, and he was shaken.

His spiritual power had leaped straight from Peak Eighth Rank to Early Ninth Rank!

Before he could settle his emotions, the dragon soul origin within his body resonated in response!

Soul and magic shared the same origin and existed together, and the magic in his dantian rose wildly in step!

Mid-level eight... late-level eight... Peak Eighth Rank!

It broke through in one surge, reaching level nine!

A Level 9 Great Mage Master.

A top expert standing at the peak of the continent's pyramid, second only to Saint-level.

And Haoyue was only twenty-five.

In two and a half years, he had gone from the middle stage of level eight straight to a Level 9 Great Mage Master.

Such a speed of cultivation was unprecedented in the Yulan Continent's ten-thousand-year history.

This breakthrough had come from the transformation of his state of mind, from letting go of his obsession with the plot and accepting his own identity.

Haoyue let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

He could perceive the surrounding elemental forces in minute detail. Golden light, crimson flames, deep blue water, and yellow earth-the magic elements of every color became tiny points of light, circling him obediently and bowing to his command.

With a thought, a cluster of blazing fire formed out of thin air in his palm. Its temperature was terrifying, yet it did not harm him.

The cluster stretched into a fire snake, circled the room once, then gathered back into a small fireball. He controlled it as he pleased, releasing and retracting it at will.

This was a Level 9 Great Mage Master's control over the elements.

He looked out the window. A pale light was appearing on the horizon; the night had quietly passed.

To hell with the original plot!

He had already rewritten Hogg's fate of certain death. Destiny had long since shifted.

Since he had already changed fate, why should he hold himself back?

From now on, he would change whatever he wanted and make his own decisions. He would never let fate control him!

During the long process of carving, a month slowly passed.

And on this very day, he completed his transformation. On this very day, he completed his transformation and broke through to become a Ninth Rank Mage.

"My lord marquis, my lord marquis!"

Urgent knocking came from outside the door, followed by the butler's anxious, respectful voice. "Young Master Linley is here to see you!"

Haoyue concealed every trace of his formidable presence. His expression was gentle and peaceful, with none of an outsider's indifference remaining.

He looked back at the two stone statues of his mothers and whispered, "Love you, moms."

With that, he stepped forward, pushed open the door and went out.

"Brother Haoyue!" Linley immediately stood when he saw Haoyue enter.

Haoyue looked him up and down. "You've recovered well," he said calmly.

"I've completely let go of Alice." Linley's gaze was resolute. "From now on, I'll devote myself to training, only for myself and the Baruch Clan. I won't wear myself down over love anymore."

Ten days of carving had shattered the lovestruck youth he had been and remade his resilient true self.

The boy who had humbled himself and suffered for love had been left within the stone carving.

Standing there now, reborn, was a new Linley, resilient of heart and unafraid of the road ahead.

The vice dean's office at the Ernst Institute

The white-haired elder Delante sat upright at his desk, holding a magical assessment document. His fingertips trembled slightly, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

As the vice dean of the Ernst Institute and a Level Eight Magus, he was deeply shaken.

The figures on the document were clear:

Linley Baruch

Age: seventeen

Magical power: Level Seven in both wind and earth

After a month of rest and recuperation, Linley's magical power had fully caught up to his spiritual power, and he had broken through to become a Level Seven Mage.

Delante looked up at the young man before him, unable to keep his voice from trembling. "A seventeen-year-old Level Seven Mage... how did you break through?"

"A few chance opportunities, I suppose. I trained my spiritual power through carving," Linley answered truthfully.

According to the continent's histories, Nice Farolan, the greatest genius of the millennium, had become a Level Seven Mage at twenty-three.

Not long ago, Haoyue Bolei had broken that record, becoming a Level Seven Mage at eighteen.

Now, seventeen-year-old Linley had broken the continental record once again.

The news swept through the entire institute, and the campus erupted.

In the corridors, on the training grounds and in the classrooms, talk and exclamations of amazement could be heard everywhere.

"A seventeen-year-old Level Seven Mage? That talent is simply monstrous! He did it a whole year earlier than Senior Haoyue!"

"All the geniuses before him aren't worth mentioning next to Linley!"

On the campus's main avenue, Yale and Luo'en flanked Linley on either side, their faces full of pride.

"Tonight, we have to celebrate at the most expensive restaurant in the city. My treat!" Yale said excitedly.

"Count me in! Let's celebrate to our hearts' content!" Luo'en chimed in.

Linley smiled faintly and shook his head, looking around without thinking. "Where's Brother Haoyue?"

No sooner had he spoken than a tall, composed figure came walking slowly toward them.

After undergoing a transformation of his state of mind and breaking through to the Ninth Rank, Haoyue had gained a restrained, weighty bearing. Beneath his gentleness lay the pressure of a powerful expert, and he stood out with his calm composure.

"Brother Haoyue!" Linley hurried forward to meet him.

Haoyue raised a hand and patted his shoulder, a genuine smile on his face as he praised him sincerely. "You did very well. You broke the record for the youngest Level Seven Mage on the Yulan Continent. I was eighteen when I became a Level Seven Mage, but you did it at just seventeen. You're really impressive."

"It's thanks to your care and support, Brother Haoyue," Linley said sincerely.

"In the end, you were the one who broke out of your cocoon and was reborn." Haoyue looked at the three of them and spoke in a clear voice. "Tonight, it's my treat. We'll go to the best restaurant in the city, and we won't leave until we're drunk."

"That's great!" Yale cheered.

"Easy!" the two answered in unison.

The four young men walked slowly toward the institute gates, side by side with their arms around one another's shoulders.

The glow of the setting sun stretched their four shadows long, and their laughter and conversation drifted across the campus on the wind.