Kael sat upright in bed, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths. The moonlight poured through the open window, casting shadows across his face and the edge of the old table beside his bed. His hands trembled slightly—not with fear, but with realization.
This was not a one-time miracle. This was a system. A rule-bound, controllable loop that bent time itself to his will.
He had died. Mauled by a spirit beast. Ribs crushed. Shoulder torn. He felt it—the pain, the terror, the cold pull of death. But now he was here again. Whole. Unwounded. Alive.
And more importantly... stronger.
Kael could still feel it—his body was more responsive. The Essence flow within his meridians felt just a little smoother, as if the experience of fighting to the death had burned new pathways into his Core.
"Even death gives me progress," he whispered.
He stepped out of bed, careful not to wake the house. Everyone was still asleep, unaware that time had unraveled around them.
Moving with quiet steps, Kael lit a single candle and opened his cultivation manual again. This time, he flipped past the basic sections—he knew them now. His attention went to the Transition Stage section. Level 10. The realm where one could manipulate energy outward, forming true techniques rather than internal reinforcement.
He wasn't there yet. He was still in Body Foundation, but he would get there—quickly.
Because now, every mistake was free.
Every death, a lesson.
Every loop, a ladder.
---
By dawn, Kael was already gone. He left the estate through the eastern gate before the guards even finished yawning through their shift change.
He had no interest in daily drills or formal etiquette. He had his own path to walk now.
He returned to the Verdant Hollow, the same forest where he had died before. But this time, he avoided the Lynx's den. Instead, he took a long loop south, searching for herb clusters and Essence-concentrated zones where Qi gathered naturally.
He found a small clearing where the grass shimmered faintly in the morning light. At the center was a flat stone surrounded by moss, cracked and shaped by time. The Essence here was thick, humming faintly with potential.
Kael sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
---
Essence flowed into him, drawn through his breath and skin.
He guided it along the Eight Meridians, circulating it clockwise through his arms, legs, and spine, pulling it toward his Core—the small spinning vortex at the center of his chest.
It was harder than it looked in manuals. Essence wasn't tame—it resisted, swirled, thrashed. A moment of distraction and it would scatter, forcing him to start over.
But Kael had an advantage. He could loop. Fail and try again.
He meditated for hours. By sunset, he had refined Essence with 90% stability—a level most beginners needed weeks to reach.
He opened his eyes, sweat dripping down his face.
"I need more."
---
The next day, he returned again. And again.
He began practicing manual-based forms—low-tier martial techniques. Fists of the Eastern Wind. Rooted Step. Inner Pulse Breathing.
Each time, he pushed himself until he collapsed. And when he reached his limit—he simply provoked a beast fight, died, and returned again.
He was building power faster than any cultivator in the clan.
And no one knew.
---
By the end of his tenth loop, Kael was Level 7. Still within Body Foundation, but his Core was spinning brighter, thicker, more stable. His strikes were faster. His senses sharper.
But even with progress, he knew one thing: he was still too weak to stop the massacre.
Tarnis would come in twenty days. A Spiritual King. If Kael wanted to protect his clan, he would need to break into the Transition Stage, and even that wouldn't be enough.
He would need to become something more than just a clan heir.
He would need power they couldn't see coming.
---
On the twelfth day, Kael set his sights on a different target: the Old Ruins of Enkai, a forbidden section of the western hills.
It was said to be the burial ground of a minor sect that fell five hundred years ago. Dangerous. Cursed. Forbidden by clan decree.
Which made it perfect.
Hidden knowledge. Lost manuals. Dangerous arrays. Treasures left to rot.
All things that could make a difference.
He packed light. A few dried rations, a water pouch, and the blade he forged himself—its edge slightly jagged, but well balanced.
He slipped past the clan's borders before sunrise, heading toward the jagged hilltops where the trees grew sparse and the winds howled through the rocks.
---
The Enkai Ruins were quiet. Too quiet.
Kael stood before a collapsed stone gateway overgrown with vines. Ancient carvings, long worn by wind and time, still shimmered faintly with array etchings—a style long forgotten.
He stepped through.
The air shifted.
Essence here was warped—like breathing through water.
Something was watching.
Kael stepped lightly, following a cracked path through broken columns and crumbled chambers.
Then he saw it.
A stone pedestal, still intact, at the center of an overgrown hall. On it lay a scroll bound in red silk. Dust coated it, but the script was still visible.
He approached slowly. His heart thudded.
He reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the scroll, the ground shook.
A growl echoed behind him.
Kael spun.
Emerging from the shadows was a beast twice his height, its body made of stone and moss, its eyes glowing with deep green light.
Guardian of the Scroll.
Kael gripped his blade tightly.
The beast stepped forward, its weight cracking the flagstones.
Kael's breath steadied. He focused Essence into his legs, enhancing his balance.
The beast roared and charged.
Kael dodged left, just in time to avoid a stone claw that smashed into the ground where he stood.
He countered with a slash aimed at the beast's leg. Sparks flew, but the blade barely nicked the stone.
"Too hard…" Kael muttered.
He darted backward, using Rooted Step to stabilize his footing, then leaped to the side. The beast swung its tail. Kael ducked under it and slammed his palm into the ground, triggering a shockwave of Essence that cracked a nearby stone.
The beast stumbled slightly—just enough.
Kael jumped, planting a foot on the beast's arm and springboarding toward its head. He raised his blade.
And then—
The beast turned faster than expected.
A claw struck him in the chest.
Pain exploded through his ribs.
Kael hit the wall and crumpled.
Everything went black.
> "Death confirmed. Returning to anchor point…"
Kael gasped as his eyes snapped open.
Same bed. Same room. Same early morning light filtering through the wooden shutters.
His chest ached—not from injury, but from memory. He sat upright, letting out a slow breath. That beast… its strength was beyond anything he had fought before. He hadn't even dented its hide.
But he smiled.
The scroll was still there. The ruins still existed. And he had all the time in the world.
This time, he would approach it differently.
---
On the next loop, Kael returned to the Enkai Ruins, but instead of heading straight for the scroll, he took time to observe. He watched from the shadows, marking the beast's territory and noting its patrol pattern.
He spent a full day doing nothing but mapping the ruin and memorizing every piece of rubble and broken wall that could be used as cover.
Then he returned the next day.
This time, he came prepared.
He brought powdered ironroot—an herb that, when burned, released a pungent smoke that disoriented spirit beasts.
He laid traps, coated his blade with paralytic venom extracted from the fang of a Greenback Spider he'd captured days earlier, and smeared his boots with scent-masking oils.
By sunset, he stood before the pedestal again.
The scroll rested, silent and unguarded.
Kael extended his hand.
The ground rumbled. The beast emerged.
But this time, Kael didn't run.
He moved calmly, precisely. As the beast charged, he activated the ironroot smoke. A burst of orange fog filled the chamber. The beast roared in confusion, swiping wildly.
Kael dashed in from the side, leapt off a broken column, and slashed across the beast's eye with his coated blade. The venom acted fast—its movements slowed.
Kael used Fists of the Eastern Wind, slamming his palm into a weak point near the beast's neck. The impact cracked a line through the moss-covered stone.
The beast stumbled.
Kael didn't stop. He drove his blade into the crack, poured Essence into it, and exploded it outward.
The beast howled, staggered—
—and collapsed.
Kael dropped to his knees, panting.
Victory.
He limped to the pedestal, hands trembling, and unrolled the scroll.
The script inside shimmered faintly, etched in golden ink. It was a lost technique—Essence Split Form, a martial art that allowed a cultivator to create afterimages using Essence to confuse opponents in close combat.
It was perfect for someone like him.
Someone weaker… someone who needed time to strike.
Kael clutched the scroll to his chest, his heart pounding.
He had found his first true weapon.
---
Over the next five loops, Kael trained obsessively in the hidden forest glade. He memorized every line of the scroll, practiced the stances, refined the Essence flow paths. The technique was meant for someone at least Level 10, but Kael modified it, using split channeling to support a partial effect.
It worked.
His afterimages were faint, unstable—but in a fast fight, they could buy him a second. Sometimes, a second was all that mattered.
---
By the twentieth loop, Kael was Level 9—the peak of the Body Foundation Stage. His Core pulsed with light. The Essence within him no longer trickled—it flowed.
But he couldn't breakthrough.
To reach the Transition Stage, he would need a moment of enlightenment, a confrontation with his limits.
And he knew exactly where to find that.
---
Night fell over the Ardyn estate. The lanterns flickered, casting long shadows over the stone paths. Kael stood alone near the eastern wall, dressed in a dark cloak.
He had been avoiding attention for days. Staying away from training fields, skipping meetings, keeping to the forest. But now, he had a goal.
The eastern forest—usually safe—had been suffering spirit beast attacks for the past week.
Kael wasn't sure if this was new or a result of the loop. But it didn't matter.
He needed to fight something stronger. Something that would push him to the edge.
He ventured into the forest under moonlight.
He found his challenge faster than expected.
A Crimson-Eyed Boar, over six feet tall and covered in thick, spiked fur, stood pawing at the ground near a broken fence. It was a Level 12 beast, stronger than anything Kael had fought. Its tusks were curved like blades, and its snorts carried heat.
Kael exhaled slowly. Focused.
He activated Essence Split Form.
Two faint afterimages shimmered beside him.
The boar charged.
Kael sprinted forward, ducked left. The boar's tusks passed through one afterimage, shredding it. Kael jumped to the right, drawing his blade.
He slashed, the metal singing through the air.
Sparks flew off the boar's hide. It roared, swinging its head. Kael leapt back, rolled, and channeled Essence into his legs.
He ran up a tree trunk, flipped, and landed on the beast's back.
It bucked, trying to throw him off.
Kael drove his blade down between the shoulder blades, aiming for the soft joint.
The boar shrieked and reared.
Kael grabbed a spike and held on.
The beast slammed itself against a tree, trying to crush him.
Pain exploded through Kael's side. He screamed, but didn't let go.
He forced Essence into the blade again—this time it glowed faintly with heat. He'd learned to pulse his energy.
He drove it down, deeper—
The boar shrieked—
And everything went black.
---
> "Death confirmed. Returning to anchor point…"
---
Kael opened his eyes.
Back in bed.
Same moonlight. Same silence.
But this time… he smiled wider.
The final strike had felt right.
He was close.
Closer than ever.