Chapter 215: The Same Cause

Adam didn’t move as the wind circled his fingers, his mind already shifting past the basics. Reaching Master rank wasn’t the end. It wasn’t even a pause. If anything, it was the point where things truly began.

Strength was still everything.

Without it, nothing he built would last. Not his position. Not his plans. Not even the fragile balance they had just forced the outside world to accept during the press conference.

And there was one problem he hadn’t forgotten.

“The Family.”

Adam’s expression didn’t change, but the thought carried weight. They had pulled back for now, restrained by Julius’s presence and the pressure surrounding the Saint’s disciple.

But that didn’t mean they were gone.

It just meant they were waiting.

Adam exhaled slowly, the wind around his hand tightening slightly as his control sharpened. He wasn’t naive enough to rely on borrowed protection. Julius could hold them back for a time, but not forever.

In the end, he would be alone.

And that meant one thing.

He needed to grow stronger, fast.

Adam lowered his hand, letting the wind disperse as his focus shifted to the next step. His current state wasn’t stable yet. He had advanced, but he hadn’t fully consolidated his strength as a Master.

There were still gaps.

“I still need more existence,” he muttered quietly, his voice calm and certain. “And I need to evolve Skelly.”

The name came naturally.

It wasn’t planned or forced. It simply fit. A sign that his connection with his martial spirit had deepened, moving beyond something functional into something more instinctive and personal.

That alone told him something had changed.

But even knowing what he needed, Adam didn’t move immediately.

There were reasons.

The rifts within Tristans were the most accessible source of existence, but they were too low-level now. The gains would be minimal, inefficient for someone at his current stage.

It wasn’t worth the time.

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the second reason, the one that held more weight. Gathering resources could wait. Strength could be built in more than one way.

And right now…

He had a better option.

Adam raised his hand again, but this time, the energy that gathered was different. It wasn’t light or fluid. It carried a heavier presence, something darker, denser, harder to control.

Death.

The energy flickered once, unstable for a brief second before he forced it to stabilize. His control held, but only barely. Compared to his wind affinity, this was unrefined.

Adam didn’t stop.

If this was the path forward, then this was where he would begin. Not with what was easy, but with what would give him the greatest edge once mastered.

A death-based martial technique.

The air around his hand grew colder as the energy condensed further, the instability still present but slowly being forced into shape through sheer control.

****

The unstable death energy continued to twist in Adam’s palm, colder and heavier with each passing second. He didn’t release it. Instead, he studied it, measuring its behavior, its resistance, and how far his control could push it.

Then his thoughts shifted to something critical.

Grade.

Adam already possessed a supreme-grade martial technique tied to wind. That advantage had given him overwhelming control and efficiency. But his second affinity -death- was still raw, unstructured, and far behind.

That gap couldn’t remain.

If he wanted balance… if he wanted true dominance… then death needed to reach the same level. Not a weaker substitute. Not something temporary. It had to stand equal to his wind.

Adam’s gaze sharpened.

And that meant one thing.

A supreme-grade technique.

His mind quickly ran through the known limits. Talent defined creation. It wasn’t just about imagination, it was about what a master was capable of bringing into existence through enlightenment.

G and F rank talents could only create normal techniques.

E and D rank could reach profound. C to A rank pushed into earthly. S rank reached heavenly. SS rank could touch holy. And only SSS rank… could create something supreme.

Adam didn’t hesitate.

He met the requirement.

Which meant this wasn’t impossible.

The death energy in his palm pulsed once, reacting slightly to his focus. He could feel the instability, the lack of structure. It wasn’t just about forcing it into shape, it needed a complete framework.

A true technique.

He could lower the grade.

He could conserve enlightenment, create something easier, something safer, and refine it later. That would be the logical approach for most masters at his stage.

Adam dismissed that thought instantly.

There was no point.

If he was going to create, then it would be the strongest possible version from the start. Anything less would only slow him down later. He wasn’t building for now, he was building for what came next.

His eyes flicked back to his panel.

[Enlightenment: 54,000]

The number remained steady.

To create a supreme-grade technique required exactly that amount. It was a single opportunity, one that every master received upon reaching this stage.

A free creation.

After that, progress would slow. Enlightenment would need to be earned again, accumulated over time. There would be no shortcuts.

This was the foundation.

Adam exhaled slowly, his decision already made.

He wouldn’t waste it.

His gaze hardened as the death energy in his palm compressed further, its shape becoming more defined, more focused. The instability was still there, but now it was being forced into alignment.

He already had the idea.

Ever since awakening the death affinity, the concept had lingered in the back of his mind. A way to use death not just with aura, but as something absolute.

Now, he had the means to bring it into existence.

Adam closed his eyes briefly.

Then he acted.

The moment his will moved, the enlightenment within him surged, responding instantly. It was consumed, and reshaped itself into pure understanding.

All 54,000 points… spent.

The death energy in his palm reacted violently, twisting and compressing at the same time as a new structure began to form.

****

Author’s Note: Thank You For Reading.

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