Chapter 97: Adaptability Is Different From Power

The clan heirs were momentarily stunned by the news Adam had delivered.

Then relief hit.

Expressions shifted almost in unison, tight shoulders loosened, clenched jaws eased, and the hall filled with audible breaths being let out. For a brief moment, hope bloomed where tension had ruled.

Only a few noticed something was off.

Despite delivering what was supposedly good news, Adam didn’t look relieved. Not even slightly.

Abigail caught it immediately, her eyes narrowing, while a handful of others sensed the same dissonance.

The rest, however, began to celebrate.

“Finally, we can leave this backwater place.”

“I’m never leaving my sector again for anything.”

“Thank the void we no longer need to face any monsters.”

Voices overlapped, laughter broke out, and the oppressive weight that had followed them for days lifted, if only a little.

Adam let them have it.

He didn’t interrupt. Didn’t correct them. He allowed the moment to breathe, no matter how fleeting it would be. For a few heartbeats, the heirs enjoyed the illusion of safety.

Then the noise began to die down.

When the commotion finally settled, Adam spoke.

“Now that you’ve heard the good news… it’s time for the bad news.”

His voice was normal and calmly unraised.

Yet every heir in the hall heard it clearly.

“Bad news?” one of them blurted out.

Abigail’s lips pressed into a thin line.

I knew it was too good to be true.

Dickson, on the other hand, simply stared at Adam, waiting silently.

All eyes turned toward the stage.

Adam rose slowly from where he sat, bandages pulling slightly as he stood upright. The heirs’ gazes followed him, locked in place as he spoke again.

“The generator may be down, but the barrier is still up.”

A wave of confusion rippled through the room…

Before anyone could speak, Adam continued.

“And a monster tide will also happen.”

Silence fell.

Complete and absolute.

Then…

Chaos erupted, as the hall nearly tore itself apart from the heirs’ outrage.

Voices exploded all at once, frustration spilling over like a ruptured dam.

“I thought disabling the generator was the only thing required to let us out, now that doesn’t even work?!”

“I shouldn’t have come here. Oh my stars, why did I come here?!”

“It’s my fault for believing a mission hall could be relied on. The ones in the mid regions are useless, let alone those in the lower regions!”

Complaints stacked on complaints, anger feeding anger. And yet, compared to how they would have acted if Adam weren’t present, this was… restrained.

Adam let them vent.

He understood it by now. Clan heirs always became anxious when things slipped beyond their control. They were powerful, but power and adaptability were not the same thing.

When systems failed and guarantees vanished, their first response was panic wrapped in pride.

I think they’ve poured out their frustration enough.

He released a wisp of killing intent.

Just a wisp.

It flared for less than a heartbeat before being withdrawn completely, but it was more than enough.

The hall went dead silent.

Compared to the killing intent they had felt from him before, this was different. It felt heavier, sharper, colder and it carried a finality that crawled along their spines.

Death.

An awakened death affinity.

The heirs felt it instantly, and with that shock came another realization.

He broke through.

Adam had reached the apprentice rank.

Despite the sealed barrier.

Despite the chaos.

Despite the unknowns piling up one after another.

While they panicked, he had cultivated. While they complained, he had advanced, seeking solutions not through excuses or systems, but through power.

Something tightened in their chests at that realization.

They didn’t know what to call the feeling, but it was the same weight they felt when standing before their clan elders.

Adam looked around the hall, his gaze steady now that he had their full attention.

“The reason I’m telling you this isn’t to cause a riot,” he said calmly. “I’m telling you so you won’t have an excuse to cause trouble while the mission hall handles the situation.”

He paused, eyes sweeping across them.

“Luckily, you won’t need to assist with monster management again. The situation is manageable now.” His voice hardened slightly. “So make sure you’re on your best behavior.”

A beat of silence.

“Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” the heirs responded instinctively, voices overlapping.

“Good.”

Adam turned and walked out of the hall, leaving behind silence.

****

Adam had handled the heirs exactly as the manager had asked.

With that done, he returned to his room. The countdown had already begun, thirty hours until the rift breach. Once that threshold was crossed, the monster tide would officially begin. On the mission hall’s side, preparations were already in motion and Adam was included in those measures.

After stepping into his room, Adam didn’t go to sleep.

No, sleep could wait.

Things were different now. He had a proper cultivation talent at last, and that meant his routine needed to change.

Rest was important, but progress was more important.

It’s really tiring, when people keep calling me the one with the meager essence capacity.

It wasn’t entirely wrong. In a strange way, it even sounded like a flex sometimes. But no matter how others framed it, it was still embarrassing, a label that followed him everywhere, whispered or spoken outright.

He didn’t like it.

And this was not the time to indulge it.

There were thirty hours left. Thirty hours where every increase in strength, no matter how small, would matter. Adam had no intention of wasting a single second.

He moved to the center of the room and sat down cross-legged on the floor, his breathing steadying almost instantly. Without hesitation, he began practicing the upgraded essence absorption technique.

The difference was immediate.

Essence responded.

Invisible currents stirred as ambient essence began to flow toward him, thin at first, then denser, drawn in by the refined pathways within his body. It seeped through his skin, poured into his meridians, and settled deep within him.

Adam remained motionless as the process continued.

****

A/N: 800 power stones or top 60 in GT ranking for a mass release let’s go!

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