Back in the Redwyn Manor, where peace and order were the norm, Evendur sat in a well-furnished living room that quietly reflected both wealth and discipline. Polished floors gleamed beneath carefully arranged furniture, and every detail—from the carved wood to the pristine drapery—spoke of control rather than excess. Two maids stood at his side, poised to respond at the slightest word.

Opposite him, his two daughters sat with bright, cheerful expressions, sharpening their swords with smaller blades. Sparks flickered with each stroke, yet neither flinched, completely absorbed in their task.

The Tower would open in a few months. All academy students who had reached the Attuned Realm were encouraged to participate. The rewards were unmatched—no other trial offered such rapid growth for a Resonance cultivator. Within the Tower, one could solidify their foundation, refine their understanding of Resonance, and gain clearer insight into their identity. In turn, this made breakthroughs smoother and affinities easier to grasp.

Evendur watched his daughters, a faint smile resting on his lips as they lost themselves in their own world. Then he leaned back into his chair with a quiet sigh.

His thoughts drifted to the mental transmission he had received a few days prior—from Anthemius, his third son’s personal attendant concerning his return.

‘Why is he returning now of all times?Surely the threat in that place had not yet been fully eradicated.’

A subtle irritation crept into his expression.

There was already too much demanding his attention. The last thing he needed was the return of his battle-hungry sons—especially Caspian.

At just ten years old, the boy had forced a breakthrough into the Aligned Realm and followed his elder brothers to the Abyssal Plains, despite standing only three minor realms beneath them.

The other three followed, each departing a year apart—slipping away in the dead of night, without procession or a single voice to see them off—into the most dangerous region of the Demon Continent, where both life and cultivation were fundamentally different.

The beasts that roamed those lands were nothing like the colossal yet manageable creatures of the kingdom. They could not be bent or guided through Resonance. Instead, they consumed it—ripping it from any unfortunate soul that crossed their path.

The cause lay in the corpses of ancient beasts. Even in death, their overwhelming cultivation had distorted the very fabric of the land, stripping the air of its natural frequencies until Resonance itself became scarce.

In such an environment, the pressure alone was enough to crush ordinary cultivators. Even those in the Aligned or Harmonic realms would struggle to endure a single day. Survival demanded absolute control over one’s energy—and a strength that went beyond mere technique.

Cultivation there could not follow the same principles. Without ambient Resonance to draw from, they were forced to adapt. To survive, they would have to become like the beasts themselves—taking energy, rather than receiving it.

That was why they had been sent there so young. At an age where their understanding of Resonance was incomplete, yet their foundations strong enough to reach the Aligned realm, they could still be reshaped.

How they would achieve this transformation…

Was left for them to discover on their own.

“Dad?” Mirelda called out. “What’s on your mind?”

The voice of his eldest daughter snapped him out of his thoughts. He leaned forward slightly, his expression calm.

“It’s nothing. How are you preparing for the Tower expedition in the next three months?”

Noting the casual deflection, Mirelda simply exchanged a glance and gave a small shrug.

Her gaze didn’t leave the thin red line on her thumb. She watched the blood bead for a second before she gave a sharp, clinical flick of her wrist, sending the droplet onto the polished floor—a tiny, crimson blemish on her father’s perfect order.

“The Tower isn’t a battlefield, Father. It’s an Efficiency Trial,” Mirelda said, her voice dropping the playful lilt for something more calculated. “Everyone goes in thinking they need to hit the hardest. They’re wrong. They’ll burn through their Resonance in the first three floors trying to impress the examiners and end up with a shaky foundation by the time they hit the realization stage.”

She sheathed her blade with a deliberate, metallic clack.

“My tactic is Minimalist Resonance Displacement,” she continued, pacing the length of the rug. “I’ve spent the last month practicing with dampened training weights on my meridians. Instead of a full-body shroud, I’m training to pulse my Resonance only at the exact millisecond of impact. If I can cut a target using 10% of the energy my peers use, I can stay in the Tower three times longer than them.”

She turned back to Evendur, her eyes gleaming with the competitive fire that was the Redwyn birthright.

“The Tower rewards those who can maintain their Identity under pressure. While the others are screaming their power at the walls, I’ll be listening. I want to find the specific frequency of the Seventh Floor. If I can harmonize with the Tower’s own internal rhythm, the breakthrough to the next realm will be extremely easy.”

Miruam chimed in from the couch, still lazily spinning her whetstone. “She means she’s going to be a bore and meditate her way up. I’m just going to do things the old-fashion way. Slice every beast in my path till the last Stratum while finding hidden treasures of course.”

Mirelda rolled her eyes. “Either way, Father. The Redwyn name shall remain at the top, just as it has always been for generations past. Only this time, we take on a more efficient approach to conquering it.”

Evendur fell silent for a moment as he assessed their tactics with growing pride, each of them had their own flaws, but that was expected considering their levels.

“Efficiency is wise,” Evendur finally said, his voice cold. “But remember: the Tower reflects who you are. If you go in looking to harmonize, make sure you don’t lose your edge in the process. A Redwyn who fits in too well is just another brick in the wall.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep