Alec sat in a meditative posture, with his eyes closed, replaying every hour of the closed-door training he’d forced himself through these past few days. A Tier 2 armor that had been personally arranged for him by the clan rested against his frame, and his left hand lay calmly on the hilt of his bone katana, which was beside the Changdao strapped at his waist. Now, he truly carried the aura of a true swordsman, even his stillness stirred the air, faint waves of sound rippling outward from his breathing alone, though he rarely cultivated with full intent, yet every time he meditated, his two mana-circulation techniques would activate on their own. Minute by minute, they fed him experience, steadily pushing him forward, and that was exactly the problem, Alec wasn’t ready to step into th

