The training began at dawn.
Anthonio stood in the center of the courtyard, bare-chested, his body covered in a thin sheen of sweat despite the morning chill. Around him, the stone tiles were scorched black from repeated lightning strikes. Some had cracked completely, spider-web patterns radiating outward from points where his control had slipped.
Three weeks had passed since he discovered the vault. Three weeks of relentless, brutal training that pushed his body to its absolute limits every single day.
"Again," Selene commanded from the courtyard's edge.
Anthonio closed his eyes, focusing inward. The Primordial Red Lightning coiled in his veins like a living thing, vast and terrible and barely contained. He reached for it carefully, drawing a thin thread of power up through his Essence Veins and into his right hand.
Crimson electricity crackled to life across his palm. Not wild and uncontrolled like before, but focused, compressed, shaped by his will into a sphere roughly the size of an apple.
He held it for ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.
The strain was immense. Every second felt like his hand was being consumed by fire from the inside. Sweat dripped down his face. His muscles trembled with the effort of maintaining control.
Forty seconds. Fifty.
The sphere began to destabilize. Lightning arced outward, scorching the air. Anthonio gritted his teeth, fighting to contain it, but the power was too much. With a sharp crack, the sphere exploded, sending him sliding backward across the courtyard.
He caught himself before falling, breathing hard.
"Fifty-three seconds," Selene announced. "Three seconds longer than yesterday. Your control is improving."
"Not fast enough." Anthonio straightened, wiping sweat from his face. "At this rate, it'll take months before I can use even basic combat techniques."
"Basic combat techniques for normal lightning users, perhaps." Selene stepped forward, her shadow essence swirling around her feet like living darkness. "But there's nothing normal about your power, young master. The Codex of Primordial Essence specifically warns against trying to rush mastery."
Anthonio knew she was right. The Codex had been clear: primordial essence wasn't like normal cultivation energy. It couldn't be forced or hurried. It had to be gradually integrated into every cell of the body, every fiber of muscle and bone. Rushing the process would result in catastrophic failure—either the power would destroy the user from within, or the user's consciousness would be consumed by the primordial force, leaving behind nothing but a mindless vessel of destruction.
Still, knowing the theory and living the reality were different things.
"Let me try the breathing technique again," Anthonio said.
He settled into the meditative stance described in the Codex: feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands held at waist level with palms facing upward. The **Breath of the Crimson Dragon**, the fundamental breathing method for primordial lightning users.
Anthonio inhaled slowly, drawing air deep into his lungs. As he did, he visualized the Primordial Red Lightning in his veins responding to the breath, flowing in harmony with it. Exhale, and the power circulated through his body, following the pathways described in the Codex.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
With each breath, he could feel the integration deepening. The primordial essence, which had been a foreign force invading his body, slowly became more familiar. More natural. More *his*.
After thirty minutes of continuous breathing exercises, Anthonio opened his eyes. The morning sun had risen higher, bathing the courtyard in golden light.
"Better?" Selene asked.
"Better." Anthonio extended his hand and conjured another sphere of lightning. This time, it formed more quickly, with less strain. He held it for a full minute before dismissing it voluntarily, the power flowing back into his veins with almost no resistance.
"The breathing method is working," he said with satisfaction. "Each session makes the power easier to control. At this rate, I should be able to move on to the first combat technique within two weeks."
"The **Lightning Step**?" Selene asked, referring to the first technique described in the Five Lightning Transformations scrolls.
"Exactly." Anthonio had studied the technique extensively over the past three weeks. The Lightning Step was a movement technique that allowed the user to transform their body partially into lightning, enabling instantaneous movement across short distances. For normal lightning users, it required years of practice to master. But with primordial lightning, Anthonio theorized he could achieve it in weeks—if he could control the power precisely enough.
"For now, let's move to physical conditioning," Anthonio said, rolling his shoulders. "I need to build a body capable of withstanding the strain of high-level techniques."
Selene nodded and moved to the center of the courtyard. Over the past three weeks, they had developed a comprehensive training regimen that balanced cultivation practice with physical conditioning. Anthonio's body, weakened by years of being unable to cultivate, needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.
"One hundred strikes," Selene said, settling into a combat stance. "Full speed. Don't hold back."
Anthonio attacked immediately. His fist shot forward in a straight punch, enhanced by a thin coating of lightning that increased his speed. Selene deflected it effortlessly, her shadow essence flowing around the attack like water.
He didn't let up. Punch, kick, elbow strike, knee strike—a relentless barrage of attacks that would have overwhelmed most Consolidation-level cultivators. But Selene was Sovereign-level. To her, Anthonio's attacks were visible in slow motion, each strike telegraphed and easily countered.
Still, that wasn't the point. The point was to push his body to its limits, to force his muscles to adapt to moving at speeds enhanced by primordial lightning.
By the fiftieth strike, Anthonio's arms felt like lead. By the seventy-fifth, his legs were trembling. By the ninety-fifth, he could barely lift his hands.
"Five more," Selene said calmly, not even breathing hard.
Anthonio dug deep, finding reserves of strength he didn't know he had. The last five strikes were sloppy, uncoordinated, but he completed them. One hundred attacks in rapid succession, each one enhanced with lightning.
He collapsed to his knees, gasping.
"Your stamina has improved," Selene observed. "Last week, you could barely manage seventy strikes before exhaustion."
"Progress," Anthonio managed between breaths. "Slow... but progress."
Selene handed him a canteen of water, which he drank gratefully. The morning training session was only half complete. After a brief rest, they would move on to cultivation meditation, followed by technique study, followed by sparring practice in the afternoon.
Every day. Without exception. For the past three weeks.
It was brutal. Exhausting. Painful.
And absolutely necessary.
---
**Afternoon**
Anthonio sat in his room, the Codex of Primordial Essence open before him on a low table. The ancient scroll was written in a flowing script that seemed to shimmer in the light, the ink infused with traces of primordial essence that resonated with the power in his veins.
He was studying the section on cultivation stages and advancement methods.
According to the Codex, advancing through cultivation stages with primordial essence followed different rules than normal cultivation. Where normal cultivators had to painstakingly gather essence from the environment, purify it, and integrate it into their veins over months or years, primordial essence users had the opposite problem—they had too much power and not enough control.
The challenge wasn't gathering essence. It was learning to contain and direct the overwhelming force already inside them.
For Anthonio, currently at Consolidation 5-Star, the path to advancement was clear:
**Consolidation 6-Star:** Achieve stable control over 10% of his primordial power. Estimated time: two weeks.
**Consolidation 7-Star:** Achieve stable control over 15% of his primordial power. Estimated time: one month.
**Consolidation 8-Star:** Achieve stable control over 20% of his primordial power. Estimated time: two months.
**Consolidation 9-Star:** Achieve stable control over 30% of his primordial power. Estimated time: three months.
**Manifestation 1-Star:** Successfully externalize the primordial lightning, creating techniques that exist outside the body. Estimated time: six months total from his current position.
The progression was faster than normal cultivation by orders of magnitude, but it still required patience and careful work. Rush the process, and his body would tear itself apart.
*Six months to reach Manifestation,* Anthonio thought, doing mental calculations. *Then another six months to stabilize in Manifestation and reach 7-Star. That's one year total. I'll be seventeen years old with Manifestation 7-Star cultivation.*
In his novel, most cultivators didn't reach Manifestation until their mid-twenties. The talented ones might achieve it at twenty-one or twenty-two. Reaching it at seventeen would mark him as a once-in-a-generation genius.
But Anthonio had no intention of stopping there.
*Transcendence by age eighteen. Sovereign by the time I enter the Academy. That's the goal.*
A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in," Anthonio called.
Selene entered, carrying a tray with tea and light refreshments. She had changed from her training clothes into a simple black dress, her hair tied back in its usual strict bun.
"You've been studying for four hours straight, young master," she said, setting down the tray. "You need to eat."
"Time got away from me." Anthonio accepted the tea gratefully. The warm liquid soothed his throat, which had been dry from hours of reading ancient text. "I was analyzing the advancement paths in the Codex. The theory is fascinating—primordial essence doesn't follow normal cultivation laws at all."
"Most world-shaping powers don't," Selene observed, settling into a chair across from him. "That's what makes them primordial. They existed before the current cultivation system was established."
Anthonio nodded, taking a bite of the light sandwich she'd brought. Over the past three weeks, he and Selene had fallen into an easy companionship. The master-servant dynamic that had defined their relationship before was gone, replaced by something closer to teacher and student, or perhaps comrades in arms.
"How is your own cultivation progressing?" Anthonio asked.
Selene's expression brightened slightly. "Well. The oath's removal allowed me to access techniques I haven't been able to use in years. I've stabilized at Sovereign 1-Star and I'm beginning to lay the foundation for advancement to 2-Star."
"How long until you break through?"
"Two months, perhaps three. Sovereign-level advancement is significantly slower than lower stages." She paused. "Young master, may I ask you something personal?"
"Of course."
"These visions you have—the ones that let you know where to find treasures, how to cultivate, what events will occur. How far do they extend? Can you see years into the future?"
Anthonio considered how to answer. He had been deliberately vague about his "visions," letting Selene assume he was some kind of seer or prophet. It was easier than explaining he was literally the author of this world.
"I can see... possibilities," he said carefully. "Paths that events might take. Some are clear, like stone carved in certainty. Others are hazy, subject to change based on choices made. The further into the future, the less certain things become."
"And these possibilities—do they include your own fate?"
"They did." Anthonio met her eyes. "In the original path, I was destined to die at the Royal Academy during my first year. Killed by a protagonist who saw me as nothing more than an arrogant obstacle to be removed."
Selene's expression darkened. "Kael Stormborn. You've mentioned him before."
"Yes. The hero of this story—or at least, the hero of the story as it was supposed to unfold. Born to a duke and a prostitute, blessed with three Divine Essences, destined to rise from obscurity to become the strongest being in the world."
"Three Divine Essences?" Selene's eyes widened. "That's... I've never heard of anyone possessing more than one. The gods rarely grant such blessings, and to receive three..."
"Unprecedented," Anthonio agreed. "In the original timeline, Kael would have been invincible. Each Divine Essence would have granted him power beyond normal comprehension. The Blade of the Void would have let him cut through anything, even space itself. The Eye of Destiny would have shown him the future and the weaknesses of his enemies. The Dragon Heart would have given him limitless stamina and regeneration."
"And yet you plan to defeat him."
"I plan to destroy him." Anthonio's voice was cold. "Not just defeat him in combat, but dismantle everything that makes him special. I'll steal the opportunities meant for him. I'll claim the artifacts he was supposed to find. I'll seduce the women destined to fall in love with him. By the time we meet at the Academy, he won't be the protagonist of this story anymore."
"Because you will be," Selene finished.
"No." Anthonio smiled that predatory smile. "I won't be the protagonist. I'll be something this world has never seen before—the villain who wins."
Selene was quiet for a moment, processing this. Then: "Young master, if you succeed in stealing all of Kael Stormborn's opportunities, won't that fundamentally change the future you've seen? Won't your visions become unreliable?"
It was a perceptive question. Anthonio had been thinking about this exact issue.
"Yes and no," he said. "The major events—wars, political changes, natural disasters—those will likely remain the same. They're too large to be affected by one person's actions. But the smaller events, the personal stories, those will change dramatically once I begin actively altering the timeline."
"So your advantage diminishes the more you use it."
"Exactly. Which is why I need to leverage my knowledge now, while the timeline is still relatively unchanged. Every artifact I claim, every technique I master, every ally I secure—these need to happen before I enter the Academy and the divergence becomes too great."
Anthonio stood, moving to the window. Outside, the Crimson Mountains loomed against the afternoon sky, their peaks shrouded in perpetual mist.
"In two years, everything changes," he said quietly. "The story begins in earnest. Kael Stormborn enters the Royal Academy. The first heroine appears. The first major conflict unfolds. And if I've done my job correctly, I'll be positioned to insert myself into every important event."
"What is the first event?" Selene asked. "The first thing that happens once the Academy year begins?"
Anthonio's smile widened. "The Entrance Examination. A test designed to evaluate new students and rank them according to combat ability. In the original timeline, Kael Stormborn would have dominated the examination, defeating every opponent and establishing himself as the Academy's new star."
"And you plan to defeat him publicly."
"No." Anthonio turned from the window. "I plan to let him win the examination. Let him have his moment of glory, his public recognition. Let everyone focus on the rising star with three Divine Essences while completely overlooking the exiled trash who barely qualified for admission."
Understanding dawned in Selene's eyes. "You'll hide your power. Make them think you're still worthless."
"Until the perfect moment to reveal the truth." Anthonio's eyes gleamed with crimson light. "Imagine it, Selene. Kael Stormborn, surrounded by admirers, convinced of his own superiority. And then, when he's at the height of his arrogance, when everyone believes the story of the heroic bastard who overcame his low birth through sheer talent..."
"The exiled trash reveals himself as a Sovereign-level cultivator with EX-Rank power."
"The look on his face will be priceless." Anthonio laughed softly. "But that comes later. For now, we train. We prepare. We build the foundation that will support our rise."
Selene stood, bowing slightly. "Then I'll leave you to your studies, young master. We have evening sparring in three hours."
After she left, Anthonio returned to the Codex. But his mind was no longer on cultivation theory. Instead, he was thinking about the timeline, about the events he knew were coming.
In six months, his cousin Damien would have visited the Pavilion and discovered the Heart of the Crimson Storm. When he found the cave empty, he would likely search for other opportunities. That was fine. Damien was talented but arrogant. He could be manipulated.
In one year, the Shadow Syndicate would make a move against the Crimsonhart family, attempting to assassinate his father. In the original timeline, the assassination would have failed due to Kael Stormborn's intervention—he would have been passing through the capital at the right time and saved Duke Crimsonhart, earning the family's gratitude and an invitation to the Academy.
But if Anthonio sent an anonymous warning to his father beforehand, the assassination could be prevented without Kael's involvement. No debt to the protagonist. No grateful family. One less connection for Kael to exploit.
In eighteen months, the first heroine would appear. Lady Seraphina Nightshade, daughter of the Duke of the Northern Territories, blessed with the Divine Essence of Ice. In the original story, she and Kael would have met at a ball, fallen in love at first sight, and become inseparable partners.
Anthonio intended to intercept that meeting. To arrive at the ball first, to charm Seraphina before Kael ever laid eyes on her. It would require careful planning, perfect timing, and a level of social grace that the original Anthonio Crimsonhart had never possessed.
But Anthonio wasn't the original character anymore. He was the author. And he knew exactly how to write a seduction scene that would make a heroine fall.
*One by one,* he thought, making mental notes in his author's mind. *I'll steal every opportunity. Break every connection. By the time Kael Stormborn reaches the Academy, he'll be isolated, weakened, and completely unprepared for what I've become.*
A dark satisfaction filled him. This was the power of meta-knowledge. Not just knowing the future, but having written it in the first place. Every character was his creation. Every plot point was his design. Every secret was something he had deliberately placed.
The only variable was Kael himself. The protagonist, blessed by the gods with unprecedented power. In theory, he was the one character who could derail Anthonio's plans through sheer overwhelming force.
But Anthonio had advantages Kael lacked. Time. Preparation. Knowledge. And most importantly, the Primordial Red Lightning—a power he had specifically designed to be stronger than even Divine Essences.
*I created you to be the hero, Kael Stormborn,* Anthonio thought. *But I created your ultimate enemy to be unbeatable. And now I am that enemy.*
---
**Evening**
The sparring session was brutal.
Anthonio faced Selene in the training courtyard as the sun set behind the mountains, painting the sky in shades of crimson and gold. Around them, the scorched stones bore testament to weeks of intensive training.
"Ready?" Selene asked, her shadow essence already swirling around her feet.
"Ready," Anthonio confirmed, settling into his combat stance.
Selene moved.
One moment she was ten meters away, the next she was directly in front of him, her fist aimed at his solar plexus. Anthonio barely managed to dodge, throwing himself to the side as her strike whistled past his ribs.
He countered immediately, coating his fist in crimson lightning and aiming for her exposed flank. But Selene had already dissolved into shadows, reforming behind him. Her kick caught him in the back, sending him stumbling forward.
Anthonio rolled with the impact, coming up into a defensive stance. His back throbbed where she had struck him—even pulling her punch, Selene's Sovereign-level strength was overwhelming.
*I can't match her in raw power,* Anthonio thought, analyzing the situation with his author's mind. *But I can predict her movements. I designed shadow techniques in my novel. I know their strengths and weaknesses.*
Selene attacked again, this time from three directions simultaneously—multiple shadow clones converging on his position. Anthonio closed his eyes, extending his senses. The Primordial Red Lightning in his veins resonated with the electrical charges in the air, letting him feel the disturbances caused by movement.
Two of the clones were illusions. Only one was real.
Anthonio spun, his fist crackling with lightning, and struck directly at the real Selene. She blocked his attack, but the lightning discharge forced her to disengage, her shadow essence dissipating the clones.
"Good," she said, a hint of approval in her voice. "You're learning to use your lightning as a sensory enhancement, not just a weapon."
"The Codex suggested it," Anthonio replied, already moving into his next attack pattern. "Primordial lightning responds to all electrical phenomena, including the bio-electrical fields generated by living beings."
He pressed his advantage, launching a series of quick strikes enhanced with minimal lightning. Not enough to cause serious damage, but enough to keep Selene on the defensive. She deflected each attack effortlessly, but Anthonio could see he was forcing her to actually pay attention now.
Progress.
The sparring continued for another thirty minutes. By the end, Anthonio was covered in bruises, gasping for breath, every muscle screaming in protest. But he had landed three clean hits on Selene—three more than he had managed in any previous session.
"Your combat instincts are improving rapidly," Selene observed as she helped him to his feet. "At this rate, you'll be able to fight evenly with Consolidation 9-Star cultivators within a month."
"Not good enough," Anthonio said, wincing as his bruised ribs protested the movement. "I need to be able to fight above my level. When I enter the Academy, I'll be facing opponents at Manifestation level or higher."
"Then we'll increase the training intensity," Selene said. "But young master, you need to be careful not to overtrain. Your body is still adapting to the primordial essence. Push too hard, and you risk permanent damage."
Anthonio knew she was right. The Codex had been clear about the dangers of overexertion during the integration phase. But he also knew he couldn't afford to go slow. Time was his enemy as much as any cultivator.
"I'll be careful," he promised, though they both knew he was lying.
---
**Night**
Anthonio sat in meditation in his room, the Breath of the Crimson Dragon flowing through him with practiced ease. Outside his window, the stars glittered in a moonless sky, and the mountains loomed like sleeping giants.
Inside his body, the Primordial Red Lightning circulated through his Essence Veins, each rotation bringing it deeper into integration with his flesh and bone. He could feel the changes happening at a cellular level—his body transforming, adapting, becoming something more than human.
This was the true power of primordial essence. It didn't just grant supernatural abilities. It fundamentally altered the user's existence, pushing them toward something beyond mortality.
*In the original timeline,* Anthonio thought as he maintained his meditation, *the final boss would have been at God-level cultivation with fully mastered Primordial Red Lightning. A being capable of destroying kingdoms with a gesture, of reshaping reality itself.*
*That's what I'm becoming. Not just powerful. Not just talented. But fundamentally different from normal humans.*
The thought should have been terrifying. In a way, it was. But it was also exhilarating.
After two hours of meditation, Anthonio opened his eyes and checked his cultivation progress. The primordial essence had circulated successfully through his entire body seventy-two times—a full cycle according to the Codex. He could feel the difference. His control had improved noticeably. The power that had felt like a raging storm three weeks ago now felt more like a controlled burn.
Still dangerous. Still overwhelming. But manageable.
Anthonio stood and moved to his desk, where he had been keeping a journal of his progress. It was a risk—written evidence of his cultivation could be discovered—but he needed to track his advancement carefully. The Ring of Crimson Shadows would keep it hidden.
He opened the journal to a fresh page and began writing:
---
**Day 21 of Training**
**Cultivation Level:** Consolidation 5-Star (stable)
**Control Percentage:** Approximately 8% of primordial power accessible
**Physical Condition:** Bruised but recovering. Body adaptation proceeding according to Codex predictions.
**Combat Assessment:** Can fight evenly with Consolidation 7-Star opponents. Would likely lose to Consolidation 9-Star. Manifestation-level opponents still beyond my capabilities.
**Technique Progress:**
- Breath of the Crimson Dragon: Mastered
- Lightning Sphere: Stable for 60 seconds
- Lightning Step: Theory understood, practice incomplete
- Five Lightning Transformations: First form studied, not yet attempted
**Timeline Notes:**
- 23 months until Academy entrance
- 6 months until Damien's scheduled visit (no longer relevant)
- 12 months until Shadow Syndicate assassination attempt
- 18 months until Seraphina Nightshade's debut ball
**Next Goals:**
- Achieve Consolidation 6-Star within two weeks
- Master Lightning Step technique within one month
- Advance physical conditioning to handle extended combat
- Begin studying advanced combat theory from vault scrolls
**Personal Observation:**
The isolation of the Eternal Mist Pavilion is both blessing and curse. Perfect for secret cultivation, but I'm becoming too disconnected from the outside world. Need to establish information network. Consider sending Selene to capital for intelligence gathering?
---
Anthonio closed the journal and stored it in the Ring of Crimson Shadows' pocket dimension. Tomorrow would bring another day of brutal training. Another day of pushing his limits. Another day closer to his goals.
But tonight, he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
Three weeks ago, he had been a broken cultivator with no future. Now he possessed EX-Rank power, legendary artifacts, immense wealth, and a companion with Sovereign-level strength. The transformation was nothing short of miraculous.
*This is just the beginning,* Anthonio thought, looking out at the Crimson Mountains. *In two years, I'll stand at the Royal Academy as a Sovereign-level cultivator. I'll have claimed every artifact, mastered every technique, seduced every heroine. And when Kael Stormborn finally realizes what's happening...*
Crimson lightning crackled across Anthonio's eyes.
*It will already be far too late.*