**Three Months Later**
Thunder rolled across the Crimson Mountains as Anthonio stood at the edge of the training courtyard, eyes closed, breathing steady. Rain poured down in sheets, soaking through his clothes, but he didn't move. Didn't flinch.
He was waiting for the perfect moment.
Lightning flashed across the sky—natural lightning, not the primordial power in his veins. Anthonio's eyes snapped open, glowing crimson in the darkness. He could feel the electrical charge in the air, the storm's energy resonating with his own essence.
Perfect conditions.
"Young master, are you certain about this?" Selene called from the covered walkway. Even her voice carried concern. "The storm's interference could destabilize your technique."
"That's exactly what I'm counting on," Anthonio replied.
He had been preparing for this moment for three months. Three months of relentless training, gradual advancement, careful integration of the Primordial Red Lightning into every aspect of his being. And now, finally, he was ready to attempt the technique that would transform him from a competent cultivator into something truly dangerous.
The **Lightning Step**.
According to the Five Lightning Transformations scrolls, the Lightning Step was the foundational technique of advanced lightning cultivation. It allowed the user to temporarily convert their physical form into pure electrical energy, enabling instantaneous movement across distances. Masters of the technique could cross hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, leaving only crackling afterimages in their wake.
But the technique was notoriously difficult to master. Converting flesh to energy and back again required perfect control and absolute confidence. One mistake, one moment of hesitation, and the user's physical form could disperse permanently, leaving nothing but scattered electrons.
Most lightning cultivators took years to achieve even basic proficiency with the Lightning Step. Some never mastered it at all.
Anthonio intended to master it tonight.
He settled into the preparatory stance, feeling the Primordial Red Lightning surge through his veins. Over the past three months, his control had improved dramatically. He could now access approximately twenty percent of his primordial power without serious strain—enough to attempt the transformation.
"Here goes nothing," Anthonio muttered.
He focused on his right foot, visualizing the flesh and bone breaking down into pure electrical energy. The Primordial Red Lightning responded immediately, flooding into his foot with overwhelming force.
Pain. Immediate and excruciating. Every nerve ending in his foot screamed as his physical form began to destabilize. Anthonio gritted his teeth, maintaining focus despite the agony. This was normal. The scrolls had warned him—the first attempts at transformation always felt like being torn apart from the inside.
His foot flickered, becoming translucent. Crimson lightning crackled where solid flesh should be. For a moment, Anthonio thought he had succeeded. Then his control slipped, and his foot snapped back to solid form with a painful jolt that sent him stumbling backward.
"Damn," he hissed, catching himself before falling. His foot throbbed, pins and needles racing up his leg as blood flow returned to normal.
"That was closer than yesterday," Selene observed. "The transformation lasted almost three seconds before destabilizing."
"Not good enough." Anthonio shook out his leg, waiting for the numbness to fade. "I need full-body transformation to execute the Lightning Step properly. Partial transformation is useless for combat."
He tried again. And again. And again.
Each attempt brought improvement. Three seconds became five. Five became eight. The pain lessened as his body adapted to the sensation of temporary dissolution. But full transformation remained frustratingly out of reach. Something was missing. Some crucial element he wasn't grasping.
After the twentieth attempt, Anthonio collapsed to his knees in the rain, gasping. His entire body felt like it was vibrating at the wrong frequency, every cell struggling to maintain cohesion. The strain of repeated transformation attempts was taking its toll.
"Young master, that's enough for tonight," Selene said firmly, moving to his side. "You're pushing too hard. The technique will come with time—"
"I don't have time," Anthonio snapped, then immediately regretted his tone. "I'm sorry. I just... I need to master this. The Lightning Step is crucial for everything that comes after."
Selene knelt beside him, her gray eyes studying his face. "What is it you're really afraid of, young master? You've made incredible progress. Three months ago, you could barely control a lightning sphere. Now you're attempting advanced transformation techniques. Why this desperate urgency?"
Anthonio was silent for a long moment, rain streaming down his face. Finally, he spoke.
"Because every day I spend here is a day the timeline advances. A day closer to events I need to control. In nine months, the Shadow Syndicate will attempt to assassinate my father. If I'm not strong enough to intervene by then, Kael Stormborn will step in and earn the Crimsonhart family's gratitude. That connection will give him resources, political backing, and eventually access to artifacts hidden in the family vaults."
He clenched his fist, crimson lightning crackling weakly across his knuckles.
"I need to be there first. I need to prevent the assassination myself, without revealing my true power. And to do that, I need mobility, speed, the ability to move through the capital unseen. The Lightning Step isn't just a technique—it's the foundation of my entire strategy."
Understanding dawned in Selene's eyes. "You intend to save your father while appearing to still be powerless. Make it seem like pure luck or coincidence."
"Exactly. But I can't do that without mastering movement techniques first." Anthonio forced himself to stand, his legs still trembling. "Which is why I can't afford to take my time with this."
Lightning flashed overhead again, closer this time. The storm was intensifying. Anthonio looked up at the roiling clouds, feeling the electricity in the air growing stronger.
And suddenly, he understood.
"Selene," he said slowly, "the scroll describes the Lightning Step as converting the body into electrical energy. But I've been thinking about it wrong. I'm not converting my body—I'm already electrical. Every nerve impulse, every heartbeat, every thought is fundamentally electrical activity. The technique isn't about becoming lightning. It's about remembering that I already am."
Selene's eyes widened. "Young master, that's... that's a profound insight. Most cultivators take decades to realize the fundamental truth of energy cultivation—that transformation techniques aren't changing what you are, just revealing what you've always been."
Anthonio barely heard her. His mind was racing, connecting dots, understanding flooding through him like the rain. The Primordial Red Lightning in his veins wasn't a foreign power. It had integrated into every cell, every molecule. On a fundamental level, his body was already part lightning.
He just needed to stop resisting that truth.
"One more attempt," Anthonio said, settling into the preparatory stance again.
"Young master—"
"Trust me."
This time, Anthonio didn't try to force the transformation. Instead, he simply acknowledged what already existed. His body was matter. Matter was energy. Energy was lightning. The boundaries between these states were illusions, artificial distinctions his mind imposed on reality.
He let those boundaries dissolve.
The transformation happened instantly. One moment, Anthonio stood in solid human form. The next, his entire body had become pure crimson lightning, a vaguely humanoid shape crackling with primordial power.
There was no pain. No sensation of being torn apart. Just a profound sense of *rightness*, as if he had finally aligned with his true nature.
*I can feel everything,* Anthonio thought, though thought itself was different in this form. *Every electrical current in the storm. Every bio-electrical field of living creatures for hundreds of meters. The world is nothing but energy patterns, all interconnected, all accessible.*
He focused on a point twenty meters away, at the far end of the courtyard. And then, with a crack of thunder that shook the Pavilion's walls, Anthonio moved.
It wasn't teleportation. It was faster. In his lightning form, distance became meaningless. He simply existed at one point, then existed at another, the space between traversed in less time than it took a synapse to fire.
He rematerialized at the far end of the courtyard, his solid form snapping back into existence with a crackle of displaced air. For a moment, he stood frozen, hardly daring to believe what he had just done.
Then a massive grin spread across his face.
"I did it," he whispered. "I actually did it."
Selene was beside him in an instant, her own movement technique bringing her across the courtyard almost as fast. Her face was a mixture of shock and pride.
"Young master, that was... that was a perfect Lightning Step. On your first successful transformation. Most cultivators need months to achieve that level of control."
"Most cultivators don't have primordial essence fundamentally rewriting their existence," Anthonio replied, still grinning. He raised his hand, watching crimson lightning dance across his fingers. "Let's try it again."
For the next hour, Anthonio practiced the Lightning Step relentlessly. Each transformation became easier, smoother, more natural. He experimented with distances, moving five meters, ten, fifteen, twenty. The technique's range seemed limited only by his ability to clearly visualize the destination point.
By the time the storm passed and dawn began to break over the mountains, Anthonio had executed over fifty successful Lightning Steps. His body ached from the repeated transformations, but it was the satisfying ache of muscles well-used, not the agony of damage.
"We should test combat applications," Selene suggested as they returned to the Pavilion. "The Lightning Step is most valuable when used during battle, but that requires split-second decision-making under pressure."
Anthonio nodded, already planning training scenarios. "Tomorrow. Right now, I need to eat about three thousand calories and sleep for twelve hours."
"A reasonable assessment." Selene smiled slightly. "Young master, may I ask—what is your current cultivation level? You haven't mentioned advancement in weeks."
Anthonio checked his internal state, feeling the flow of primordial essence through his veins. Over the past three months, his cultivation had advanced steadily, each breakthrough coming more naturally than the last.
"Consolidation 8-Star," he said. "Stable and ready to push for 9-Star within the next month. After that, the breakthrough to Manifestation."
Selene's eyes widened. "Three months from Consolidation 5-Star to 8-Star. Young master, that's... that's unprecedented. Even with primordial essence, that level of progression shouldn't be possible."
"The Codex explains it," Anthonio said as they entered the Pavilion. Old Aldric was already awake, preparing morning tea. Anthonio nodded to him in greeting. "Primordial essence doesn't follow normal cultivation rules. Each breakthrough isn't about gathering more power—the power is already there. It's about learning to access more of it. As my control improves, my cultivation naturally rises to match."
They reached the dining hall, where the cook had prepared breakfast. Anthonio sat down gratefully, suddenly aware of how ravenous he was. Using the Lightning Step had burned through an enormous amount of energy.
"At this rate," Selene said, settling across from him, "you'll reach Manifestation within four months. That would put you at sixteen years and eight months old. Young master, cultivators typically don't reach Manifestation until their mid-twenties."
"I'm not typical." Anthonio took a large bite of breakfast. After swallowing, he continued: "And I need to reach Sovereign level before entering the Academy. That's non-negotiable. The advantage of hidden power only works if the hidden power is overwhelming enough to matter."
"Sovereign 7-Star," Selene said softly. "The same level I'm currently working toward. Young master, even for someone with primordial essence, reaching Sovereign by age eighteen seems impossible."
"Difficult," Anthonio corrected. "Not impossible. The difference matters."
They ate in comfortable silence for several minutes. Anthonio's mind was already racing ahead, planning the next stages of training. Mastering the Lightning Step opened up entire new avenues of technique development. The remaining four forms of the Five Lightning Transformations—each one building on the foundation of the first.
After breakfast, Anthonio retreated to his room and opened his cultivation journal. The entries had become more detailed over the past three months, tracking not just power progression but strategic planning and timeline analysis.
He turned to a fresh page and began writing:
---
**Day 90 of Training**
**Major Breakthrough:** Lightning Step mastered. First successful full-body transformation achieved during storm conditions. Technique now executable with reasonable consistency (73% success rate over 50+ attempts).
**Cultivation Level:** Consolidation 8-Star (advanced from 7-Star two weeks ago)
**Control Percentage:** Approximately 20% of primordial power accessible
**Physical Condition:** Excellent. Body has fully adapted to repeated transformation stress. Stamina increased significantly—can now maintain intensive training for 8+ hours before exhaustion.
**Combat Assessment:** Would now defeat most Consolidation 9-Star opponents. Could survive against weak Manifestation-level cultivators through superior mobility. Still significantly outmatched by Selene's Sovereign-level power.
**Technique Progress:**
- Lightning Step: Mastered (basic application)
- Five Lightning Transformations, First Form: In progress
- Breath of the Crimson Dragon: Perfected to point of unconscious execution
- Lightning Sphere: Can maintain indefinitely with minimal concentration
- Combat Lightning Enhancement: Stable coating on strikes, 40% power increase
**Timeline Status:**
- 20 months until Academy entrance
- 9 months until Shadow Syndicate assassination attempt
- 15 months until Seraphina Nightshade's debut ball
**Strategic Developments:**
Mastery of Lightning Step changes everything. Can now consider direct intervention in capital events without revealing identity. Transformation to lightning form obscures physical appearance—perfect for anonymous heroics.
**Next Priority Goals:**
1. Advance to Consolidation 9-Star (1 month)
2. Achieve breakthrough to Manifestation (2-3 months after that)
3. Begin work on Second Form of Five Lightning Transformations
4. Establish information network in capital (task for Selene?)
5. Research Shadow Syndicate operations and assassination timeline
**Personal Observation:**
The breakthrough with Lightning Step came from philosophical shift, not technical improvement. Stopped trying to become lightning, started accepting that I already am lightning. This principle might apply to all primordial essence techniques—not transformation of self, but revelation of true nature.
Important implication: The Primordial Red Lightning isn't just power I possess. It's fundamentally what I am now. The human form is the disguise. The lightning is the truth.
Disturbing thought, but tactically useful.
---
Anthonio closed the journal and stored it in the Ring of Crimson Shadows. Through the window, he could see Selene in the courtyard below, practicing her own techniques. Her shadow essence swirled around her in complex patterns, far more sophisticated than anything he had seen three months ago.
She had advanced as well. From Sovereign 1-Star to Sovereign 3-Star in just three months. The removal of her limiting oath had unleashed potential that had been constrained for years. At this rate, she would indeed reach Sovereign 7-Star or even 8-Star by the time they needed to leave for the Academy.
*Two monsters in training,* Anthonio thought with satisfaction. *Both hiding our true power from the world. Both preparing for the moment of revelation.*
He spent the next several hours studying the second form of the Five Lightning Transformations: **Lightning Clone**. The technique allowed the user to create perfect duplicates of themselves made from solidified lightning. Unlike normal clone techniques, which created fragile illusions, Lightning Clones possessed actual physical substance and could fight independently.
The principle was similar to the Lightning Step—transforming essence into quasi-physical form—but significantly more complex. Creating a clone required splitting one's consciousness across multiple bodies simultaneously while maintaining the electrical coherence of each form.
Anthonio had written this technique specifically as one of the final boss's signature abilities. In his original novel, the villain would have used dozens of Lightning Clones to overwhelm even Kael Stormborn's Divine Essences through sheer numbers.
Now that technique would be his.
*Four months,* Anthonio calculated, analyzing the technique's complexity. *Four months to master Lightning Clone, assuming I can maintain current progression rate. That puts me at... seven months of training total. Thirteen months before Academy entrance.*
Plenty of time to master the remaining three forms. Plenty of time to reach Sovereign level. Plenty of time to position himself perfectly for the Academy entrance.
A knock at his door interrupted his studies.
"Come in," Anthonio called.
Selene entered, carrying a sealed letter. Her expression was troubled.
"This arrived by courier an hour ago," she said, handing him the envelope. "From the capital. It bears your father's personal seal."
Anthonio took the letter, a sense of foreboding growing in his chest. His father hadn't contacted him once since the exile three months ago. For him to send a personal letter now...
He broke the seal and read quickly. With each line, his expression grew darker.
"What is it?" Selene asked, concern evident in her voice.
"My father is recalling me to the capital," Anthonio said slowly. "There's to be a family gathering in one month. All direct descendants of the Crimsonhart line are required to attend. No exceptions."
"But why now? You were exiled specifically to avoid embarrassing the family at social functions."
"Because of this." Anthonio pointed to a paragraph near the end. "Duke Aldric Stormborn has formally announced his bastard son's existence. Kael Stormborn will be presented at court in six weeks. Father wants all family members present to demonstrate Crimsonhart solidarity."
Selene's eyes widened. "Kael Stormborn. The protagonist from your visions. He's appearing earlier than expected?"
"No," Anthonio said, rereading the letter carefully. "This is exactly on schedule. I had just forgotten the specific date. Kael's public debut happens at age sixteen, same as mine. It's one of the inciting incidents that sets the main plot in motion."
He set down the letter, mind racing. This changed things. He wasn't supposed to meet Kael for another twenty months, at the Academy entrance ceremony. But now they would be in the same room within six weeks.
A slow smile spread across Anthonio's face.
"This is perfect," he said softly.
"Perfect?" Selene looked confused. "Young master, if Kael Stormborn sees you, won't that compromise your strategy of hiding your power?"
"Only if I reveal my power." Anthonio stood, moving to the window. Outside, the morning sun was burning away the last of the storm clouds. "But I won't. I'll attend the gathering as the exiled trash, the family embarrassment. Let Kael see the worthless F-Rank cultivator who everyone dismissed. Let him form his opinions, his assumptions."
"And then?"
"And then, when we meet again at the Academy twenty months from now, he'll have completely underestimated me. He'll see the same worthless noble he met at court, never suspecting what I've become in the interim."
Anthonio's eyes gleamed with crimson light.
"Selene, this changes our timeline. I need to accelerate my training. One month to reach Consolidation 9-Star. I need to be ready for breakthrough to Manifestation immediately after returning from the capital. Can you help me devise an intensive training regimen?"
"I can," Selene said slowly. "But young master, pushing for advancement that quickly... the risk of cultivation deviation increases dramatically."
"I know the risks. I wrote the cultivation system. I know exactly how far I can push before danger becomes unacceptable." Anthonio turned from the window, his expression intense. "One month, Selene. In one month, I attend that gathering, meet Kael Stormborn, and plant the first seeds of his ultimate defeat."
"And if something goes wrong? If Kael somehow senses your true power?"
Anthonio smiled that predatory smile.
"Then I'll adapt. That's what makes me different from the characters I created. They follow the script I wrote. I can rewrite it whenever necessary."
---
**Three Weeks Later**
The training had been brutal.
Anthonio stood in the courtyard, covered in sweat, his entire body trembling from exertion. Around him, the ground was scorched black in a perfect circle, evidence of the massive lightning discharge he had just released.
"Consolidation 9-Star," Selene confirmed, checking his cultivation aura with her spiritual sense. "Young master, you actually did it. Three weeks of intensive training, and you've broken through two full stars."
Anthonio collapsed to his knees, gasping. The breakthrough from 8-Star to 9-Star had required pushing his control from twenty percent to thirty percent of his primordial power. The strain had been immense, threatening to tear his Essence Veins apart several times.
But he had succeeded. Through a combination of relentless practice, studying the Codex, and several dangerous experiments with power output, he had achieved what should have taken months in less than a month.
"One week until the capital," Anthonio said between breaths. "Time to prepare."
Over the next seven days, Anthonio focused on refinement rather than advancement. He practiced the Lightning Step until he could execute it without conscious thought, the transformation becoming as natural as breathing. He drilled combat scenarios with Selene, learning to fight while incorporating instantaneous movement.
Most importantly, he practiced suppressing his cultivation aura.
The Ring of Crimson Shadows helped enormously—its power to mask cultivation was absolute. But Anthonio needed to be able to control the suppression consciously, to release just enough power to appear slightly more capable than F-Rank without revealing his true level.
It was a delicate balance, requiring precise control and constant awareness. But by the sixth day, Anthonio could project any cultivation level from F-Rank up to Consolidation 5-Star at will, while keeping his true power hidden.
"Perfect," he said, checking his appearance in a mirror. "I'll appear as Consolidation 2-Star. Barely competent, but not completely worthless. It will confuse people—they'll wonder how I advanced from F-Rank, but the level is low enough that no one will see me as a threat."
"And your father?" Selene asked.
"Will probably assume I found some minor artifact or purchased advancement pills on the black market. He'll be disappointed I'm still trash-tier, but at least I'm slightly less pathetic trash than before." Anthonio's smile was cold. "Let him think whatever he wants. His opinion stopped mattering three months ago."
On the seventh day, they departed for the capital.
The journey would take three days by normal carriage, but Anthonio had other plans. Using the wealth from the hidden vault, he had hired a Wind Horse—a Manifestation-level spirit beast capable of covering vast distances in hours rather than days.
They would arrive at the capital tomorrow morning, giving Anthonio time to prepare for the gathering and, more importantly, for his first meeting with the protagonist who was destined to kill him.
As the Eternal Mist Pavilion disappeared behind them and the Crimson Mountains gave way to rolling hills, Anthonio felt a strange mixture of anticipation and caution. For three months, he had been in complete control of his environment, training in isolation, advancing at his own pace.
Now he was entering the wider world again. A world full of powerful cultivators, political intrigue, and most dangerous of all, characters who believed they were following destiny's script.
*But I wrote the script,* Anthonio reminded himself. *And I'm about to show them all how the author rewrites his own story.*
Selene, sitting beside him on the Wind Horse, seemed to sense his thoughts.
"Young master," she said quietly, "are you nervous about meeting Kael Stormborn?"
"No," Anthonio replied, watching the landscape blur past at supernatural speed. "I'm excited. For three months, I've been preparing in theory. Now I get to see the protagonist in person. To measure him. To understand what I'm really up against."
He clenched his fist, feeling the Primordial Red Lightning surge through his veins.
"And to plant the first seeds of his downfall."
---
**END OF CHAPTER 5**