Dawn.
The first rays of a new day pierced through the cloud layers, scattering silky golden threads upon the sea that still rippled from the long, stormy night. The wind had died down, the waves had settled. The Black Water Ghost Domain, once a death zone, seemed to have been washed of most of its maleficence after the island of the Sacred City sank, returning a rare peace to this place.
The black fleet did not leave immediately. They anchored in calm waters, quietly healing their injuries and reorganizing their formation. Though they had won the battle, their losses were not insignificant. Nearly twenty brothers had forever been laid to rest beneath the sea. Yet, there were no complaints. They knew that war demanded sacrifice. And the sacrifices of their comrades had bought a monumental victory.
Inside the cabin of the flagship Lac Hong, the atmosphere was incredibly grave. Tran Kien still lay there, unconscious. But his complexion was no longer ashen; it had gradually regained its rosy hue. His breathing had also become steady and vigorous. Within his body, a war without the smoke of gunpowder—a miraculous process of "destruction and reconstruction"—was taking place.
The self-detonation of the demonic core had inflicted extreme trauma upon his meridians and Divine Soul. But it also brought an unimaginable serendipity. The purest demonic qi of a Golden Core Realm expert, after having most of its resentment purified by the solar light, had transformed into a colossal, ownerless source of energy flooding into his body.
An ordinary cultivator would have undoubtedly exploded and died from this berserk energy. But Tran Kien was different. The chaotic Golden Core within his body, having inherited the Dragon Vein, possessed an incredibly tyrannical trait: fusion and assimilation! It acted like a cosmic grinding stone, frantically absorbing, crushing, and transforming that berserk demonic qi into the purest Primordial Chaos Qi. Simultaneously, the intense life force from the "Seed of Legacy" and the Dragon Vein continuously surged forth, healing his shattered meridians and then using that newly assimilated energy to re-temper them, making them vastly broader and exponentially more resilient. A cycle of destruction, assimilation, and rebirth repeated over and over.
Time flew, and seven days passed. One morning, as the dawn light illuminated the cabin, Tran Kien, who had been unconscious for seven days, suddenly opened his eyes. Within his profound gaze, there was no longer any weariness. Instead, a brilliant light blazed, as if two miniature suns were burning within. He slowly sat up. He needed no one's help. He felt an unprecedented surge of power filling his entire body. The Golden Core within him, after absorbing and assimilating the entirety of the energy, was no longer at the peak of the mid-stage. It had spun, condensed, and broken through to a completely new realm! The late-stage of the Golden Core Realm!
"Exalted Lord!" Uncle Sword and the others, sensing the change, hurriedly rushed in. They stared in awe at Tran Kien, who had not only fully recovered but whose aura was now ten times stronger than before!
"I am alright now," Tran Kien smiled. He stood up and stepped outside. He looked at the warriors waiting on the deck. He wasted no breath on idle words. "Is everything packed?"
"Reporting to the Exalted Lord, everything is ready!"
"Good," Tran Kien nodded. He looked toward the north, toward the distant capital. His gaze no longer held any anxiety, but rather a chilling coldness and an iron-clad conviction. "Target: The Thang Long Imperial Capital!" he commanded, his voice echoing across the fleet. "Marquis Vinh An, the Sacred Dynasty... The time has come to settle this debt."
"Depart!" The storm in the distant sea had quelled. But an even greater tsunami, carrying the indignation of a millennium, was heading straight for the capital. The true game of chess had only just begun.