The tension in the chamber had reached an absolute breaking point. Spiritual energy roiled and churned as multiple Luminous Realm cultivators prepared to unleash their full power simultaneously in the confined space.

And then, in that moment of maximum tension just before violence exploded, something unexpected occurred.

Vogue—who everyone assumed would either flee or try to negotiate—suddenly took action with shocking decisiveness.

His figure didn’t blur or fade. He didn’t activate any visible technique or movement art.

He simply vanished.

One instant he was standing there with Brother Long approaching confidently. The next instant, the space where Vogue had been was completely empty.

There was no flash of light, no sound of movement, no disturbance in the air. He had simply ceased to exist in that location.

Brother Long’s confident expression transformed into one of complete shock and alarm. His eyes went wide as he stared at the empty space where his target had been standing just a fraction of a second earlier.

"What—where did he—?!" the stern-faced cultivator stammered, his head whipping around frantically to locate his vanished opponent.

But before Brother Long could complete his panicked search or formulate any kind of defensive response, Vogue’s voice suddenly spoke from directly beside him—so close that the sound seemed to come from inside his own head:

"Looking for me?"

Brother Long’s heart nearly stopped from pure terror. He tried to spin around to face the direction of that voice, forming hand seals to activate defensive techniques even as he turned.

But he was far, far too slow.

Vogue had appeared standing less than two meters away from Brother Long’s left side, having materialized out of thin air with such speed and stealth that even Luminous Realm spiritual senses hadn’t detected his approach.

Silver wings extended from Vogue’s back—eight magnificent wings layered in pairs, each one crackling with electricity and pulsing with elemental energy. The Thunderstorm Wings hummed with barely contained power, creating a corona of lightning around Vogue’s transformed body.

But those wings weren’t what drew everyone’s horrified attention.

What shocked every observer was Vogue’s appearance. His body had undergone a dramatic transformation—four dragon heads of different colors manifested around his human head, each one fully formed and independently mobile. Multi-colored dragon scales covered his skin in intricate patterns. Four arms extended from his torso instead of two.

He’s not a newly advanced Luminous Realm cultivator at all! Multiple people realized simultaneously with dawning horror. That transformation—that bloodline manifestation—he’s been hiding his true power this entire time!

But this realization came too late to save Brother Long.

Vogue’s primary mouth opened slightly, and he released not a shout or an attack cry, but a tiny, almost delicate thread of blue flame. The wisp of fire was so small and unimpressive-looking that it seemed laughable as a weapon.

That thin stream of blue fire shot forward and struck Brother Long directly on the exposed skin of his neck before the cultivator could complete his defensive technique.

There was a soft crackling sound—like ice forming on a winter window.

Then Brother Long’s entire body was instantly encased in crystalline blue ice from head to toe. The transformation happened so fast that his shocked expression was perfectly preserved, frozen in time.

Within the span of a single heartbeat, the stern-faced Luminous Realm cultivator had been converted into a glistening ice sculpture that stood motionlessly in the center of the chamber.

Celestial Ice Flames, Vogue thought with cold satisfaction. One of the few techniques that can instantly overcome even Luminous Realm defensive barriers when applied with sufficient precision.

Brother Long’s misfortune was that Vogue had deliberately targeted his neck—specifically his throat and the base of his skull—with the flame strike. With his head completely frozen solid, Brother Long had no opportunity to cast any techniques, activate any treasures, or even manifest his Nascent Soul to escape.

He was effectively dead, even though his physical form remained intact within the ice.

The entire sequence—from Vogue’s disappearance to Brother Long’s freezing—had taken less than three seconds. It happened so fast that most observers were still processing the initial vanishing act when the stern-faced cultivator became an ice statue.

In that same instant that Vogue turned Brother Long into frozen sculpture, the blue lightning artifact that the cultivator had been preparing to use against Vogue completed its activation automatically. The stored attack launched from Brother Long’s frozen hand, shooting a bolt of crackling blue electricity directly toward Vogue’s chest.

But before the lightning could make contact with Vogue’s body, something extraordinary occurred. A net of faint golden lightning suddenly manifested across Vogue’s torso—some kind of passive defensive technique that apparently activated automatically in response to electrical attacks.

The blue lightning struck this golden net and was instantly absorbed, disappearing completely as though it had never existed. The defensive formation didn’t even flicker or strain under the impact.

My Lightning Absorption physique, Vogue noted with satisfaction. One of the many benefits of my dragon bloodline evolution. Electrical attacks are essentially useless against me now.

Without any wasted motion, Vogue reached forward with one of his four arms and quickly snatched the blue gourd artifact from Brother Long’s frozen grasp. The item came free easily, and Vogue immediately stored it in his own spatial ring.

That’s a decent lightning-type treasure, Vogue assessed quickly. Might be useful later, or at minimum it’s worth significant credits if sold.

The entire engagement—Vogue’s use of the Thunderstorm Wings to achieve near-instantaneous movement, the icing of Brother Long with Celestial Ice Flames, and the acquisition of the gourd treasure—had all taken place in literally one or two seconds of real time.

It was so fast, so efficient, so utterly one-sided that it left all the observing cultivators in a state of shocked disbelief.

Sean—still standing near his father but frozen with confusion and horror—had been completely unprepared for what just happened. When he turned and saw Brother Long transformed into an ice sculpture, he could barely process what his eyes were showing him.

That’s impossible, Sean’s mind reeled. Brother Long was an established early-Luminous Realm expert with decades of combat experience. How could he be defeated so easily, so quickly, by someone who supposedly just advanced recently? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But there was no time to dwell on the implications.

Because in that same moment of confusion and shock, something else was happening on the opposite side of the chamber.

Madam Violet suddenly cried out in alarm, her elderly voice cracking with genuine fear: "Everyone be careful! That young man possesses some kind of heaven-defying ice flame technique! Don’t let it touch you under any circumstances!"

Her warning came from hard-won experience—she had witnessed similar techniques in her long cultivation career and understood their lethal properties. But the warning also revealed something about Vogue’s capabilities that he would have preferred to keep hidden for longer.

Damn, Vogue thought with mild frustration. I was hoping to use that technique as a surprise weapon a second time, but now they’re all on guard against it. Oh well. At least I eliminated one opponent.

But Vogue’s momentary distraction and the brief pause after his strike gave the remaining conspirators just enough time to recover from their shock and begin formulating responses.

Sir Collins’s expression had transformed completely. Gone was any trace of diplomatic friendliness or calculated confidence. His face now showed pure, undiluted fury mixed with genuine fear.

The dwarf realized with absolute certainty that he had drastically, catastrophically underestimated this "newly advanced" young cultivator. Those ice flames, that transformation, that speed—these were capabilities that shouldn’t exist in someone supposedly at Vogue’s level.

We’ve been deceived from the beginning, Sir Collins understood with cold dread. This boy has been hiding his true strength the entire time. He’s far more dangerous than Family Head Marcus ever was!

Sir Collins made an instant decision, his survival instincts overriding his original strategic plans. He pointed directly at Vogue and shouted orders with commanding urgency:

"Change of plans! All forces focus on the young man FIRST! Forget Marcus for now—that boy is the greater threat! Kill him immediately before he can use any more of those ice techniques!"

His voice carried the weight of absolute authority and desperate necessity. "If we don’t eliminate him right now while we still have numerical advantage, we’re all going to die here!"

Mr. Yun hesitated for only a fraction of a second before nodding in agreement. As much as he wanted to focus on finishing off his betrayed friend Marcus, he couldn’t argue with Sir Collins’s tactical assessment. That ice flame technique was genuinely terrifying, and none of them had adequate defenses against it.

But just as the conspirators were about to shift their full attention and offensive power toward Vogue, Family Head Marcus seized the opening their distraction had created.

His eyes had been watching and calculating throughout Vogue’s brief engagement. The moment he saw the others preparing to turn away from him, he acted.

Marcus’s body suddenly pulsed with even more intense golden radiance. Through some additional forbidden technique or trump card, his aura surged to an almost unbearable intensity—the full might of a mid-Luminous Realm cultivator burning his life essence without any reservation or restraint.