Infinite Ascension: 100,000x Amplified-Chapter 36: Genesis Will 2

"A high school student?"

The shock on their faces was real. Wang Thornbeak’s small eyes fixed on Nova as he stepped out of the gravity chamber, and something shifted in them — not fear yet, but the beginning of recalculation. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

That Martial Will pressure... could it have come from him?

No. Impossible.

Mental-attribute talent. That has to be it.

Nova walked over to Tory, his voice calm. "Who are they?"

Tory explained quickly — the fabricated debt, the demand for her family’s Heaven-Splitting Spear technique, the harassment, the propositions. Nova listened without interrupting.

When she finished he turned toward Wang. "You want to challenge this martial hall?"

He kept his voice even. "My name is Nova Stern. I’m a member of Crimson Rose Guild, operating out of this hall. I’m authorized to fight on its behalf."

Tory looked at him with surprise and something that was clearly gratitude.

Wang forced a smile, though his eyes kept running calculations. "Young student, don’t involve yourself in matters that don’t concern you. I’ve investigated thoroughly — this hall hasn’t recruited any disciples in months. Your vitality is well-cultivated. You must be preparing for the Martial Aptitude Examination." He spread his hands with false generosity. "I advise you to stay out of this. It would be unfortunate if you were injured and couldn’t compete. In fact, mention my name at Thunder Martial Hall and I’ll give you free training access. Consider it goodwill."

Nova looked at him. "I don’t need it. If you’re not going to fight, leave. You’re interrupting my training."

Tory added, sharp and flat: "Exactly."

Wang’s smile disappeared. "Fine. I offered you a gracious exit. You chose not to take it." He gestured at Nova with a thick finger. "My disciples have killed Abyssal Spawn and seen real blood. This isn’t academy sparring. If you think a talent awakening is enough to save you here, prepare for a hospital bed."

"Stop talking," Nova said. He looked at the warriors behind Wang. "Who’s coming up? Or are you all going together?"

The three warriors felt it — a weight that pressed down on them from nowhere, something behind the teenager’s golden eyes that made their instincts file urgent reports. Cold sweat broke across their skin despite the comfortable temperature inside the hall.

What is wrong with this kid.

Wang’s jaw tightened. "Don’t let him fool you. He has a mental-attribute talent. That’s all this is."

That explanation visibly settled the warriors. They straightened.

"Song Brightforge. You go."

Song stepped forward with the smirk of someone who had done this before. "I’ll show you the difference between a student and a professional warrior."

He kicked off the floor. Lightning crackled under his feet, wind gathered around his palm, and he shot forward at full Tier 1 Warrior speed — a palm strike aimed at Nova’s head.

Nova raised his hand and slapped it aside.

The crack of impact was sharp. Song became a projectile. He crossed the hall in a straight line and hit the far wall hard enough to crater it, dust and debris showering down around him. His legs protruded from the rubble. Nothing else moved.

The silence was complete.

Everyone turned to look at Nova, who was standing in the same position with his hand still raised from the motion.

Wang’s cigarette dropped from his mouth and hit the floor. He didn’t look down.

"Am I hallucinating," one of the warriors said. His voice cracked on the last word.

Nova looked at Wang without heat. "You trained a warrior that weak. Thunder Martial Hall isn’t particularly impressive."

Wang’s expression went through several things before settling into dark anger. "You’re also a warrior."

"I never said otherwise."

Nova reached down and kicked up an iron practice spear from the rack by his feet, caught it by the grip, and pointed it at the remaining two warriors. "Who’s next? Together or one at a time?"

Both warriors looked at Wang. Wang’s fists were clenched. His jaw worked.

I thought he was some student with a high vitality score. I never expected an actual warrior. And defeating Song in one hit — his combat power is substantial. A-rank talent minimum, rare profession, definitely.

Where did Tory find this? And why is he in this broken-down hall?

His eyes moved to Tory’s face, and something ugly turned over in his thoughts.

She seduced him. That witch.

The two remaining warriors asked quietly: "Director... what do we do?"

Wang looked at Tory, who had her spear out and killing intent in her eyes. He looked at Nova, who was still pointing the practice spear at his men with the patience of someone waiting for an answer to a simple question.

He breathed out slowly. "Forget it. We accept this loss."

He turned to Tory with a smile that had no warmth in it at all. "Director Tory. You’ve recruited well. Crimsonpeak Martial Hall is going to rise after all."

Tory’s voice stayed cold. "That’s none of your concern."

Nova said, quietly: "Since we won, honor your commitment. Don’t come here again."

"Hahaha." Wang’s laugh was performance. "Young man, you misunderstand. This was martial hall sparring — nothing improper." His expression turned calculated. "As for the weapon. It’s worth tens of millions. Simply dropping the matter wouldn’t be justifiable. I wasn’t properly prepared today regardless." He spread his hands. "My proposal — five days from now, both halls send their best disciples to compete at Thunder Martial Hall. You win, I never mention the debt again. I win, and this hall becomes mine."

Tory’s expression hardened. "You won’t send Tier 2 or Tier 3 warriors?"

"Of course not. That would damage our reputation." Wang’s smile was back, and it looked like it had claws. "We have standards."

Tory glanced at Nova. He gave a small nod.

"Fine. I accept."

Wang’s face broke into a wide, satisfied grin. "Excellent. Five days from now. I’ll be waiting."

He turned to leave, gesturing to his men to retrieve Song from the rubble.

Nova looked at his back.

These people had come in threatening false debts, tried to extort a family’s ancestral technique, propositioned a woman with disgusting suggestions, mocked her in her own hall, and were now walking out with their dignity intact.

He didn’t agree with that outcome.

He released his Genesis Will.

Not one percent.

Just 5%, aimed with surgical precision at Wang and his three warriors, excluding Tory from its effect entirely.

The room changed in an instant.

The three men stopped walking. Their bodies understood something before their minds did, some animal layer of consciousness receiving the message at a frequency that bypassed rational thought entirely. The message was simple and absolute: you are in the presence of something that will end you. Not might.

Will.

Leave now or cease to exist.

Wang’s triumphant expression collapsed. His eyes went wide. His legs buckled and he grabbed the nearest wall to stay upright, his face the color of old ash.

The short warrior behind him made a sound that was not a word and wet himself where he stood. Tears ran down his face. He didn’t appear to notice either.

The third man’s eyes rolled back. His knees hit the floor. Foam appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Then Wang screamed — a raw, animal sound — and ran.

Not walked. Not retreated with dignity.

He ran, his body moving faster than it had in years, driven by pure survival reflex, crashing through the entrance doors without bothering to open them fully. His warriors were half a step behind, scrambling over each other, none of them looking back, none of them remembering Song still buried in the wall.

Their screaming continued to echo down the street long after they disappeared.

Nova let the Genesis Will dissipate. The oppressive weight lifted instantly, the hall returning to normal temperature and light and air.

Tory stood frozen, staring at the empty doorway.

"That was..." Her voice came out as almost a whisper. "Your Martial Will?"

"Genesis Will. First stage. I awakened it during cultivation just now."

"You awakened Martial Will at Tier 1." She said it slowly, working through it. "And they looked like they’d seen death itself."

"Just 5% of peak Stage 1, focused with intent. Their minds interpreted it correctly — if I had actually decided to kill them, they wouldn’t have made it to the door."

Nova glanced at the rubble pile. Song’s legs were still visible. "Should we call medical services?"

Tory looked at the legs. Then started laughing — genuine laughter, the kind that released two years of accumulated tension in a single outburst. "Let him stay there for another few minutes. He’ll live."

She composed herself slowly, wiping her eyes. "Wang Thornbeak is Tier 3. His warriors are Tier 1. You made them flee like they’d been chased by a god."

"They came threatening you with fabricated claims and disgusting offers," Nova said. "They deserved to feel real fear for once."

Tory’s expression softened into something more genuine. "Thank you. For the hall. For me."

"I’m part of Crimson Rose. Guild members support each other." He paused. "Besides, I needed a practical test for the Genesis Will. They were convenient."

And they’ll have nightmares for years, he thought, without particular guilt. 5% percent of peak Stage 1 Genesis Will, delivered with intent. They’ll probably never fully recover their nerve in a fight for a while. Given what they came here to do, they got off lightly.

"So," he said. "Five days from now — Thunder Martial Hall competition. Do you want to participate properly, or should I resolve the Wang problem more permanently?"

Tory considered. "Let’s see if they send fair opponents. If they compete honestly, we compete honestly. If they try anything underhanded—"

"I’ll handle it."

"Right." She nodded once. "Understood."

Nova looked toward the gravity chamber with intent. "I’d like to schedule regular sessions. The results have been exceptional."

"Anytime. Consider it your personal training space." She paused. "After what you just did, you have lifetime free access."

Nova nodded. Then he looked at the gravity chamber for a moment, thinking.

The six-times gravity had produced serious results across two consecutive sessions. After the Stage 2 breakthrough and the fourteen-hour session, his cellular structure had refined enough that six-times gravity was no longer producing the same intensity of refinement pressure as the first session had. He needed more resistance to continue at the same efficiency.

He reached into his space ring.

"Before I go." He held out a transfer chip. "Nine hundred million points. Use it to upgrade the gravity chamber to ten thousand times gravity, and install an energy absorption formation inside the chamber. The formation should maximize ambient primordial energy density within the sealed space." He set the chip on the reception desk. "I need it operational before tomorrow morning."

Tory stared at the chip. Then at him. Then at the chip again. "Nova. That’s — nine hundred million—"

"The upgrade will benefit both of us. The chamber will be more useful to me and more attractive to serious warriors as a training facility." He picked up his jacket. "Get it done by tomorrow."

"I— yes. Yes, of course. I’ll call the engineers and formation masters tonight."

She was still staring at the chip as he walked toward the exit.

Nova had been gone for three minutes when Tory picked up her communication device and started making calls. The first engineer she reached sounded half-asleep.

"Director Ashford. It’s gone midnight. Can we schedule for tomorrow—"

"Double pay for everyone on your team. Triple if the installation is complete before sunrise."

Silence. Five full seconds of it.

She heard movement on the other end. Rapid movement, the sounds of someone dressing while already in motion.

Then her hall’s entrance doors opened.

Tory spun around. The engineering team was already standing in the lobby, tools in hand, still pulling on their jackets. A mass teleportation rune disk sat on the floor near their feet, still glowing faintly from the activation.

She stared at them. "...How."

The lead engineer looked slightly embarrassed. "We were already nearby on another job. When the triple pay offer came through we— the rune was just faster."

Tory looked at the disk. Then at the team of six engineers who were already moving toward the gravity chamber with the focused energy of people who had done their benefit calculation and arrived at the obvious conclusion.

She put her phone back in her pocket, pressed her lips together, and decided not to ask any further questions.

"The chamber’s through there," she said, pointing. "Ten thousand times gravity and an energy absorption formation. Complete it before dawn."

"Understood." The lead engineer was already measuring the chamber entrance. "We’ll need the space clear. The formation matrix alone will take four hours minimum."

"Then you’d better start."

She sat back down at her reception desk, looked at Song’s legs still visible in the rubble, and added "call medical services" to her mental task list.

She pulled out her communication device and composed a message to Scarlet.

President. You need to know what just happened. Nova awakened Martial Will. At Tier 1. He made a Tier 3 warrior flee in absolute terror along with his men. Wang Thornbeak ran out of this hall screaming.

We didn’t recruit a dark horse. We recruited something else entirely.

She sent it and listened to the engineers working in the next room, the sounds of formation arrays being prepared mixing with the distant city noise outside.

She hoped her father was somewhere, watching this.

She thought he would have liked Nova Stern very much.

Nova walked until he was clear of any observers, locked the coordinates of his room through his spatial sense, fed his Space Law its trace of Ancient Chaotic Origin Qi, and stepped.

He was in his bedroom. His clone dissolved, memories merging seamlessly — the cultivation sessions at home through the clone, the gravity chamber and the Wang confrontation from the main body, both streams integrating into a single coherent picture.

Stage 2 breakthrough. Genesis Will at peak Stage 1. Battle power approaching twelve million with Limit Break active. Tomorrow — Warrior Association registration. Then the first dungeon expedition.

The Martial Aptitude Examination was in less than three weeks.

The Eternal Chaotic Origin Scripture continued its passive work as his eyes closed, the Chaotic Origin Flame steady in his core, the Trinity cycling its slow refinement with every breath.

Nova showered out of habit despite not needing to anymore — he was an energy lifeform now, any dirt or impurity that touched his skin got devoured and converted to cultivation fuel before it had time to settle, so he always looked clean regardless — but the routine felt grounding after fourteen hours in the gravity chamber.

He sat on his bed and pulled up the two techniques Tory had taught him before he left, reviewing their frameworks briefly. The Heaven-Splitting Strike — a solid three-star spear technique, seven forms, above average for its tier. The Dawn Visualization Method — two stars on paper, but Tory had mentioned quietly that it was her father’s real inheritance, rarer and more expensive than most five or six star techniques on the open market despite its official grade. He could see why. The principles underneath it were genuine.

He would deal with both of them properly tomorrow morning.

Right now his reserves were empty and his body was running on stubborn will alone. He lay back, closed his eyes, and the Eternal Chaotic Origin Scripture carried on without him.

He was asleep in under a minute.