[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-emperor-of-the-source":3,"chapter-emperor-of-the-source-emperor-of-the-source-chapter-61":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Emperor of the Source",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1713059,2188,"Chapter 60: The Grind","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-61",61,"\u003Cp>The deeper they went, the more the Abyss revealed its savagery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grotesque creatures roamed the pale desolation freely, hunting, feeding, clashing over pools of white-grey water. The pools pulsed faintly, infused with the white mist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monsters that drank from them mutated, their bodies warped by the Abyss's power. Limbs stretched beyond proportion, bones jutting through flesh like broken spears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first to notice them were a pack of tusked beasts, their massive frames covered in jagged plates of stone. Their eyes burned with dim white fire, intelligence flickering behind the madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kael's voice was calm, unshaken. \"Stoneboars. C-rank mutations.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beasts bellowed and thundered forward, stone hooves cracking the ground with each charge. The earth trembled beneath their weight, dust clouds rising in their wake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time Kael didn't move. His gaze flicked to the others, expectant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your turn.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas, Elara, and Ironwood stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Stoneboars roared, their tusks glowing faintly as earthen spikes erupted from the ground. The spikes burst upward like jagged teeth, forcing the defenders to scatter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elara raised her hand, her golden light sputtering under the weight of suppression. The radiance that once blazed like a star now flickered like a dying candle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of radiant bolts formed, sharp but trembling, and rained down upon the advancing beasts. Several impacts seared their hides, leaving smoking craters in the stone plating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the monsters pushed through, unshaken. Their rage burned hotter than her weakened light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside her, Thomas's flame compressed the flickering fire into a solid blade of molten red. His jaw clenched as he gripped it with both hands, the weapon's heat barely contained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each swing cleaved across the Stoneboars' armored plates, sparks scattering. His breath came ragged from the strain, sweat beading on his forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ironwood braced himself, his skin hardening, his arms turning to gleaming steel. The transformation rippled across his body, but slower than usual, fighting against the suppression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His fists slammed into one monster's face, sending cracks through its stony tusks. But his knuckles bled where they should have broken stone clean, the Abyss stealing his strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clash was brutal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every strike felt heavier. Every defense collapsed quicker, their powers strangled by the oppressive atmosphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The suppression turned what should have been a simple C-rank skirmish into a desperate fight. Adrian could see it in their movements, each attack cost them more than it should.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind them, Adrian stood with Kael, arms folded, watching. His Source manifestation continued drinking the mist, but he remained still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kael's gaze slid sideways, studying him. The boy's composure was unnerving, as though this chaos meant nothing to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kael said nothing, but his eyes narrowed slightly. Most would be fidgeting, eager to help, or terrified by the violence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Adrian watched their fight, he understood now what Elara had meant.This is the grind.The slow, agonizing process of growth through suffering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from NovelBin. Support the author by reading it there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every moment under this weight was suffering. For them, each strike forced mana tighter, each defense compressed it further like a vice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he didn't move. He didn't intervene, though his fingers twitched with the urge to help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if he did, this trial would be meaningless for them. Their breakthrough depended on this struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elara's light cracked and guttered, but she pressed forward. Her bolts found gaps in the stone armor, burning through to flesh beneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas's blade grew unsteady, but his strikes became more precise. Each cut targeted joints and weak points with deadly accuracy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ironwood's steel form wavered with every impact, but he held the line. His body rang like a bell with each blow, but he didn't yield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But slowly, painfully slowly, their bodies adapted. Their mana compressed further under the strain, every drop refined by desperation and will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Stoneboars fell one by one, their bodies crumbling against the defenders' persistence. Stone plates shattered, revealing the mutated flesh beneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scent of blood and mana spread through the mist, and it drew attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a scream split the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the skies descended a flock of twisted, birdlike creatures. Their wings were translucent, their veins glowing with sickly green poison. Drool hissed from their beaks, every drop corroding stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Venomwings,\" Kael said grimly. \"B-rank mutants.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mutants were always stronger than the monsters outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They dove, spitting streams of toxin that sizzled as it struck even the monsters below. The Stoneboars shrieked, poisoned and stumbling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elara staggered, her light dimming, her skin already greying from the venom's touch. Thomas coughed blood, his flame blade flickering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ironwood's steel cracked as green rot ate into his flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Venomwings' poison saturating the battlefield, their movements slowed further. The air itself became toxic, burning their lungs with each breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was no longer training. It was lethal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian's eyes sharpened. His parents faltered, their bodies betraying them as poison coursed through their veins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their lives dangled before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kael shifted, ready to act—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—but Adrian moved faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Temporal Veil] surged. Time slowed around him, the world blurring as his perception tripled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the blink of an eye, Adrian appeared beside his parents and Ironwood, his hand snapping out. Space folded with a sharp crack, reality bending to his will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three defenders blinked away from the battlefield, reappearing safely beside Kael before the S-rank could even shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Adrian turned back to the monsters. His expression was cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>White-grey mist surged around him, condensing into power as he lifted his hand. His voice was quiet, steady.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gravity Snare.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ground howled. A dome of crushing force exploded outward, its range vast enough to encompass the entire battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Venomwings screeched as their wings snapped like twigs, slamming them into the ground with bone-crushing force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stoneboars were flattened where they stood, their tusks shattering as their bodies buckled. The stone plates that had protected them crumpled like paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of monsters were crushed to pulp. The Venomwings screamed as their bodies ripped from the sky and slammed into the stone below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ground cracked like glass under the weight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a heartbeat, the sky cleared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every bird lay shattered. Most of the Stoneboars were nothing but broken husks, their forms barely recognizable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every eye turned to Adrian. The boy stood amidst the carnage, white-grey mist still coiling around his form like living smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ironwood stared, his jaw clenched, voice hoarse. \"How...? Even Lord Kael couldn't... not here. We're suppressed. All of us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His steel form flickered, the metal struggling to maintain cohesion in the oppressive atmosphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How are you doing this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian himself stood stunned. He hadn't meant this, the spell had been meant to restrain, not obliterate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd only wanted to hold the birds, buy time, heal the others. But the Abyss had turned his spell into something monstrous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't know...\" Adrian admitted, \"For some reason... I'm not suppressed. This place doesn't weaken me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked around at the devastation, his manifestation still drinking deeply from the ambient mist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It makes me stronger.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The others were silent. Even Kael's expression had shifted, his usual composure cracking as he studied Adrian with new intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Adrian lifted his hand again, emerald smoke flowing from his palm like liquid light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Breath of Life\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mist spread across Elara, Thomas, and Ironwood. Their poison burned away instantly, green veins fading from their skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flesh knit. Scars faded. Wrinkles softened as years seemed to melt away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They gasped as strength flooded back into them, not just healed but renewed, younger, reforged. Even their faces seemed younger, their exhaustion erased as if they had simply shed years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three stared at their own hands, their restored bodies. Elara flexed her fingers, golden light blazing brighter than before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had heard the stories from the Sea Wall, but experiencing it was another thing entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was no time for thanks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From every direction, more roars echoed, heavier and closer. The ground trembled beneath countless steps, sending small stones skittering across the pale landscape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Abyss had noticed them, and its monsters were coming.\u003C\u002Fp>",1348,"2026-06-06T15:05:27.002Z",1,"novelbin.me","4210e6bab161232a06f92add1d103ff9593823a0352c714fcf53ac3bf329d8d1","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-62","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-60",347,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Femperor-of-the-source-cover.jpg"]