Eight flaming thunder-fire clay pots dropped through the morning mist like falling meteors.
Trailing plumes of black, greasy sulfur smoke, the heavy vessels hurtled along a tight parabolic arc. Their weighted lead cores dragged them downward with terrifying velocity, aimed directly at the cedar roof of Kaelen Vance’s palanquin.
High upon the granite outcrop, the lead shadow-guard grinned beneath his iron raptor mask.
He had calibrated the throwing angles with veteran precision. The eight ignited thunder-fire pots would strike the cedar carriage in two synchronized waves, obliterating the wooden structure in an ocean of unquenchable fire.
Within Kaelen’s dantian, the slate clicked to its next threshold.
[Track 1 (Cultivation Vessel): 718h 00m / 720h (719x Multiplier Active)] [Track 2 (Martial Combat): 718h 00m / 720h (719x Multiplier Active)] [Track 3 (Alchemy & Comprehension): 718h 00m / 720h (719x Multiplier Active)]
Only two hours remained.
If a single pot struck the cedar cabin, three thousand degrees of clinging dragon-grease would turn the hammock into an inferno. Kaelen would be forced to circulate his Qi to survive, shattering twenty-nine days of compounding stillness two hours short of the milestone.
