Chapter 511: The Wound That Couldn’t Stop Him

The Wound That Couldn’t Stop Him

The chunk of flesh Fean had bitten away was still missing.

Victor stared at the wound on his right shoulder. His expression darkened slightly as he examined the damage.

He could use Zenith Aura and mana to speed up his body’s natural recovery. With enough time, he could even restore most of the damage himself.

But there were limits to what he could do.

His knowledge of healing magic was mediocre at best. He understood how to fight, how to destroy an opponent, and how to push his body beyond its limits. Healing, however, was an entirely different matter.

Victor was a fighter, not a healer.

Regrowing an entire chunk of missing flesh wasn’t something he could accomplish with a few simple techniques.

He pressed his fingers against the edge of the wound.

His golden eyes narrowed.

"Annoying."

That was all he had to say about it.

Diana approached him, her expression calm. Still, the concern in her eyes was impossible to miss.

"Are you alright?"

Victor glanced at her before returning his attention to his body.

"A bit irritated, but otherwise, no problem."

He moved his right arm carefully, testing its range of motion. Then he checked the rest of his injuries, making sure nothing had been overlooked.

His movements were casual, almost routine.

As if he hadn’t just survived a battle that could have killed him several times over.

Diana watched him in silence.

He had lost an enormous amount of blood. His shoulder had been bitten through, and his body had suffered countless injuries during the fight. Even after everything he had endured, he had barely taken a moment to rest.

Now he was checking whether his body could still function properly.

Of course he was.

Diana let out a quiet sigh.

She shouldn’t have expected anything different.

This was Victor, after all. The man had a rather peculiar way of looking at danger. Most people would have been grateful simply to survive such a battle. They would have wanted a comfortable bed, a skilled healer, and several days of uninterrupted rest.

Victor, on the other hand, seemed more interested in determining how much damage his body could still withstand.

Sometimes, Diana genuinely wondered whether he understood how close he had come to dying.

Then again, perhaps he understood it better than anyone.

He simply didn’t care in the way an ordinary person would.

Before Diana could say anything else, Victor suddenly turned toward her.

"Diana, I need the scythe."

She blinked.

Her hand instinctively moved toward the weapon.

"What do—"

She stopped halfway through the question.

Victor was smiling.

It wasn’t his usual relaxed smile, nor was it the faint, amused expression he wore when something caught his interest.

No.

This was different.

There was something almost vicious about it.

His golden eyes gleamed with a familiar intensity, and the corners of his mouth lifted as though he had just remembered something particularly enjoyable.

Diana knew that expression.

She had seen it before, more times than she cared to count.

It was the look Victor wore when he encountered a powerful opponent. The moment when his interest sharpened, his blood began to stir, and every other concern seemed to fade into the background.

Diana’s expression became complicated.

Of course.

Of course, he’s thinking about fighting again.

He had nearly died moments ago, yet the thought of another battle was already creeping into his mind.

Actually, calling it a thought wasn’t quite right.

Victor looked as though he had already made his decision.

Diana knew better than to assume that victory alone satisfied him. Winning was important, naturally, but it wasn’t the only thing he sought from a fight.

He enjoyed the struggle itself.

The pressure of facing someone stronger than himself. The uncertainty of not knowing what would happen next. The exhilarating moment when a battle became so dangerous that even a single mistake could cost him his life.

Those were the moments that brought out something different in him.

And Fean had given him exactly that.

For a brief moment, Victor had been forced to confront an opponent whose strength could genuinely threaten his life.

Now that the battle was over, it seemed he had already begun looking forward to the next one.

Diana stared at him.

"You’re still not fully healed. Shouldn’t you rest for a while first?"

Victor looked at her as though she had suggested something completely unreasonable.

"What are you saying, Diana? This is nothing but a little flesh wound."

He glanced down at his injured shoulder.

The sight wasn’t particularly pleasant. A large piece of flesh was missing, leaving behind an ugly wound that his body had yet to repair. The bleeding had stopped, but the damage was still obvious.

Victor didn’t seem bothered by it.

"As long as I keep my Zenith Aura circulating, it’ll heal sooner or later."

He said it with the same casual confidence someone might use when discussing a minor inconvenience.

Then his expression shifted slightly.

"Besides, I’m sure you’re aware of what kind of being gave Fean that absurd strength."

Diana fell silent.

Her concern didn’t disappear, but her expression grew more serious.

She understood what Victor was getting at.

The strength Fean had displayed wasn’t something he could have achieved through ordinary cultivation. Whatever power had been bestowed upon him had pushed him far beyond the limits of his original body.

And the source of that power was no ordinary existence.

The Universal Emperor.

Even a mere seed connected to such a being had been enough to transform Fean into a monster capable of pushing Victor into a desperate battle.

That fact alone was terrifying.

Diana knew it.

She also knew that Victor understood the danger perfectly well.

He wasn’t charging blindly toward an unknown threat. He knew there was something far greater behind Fean’s power, something whose true nature and intentions remained beyond their understanding.

Yet that knowledge didn’t seem to discourage him.

If anything, it had made him more interested.

Diana looked at Victor’s shoulder again.

The wound was still there, a grim reminder of what had happened. He had endured the battle while already carrying severe injuries, and the fact that he was standing upright now didn’t mean his body had fully recovered.

"Victor..." she began.

But the words died on her lips.

What could she possibly say?

That he should be more careful?

He knew that already.

That the Universal Emperor was dangerous?

He had understood that the moment he learned where Fean’s strength came from.

That he should stop throwing himself into battles that could cost him his life?

Diana almost laughed at the thought.

She had known Victor long enough to understand that telling him to abandon a challenge simply because it was dangerous would accomplish very little.

He had already made up his mind.

All she could do was hope he wouldn’t take things too far.

Again.

Diana sighed inwardly.

He really hasn’t changed.

Despite herself, the thought brought a faint smile to her face.

It was frustrating.

It was reckless.

And, in a strange way, it was also reassuring.

Victor was still Victor.

Before she could say anything else, hurried footsteps echoed through the ruined passage.

Diana turned toward the entrance.

Evelyne appeared first, moving quickly through the debris. A man in the robes of a healing mage followed close behind her. He hurried after her, struggling to keep his footing on the uneven ground.

They had clearly been in a rush.

The moment the mage stepped into the cavern, however, his pace slowed.

He stopped.

His eyes widened as he took in the surroundings.

For several seconds, he simply stood there, staring.

He had visited this place before. He knew what the cavern was supposed to look like.

But the scene before him barely resembled the place he remembered.

The stone walls were covered in deep cracks. Several sections had been smashed apart, leaving jagged edges and piles of rubble scattered across the ground. The floor itself was riddled with damage, with deep gouges running through the stone.

It looked less like a cavern and more like the aftermath of a disaster.

The mage’s mouth parted slightly.

What in the world happened here?

The question came naturally, but he kept it to himself.

His gaze wandered across the destruction before finally settling on Victor.

And that was when his confusion deepened.

Evelyne had told him that someone needed urgent treatment.

According to her, the injured man had lost a tremendous amount of blood. His condition was critical, and there was a real possibility that he might not survive without immediate attention.

The mage had hurried here expecting to find a patient lying on the ground, barely conscious and in desperate need of healing.

Instead, he found a young man standing perfectly upright.

Victor wasn’t even bleeding anymore.

Apart from the gruesome wound on his shoulder, he looked far better than the mage had expected.

The mage blinked.

Then he looked at Lance.

His gaze shifted back to Victor.

Finally, he turned toward Evelyne.

His expression practically screamed with questions.

This is the person you told me about?

Where are all the injuries?

How did he recover so quickly?

And what happened to this entire cavern?

He opened his mouth, ready to ask at least one of those questions.

Unfortunately for him, Evelyne noticed.

She shot him a sharp look.

The mage immediately closed his mouth.

He had been hired to treat an injured man. That was his responsibility, and he had no intention of making trouble for himself by asking questions that clearly weren’t welcome.

Whatever had happened here was none of his business.

At least, that was what he decided to tell himself.

Taking a quiet breath, he approached Victor.

"Please allow me to examine your injuries."

Victor glanced at him but didn’t object.

The mage began by assessing Victor’s overall condition. His eyes moved across the young man’s body, searching for signs of lingering damage that might not be immediately visible.

At first, he had assumed the shoulder wound was the only injury worth treating.

A closer examination quickly changed his mind.

Victor’s body had endured far more punishment than his appearance suggested. Even with his rapid recovery, the traces of the battle remained. His mana circulation, in particular, showed signs of considerable strain.

The mage’s expression grew serious.

He had treated powerful cultivators before. He knew that those at the higher levels could withstand injuries that would kill ordinary people.

But there was a difference between surviving an injury and recovering from it.

Victor’s body was still under considerable stress, and the missing flesh on his shoulder was not something that should be ignored simply because the bleeding had stopped.

The mage stepped closer.

"Please remain still."

Victor gave a small nod.

For once, he didn’t argue or make an impatient remark.

The mage raised both hands and positioned them near Victor’s injured shoulder.

He closed his eyes briefly, gathering his mana.

A soft, pale light began to form around his palms.

It spread slowly across the wound, illuminating the damaged flesh and the surrounding skin. The glow was gentle, almost soothing, and nothing like the violent power that had torn through the cavern during the battle.

Gradually, the atmosphere around them settled.

The mage concentrated on his work, carefully directing his mana toward the damaged tissue.

Diana watched from nearby, her attention fixed on Victor’s shoulder.

For the moment, even Victor remained quiet.

The pale light continued to glow between the mage’s hands.

And the ruined cavern fell strangely silent.

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Authors Notes: Dear Readers, Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure! Your enthusiasm, feedback, and encouragement really keep me motivated to keep bringing *Journey to Become the Zenith* into existence. If you’re loving the Chapters, I’d love it if you supported my book with a Powerstone, review, or even a Golden Ticket—it helps me develop as a writer and lets more readers enjoy the story. I look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to share!

With love,

Scorpio_saturn777

Creator of Journey to Become the Zenith

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