"Face... your own destiny?" When Fang Senyan heard these words, he didn't hesitate in the slightest. He couldn't help but roar: "Yes! I have long faced my own destiny, and it is precisely to conquer it that I seek my own strength, the strength I was born with!!"

"I want to live! I want to become stronger, I want to protect my friends and family!!"

"Very determined... Very well, then face your innate power! That talent you were born with!"

The vertical pupil suddenly shot out a beam of light, illuminating the Nightmare Mark on Fang Senyan's chest. Instantly, Fang Senyan felt a tearing pain throughout his body, and under the light, a cloud-like substance drifted out from behind him like a shadow.

"What! This power..." A ripple suddenly appeared on the surface of the vertical pupil, but it quickly smoothed out: "Although your innate ability is not one of the extremely rare dual or even triple talents, it has very strong plasticity, and its growth potential is terrifying! If you choose an offensive innate ability, you can experience the power it possesses when evolved to its extreme right now!"

"Offensive innate power?" Fang Senyan was stunned. "Isn't my innate power defensive? How can I experience it?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the cloud-like substance formed into a jade resembling a bizarre symbol and merged into his body. Then, an indescribable heartbeat suddenly sounded next to Fang Senyan's ear!

Feeling that this sound was even guiding his own heart to pound powerfully within his chest, the heartbeat was so loud it seemed to resonate throughout the entire world, like a shaman's drum, like thunder! After a long while, it returned to normal, but at this moment, everything Fang Senyan looked at was a vivid crimson. He couldn't help but press the palm of his hand to his brow, covering his face.

In that instant, Fang Senyan felt every cell in his body filled with frenzied power! A surging thought consumed his entire mind: either destroy me, or destroy this world!

Then, through the gaps in his fingers, it could be seen that Fang Senyan's eyes had turned a stark white! His waist involuntarily bent over, and his hands hung down, unnaturally twisted, as if something inside him was awakening. Even the breath he exhaled seemed like steam! At this moment, it seemed anything would be savagely torn apart by his claws!!

"It is indeed powerful, but... I don't like this feeling!" Suddenly, Fang Senyan roared loudly.

With his shout, the cloud of mist flew away from his body! It pulled him out of the manic state. However, the vertical eye seemed to anticipate his refusal:

"Then, how about this power?"

In an instant, Fang Senyan seemed to find himself beside a long river. He saw the huge waves kicked up by the river water crashing against the dark green reefs on the bank—the scene perfectly mimicked the movements of a supreme expert surveying all directions with every gesture. The force of the crashing waves contained madness, mystery, dominance, arrogance, and fluidity... In the eyes of a hundred people, one could read a hundred different flavors.

In the end, only four words remained etched in his mind:

Unmatched supremacy!

An arrogance that scorned everything under heaven!

Clearly, this was a terrifying offensive technique! And of course, power like a monstrous tidal wave!

Yet, Fang Senyan still slowly shook his head. The vertical eye sighed:

"Greater power means a greater price to pay! Very well, then let me show you the most powerful form your talent can evolve into. But this means that in the future, you must exert one thousand percent effort, and require luck that ordinary people absolutely cannot possess, to achieve this goal!"

Under the light of the vertical pupil, the cloud of mist in front of Fang Senyan's body took on a faint, diamond-like shimmering hue, and then merged into his body.

In an instant, Fang Senyan involuntarily raised both hands high above his head, then spread his palms open.

"Ah..."

At this moment, it seemed as if the very air in the entire space let out a slight sound of agony!

Then, a blinding light covered the entire area in an irresistible manner!!

The world instantly became a blank slate.

A sweeping, overwhelming blankness!

But if anyone's gaze touched that blankness, their heart would immediately be filled with a sense of eternal stillness and death. Despite desperately wanting to divert their gaze, their sight seemed adsorbed and dissolved, completely unable to look away!

That was the power of extinction, the power of annihilation meant to cover everything!!

That power seemed poised to decompose everything within the reach of the light into "nothingness"!

But facing such power, Fang Senyan still shook his head with a grave expression:

"This is still not the power I desire."

The vertical pupil seemed taken aback by Fang Senyan's response, pausing blankly for a moment:

"Then what kind of power do you actually want?"

Fang Senyan thought for a moment:

"Only by surviving is there any possibility for everything. The power I desire is protection! First, the ability to protect my own life, then the ability to protect my teammates, and finally, to protect my family!!"

"You actually want to discard such a powerful offensive talent?? And instead choose an ability proficient in defense?" The vertical eye was truly finding this unbelievable, even beginning to roar towards the end:

"Do you have any idea what you are giving up!!"

Fang Senyan said seriously:

"Yes! I know exactly what I am doing!! You just said that the more powerful the innate ability, the greater the effort required! I have walked this far from the Nightmare World relying on my innate ability's tenacity playing a huge role; without it, I would never have made it here."

"For someone who has grown accustomed to this way of survival, abandoning the defensive innate ability means dying too quickly! It's pointless to aim high and talk about powerful offense! In fact, it's also proven that the current space lacks no one skilled in offense! Therefore, I am certain: I want a defensive innate ability! I want the strongest defensive innate ability!!"

By the time he reached the end, Fang Senyan was shouting with hoarse fervor. The vertical eye was silent for a while, then suddenly shot out a beam of light, illuminating the mass of mist symbolizing Fang Senyan's talent potential!

"Thump, thump, thud-thud-thud!!"

That terrifying heartbeat reappeared next to Fang Senyan's ears. He immediately felt his body sink, as if a majestic, weighty mountain, comparable to the Potala Palace, had appeared out of thin air, pressing down upon him slowly but resolutely!

If he could withstand it, he would become as solid and indestructible as a mountain, "Carrying the Body as a Mountain’s Support." But if he could not withstand it, he would be crushed into meat paste on the spot!

That feeling, that majestic aura, seemed poised to supersede all other talents; that inherent noble presence appeared capable of directly suppressing and guarding even heaven and earth!!

But just as this mountain approached, Fang Senyan could no longer bear the suffocating pressure. He let out a wild cry and struggled frantically! He suddenly sat up! Only then did he realize there was no mountain, no heartbeat! He was clearly lying on a bed made of bamboo and wood in the village, with a damp towel draped over his head, and beside him, the maiden Naizhu was looking at him with wide-eyed terror.

Fang Senyan could not spare any thought for anything else; he was about to check if his talent had awakened when the Nightmare Mark by his ear transmitted a notification:

"Notification: Your talent in the real world has officially awakened!"

"Notification: Your innate ability can now take effect in the real world."

"Notification: Your innate ability has evolved. The original innate ability, Tenacity, has received a formal upgrade."

"Notification: Contract Holder No. 1018 has awakened an innate ability: Bulwark (Passive). Any attack (previously physical damage only) inflicted upon you will have its damage forcibly reduced by 40 (previously 25) points. If the damage from that attack is less than 40 points, then 1 point of life force will be forcibly deducted. Furthermore, the duration of any abnormal status effect on you will be reduced by an additional 25%; this effect can stack with Constitution resistance."

"Notification: Unable to verify the priority level of the Bulwark ability... Data is in flux."

"Description: Currently unable to assign a tiered evaluation (e.g., B, A) to this innate ability, therefore others cannot detect your talent ability, nor can you display your talent ability to others in any way."

Seeing this series of notifications, Fang Senyan finally let out a long sigh of relief. He had suffered immensely during these past few days, and now he truly felt a sense of profound relief. Looking at the Nightmare Mark on his chest again, it had indeed formed a very bizarre and profound mystical symbol. At a glance, it appeared as vast and magnificent as the very spine of the world, seeming to suppress and guard everything! At this moment, Fang Senyan felt his stomach rumble, so he managed a weak smile for Naizhu:

"How long was I unconscious?"

Naizhu looked at him:

"Three days."

Fang Senyan was startled:

"I was unconscious for that long? No wonder I'm so hungry. Get me something to eat!"

Naizhu went out and quickly returned with a large ball of rice wrapped in banana leaves, along with several slices of pickled and spicy cucumber. Fang Senyan devoured it, finding it indescribably delicious, and wanted more after he finished. However, at this time, the girl Naizhu suddenly burst into tears, her eyes welling up.

Fang Senyan was stunned. He thought to himself, Surely, crying over me eating a bit more rice is unnecessary. After all, he collected tens of thousands of US dollars in training fees here... Considering Thai rates, even with two ice-and-fire sessions a day, there should be plenty left over. Installment payments might prevent such negligence... But then he saw the girl sobbing:

"Uncle Song who cooks was beaten yesterday and can't get out of bed today. This food was what he made yesterday..."