Weeks had passed. Jack's body had recovered from his st brutal beating, his muscles strohan ever, his reflexes sharper.

  But more importantly? He had a new spell. The Body Freezing Spell. He hadn't told his master yet—he wao keep it as his secret ht now, though, there was only ohing on his mind.

  Food.

  Jack sat at the wooden dining table, staring down at the same sad meal he had beeing for the st four years. Vegetables. Roots. Grass.

  Still .

  Jack sighed, poking at his food. "Four years and you still don't have a spice rack?" His master ignored him.

  But then—Jack spotted something different.

  Among the usual sad pile of boiled vegetables, there was one new ingredient. A ginseng root.

  But not just any ginseng root. This one had a tiny, wrinkled baby fa it. Jack immediately recoiled. "EW. IT'S GOT A BABY FACE."

  His master didn't react. Jack stared at him. "Old man. This thing has a literal FACE."

  His master tinued eating.

  Jack's eye twitched. "You seriously not gonna expin why there's a baby ginseng oe?!"

  Silence.

  Jack gritted his teeth. "Oh, I see how it is. Yn me." His master tinued eating, unbothered. Jack huffed, but as he reached for the ginseng—

  WHACK.

  His master spped his hand away.

  Jack blinked.

  He tried again from a different angle.

  WHACK.

  Another sp.

  Jack froze. Then, slowly, a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Ohhh… you don't wao eat it, huh?"

  His master finally looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly. Jack grinned wider. "Alright, bet." He unleashed his Body Freezing Spell.

  The air around his master flickered, and suddenly—the old man couldn't move. Jack immediately grabbed the baby-faced ginseng and shoved it into his mouth. His master's eyebrows twitched violently.

  Jack chewed aggressively. "Mmm! Wow! Delicious! Oh, it's got that premium baby essence!" He swallowed.

  Then immediately froze himself with the spell before his master could retaliate.

  Silence.

  Jack's eyes shifted slightly, watg as his master broke through the spell in seds. The moment Jack's own spell wore off—The old man's fist was already flying toward his face.

  Jack's soul left his body. "OH SHI—!"

  He bolted. His master chased after him. Jack ran faster than he ever had before. His master was right behind him, his speed inhuman, his movements effortless.

  Jack leapt onto a boulder, flipping over to higher ground. His master appeared beside him instantly. "GODDAMN IT, OLD MAN, YOU TELEPORT?!"

  WHAM!

  Jack barely dodged a fist that cracked the stoh them. He jumped down, rolling onto the dirt, staff spinning in his grip. His master desded from above, a shadow falling over him.

  Jack swung upward with all his strength. The staff struck his master's arms—And stopped pletely.

  Jack's eyes widened. His master gripped the staff and twisted. Jack felt his entire body lift off the ground before being flung across the courtyard.

  CRASH!

  He hit the dirt hard, rolling before pushing himself up. His breath was ragged. His limbs burned. But somethi off.

  Was it the ginseng?

  He didn't know, but he felt stronger. Jack's eyes fshed with determination. He gripped his staff tighter. "Alright, old man. You wanna fight? Let's fight."

  Jack rushed in again, faster than before. His master narrowed his eyes slightly. Jack twisted mid-air, staff elongating, striking from a new angle—His master dodged, but barely.

  Jaded, using the force to slide under his master's terattack, swinging low at his legs. His master jumped, flipping behind him. Jated his staff into the ground, using it to unch himself into a spin-kick—

  WHAM!

  His foot actually ected with his master's side. It wasn't much, but—it was a hit. Jaded, breathing heavily.

  His master stood still, unfazed, but his eyes held something different this time. Aowledgment. Jack grinned. "Oh? You're taking me seriously now?"

  His master smirked. Then—Jack's world exploded. His master moved faster than before, closing the distanstantly.

  Jack barely had time to react before—

  A strike smmed into his gut, sending him flying into a tree. His master stood calmly, not evehing heavily.

  Jack, blood dripping from his mouth, grinned weakly. "I'll walk it off in a week. I know"

  His master smirked. Then—he g his arms. For the sed time, it was red. He exhaled through his nose. "You've progressed faster."

  But before Jack could respond—He felt an it his hair. He scratched it absentmindedly… and pulled out a sirand of golden hair.

  The hair floated to the ground. Then—another him appeared.

  Jack froze. His master stared, Intrigue. The e stared at Jack. Jack stared at the e.

  "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

  Both Jacks screamed at each other.

  "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

  "I'M YOU, DUMBASS!"

  They bonked each other on the head with their staffs. The e immediately dispersed. Jack colpsed, pletely passed out. His master stood there, eyebrow raised.

  Then, after a moment—He smirked.

  …

  Another month had passed.

  Jack sat cross-legged at the wooden dining table, his body rexed but coiled with quiet strength, muscles subtly shiftih his skin as he reached for his bowl of food. His master sat across from him, as he always did, eating without a word.

  For the first time in years, Jack wasn't trembling from exhaustion, wasn't choking on bruised ribs or ting how many fingers were still funal.

  He was strong now.

  No—he was beyond strong.

  His progress had bee something even he couldn't ignore.

  A, despite all his growth—his meal was still the same sad pile of boiled vegetables.

  Jack sighed, stabbing his chopsticks into a root.

  "Four years. Four damn years. I've been through hell. I've broken more bohan I knew I had. And I still have to eat boiled weeds."

  A part of him had accepted it.

  But a bigger part of him still wao pin.

  He g his master, who was as silent as ever, methodically finishing his meal. Jack eyed him for a long moment before finally saying, "Hey, old man."

  His master didn't look up. "Hm?"

  Jack leaned back, crossing his arms, voice calm but questioning. "We're in the modern world, yeah? There are guns. Missiles. Tanks. People with enough firepower to wipe out a city in seds."

  He gestured at himself. "So why the hell did I need all this abuse? Why the endless beatdowns? The broken bohe iraining?"

  His master finally g him, his expression unreadable, gaze as sharp as ever.

  Then, he simply said, "We are not in an ordinary world."

  Jack paused mid-bite. His brow furrowed. "The hell do you mean?"

  His master didn't eborate. Instead, he took another sip of tea, then said, "You'll see when you get out of here."

  Jack stared at him for a long moment, eyes narrowed in suspi.

  Then, he sighed, shaking his head. "You just love dropping cryptic bullshit, don't you?"

  His master gave the fai hint of a smirk. "It amuses me."

  Jack scoffed, waving him off. "Whatever. Keep your secrets, you old bastard."

  And just like that—he tinued eating.

  …

  Jack trained.

  Every single day.

  Fought his master.Meditated for hours.Pushed his limits with the staff.Experimented with his es.

  And then—

  Three more years passed.

  Jack wasn't the same man anymore.

  His power had skyrocketed.

  Jack stood in the middle of the courtyard, staff in hand, his expression calm.

  A breeze rolled through the a wooden pilrs of his master's home, rustling his loose robes. The ohin, scrappy kid who had been dumped in an alley, starving and lost, was gone.

  Now, he moved like a warrior.

  No—like something beyond human.

  He rolled his shoulders, feeling the immerength coiled within him, a power so vast it felt like the world itself had expao aodate him.

  His master stood across from him, arms tucked behind his back.

  Jack took a slow breath, then—moved.

  He swung the Ruyi Jingu Baending it mid-motion, its length shifting from a normal staff to the size of a five-story building.

  The air roared, dust and dirt exploding outward as the staff smmed down like the hammer of a god.

  BOOM.

  The ground shattered beh the sheer force.

  Jack twisted, shrinking the staff instantly, flipping it around and jabbing forward with lightning speed.

  His master sidestepped, barely tilting his head.

  Jack grinned. "Not bad, huh?"

  His master exhaled through his nose. "Det."

  Jack vanished.

  He reappeared above his master, es f mid-air, eae swinging identical staffs.

  They moved seamlessly together, no longer separate entities—but perfect extensions of himself.

  Jack's voice rang through the air. "Let's see you hahis, old man!"

  His master finally moved.

  The sed—Jack's entire world twisted.

  BAM!

  A sirike sent all of his es shattering into golden dust.

  Jack barely had time to react before—

  CRACK!

  His master's palm struck his ribs, sending him flying backward.

  Jack flipped mid-air, using the staff to bance himself, nding smoothly.

  He grinned, wiping blood from his lip. "Alright. That one hurt."

  His master stood pletely rexed.

  "Your improvement is undeniable."

  Jack twirled his staff, resting it on his shoulders. "Damn right it is. You know how hard it is to keep my body looking this good on a diet of grass?"

  His master sighed. "Even after all this time, your mouth remains the same."

  Jack smirked. "Some things are sacred."

  Then—he slowly lowered his staff.

  There was no anger in his movements.

  Nance.

  Just calm uanding.

  He had spent years fighting, training, meditating.

  He had beeen down, rebuilt, reshaped.

  And now—

  Now, he eace with himself.

  That was the true ge.

  The wild, impulsive, reckless man he once was still existed—but now, he was trolled chaos.

  His master saw it.

  The shift in his stahe way he breathed.The way his power no longer shed out wildly—but flowed like a river, steady and unstoppable.

  Jack exhaled slowly, then smirked. "So. Am I finally strong enough to leave this pce?"

  His master met his gaze.

  And for the first time—

  He nodded.

  Jack grinned.

  "About damn time."