"That's..." she started, but her voice came out hoarse. She cleared her throat, trying again.

"Alex, that's not just difficult. It's impossible."

The word hung in the air like a verdict.

Catherine's hands were still gripping the edge of the table, knuckles white, but her analytical nature was clawing its way back to the surface, demanding answers, demanding logic.

She shook her head slowly, and when she spoke, her voice carried the weight of decades of cultivation knowledge.

"I am from House Blackwood. Do you understand what that means?"

Pride and certainty edged into her tone.

"We control the cultivation resources for this entire continent. Our vaults contain treasures that most cultivators couldn't acquire in ten lifetimes. If House Blackwood doesn't have something, it means that thing doesn't exist. Period."

Her eyes locked onto his, intensity burning there.

"And even with all of that... pushing from Late Peak Enhanced to Late Apex in three months would be medically impossible. The body needs time to adapt. Rush it, and you don't just fail the breakthrough... you cripple yourself permanently."

Her voice dropped, carrying recent tragedy.

"Just like James."

The name fell between them like a stone.

"As for four or five Apex cultivators..."

Catherine's expression turned almost pitying. "That's not a support network, Alex. That's a fantasy. Apex realm cultivators aren't mercenaries. They're powerhouses with their own territories, their own pride. The resources needed to secure even one's loyalty would bankrupt most Houses."

The silence that followed was heavy.

Alex listened to every word with complete attention. When she finished, he took a slow sip of his wine, considering his response with careful precision.

He could see it in her eyes, in the tension still holding her shoulders rigid.

She didn't fully trust him yet.

And how could she? They'd met today. Shared an intense afternoon, yes. Dinner with Victoria, certainly. But trust... real trust... wasn't built in hours. It was earned over time, proven through action, solidified through consistency.

The fact that she was still listening, still engaging with his claims despite how impossible they sounded... that was enough trust for now. More than he'd expected, actually.

But how could he convince her to take this leap?

Telling her about Lilith and the system was out of the question. Not yet.

So what could he offer instead?

Alex looked up, meeting her eyes directly.

The answer came simply: honesty. Partial truth. Give her what he could without exposing everything.

"You're absolutely right," he said quietly.

Catherine blinked.

"Everything you just said is true," Alex continued. "Based on House Blackwood's resources... what I'm suggesting is impossible. The timeline doesn't work. The body can't adapt that quickly."

He set his glass down with deliberate care.

"But Catherine, what I'm offering isn't just better resources than what you have."

His voice dropped lower, carrying weight that made the room feel smaller.

"What I can provide will make House Blackwood's entire accumulated wealth look like a child playing with training pills."

Catherine stared at him, unable to process the absurdity of that claim.

"You said the body needs time to adapt," Alex continued, his tone never wavering. "I have resources that compress that adaptation from months to days. You said foundations crack under pressure. I have treasures that reinforce foundations during breakthrough, making them stronger than natural advancement. You said energy deviation is catastrophic. I have methods that eliminate deviation entirely."

His eyes never left hers.

"When I say three months, I'm not hoping. I'm calculating based on resources that make everything you just listed obsolete."

Catherine sat frozen, her mind desperately searching for the flaw in his logic, the crack in his certainty, something that would let her dismiss this as delusion.

She found nothing.

Just that same impossible confidence. That dangerous calm.

Her breath had gone shallow. Her hands were trembling.

And her mind was screaming at her.

'This is insane. He's asking you to stake everything on claims that contradict every principle of cultivation you've ever learned. Walk away. Be rational.'

But her heart whispered something different.

'What if he's right? What if you walk away and lose to Richard because you were too afraid to take a chance on something extraordinary?'

Catherine's gaze drifted to Victoria almost involuntarily, searching for some crack in that certainty, some flicker of doubt that would give her permission to walk away.

She found nothing.

Victoria was watching her with calm patience, as if the outcome was already decided and she was simply waiting for Catherine to catch up. No doubt. No hesitation. No concern that Alex might be delusional.

Just certainty.

'Victoria isn't a fool. She's practical. Grounded. The kind of person who sees through false promises.'

'Yet she trusts him absolutely.'

That realization hit harder than any of Alex's claims.

A sudden memory flickered in her mind, unbidden but impossible to ignore.

Viktor Reeves.

A fugitive. Nearly dead. Hunted by forces that should have ended him permanently. She'd heard the reports months ago... how he'd been cornered, critically injured, his cultivation foundation supposedly shattered beyond repair.

Yet somehow he'd survived.

More than survived.

He'd advanced to Apex realm.

And now he showed up as the bodyguard of someone with cultivation lower than him. Someone with no apparent background or family connections. Someone who by all logic shouldn't command that kind of loyalty from a powerhouse.

Catherine's breath caught.

Don't tell me it's him who helped Viktor recover and advance...

The pieces fit too perfectly. The impossible recovery. The unexplained advancement. Viktor's presence here, now, following Alex with the kind of loyalty that spoke of profound debt.

She looked at Alex once more, seeing him differently now.

Not just confident. Not just mysterious.

But someone who'd already done the impossible at least once before.

Victoria's voice cut through the moment, gentle but firm.

"Catherine," she said quietly. "Stop thinking yourself in circles. You already know what you're going to choose."

The words landed like a key turning in a lock.

Because Victoria was right.

Beneath all the fear and logic and lifetime of training that told her to be cautious... Catherine had already made her decision. Everything else was just noise. Delay. Fear masquerading as reason.

'What's the alternative? Conventional advancement? Slow political maneuvering while Richard's backer works against me? That path leads to uncertain battle against an Elder Council member with unknown resources.'

'At least this way I have a chance at something extraordinary.'

Catherine's hands stopped trembling.

Her breathing steadied.

And Catherine Blackwood, who'd built her life on rational calculation and careful planning, felt herself making the most irrational decision of her life.

Not because logic demanded it.

But because hope... desperate, terrifying, intoxicating hope... refused to be silenced.

She took a deep breath.

Then she looked Alex directly in the eyes.

"Alright," she said quietly, and the word felt like stepping off a cliff into open air. "I'll believe you."

"I'll believe that you have these impossible resources," Catherine continued, her voice strengthening despite the fear coiled in her stomach.

"I'll believe that you can push me to Late Apex in three months. I'll believe that you have four or five Apex cultivators who'll back my claim."

Her voice caught for just a moment before she forced it steady again.

"If you're not, I won't just lose the succession. I'll have wasted three months I could have spent securing support conventionally. Richard's backer will have time to consolidate. The undecided families will drift toward what looks like the safer choice. And when succession is called and I'm still Peak Enhanced instead of the Apex cultivator you promised..."

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.

The consequences were clear enough.

Failure. Disgrace. Possibly death if Richard's backer decided a weakened Catherine was too dangerous to leave alive.

"I know," Alex said simply, and the weight in those two words suggested he understood exactly what she was risking.

He leaned back slightly, and something shifted in his expression. Decision made.

"Since you chose to trust me on these absurd claims," he said, "I won't keep you blind for long."

A pause, weighted with intention.

"How about a gift?"

Catherine's breath caught.

Alex's smile was slow, dangerous, and carried absolute certainty.

"How about you breaking through to Apex realm... tonight?"

The silence that followed was profound.

Catherine stared at him, mind stuttering to process what he'd just offered.

Tonight.

Not three months. Not even three weeks.

Tonight.

"That's..." She couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't articulate the sheer impossibility of what he was suggesting.

Breaking through to Apex required perfect conditions, resources accumulated over months, preparation that took weeks. It wasn't something you just... did. On a random evening. After dinner.

But Alex was watching her with that same impossible calm, as if he'd just offered her dessert rather than something that violated every principle of cultivation advancement she'd ever learned.

Victoria was grinning now, clearly delighted by Catherine's shock.

"Well?" Alex asked softly. "Ready to see what I'm actually capable of?"

Catherine's hands had gone numb.

But when she spoke, her voice was steady.

"Show me."

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