A stillness settled over the dueling arena after Lu Qiang's fall.
Shadow's footsteps had barely faded when the judge raised his hand to announce the next match-but a sudden laugh interrupted the silence.
It was sharp.
It was loud.
It echoed through the valley like thunder.
Heads turned as **Liang Chen**, Rank 1, stepped forward. His white robes fluttered gently, untouched by the dust of battle, his hands still behind his back, his gaze cold and detached.
He looked down at the remaining five finalists.
And he laughed.
"This... is what you call talent?"
Gasps rippled through the audience.
Mei Rong narrowed her eyes.
Xun Tai raised a brow, expression still blank.
Even Jinhai tilted his head.
"You trashes," Liang Chen continued, his voice laced with disdain. "You think you're special? You've merely clawed your way past the worms. But you still look up at the sky and call it the heavens. Pathetic."
He extended his arm slowly, finger pointing at them one by one.
**"All of you. Come at me. Together."**
Shock seized the crowd.
A moment later, his aura burst outward.
**BOOM!**
A pillar of white-gold energy surged into the sky, and the tiles beneath his feet cracked in a spiderweb pattern.
"He's... at the sixth level?!"
"That's inner sect level cultivation!"
The core elders stood from their seats in disbelief.
Even the Sect Master arched an eyebrow.
"Liang Chen," he murmured. "So you were hiding your true strength..."
Liang Chen laughed again, this time more wildly.
"Six months ago, I reached the sixth layer. I crushed inner disciples in sparring. And yet I remained here, among outer sect ants, to humor tradition. But not anymore. Today, I finish this."
His sword emerged from its sheath. Light curved off the blade as though space itself bent.
---
Xun Tai stepped forward.
His normally impassive eyes sharpened.
"Then your arrogance has rotted you," he said.
With a wave of his hand, his aura exploded.
**BOOM.**
The pressure in the air doubled.
Dark spiritual energy swirled like the void. His fists crackled as they absorbed all sound nearby.
"I hoped to test myself against someone worthy. Perhaps... I will be disappointed."
Liang Chen snorted. "Don't flatter yourself."
---
Mei Rong twirled her blade, stepping beside Xun Tai.
"Arrogant men make the most elegant corpses."
She spun once, and a burst of ethereal light circled her feet. Her cultivation surged.
**Sixth layer.**
Her energy was different. It didn't roar like the others-it sang. A deadly, soothing tune.
"You talk of heavens, Liang Chen," she said, smiling. "But you mistake thunderclouds for the stars."
---
Jinhai chuckled, deep and ragged.
He raised one hand. Flames coiled around his wrist.
Black. Endless. Hungry.
**BOOM.**
His chains clanged as he snapped his arm downward.
His dark flames surged.
"If you're going to put on a show," Jinhai growled, "do it right."
His body flared with dark light. The flame hissed against the stage like acid.
"I've killed men stronger than you in the dark."
Liang Chen sneered.
"Then let me be the one to send you back into it."
---
The Sect Master stood.
His cloak fluttered gently.
"Enough."
His voice echoed like a gong.
All four disciples looked up.
"You have revealed power beyond the bounds of the outer court. I should strip you of qualification and move you to the inner sect immediately."
The crowd murmured nervously.
But the Sect Master raised his hand.
"However... we will honor the competition. If this is how you choose to test your power, then let heaven and earth witness it."
He sat down slowly.
"Fight. And let the heavens tremble."
---
Liang Chen laughed, sword raised.
"You hear that? Permission from the skies! Now come-let's end this game."
The four others stepped onto the arena floor.
The platform groaned under the weight of their combined auras.
Each one stood at the sixth level.
Each one ready to defy fate.
---
Far from the center of the storm, Shadow remained still, his form like a stone in the distance, yet his eyes held storms.
While the others released their cultivation and sharpened their blades, Shadow stood alone, not because he was afraid, nor because he sought to exploit the chaos.
He observed.
Every movement, every shift of Qi, every flicker of killing intent. His mind wasn't still-it was racing. Studying. Remembering.
> *This isn't about defeating an opponent. It's about understanding the nature of strength itself.*
He watched Mei Rong's grace, Xun Tai's silence, Jinhai's fury, and Liang Chen's arrogance.
> *Each one walks their own path. I must walk mine. But not yet. Not with brute strength. My thunder isn't just power-it's clarity.*
Shadow exhaled slowly. His energy remained sealed, quiet, like a storm watching from above.
> *Let them clash. Let the world see their brilliance. And when the dust settles... they will learn that the heavens don't choose victors. We make our own fate.**
The sky dimmed. Clouds circled overhead.
And below, the blades began to move.
---