Orion’s reward for reaching the top eight was a quarterfinal against Wei Shan.
Of course it was.
Wei Shan — Heavenpiercing Sword Sect
2nd Stage Meridian Foundation
Orion stood beneath the bracket.
Then slowly looked upward.
“Why?”
Chen Rui stood beside him.
“Why what?”
Orion pointed toward the sky.
“I behaved.”
“Debatable.”
“I have been respectful.”
“Mostly.”
“I even stopped challenging the heavens verbally.”
Chen Rui nodded.
“Maybe they’re offended you stopped talking to them.”
Orion stared.
“That’s somehow worse.”
Xuan Mei approached.
Her face had returned to normal after the cheek incident.
Orion’s had not.
He kept remembering it.
Frequently.
Inconveniently.
Xuan Mei looked toward the bracket.
“Meridian Foundation.”
“Yes.”
“Second Stage.”
“Also yes.”
She became quiet.
Orion smiled.
“I already qualified.”
“I know.”
“So this one…”
He looked toward Wei Shan’s name.
“…is for me.”
Xuan Mei studied him.
Then nodded.
No warning.
No argument.
“Then see how far you can go.”
⸻
Wei Shan looked exactly like someone from the Heavenpiercing Sword Sect should.
White robes.
Blue trim.
Long black hair.
One straight sword.
An expression so serious Orion wondered if the man had ever laughed.
The arena was packed.
Orion had become one of the tournament’s unexpected attractions.
Not because anyone thought he would win the championship.
They didn’t.
But every round he survived made less sense.
Now—
A First Stage Essence Gathering cultivator stood across from Meridian Foundation.
The difference between minor stages could be overcome.
Painfully.
With talent.
Technique.
Luck.
A major realm was different.
Wei Shan drew his sword.
Pressure spread through the arena.
Orion immediately felt it.
His own Essence reacted.
Not fear.
Suppression.
Meridian Foundation was exactly what its name suggested.
At that realm, a cultivator’s meridian network evolved.
Essence moved faster.
More efficiently.
Techniques gained greater coherence.
The difference was qualitative.
Not merely quantitative.
Orion gripped his sword.
The referee looked between them.
“Begin!”
Wei Shan moved.
Orion blocked.
His sword screamed.
He flew backward.
One strike.
Not a technique.
Not full strength.
One ordinary sword strike.
Orion landed.
His feet skidded nearly ten meters.
His arms shook.
He smiled.
“Oh.”
Wei Shan remained where he’d stopped.
“Withdraw.”
Orion raised his sword.
“No.”
Wei Shan’s eyes narrowed.
Then he attacked again.
Orion activated Radiant Step.
Sword-light passed beside him.
The pressure sliced his cheek.
Orion countered.
First Dawn Sword Form.
Wei Shan raised his blade.
One movement.
Orion’s technique dispersed.
Second form.
Blocked.
Third.
Blocked.
Fourth—
Wei Shan’s sword touched Orion’s.
Golden Essence vanished.
The attack died.
Orion’s eyes widened.
Control.
Wei Shan was not overpowering his techniques.
He was finding their structural weak points and severing the Essence flow.
Heavenpiercing Sword Sect.
Pierce heaven.
Pierce techniques.
Pierce weaknesses.
Wei Shan thrust.
Orion twisted. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
The blade entered his shoulder.
Not deep.
Tournament-safe.
But deliberate.
Wei Shan withdrew.
“Your foundations are excellent.”
Orion stepped back.
“Thank you.”
“You have no chance.”
“Less polite.”
“It’s truth.”
Honesty.
Orion appreciated that.
He attacked.
Wei Shan sighed.
Their swords met.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every exchange favored Wei Shan.
Orion grew cuts.
Shoulder.
Arm.
Side.
Thigh.
Not crippling.
Controlled.
Wei Shan could have ended the fight earlier.
Orion realized that.
That irritated him.
“Stop going easy.”
Wei Shan paused.
“What?”
Orion wiped blood from his mouth.
“You’re treating me like I’m fragile.”
“You are eight stages and one major realm beneath me.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is objectively an answer.”
Orion laughed.
Then raised his sword.
“Hit me like I’m actually here.”
Wei Shan stared.
The crowd quieted.
Then—
Something changed.
Wei Shan’s sword rose.
Blue-white sword Essence gathered.
Xuan Mei’s expression sharpened.
Yue Ling smiled faintly.
“There.”
Xuan Mei looked toward her.
“What?”
“He convinced him.”
Below—
Wei Shan’s spiritual pressure intensified.
“Very well.”
Orion’s grin disappeared.
“Possibly a mistake.”
Wei Shan moved.
The arena split.
A sword line crossed the stone.
Orion dodged by centimeters.
Second strike.
Radiant Step.
Third.
Orion blocked.
His sword nearly shattered.
Fourth.
Orion ducked.
He moved forward.
Wei Shan’s eyes changed.
Orion was learning.
Again.
Even now.
Even against something beyond him.
Wei Shan struck.
Orion turned the blade.
Not fully.
Enough.
He entered range.
Daybreak Foundation Fist.
Wei Shan blocked.
The impact pushed him backward.
One step.
The audience erupted.
Orion followed.
Sword.
Fist.
Radiant Step.
Every basic technique he knew chained together.
Wei Shan’s expression became serious.
For the first time—
He gave ground.
One step.
Two.
Three.
Orion attacked harder.
Golden solar Essence burned through every meridian.
Wei Shan’s sword moved.
Orion predicted it.
Dodged.
His blade cut Wei Shan’s sleeve.
A thin line of blood appeared on the Meridian Foundation cultivator’s arm.
Silence.
Wei Shan looked down.
Then at Orion.
The entire arena erupted.
Orion smiled.
“Found you.”
Wei Shan smiled back.
The first time Orion had seen him do it.
“Good.”
Then he raised his sword with both hands.
The atmosphere changed.
Xuan Mei stood.
“That’s—”
Yue Ling nodded.
“His trump card.”
Sword Essence gathered above Wei Shan.
Not enormous.
A single blue-white line.
Thin enough to almost disappear.
Orion felt danger before the technique even formed.
Heavenpiercing Sword Art.
Wei Shan’s voice was quiet.
“First Pierce—Skyline.”
The sword descended.
Orion crossed his blade.
Solar Essence erupted.
Rao’s Immortal Body awakened completely.
Golden light wrapped his body.
The blue line arrived.
For one instant—
Orion held it.
The entire arena shook.
His sword cracked.
Golden Essence scattered.
His arms buckled.
Then—
The line broke through.
The tournament protection formation activated instantly.
A transparent barrier appeared around Orion’s chest.
Wei Shan’s technique struck it.
The barrier flashed.
Orion flew across the arena.
He hit the ground.
His sword landed beside him.
Broken.
Silence.
Orion tried to rise.
Nothing happened.
His body had reached its answer.
Enough.
The referee stepped forward.
“Orion Atlas is unable to continue.”
Orion closed his eyes.
“Winner—Wei Shan!”
The crowd erupted.
Not in disappointment.
Applause.
Wei Shan stood quietly.
Then walked across the arena.
Orion opened one eye.
The Meridian Foundation cultivator stopped beside him.
Held out a hand.
Orion stared at it.
Then accepted.
Wei Shan pulled him upright.
“You forced me to use Skyline.”
Orion leaned heavily against him.
“I noticed.”
“I had intended to save it for the semifinal.”
“Sorry.”
Wei Shan smiled.
“No.”
He cupped his fist.
“Thank you.”
Orion returned the gesture.
“Good fight.”
“You will be terrifying when your cultivation catches up to your body.”
Orion laughed.
“That’s the plan.”
Wei Shan left.
Orion remained standing.
Defeated.
Bleeding.
Exhausted.
And smiling.
Because he finally understood.
The Divine physique mattered.
The Divine roots mattered.
The Solar Absorption Cultivation Art mattered.
They had carried him farther than anyone at his cultivation had any reasonable right to go.
But they had not erased the road.
There were still mountains above him.
Real ones.
He liked that.
Xuan Mei appeared beside him.
“You lost.”
Orion looked offended.
“Very observant.”
She smiled.
“How do you feel?”
He looked toward Wei Shan leaving the arena.
Then toward the tournament board.
Quarterfinalist.
Top eight secured.
Placement matches remaining.
Orion exhaled.
“Good.”
Xuan Mei raised an eyebrow.
“I lost.”
“Yes.”
“And I feel good.”
“Head injury?”
“Possible.”
He laughed.
Then looked at her.
“I know where the wall is now.”
Xuan Mei’s expression softened.
“And?”
Orion’s blue eyes brightened.
“Now I get to climb it.”
She smiled.
Far across the arena—
Lianmo watched him lose.
That interested her more than several of his victories.
He wasn’t angry.
Wasn’t ashamed.
Wasn’t blaming the realm difference.
He was smiling.
Learning.
Again.
Her neon-yellow eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Strange man.
For reasons she did not understand—
Lianmo was glad he hadn’t looked defeated.
The tournament continued.
Orion Atlas would not be its champion.
He had never needed to be.
But six places still remained to be decided.
And he wasn’t finished yet.