The final round of the Outer Sect Tournament turned the Great Sky-Plaza into a crucible of white heat.
The white marble floor surrounding Ring Number One was scorched black, cracked open by hours of explosive elemental battles. But the crowd was no longer watching the shattered stone; every pair of eyes was glued to the two figures standing opposite each other under the glaring afternoon sun.
On the eastern edge stood Song Chen. His immaculate robes were gone, replaced by blood-red battle silks inscribed with defensive talismans. In his right hand, he held a broad-bladed crimson saber that hummed with violent, shimmering waves of heat. His face was twisted with hatred, his eyes bloodshot.
On the western edge stood Ren. His faded outer-disciple tunic was dusted with grey stone powder, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. He looked less like a martial finalist and more like a mountain statue forgotten in a storm.
"You think you're clever, Null-Vein?" Song Chen spat, his voice trembling with manic rage. "You used some dirty body-hardening trick to humiliate me in the quarters. But brute strength is nothing against refined, high-tier Qi!"
Song Chen reached into his sleeve, pulled out a midnight-black elixir pill, and swallowed it whole.
Gasps echoed through the bleachers.
"The Blood-Ignition Pill!" a disciple shouted. "He's forcing a temporary breakthrough into the Core Assembly stage!"
Song Chen’s skin flushed deep crimson as terrifying waves of heat exploded outward from his body. The air around him distorted, turning into shimmering heat haze that melted the marble beneath his boots into glowing slag. The crimson saber roared, enveloped in a five-foot pillar of blinding, white-hot fire.
High above on the jade balcony, Lin Xiu leaned forward, her brow furrowing slightly. "He's destroying his foundation for a temporary burst of power. Elder Lu, are you not stopping this?"
Elder Lu didn't blink, his cold eyes fixed entirely on Ren. "The arena permits all personal resources. Let us see if the boy's 'iron body' can withstand true elemental incineration."
On the stage, Song Chen blurred.
He didn't just move—he detonated forward, leaving a trail of fiery footprints in the stone.
"Die!"
Song Chen leaped into the air, bringing his glowing saber down in a devastating two-handed execution arc—The Scorched Earth Cleaver. The heat was so intense that the front row of disciples in the bleachers scrambled backward, shielding their faces from the searing thermal blast.
Ren stared up at the descending wave of fire.
Inside his chest, the microscopic singularity spun into a violent frenzy. He couldn't manifest elemental Qi without exposing his Godhead fusion to Elder Lu, but he didn't need to. He took a deep breath and opened every pathway in his Dense Realm Art.
Instead of repelling the attack, Ren anchored his weight directly to the core of the floating mountain beneath the plaza.
CLANG-BOOM!
The crimson saber struck Ren’s crossed forearms. A blinding shockwave of white flame and pressurized air erupted outward, shattering the entire western half of the marble ring into a storm of flying gravel. The fire swallowed Ren completely, turning the center of the ring into a roaring inferno.
Song Chen landed, laughing hysterically as he raised his saber. "Burn! Burn into ash, you worthless piece of—"
Song Chen’s voice died in his throat.
The roaring fire didn't spread. It was being pulled inward.
At the center of the flames, Ren stood completely unharmed. The white-hot Fire Qi wasn't burning his skin—it was swirling violently around his arms, being dragged forcibly into the dark vortex within his chest. His Null Root drank the thermal energy, grinding it down into pure, compressed kinetic mass.
Ren's eyes flashed with a deep, cosmic violet.
"Is that all?" Ren asked softly.
Before Song Chen could fall back, Ren stepped forward. He didn't use a flashy sword technique or a complex hand seal. He simply released the compressed kinetic force of Song Chen’s own attack, channeling it straight through his right fist.
The Heavy Strike.
Ren's fist moved so fast the air cracked like lightning. He struck the flat side of Song Chen’s crimson saber.
CRACK!
The high-tier spirit saber shattered into a thousand glowing shards. Ren’s fist didn't stop—it slammed directly into Song Chen’s sternum.
The impact didn't send Song Chen flying. Instead, the localized gravity wave hit him like a ten-ton iron anvil dropped from the sky. Song Chen fell straight down, his knees smashing violently through the marble floor as his internal Qi pathways violently collapsed under the crushing pressure. His core shattered with a dull, sickening pop.
Song Chen collapsed into the dust, completely unconscious, his cultivation permanently ruined.
Silence blanketed the Great Sky-Plaza.
Ren pulled his fist back, exhaling a quiet stream of compressed grey air. He turned his gaze toward the high balcony, looking directly into the sharp, suspicious eyes of Elder Lu.
The gong sounded, its deep tone reverberating across the quiet mountains.
"Winner of the Outer Sect Tournament..." the referee stammered, staring in utter disbelief at the cratered ring. "...Ren!"