DONG!
The fourth bell rang.
Kael stood beside the old man.
“What does that bell mean?”
The old man's eyes remained fixed on the entrance.
“An enemy has crossed the outer formation.”
DONG!
The fifth bell rang.
Kael felt the ground tremble beneath his feet.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
The old man turned toward him.
“Listen carefully. You are not fighting tonight.”
Kael frowned.
“But—”
“No.”
The old man's voice became firm.
“Your cultivation is only at the Third Layer of Body Tempering. You have trained enough to survive. You have not trained enough to win.”
Kael clenched his fists.
He hated hearing that.
But he knew it was true.
“So what do I do?”
“Go to the eastern gate.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where you'll find your way out.”
Kael looked toward the entrance.
“And you?”
The old man smiled.
“I'll stay here.”
“You can't fight an entire army alone.”
“I don't need to.”
The old man raised his broken sword.
“I only need to make them believe I can.”
Kael ran through the ruined sect.
The bells continued ringing.
DONG!
DONG!
Dark figures appeared on the mountainside.
Dozens of them.
Some wore the Black Lotus symbol.
Others wore different robes.
Kael slowed.
Different factions?
He quickly moved behind a broken wall.
Two cultivators passed nearby.
“Search every building!”
“The old man must be protecting something!”
“Find the boy first!”
Kael's expression changed.
They knew he was here.
He waited until they passed.
Then he continued toward the eastern gate.
Suddenly—
A sword flew past his face.
CLANG!
It struck the wall.
Kael turned.
A Black Lotus cultivator stood behind him.
“You're not escaping.”
Kael lowered his stance.
The cultivator charged.
Kael moved sideways.
The sword passed him.
He struck the man's stomach.
BOOM!
The cultivator staggered.
Kael followed with another punch.
The man fell.
Kael didn't stop.
He ran.
Don't fight unless necessary.
That was the lesson.
Survival came first.
He finally reached the eastern gate.
But his expression immediately changed.
The gate was destroyed.
Beyond it was a steep mountain slope.
No path.
Kael stared.
“You've got to be kidding me.”
Footsteps approached behind him.
Kael turned.
Three cultivators.
One was Qi Gathering First Layer.
The other two were Body Tempering.
The Qi Gathering cultivator smiled.
“End of the road.”
Kael looked at the cliff.
Then at the enemies.
He had one choice.
Jump.
He stepped toward the edge.
The cultivator laughed.
“You won't survive that fall.”
Kael smiled.
“Probably not.”
Then he jumped.
“What?!”
Kael disappeared over the cliff.
The three cultivators rushed forward.
But before they reached the edge—
A golden flame appeared below.
Kael landed on a narrow stone ledge.
His knees buckled.
Pain shot through his legs.
But he was alive.
He looked upward.
The cultivators stared down at him.
“How did he—?”
Kael didn't wait.
He ran along the ledge.
Minutes later, Kael reached the bottom of the mountain.
He looked back.
The Ruined Moon Sect was burning.
Flames covered the mountain.
The bells had stopped.
Kael stood silently.
He had only been there for a short time.
Yet somehow...
the ruined sect already felt like home.
Then a powerful shockwave swept across the mountain.
Kael's face changed.
He could feel it even from here.
Someone had released an enormous amount of Qi.
Then—
Silence.
Kael's hands tightened.
“Old man…”
He wanted to go back.
But he remembered the man's warning.
You have not trained enough to win.
Kael turned away.
“I'll come back.”
He started walking toward Lushan City.
He took only a few steps before noticing something in his hand.
The wooden token.
The one the old man had given him.
There was now a thin crack across its surface.
Kael touched it.
A faint golden light appeared.
Then a message emerged.
Not from a memory.
Not from the Human Flame.
It was written on the token itself.
Lushan City.
Find the other half.
Kael stared at the words.
Then another line appeared.
Trust no one from the Ruined Moon Sect.
Kael's expression became complicated.
The old man.
His father.
Jian.
Everyone seemed to be hiding something.
Kael looked toward the distant city.
“Fine.”
He tightened his grip around the token.
“If everyone has secrets…”
His eyes became sharp.
“…I'll uncover them myself.”
Far behind him, on the burning mountain—
A figure stood among the ruins.
The old man.
Blood covered his clothes.
His broken sword was gone.
But he was still standing.
A Black Lotus cultivator approached him.
“You let the boy escape.”
The old man smiled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The old man looked toward the distant road.
“Because he needs to grow.”
The cultivator frowned.
“You're willing to let him become stronger?”
The old man looked at the burning sect.
“He doesn't have a choice.”
He closed his eyes.
“Neither do we.”
Hundreds of kilometers away, Kael continued walking.
He didn't know that someone was already waiting for him in Lushan City.
He didn't know that the cultivation tournament would begin in three days.
And he certainly didn't know that the person carrying the other half of his father's token...
was already searching for him.