The burning mountain slowly disappeared behind Kael.
He didn't look back.
Not because he didn't care.
Because if he looked back, he might turn around.
And he knew he wasn't strong enough to return.
His hands tightened around the wooden token.
Lushan City.
That was his next destination.
Nothing else mattered.
Three days later.
Kael walked along a mountain road.
His clothes were dusty, his shoes were worn, and his body still carried injuries from the battle.
But he felt stronger.
Over the past three days, he had continued practicing the technique the old man taught him.
Control his Qi.
Strengthen his body.
Don't waste energy.
His cultivation remained at the Third Layer of Body Tempering.
He hadn't broken through again.
And surprisingly, Kael wasn't disappointed.
He finally understood something.
A breakthrough wasn't everything.
If his foundation was weak, higher cultivation would only make him weaker in the long run.
Kael stopped beside a river.
He sat down and closed his eyes.
Slowly, he circulated his Qi.
One complete cycle.
Then another.
His breathing became steady.
A faint golden glow appeared beneath his skin.
Kael opened his eyes.
“Much smoother.”
He stood.
His fist moved forward.
BOOM!
A nearby tree shook.
Leaves fell from its branches.
Kael smiled.
Three days ago, he would have needed all his strength to produce that result.
Now he could do it without exhausting himself.
He was improving.
Slowly.
But surely.
By afternoon, Kael finally saw it.
A massive city appeared beyond the hills.
Stone walls stretched for several kilometers.
Countless cultivators entered through the main gate.
Merchants shouted.
Carriages moved through crowded streets.
Weapons and cultivation treasures were displayed in shops.
Kael stared.
“So this is Lushan City.”
Compared to his village...
it was another world.
He walked toward the gate.
A guard stopped him.
“Entry token.”
Kael froze.
“I don't have one.”
The guard looked him up and down.
“Then pay the entrance fee.”
Kael checked his pockets.
Three copper coins.
He stared at them.
The guard stared at him.
Kael coughed.
“I have... three.”
The guard sighed.
“Move aside.”
Before Kael could respond, another voice came from behind.
“His fee is on me.”
Kael turned.
A young man stood beside a black carriage.
He wore a white robe with a silver emblem.
The young man smiled.
“You can enter.”
Kael looked at him carefully.
“Why are you helping me?”
The young man shrugged.
“You looked like you were about to sleep outside the gate.”
Kael glanced at his clothes.
Fair enough.
“Thanks.”
He walked through the gate.
But as he passed the young man, the stranger's eyes briefly fell on the wooden token hanging from Kael's waist.
His smile disappeared.
Only for a moment.
Then it returned.
Lushan City was enormous.
Kael walked through the streets, trying not to stare at everything.
He soon discovered something important.
The city was filled with cultivators.
Body Tempering.
Qi Gathering.
Even Foundation Establishment.
The strongest people he had encountered before now seemed almost ordinary.
Kael smiled.
“This is where I need to grow.”
A loud announcement suddenly echoed through the street.
“The Lushan Young Cultivator Tournament begins tomorrow!”
People immediately gathered around a large notice board.
Kael walked closer.
The announcement explained the rules.
Participants had to be below twenty years old.
The tournament would begin with basic elimination matches.
The final winner would receive a Spirit Gathering Pill and a place among the outer disciples of a major sect.
Kael's eyes stopped on the last line.
Ruined Moon Sect representatives will be present.
His expression changed.
The sect had been destroyed.
So why were its representatives coming to the tournament?
Kael stepped closer.
A voice suddenly came from beside him.
“You're interested?”
Kael turned.
The young man from the gate stood there.
“You followed me?”
The man laughed.
“Don't flatter yourself.”
Kael frowned.
“Then what do you want?”
The young man pointed at the wooden token.
“That.”
Kael immediately covered it with his hand.
The man's eyes narrowed.
“I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“That you're connected to Ruined Moon Sect.”
Kael's expression became cautious.
“Why do you care?”
The young man smiled.
“Because I have the other half.”
Kael's heart stopped.
Slowly, he pulled out his wooden token.
The young man reached inside his robe.
Then he revealed another piece.
The same crescent moon.
The same material.
The two pieces were clearly made to fit together.
Kael stared at it.
“My father's token…”
The young man's smile disappeared.
“You're Ren Hao's son.”
Kael stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
The young man looked around.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“Come with me.”
Kael didn't move.
The stranger sighed.
“You don't trust me.”
“No.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
“At least you've learned something.”
Kael's eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
The young man finally answered.
“I'm Luo Chen.”
Kael froze.
That name.
The young man from the ruined sect.
The one who had watched him climb the mountain.
Kael looked at him carefully.
“You followed me here?”
Luo Chen shook his head.
“No.”
He held up the other half of the token.
“I was already here.”
Then he leaned closer.
“And there's something you need to know before tomorrow's tournament.”
Kael waited.
Luo Chen's voice dropped.
“Black Lotus has entered Lushan City.”
Kael's expression hardened.
“How many?”
“Enough to kill you.”
Kael looked toward the crowded streets.
For the first time since entering the city, he realized something.
He hadn't escaped his enemies.
He had walked directly into them.
Luo Chen continued.
“And there's one more problem.”
“What?”
Luo Chen looked toward the tournament arena.
“The person leading them…”
He paused.
“…is the same man who killed you in your seventh life.”
Kael's blood ran cold.