The Crimson Echo Realm shuddered.
It wasn't physical—not yet—but the pressure between factions had grown unbearable. Across the warped battlefield, scattered disciples formed units, erected defensive formations, or prepared ambushes. Most had already realized:
This was no longer a trial.
It was war.
---
Kai Lin stood alone atop a cracked obsidian ridge, looking down at the scorched battlefield below. Smoke from a formation clash drifted upward, thick with the scent of burned talismans and blood.
[System Alert: Sign-In Available – Bloodridge Watchpoint]
[Proceed?]
"Proceed."
[Sign-In Successful.]
[Reward Acquired: Soulweft Needle (1x)]
[Effect: Embed into another's spirit core to temporarily alter memory perception or loyalty. Duration: 1 hour.]
He turned the ghostly artifact between his fingers. It pulsed with eerie heat.
> One hour of loyalty is enough to shift the tide.
Below him, shouting erupted. A unit from Jade Roar Hall had clashed with two disciples from the Serpent Sigil Syndicate. Formations shattered. Qi exploded. One figure was thrown from the skirmish, tumbling down a slope.
A girl. Young. Her robes tattered, spiritual energy flickering weakly. Blood painted one side of her face.
Kai moved.
---
He caught her before she hit the bottom.
Startled eyes met his—dark amber irises full of pain and defiance.
> "Let me go," she rasped.
Kai didn't.
"Name."
> "Wen Qian… Jade Roar Hall. I don't need saving."
"I'm not saving you."
Before she could react, he drove the Soulweft Needle into her neck.
She screamed—but the sound faded into a quiet gasp as her pupils dilated.
[Effect Applied: Loyalty Anchor Established – 59:59 remaining]
"Listen carefully," Kai whispered. "You will return to your team. Tell them you escaped using a forbidden escape talisman. Say it was Serpent Sigil. Then relay their positioning to me. Understood?"
She nodded.
He let her go.
And just like that, she stumbled off, still dazed.
---
A thousand paces away…
Yao Heng's cousin, Yao Ming, now led the remnants of Serpent Sigil. Rage boiled in his blood.
> "He killed my brother. That bastard with the sovereign eyes—Kai Lin. I want his head."
He held up a soul-forged slip.
> "Track him."
---
Meanwhile, Lianhua Jin watched from a distance. She saw the girl limp back to her squad, say something. Moments later, the Jade Roar Hall formation shifted. They moved.
But Lianhua's eyes weren't on them.
They were on Kai—still standing where he'd been, now completely still.
She recognized that kind of stillness.
Predatory. Calculating. Waiting for a net to tighten.
---
Elsewhere in the Crimson Echo Realm
Kai moved silently through the scorched forest ruins. His face was calm. His steps deliberate.
Ahead, the ambush he'd orchestrated began to bloom.
Yao Ming's team closed in on a cliff edge, unaware they'd been fed a trap.
Exploding sigils burst beneath their feet.
Kai struck from the shadows.
Two down before they even screamed.
A third fell to Bloodshade Shadowstep, his head twisting the wrong way.
Yao Ming spun to face him—sword ignited with flame qi.
> "Coward!"
Kai said nothing.
He raised his hand. A pulse of sovereign intent flowed from his palm.
Sovereign's Will – Stage I: Suppression
Yao Ming dropped to one knee, unable to breathe.
Kai appeared behind him.
> "Your brother begged too."
Crack.
One strike to the spine. Yao Ming dropped.
Kai left the body cooling on the obsidian.
---
[System Alert: Trial Elimination Count – 14]
[Bonus Triggered: Passive Skill – Sovereign Domain I unlocked.]
[Effect: Within 20 meters, enemy spiritual sense reduced by 30%. Aura automatically asserts dominance over same-realm cultivators.]
Kai exhaled slowly.
> One step closer to total sovereignty.
---
Back at the Inner Sect, Elder Zhen watched the trial projection with a narrowed gaze.
Beside him, a junior elder muttered, "That disciple is too clean. Too perfect. He has no fear."
Zhen said nothing. But his hand rested on a jade ring—one with the Crimson Hall's sigil carved beneath a cover gem.
> You're waking up… Silent One.
---
Later that night, in the realm's dead zone, Lianhua intercepted Kai.
She didn't attack.
Not yet.
> "You used a soul-binding technique. On a disciple."
He looked at her.
> "Yes."
She stepped closer. "You know what that does to a cultivator's foundation if misused?"
"Yes."
"Then why—?"
"Because she's alive. And they're not."
Lianhua sighed.
> "You're not like the rest of us."
Kai turned away. "No. I'm not."
Then she whispered something that stopped him cold.
> "The Crimson Hall... wasn't destroyed. They were absorbed."
His eyes narrowed.
> "By who?"
She smiled faintly. "You'll see."
---