1. Shadows Behind the Bracket
The arena was still.
Liang Bao had been carried away on a floating stretcher, eyes wide open, mind gone. The medics didn't even try to talk to him—they knew he wasn't coming back the same.
Above, the brackets shimmered with magic as they realigned.
Then—
"Next Match: Lee Haneul vs. Yeom Sojin."
Gasps rippled through the crowd like aftershocks.
Not because of Haneul.
Because of Sojin.
2. The Blade of Execution
Yeom Sojin.
Not a prodigy. Not cursed. Not famous.
But known—among sect elders, rogue clans, and executioners. She was the Alliance's "last sword," a cultivator raised in secret for one purpose: to kill those who couldn't be killed.
Tall. Pale. Wrapped in grey-white robes that smelled of incense and burnt talismans. She carried no blade—but everyone knew she was a blade.
A walking death sentence.
"Why send her?" murmured the Second King.
"This isn't a duel," said the First King. "It's a message."
In the shadows, the Murim Leader watched.
He whispered to himself:
"If he falters here, he cannot wear the Crown."
3. The Battle Begins
When Haneul stepped onto the platform, he didn't bow.
Sojin didn't either.
They just existed—two presences facing off like winter and silence.
The crowd didn't cheer this time.
They were too scared to blink.
Sojin raised a single hand, her fingers twisting midair as glowing spirit blades began forming around her—twenty, thirty, fifty—all suspended like stars orbiting a dying sun.
"Do not blink," she said.
Haneul closed his eyes.
The first blade shot forward—and stopped an inch from his cheek.
Sojin frowned.
The arena cracked beneath their feet.
4. A Duel Without Steps
This was no flashy martial arts sequence.
There were no flying kicks. No swords clashing.
Just will.
Sojin's entire body was an aura construct, honed to react to divine pressure. Her Qi didn't flow—it sliced. She was designed to counter Origin-style cultivation by overwhelming all three Dantians before they could sync.
But something was wrong.
Her strikes weren't hitting.
Even when she was inches away, even when she feinted, flipped, redirected—Haneul was always exactly where she wasn't.
Not dodging.
Just absent.
Sojin growled. "Are you… phasing?"
Haneul opened his eyes for the first time.
"No."
"I just walk quieter than death."
5. Origin Sync: Stage Two
Sojin backed up fast—too fast.
And then she saw it.
His third Dantian.
Not fully awakened, but pulsing.
The Life Flame burned dimly beneath his navel, hinting that he was nearing true sync between Mind, Spirit, and Life. A state even the gods feared.
Sojin's eyes widened. "Impossible."
But Haneul wasn't done.
He stepped forward—once.
The platform behind him collapsed.
One step, and the space around him bent inward. Not like a domain.
More like a vacuum.
The Silent Step Technique—amplified by his synced Mind and Spirit Dantians—was eating sound itself.
Even Sojin couldn't sense it.
She dropped to one knee.
And then…
A single invisible cut appeared across her cheek.
6. The Surrender
She stood back up, straightened her robe, and bowed low.
Not to surrender.
But in respect.
"I was told to kill you," she said quietly.
"But I'm not suicidal."
The match was over.
7. Above the Arena
In the highest booth, the shadow council that had planned the assassination shifted uncomfortably.
The tattooed man leaned in.
"Change of plans."
"Kill the Leader later."
"Kill him now."