With a few days still remaining before the great Consul with the King and the continent's top powers, the Qin Clan shifted its focus to another crucial matter…
The Southern Continent Youth Tournament
The internal Qin Clan tournament had concluded.
But now—the real event began.
Held every four years, this tournament gathered the brightest young talents from across the South.
A stage where reputations were made or shattered.
A battlefield for the pride of clans and sects.
the Qin Clan bustled with the restless energy of warriors preparing for an event that would shake the entire Southern Continent.The internal clan trials were finished, but those had merely been the opening act.
Now came the true battlefield—the Southern Continent Youth Tournament.
Every four years, the brightest young cultivators gathered to carve their names into history.Clans and sects boasted, gambled, schemed; reputations rose and fell overnight; and for youths aged fourteen to eighteen, this stage was the very blade that would decide who soared and who shattered.
Though once counted among the Four Great Clans, only three banners hung proudly now: the Qin Clan, the Lei Clan, and the Rei Clan. The Pei Clan had been erased from existence, wiped out in a single night by shadows no one dared name. And though the Qin Clan survived the Red Blood Demon Sect's assault, they emerged battered, barely clinging to their status.
Their youth would decide whether they still deserved their throne.
Beside the clans stood two formidable sects—the Flame Sword Sect and the Dark Water Sect—forces equal to any clan, each sending their proudest disciples. Arrogant, competitive, and sharp as drawn blades, even they moved cautiously today; hidden masters lingered in the crowds, watching for any sign of another ambush.
And then the heavens themselves seemed to shift as envoys arrived from powers greater still.
The Eastern gates opened first for the Lute Royal Clan, rulers of the South and East. Moments later, oppressive auras surged from the western and northern entrances—the Wandering Gate Sect, masters of the West, and the Majestic Emperor Sect, sovereigns of the frozen North.
Their presence alone made the ground feel heavier beneath every step.Everyone understood: this tournament mattered.
Among the Qin Clan's competitors stood four young figures. Qin Rong, the fierce little cub. Qin Shui, steady and ambitious. Qin Wei, the newly risen talent whose flames burned brighter each passing day. And finally—Qin Su.
Calm eyes. Unreadable cultivation. Dangerous smile.A walking disaster wrapped in a youth's skin.
He had no intention of joining this tournament…Until Yuan Ai had—half joking, half threatening—promised him a certain private reward if he returned victorious.
Qin Su had treated that promise with all the seriousness of a sacred oath.
The Lei Clan's trio soon emerged—Lei Ma, loud and wild; Lei Fen, stern as tempered wind; and Lei Yong, their hidden ace. The Rei Clan followed, their steps graceful, led by a silver-blue-haired girl who stole every gaze in the audience.
Rei Hanxiang—gentle voice, sharp mind… and Qin Su's fiancée.
When Yuan Ai discovered this, she nearly snapped Qin Su's wrist in half.
"It was arranged when I was three!" Qin Su whispered urgently.
"Hmph."The jealous look she gave him promised punishment that transcended realms.
The Flame Sword Sect entered next, disciplined and blazing with sword intent.The Dark Water Sect glided in afterward, silent as night currents.
Finally, from the North came Princess Feng Lan, cold and stunning, and beside her—her mother, Empress Feng Rou, a mature beauty whose allure even Yuan Ai subconsciously respected. Qin Su swallowed hard. Surrounded by beauties from every direction… yet only one was allowed to kill him for staring.
The first rounds passed with dazzling displays of skill, but two events shook the arena.
First was Shui Ruo—the quiet, unassuming girl from Dark Water Sect—who emerged victorious in a battle no one believed she could win. Her calm demeanor masked frightening precision, and whispers spread that she had hidden her true strength deliberately.
The second was the shocking fall of Lei Yong. Once considered the favorite to dominate the early bracket, he found himself overwhelmed by the rising fire of Qin Wei. The moment Lei Yong fell to one knee, breath ragged and spirit broken, the arena erupted into stunned silence.
And so, anticipation swelled as the next names echoed across the colosseum:
"Qin Wei versus… Lei Fen!"
The crowd surged forward. This was a duel destined long before the announcement. Wind against fire. Pride against pride.
From opposite sides of the stone platform, the two youths stepped forth.
Qin Wei's crimson robe flickered with heat, his presence like a smoldering ember ready to ignite the heavens. Opposite him, Lei Fen walked with the ease of a breeze, every step in harmony with the air itself.
"Begin!" the officiating elder thundered.
Lei Fen vanished.
His figure dissolved into drifting currents, reappearing behind Qin Wei with a whisper of steel-like wind. Qin Wei moved calmly, conjuring a burning shield to block the razor arc that sought his throat. Flames burst, sparks flew, and the fight erupted like a storm.
Wind howled, slicing through the stage.Fire roared, scorching the ground black.
Lei Fen took to the air, riding his own current like an eagle. "Let me show you the true speed of the Lei Clan!" he shouted, forming a spiraling column of wind that descended upon Qin Wei like a violent tempest.
Qin Wei met the challenge with blazing steps, launching himself skyward in a fiery arc, crashing into the vortex with fists afire. The explosion lit the sky, sending shockwaves rippling through the arena.
Both fighters landed battered but resolute.
Lei Fen wiped blood from his lip. "Your flames… they bite."
"And your wind cuts deep," Qin Wei replied with a grim smile.
"Then it's time I stopped holding back!"
Wind erupted from Lei Fen, forming a domain that tore at the air itself, ripping stones from the ground. Within that vortex, he became a ghost—every slash a blur, every strike leaving lines of blood across Qin Wei's body.
"You cannot outrun the wind," Lei Fen whispered.
Qin Wei's smile deepened.
"Then I won't."
His flames collapsed inward, condensing into a point so dense the air quivered. His aura shrank—then exploded outward in a brilliant, molten gold eruption.
"Sunfire Core!"
A pillar of fire roared upward, devouring the wind, dragging Lei Fen toward its blazing heart. Lei Fen fought, struggling against the gravitational pull, but the vortex consumed his domain. Wind shattered. The stage trembled. And finally—Lei Fen was thrown backward, breath stolen, spirit energy disrupted.
Qin Wei approached him, flames dying down.
"You fought well," he said softly.
Lei Fen clenched his jaw, then smiled faintly. "Fire burns brightest today."
Qin Wei touched a gentle flame to his chest—a signal of defeat.
The elder raised his hand.
"Winner—Qin Wei!"
The arena erupted in thunderous cheers.
And above them all, in the highest stands, Qin Su watched with a knowing smile.
The Qin Clan's flames…were rising again.