They returned to Yanqi's private quarters, where he was seated on the floor, flipping through several old manuals. He looked up the moment they entered. His eyes went straight to Aoyan—now healed, though her steps were stiff. He smiled lightly.
"So," he asked, "how did it go?"
Aoyan didn't answer. She just lowered her eyes.
Yanqi exhaled softly. "I'll take that as a no, then."
But the way she kept her head bowed made him frown. Aoyan had always been the type to burn with anger after a loss—not shrink in shame. Something was wrong.
"Can we… talk about it later?" she muttered.
Yanqi nodded. His gaze flicked toward Lin Shu. The boy understood instantly and tugged Kai with him as they stepped out.
Aoyan sat across from her master, clutching her sleeves as she began.
"I met Chi Jue and Chi Yue."
Yanqi raised an eyebrow but stayed silent.
"I had just finished the match. That 'Rampage' guy… he was strong. Too strong. He beat me so easily I couldn't even react." Her voice tightened, but she pushed on. "I got angry. Then I ran into Jue and Yue. They started provoking me so… I tried fighting them."
Yanqi nodded. That was exactly the kind of thing she'd do.
"But…" her voice cracked. "I couldn't touch them. Not once. They tore straight through my defense and they were about to cut me—actually cut me—until Li pulled me out. Then Kai blasted them away. And then Chi Ran showed up, saved them, and tried to hit me and Kai. Li stopped her. She left after that, but she said Su was warning me to drop out of the heir race."
Yanqi stayed quiet for a moment, watching her tremble.
"And what," he asked softly, "are you ashamed of?"
Aoyan bit her lip hard. Her eyes wavered.
"I… I couldn't do anything," she whispered. "Without Li and Kai I would've been beaten again. I couldn't even stand against Jue and Yue when they were just playing with me. So I… I don't think I can…"
She couldn't finish.
"You don't think you can win against the other heirs," Yanqi said for her.
Her red eyes glistened. She didn't look up. She didn't need to.
Yanqi sighed, leaned forward, and spoke gently.
"Aoyan, listen to me. There's no shame in needing help. None. Everyone relies on someone. Even those two needed Chi Fan to pull them out. Even the other heirs need elders behind them. And you—you have me. You have your mother. And maybe… maybe Li and Kai can be people you rely on someday too. There is no shame in that."
Aoyan lifted her head slightly, tears threatening to spill.
"As for strength—so what if you lost today? You're not behind. You're just still learning how to walk. All you need now is to learn how to run. And once you do, you'll catch up. You'll surpass them."
She nodded, trembling.
Yanqi reached over and ruffled her hair, gentle but firm.
"Cry now. Let it out. But when you're done, move forward. If you fall again, I'll be here to help you back up. Now go—rest. We'll train later."
Aoyan wiped her eyes, nodded, and walked away.
When she left, Yanqi leaned back, expression darkening.
"So those old bastards are sending their little contenders here," he muttered. "Trying to corner her while I'm not watching…"
He tapped the manual against his knee.
"Li and Kai will have to protect her for now. Kai's easy—he's paying his debts and seems to like it here. He might stay even after the contract ends. But Li…"
Yanqi narrowed his eyes.
"That boy is too sharp for his own age. Which makes him easy to buy—not just by me. I need to make sure he understands that he's either on my side or against me."
He sighed.
"I wanted him only to support Aoyan in the arena, not outside. But I'll give him what he wants, so long as it's not too much. He's valuable. Very valuable. And he'll be the one to guard her once the elders start bribing fighters… or sending their own to eliminate Aoyan in the arena."
His jaw tightened.
"Death matches… They'll try it eventually. That's when they'll make their move."
And with that thought, Yanqi closed the manual with a soft thud.
Lin Shu and Kai were walking outside Yanqi's private lodgings when Lin Shu stopped. Ahead of them, seated on a plain wooden chair in the corridor, was a young man who had been climbing the Bronze Rank with astonishing speed—Rampage.
Several men in matching uniforms surrounded him, their voices low, urgent. Agents. Lin Shu recognized the type immediately.
Rampage looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else.
Despite rejecting them at least five times already, the agents refused to leave. Over the past few weeks, more and more invitations—some friendly, some threatening—had been piling onto him. Rampage wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what was happening.
A lone rogue fighter rising too fast makes agents look useless. If a man can climb the ranks alone, why would anyone pay an agent?
He knew exactly where this road was leading—forced recruitment, "accidents," or being cornered by a team with too much influence to refuse.
But he didn't want a team. His entire plan depended on climbing the Arena alone. That solo rise would make him famous, untouchable, a symbol of power without backing. That kind of name could be sold for anything.
He had other reasons as well.
He couldn't join established teams—once they discovered his low cultivation talent, they would throw him aside or use him only as a disposable fighter.
He couldn't join new teams—they were often unstable, disloyal, or downright dangerous.
He needed something in the middle.
So far, he'd only found one team that fit even remotely into that category—
the one with Detonator, Behemoth, and Redrose.
New, but led by a seasoned agent who actually knew how the Arena worked.
Detonator was strong, Behemoth even stronger.
Redrose…
Rampage's jaw tightened slightly.
Tricks alone had been enough to beat her. She was too inexperienced, too reckless—some pampered flower who got everything handed to her.
He simply didn't believe she belonged on the same stage as him.
When Rampage noticed Behemoth and Detonator glancing toward him from across the hall, he considered—for the first time in days—whether he should take the offer he had mocked earlier.
Maybe I spoke too harshly. The team isn't hopeless. She can't drag it down alone. And those other agents want too much for too little.
I should see how far I can go before someone tries forcing a contract down my throat…
Lin Shu slowed his steps, observing quietly. His eyes behind his plain mask flicked once toward Rampage before he continued walking, Kai following shortly behind.
Kai finally broke the silence.
"Where exactly are we going again?"
Lin Shu didn't look at him. "I'm just walking. We'll return to train with Yanqi later."
Kai shrugged and matched his pace, hands behind his head as they drifted deeper into the Arena's inner ring.
Lin Shu returned with Kai to Yanqi's private lodgings. The moment they stepped inside, they saw Aoyan in the courtyard, sweat dripping from her chin as she practiced her footwork. Her beast lay curled nearby, fast asleep, its breathing steady and deep.
Yanqi stood behind her with his arms folded, quietly correcting her posture, adjusting her stance, occasionally tapping the ground with his foot when she lost balance.
When he noticed Lin Shu and Kai, he gestured for them to come forward.
"Join her," he said simply.
Both boys nodded. Kai rolled his shoulders as he walked over, while Lin Shu silently placed his mask aside before entering the practice square. Soon, the three of them were moving under Yanqi's careful supervision—trading blows, testing footwork, shifting between solo drills and synchronized combinations.
After the session ended, Yanqi addressed them.
"The following year," he said, "will be devoted entirely to training. I want the three of you to become compatible—not only in teamwork, but in rhythm, instinct, and killing intent. You will perfect your techniques and refine what you already have."
His tone softened slightly as he looked at Lin Shu and Kai.
"And… for helping Aoyan, I will share some valuable knowledge with each of you. Think of it as thanks."
Lin Shu listened without blinking. The gratitude was real—but beneath the surface, the words carried weight, like a blade resting quietly in its sheath.
Yanqi continued, his smile gentle but empty.
"If you continue helping her… I will help you even more."
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Lin Shu gave a respectful nod. He understood perfectly. Trust from someone like Yanqi was never a gift—it was a contract. Accepting it meant accepting the consequences should he ever break it. If Yanqi offered a hand, he would not hesitate to cut it off if betrayed.
Lin Shu had no intention of testing that.
---
Months passed.
Training consumed every day.
Lin Shu, Kai, and Aoyan fought alone and side by side, learning each other's rhythms until their movements began to align naturally. They accumulated victories—many of them—but also losses. The Arena's constantly changing rules for special matches often tilted the battlefield in unexpected ways. Sometimes they won through sheer adaptation; sometimes they fell short by a breath.
Still, their climb was steady.
Lin Shu was now only three matches away from entering the Silver League. Kai needed five, and Aoyan six.
Lin Shu continued absorbing the Blue-Sky Shards Yanqi had given him. He'd consumed all of them by now, but he estimated he only needed another year to reach the High Stage of Rank 1.
Fourteen years old, High Rank 1.
A terrifying speed for someone with a rank-one talent.
And beyond raw cultivation, he was learning things he had never heard of—techniques, principles, concepts absent from any institute he had studied in, knowledge he never found in academies or libraries.
Yanqi was opening doors he didn't even know existed.
And Lin Shu was absorbing everything.
Every lesson.
Every detail.
Every weakness.
Every opportunity.
He knew better than anyone: knowledge was a weapon sharper than any blade in the Arena.