The next morning arrived with Lin Shu already on his feet, his body moving through a series of stretches as he assessed his condition. His wounds had closed completely, the skin beneath his torn clothes smooth and unblemished where the scroll's power had done its work. He extended his arm, clenching and unclenching his fist, feeling the familiar strength return to his muscles.
"I should be all healed up now," he said, more to himself than to anyone else.
Aoyan stirred beside him, her eyes fluttering open. She blinked, orienting herself, then sat up quickly when she saw him standing. "You should take it easy, Li. You were badly injured yesterday."
"It's fine. I'm all healed up now." He reached for his spatial ring, pulling out a fresh shirt. "Let's go. We'll be leaving now."
Aoyan nodded, pushing herself up. "Alright."
She followed him out of the cave, watching as white ivory armor began to flow from his skin, coating his torso and limbs in its protective shell before he pulled the shirt over it. The night still held the sky in its grip, stars scattered across the darkness like scattered diamonds.
"Maybe two hours before sunrise," Lin Shu estimated, his eyes adjusting to the gloom.
He walked toward the edge of the cliff where Kai and Shang had been keeping watch. The scene that greeted him made him pause—Kai lay sprawled on the ground, thoroughly unconscious, while Shang's foot rested squarely on his face as if it were the most natural pillow in the world.
Lin Shu crouched beside them and nudged both figures. Kai stirred first, groaning as awareness slowly returned. His eyes focused on Lin Shu, and his face split into a wide grin.
"Li!" Kai scrambled to sit up, dislodging Shang's foot in the process. "You're all healed up! Great! We thought something might have gone wrong when Aoyan wouldn't let us come in at all."
Aoyan crossed her arms defensively. "That's because these two kept talking nonstop and wouldn't have let you rest."
Lin Shu laughed quietly, the sound surprising even himself. He looked at Shang, who remained blissfully unconscious despite the commotion. Kai followed his gaze and nudged the sleeping figure. Nothing. He shook him harder, then harder still, until Shang finally jerked awake.
"It's still night, damn it! Let me sleep!"
"We're leaving, chicken wings," Kai announced. "Get up."
Shang rubbed his eyes, smearing sleep from his face as he looked around. His gaze landed on Lin Shu, and his expression transformed into immediate delight. "Oh! Li! Haha! You're all healed up, brother!"
He stood in one fluid motion, surprisingly graceful for someone who'd just been dead to the world, and threw an arm around Lin Shu's shoulders. The height difference was noticeable—Shang had a good few inches on him.
Lin Shu pushed the arm away. "Just get ready. We're leaving now."
Shang's grin didn't fade. He looked at Kai triumphantly. "See? He didn't deny it! The three of us are brothers! All we have to do now is find our last brother, Yu."
Lin Shu smiled, though there was something sinister behind it. "I agree. I do want to meet my 'new brother' again."
Shang laughed, slapping him on the back hard enough to make a lesser cultivator stumble. "That's the spirit! Now let's go see our brother!" He leaned closer to Lin Shu, lowering his voice conspiratorially while glancing at Aoyan. "We also need to get you guys your hearts. But don't tell anyone about this."
Lin Shu looked at Shang with genuine confusion. "Is this guy a nutcase?" He was beginning to think that playing along with this 'brother' business might not have been the wisest strategy.
They moved out quickly, descending from the mountain and plunging back into the forest's depths. The trees closed around them, the familiar shadows of the hunt reclaiming them.
"So where are we heading now?" Kai asked, matching Lin Shu's pace.
"We're going to look for everyone I fought yesterday," Lin Shu replied. "I want their points." He glanced at Shang. "Speaking of points, how many do you have?"
Shang shrugged. "Well, I have around eight thousand or something. Why?"
Lin Shu's face remained perfectly neutral, but the number registered immediately. Shang caught something in his expression, a flicker of calculation that even Lin Shu couldn't completely hide.
"You're not going to steal my points now, are you?" Shang asked, his tone somewhere between joking and genuinely suspicious.
Lin Shu laughed smoothly. "Of course not. Why would I steal my brother's points?"
Shang looked at him skeptically as they ran. "Yeah, he's definitely going to try and steal them," Shang thought. "But maybe I can make that work for me somehow."
---
Back in the arena, the atmosphere in the elders' section had shifted. Yanqi sat with a barely concealed smile of satisfaction, watching the leaderboard update. He hadn't been able to see his disciples for a while—the mountain's location had been outside the vision cube's range—but now they were back in the hunt, and more importantly, they were alive.
"Good," he murmured. "They're all fine."
Kuang Baotu stroked his beard, his expression thoughtful. "Not bad, not bad. Your disciples are quite impressive." He turned to Yanqi with obvious curiosity. "But mind me asking—what's Li's talent?"
Yanqi didn't mind answering. In fact, he welcomed the question. This information would only enhance his disciple's reputation and fuel conversations throughout Gloomvale for weeks. "His talent is quite unimpressive, actually. Rank 1."
Tianhun's head snapped toward him. "What? Did that moron of a disciple of mine lose to a Rank 1 talent?"
Tianhun had been perfectly accepting of his disciple's defeat—Xie Lang was hotheaded and reckless, and losses were part of growth. But this was different. A three-rank gap in talent should have been insurmountable. The idea that his grandson had been bested by someone so fundamentally beneath him in potential was difficult to swallow.
Kuang Baotu was equally surprised. "Is that so? To reach that level of strength with a Rank 1 talent is remarkable."
Lu Zhenhai maintained his composed exterior, but internally, he was reeling. "Han Lei struggled against a Rank 1 talent? That was not in my calculations when I came here."
Kuang Baotu continued his interrogation, his interest in Lin Shu clearly piqued. Before he could ask another question, footsteps approached—heavy, measured, accompanied by the distinctive clink of armor. A man in full imperial regalia walked toward them, the empire's symbol emblazoned on his chestplate.
Kuang Baotu's face lit up with recognition. "Ah, General Tianxue! I thought you wouldn't make it, given how late it is."
Tianxue took a seat beside Tianhun and Baotu, his presence commanding immediate attention. "My apologies. I had important matters to attend to—a certain group has been running rampant lately, and dealing with them took precedence." He waved a dismissive hand. "But that's not important now. Tell me, how is my grandson performing?"
Tianhun gestured toward the massive leaderboard floating above the arena. "Take a look for yourself. He's currently in fourth place with 22040points."
Everyone's eyes drifted to the board. Tianxue's expression warmed with approval. Yanqi, however, was more interested in his own disciples' positions.
Aoyan remained where she was, near the bottom, as did Kai. Shang had climbed to 8590 points, a respectable showing. Yu had amassed 12,400, placing him solidly in the upper ranks. But it was Lin Shu who drew Yanqi's attention—over 16,000 points, securing the seventh spot.
"Seventh place," Yanqi thought, genuinely impressed. "I didn't expect him to do that well."
His eyes traveled higher. The top spots were occupied by disciples from the major sects and a few representatives sent directly by the Empire. First place belonged to someone named Zaisheng—a name none of them recognized. The cube showed flashes of his fights: one-sided massacres where he moved through opponents like a force of nature. His hair was black, the ends tipped with a deep, almost violet shade, and he carried no weapon. His physical power was so tremendous that he didn't need one.
"Li is strong," Yanqi mused, "but I don't think he could take that guy alone. From the strength Zaisheng has shown—and he hasn't even been trying—he's already at least half as strong as Li at Li's absolute peak. If he went all out, I'd guess he'd be twice as powerful. Maybe more."
Second place belonged to an Ironblood Sect disciple with 26,120 points. Third was a Venomheart disciple with 24,970. Fifth was another Ironblood, with 19,480. Sixth was someone named Haoyo, with 16,980—barely edging out Lin Shu.
"The second-place holder isn't as dangerous as the first," Yanqi analyzed. "He might be a little more powerful than Li, but only because he likely has an artifact or scroll capable of mimicking a true Rank 2 technique. That's the only edge he has. Li's armor and his seemingly endless Crucible reserves give him superior offense and the ability to prolong fights. No one can stall him out."
He made a mental note. "I need to find out what that armor is made of. When he was fighting, it turned white at one point. That means the dark material is just a coating. The material beneath is something else entirely. If I can identify it, I might be able to provide him with something to enhance it further—a reward for his performance."
His eyes found familiar names lower on the board. Kun and Mang sat at 21st and 22nd respectively. And Su—after losing her ring to Lin Shu—had plummeted all the way to 890th place.
Yanqi smiled.
Nearby, the conversation continued. Tianxue was speaking with Tianhun, his tone carrying a hint of competitive edge. "I see your disciple is only at the 12th spot. A little behind compared to mine, wouldn't you say?"
Tianhun laughed, unbothered. "Your grandson has been bullying those younger and weaker than him. My disciple, on the other hand, has fought multiple opponents all within the top twenty. His hardest fight was against the seventh spot—Yanqi's disciple."
Tianxue glanced at the board, then back at Tianhun. "Aoyan? I didn't expect her to be that powerful. Impressive."
Tianhun quickly corrected him. "No, not Aoyan she isn't that powerful. It's Yanqi's other disciple—a fighter in the arena named Li."
Tianxue nodded, scanning the board for the name. Yanqi felt a flicker of displeasure at the assumption about Aoyan but quickly suppressed it. "He's right, though. She's considered quite weak in the arena. Not even in the top 100 yet. That's my fault for spoiling her too much. Something I never expected to do, but... she got the better of me in the end."
Lu Zhenhai spoke up, his analytical mind working through the rankings. "Second place belongs to an Ironblood disciple with 26,120 points. Third is a Venomheart with 24,970. Fifth is another Ironblood with 19,480. Sixth is Haoyo with 16,980—just barely above Yanqi's disciple, who I see has already started moving back into the hunt."
He scrolled through the board, finding his niece and nephew. "Han Yi is currently 17th with 6,200 points. Han Lei is 9th with 11,320." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "If Lei can defeat Li or anyone else close to his ranking, he'll be guaranteed second place. With a little more, he might even challenge for first. The resonance would be useless to us—our techniques align with lightning—but I could trade it with another clan. The Chi Clan, perhaps. They're mostly Flame Path users. He just has to win it."
Kuang Baotu was about to respond when a man approached and whispered in his ear. A smile spread across the elder's face.
"Alright," Baotu announced. "The next stage of the hunt will begin now."
Everyone raised their eyebrows. Below, in the center of the arena, the announcer's voice boomed through the massive space.
"Dear guests! As we enter the third day, the second stage of the hunt will commence with new rules. Allow me to explain."
---
Deep in the forest, Kun and Mang stood over three corpses, their breathing heavy but controlled. Mang nudged one of the bodies with his foot. "Do you think Su killed all of them already? If so, we've lost a lot of points."
Kun shook his head. "There's still enough time. This is only the thir—"
A voice, amplified and ubiquitous, cut through the forest from every direction.
"Dear contestants! To celebrate the third day of the hunt, a new set of rules will be implemented. First, each contestant is required to place their tokens on their clothing, pockets or under their armor. Do not even think of placing an empty token—we will know. Second, the previous rule of taking a token to claim its points has been changed. Now, you simply need to destroy the token. The points will be transferred to whoever destroys it. Third and finally, the radius of the hunt map will be halved. You will know the boundaries by the 'cube eyes' located throughout the forest. These devices are why you can hear me now. They will also indicate safe zones with a green color and disqualification zones with red. If you are within ten meters of any red eye for more than one minute, you will be disqualified. You will keep the points and ranking you have earned so far, of course. You have two hours before the eyes begin to change. Hurry."
Across the forest, every contestant heard the announcement. Reactions varied—curses, grim smiles, determined nods.
A young man walked through a field of destruction, corpses scattered behind him like fallen leaves. His black hair reached his upper neck, the ends tipped with deep violet. Each step he took left a faint crack in the earth beneath.
He looked up at the sky, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I wonder what my ranking is now. I should try for first place. Father always liked to be a winner, after all."
He continued walking, the ground protesting under his feet with every step.