The Outer Sect Arena buzzed with tension.
Hundreds of disciples gathered, their breath misting in the cool morning air as they circled a wide stone platform carved into the mountainside. Stone runes pulsed faintly beneath their feet—remnants of an ancient formation that once restrained Soul Beasts during duels.
Today, it would restrain humans.
The announcement of the Inner Disciple Selection Trials had come earlier than expected, throwing the entire outer sect into chaos. For most disciples, it was a distant dream. For Rui Yan, it was an opportunity.
"I need resources—faster. Spirit pills, soul herbs, technique scrolls. Advancing within the sect will give me access… and draw the attention I need."
Because somewhere in this sect, one of his betrayers was already born.
And they didn't know who he was.
Not yet.
Rui stood near the back, cloaked in silence, eyes half-closed. His soul had stabilized after consuming the Soulroot Ore. His techniques were crude, but effective.
More importantly, he remembered everything—his past life's knowledge of techniques, weaknesses, hidden formations, and more.
A luxury no one else possessed.
"Next match! Disciple Lin Tian vs Disciple Rui Yan!"
The name made several nearby heads turn.
"Wait, that Rui Yan? The cursed one?"
"Didn't he get beaten half to death last week?"
"He's going to die for real this time."
Rui ignored them.
He stepped onto the arena as the warding formation flared. Across from him stood a confident youth with short silver hair, dressed in dark green robes stitched with blade insignias—Lin Tian, top-ranked outer disciple and a rising star of the Inner Blade Path.
He smirked. "You've got some nerve showing up. Still alive, after what happened to Bo Shan? Maybe I'll fix that."
"Bo Shan. Lin Tian's little lackey in the past. Trash then, trash now."
Rui said nothing.
The elder at the edge raised a talisman.
"Begin!"
Lin Tian moved first—fast, clean, a wave of blade light shooting from his palm. Wind Blade Slash, low-grade but lethal at full power.
Rui sidestepped.
The air hummed as the attack passed inches from his face, splitting a pillar behind him.
Lin Tian didn't stop. He lunged forward, unleashing a storm of strikes.
Rui raised his hand, fingers forming a claw.
🔥 [Soul Grasp – Flickering Bind]
A black pulse of soul energy rippled from Rui's hand, wrapping around Lin Tian's incoming strike.
The sword halted—shuddered—then trembled in his grip.
"What—?!"
Rui's other hand struck forward, a brutal palm into Lin Tian's chest. He amplified it with a burst of inner flame. Soul-Weight Burst—a technique from his past life that multiplied the spiritual force of impact.
Lin Tian staggered, coughing blood, spiritual flow disrupted.
Rui's eyes narrowed.
"Still breathing. Not good enough."
He stepped forward again—but this time, he didn't strike.
Instead, he whispered.
"Tell me, Lin Tian… do you still dream of the girl you betrayed? Yue'er?"
The boy froze. "What… what did you just say?"
In his last life, Lin Tian had manipulated an innocent girl for her clan's cultivation method. Left her to die when she was exposed as a spy. Rui remembered her screams during the fire.
Lin Tian blinked. His pupils shrank.
"He doesn't recognize me, but his guilt remembers."
Rui raised his hand again, Black Ember flaring.
🔥 [Soul Grasp – Shattering Coil]
Lin Tian screamed as his soul briefly ruptured—not destroyed, but rattled. The pain was real.
"Enough!" The elder slammed his staff into the platform. "Victory: Rui Yan!"
Silence fell across the arena.
Rui turned away, his robes soaked with sweat.
"One down. Many to go."
Far above the arena, hidden in the clouds, a talisman floated silently.
It pulsed once… then vanished into the sky.
In the heart of the Thousand Blade Sect, an elder in a silver robe frowned as he read the message.
"...Soul path fluctuations in the arena? Who allowed that technique to be used?"
His fingers tapped a jade plate. "Rui Yan… hmm."
Meanwhile, Rui Yan stood at the base of the mountain, alone again.
He looked to the east, where a purple mountain range marked the borders of the Celestial Harmony Pavilion's territory.
His voice was a whisper, but the wind carried it far.
"I remember your faces. I remember how you laughed when I fell."
"Laugh now, while you can."