The silver monolith's core finally broke open.
A shaft of light shot into the sky, ripping through the clouds and shaking the entire realm. The pressure hit like a tidal wave. Sand vaporized into silver mist. Cracks tore across the basin floor.
The first to react were the apex geniuses.
Fang Jian's spear roared with power. Yue Qianhan's moonlight sharpened until it hummed like blades. Jiang Tianlong sprinted forward in a thunderous flash. Qi Hongxuan vanished from sight entirely.
The secondary geniuses weren't far behind. Yan Yue's frost swept across the ground. Nie Xuan flickered through the shadows. Xu Hong hurled a burning seal that ripped a trench through the sand. Wu Lian's mind-pressure sliced the turbulence apart like invisible blades.
Everyone was aiming at the core.
Everyone except Lin Qing—who walked, unbothered, the Mirror Heart Lotus bending every shockwave around him without effort.
From the edge of the basin, Tian Ke screamed:
"Heir Lin Qing! You're supposed to dodge things!"
Li Chun yelled over him:
"If you die, I will personally haunt your corpse!"
Lin Qing kept walking.
The core pulsed again, sending a blast of force that threw several geniuses back. Fang Jian slammed his spear into the ground to anchor himself. Yue Qianhan slid backward, carving lines in the sand with moonlight. Jiang Tianlong tumbled through the air before righting himself with a curse.
Only Lin Qing remained unmoved.
Xu Hong wiped blood from his chin and clenched his fists.
"He's not human."
Nie Xuan muttered, "Realm favoritism. Ridiculous."
Yue Qianhan's gaze lingered.
"Or fate."
Lin Qing ignored them. He simply took another step.
That was enough to provoke the competition.
Fang Jian pounced first, spear sweeping out with enough power to split a cliff. Lin Qing shifted sideways a hair—and the spear slid past as if deflected by an unseen surface.
Jiang Tianlong barreled in next, fist wrapped in lightning. Lin Qing stopped the punch with a single open palm. The air rippled… and then the thunder dispersed like dust scattering in the wind.
Yue Qianhan floated beside him, moonlight circling.
"One step closer, and we'll all attack at once."
Lin Qing smiled politely.
"Then don't blink."
He took another step.
The entire basin reacted.
Silver light spiraled upward.
The ground trembled.
The geniuses launched themselves forward at the same time.
Fang Jian's spear swept down with deadly precision. Lin Qing ducked under it and let the spear's momentum pull its wielder past him.
Yan Yue lunged with a frost-coated blade. Lin Qing tapped the flat of the sword. Ice shattered in a ringing burst.
Nie Xuan's shadow coil whipped around Lin Qing's ankle—but unraveled before touching him, shredded by the lotus's invisible barrier.
Wu Lian's mind-pressure slammed toward him like a sledgehammer. Lin Qing blinked, and the pressure dispersed like mist.
Qi Hongxuan reappeared behind him, hand raised for a kill strike—
Lin Qing turned slightly.
Qi Hongxuan froze.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered in his eyes.
"This realm bends for him," he whispered.
"It's recognizing him."
The others heard it.
They attacked harder.
The sand turned into a storm of blades, frost, shadows, lightning, and mental force. Geniuses clashed with geniuses. The air howled. Light erupted in waves.
Yet Lin Qing kept advancing.
Five meters from the core, he stopped.
The monolith glowed like molten silver. Raw power spilled out, enough to carve through anyone who touched it. The geniuses struggled against the pressure, each inch forward costing them blood and bone.
Lin Qing lifted his hand toward the core—
And the entire world detonated.
A blinding flash swallowed everything.
Sound vanished.
The ground crumbled.
The realm itself screamed.
Every cultivator was flung backward like leaves in a hurricane.
Lin Qing felt himself pulled upward—no, outward—ripped from the realm by a force older than the continent.
As he vanished into the light, he heard a voice—deep, weary, ancient, and bitter:
"The seven Immortal Clans still guard my sin."
Another breath.
"When you touch the Heavenly Mirror… the truth will follow."
Then everything went white.
When Lin Qing opened his eyes, he was outside the secret realm—lying in a crater of shattered stone—while every genius around him coughed, staggered, or bled from exertion.
He looked around.
Everyone stared at him.
Fang Jian wiped blood from his lips.
"…You touched it."
Yue Qianhan steadied her breathing.
"The monolith reacted to you."
Qi Hongxuan stood still, eyes unreadable.
"Whatever it showed you… the rest of us weren't allowed to see."
Jiang Tianlong spat out a mouthful of dust.
"Damn you, Mirror Boy. You steal the spotlight every single time."
Lin Qing sat up, dazed.
"Can we… go home now?"
Behind them, the secret realm collapsed into falling silver dust—its core exhausted, its inheritance sealed away for another century.
Lin Qing was the last one pushed out.
And the only one who heard the message.