The third day began without sunlight.
The sky was a dull iron gray—as if the heavens themselves sensed that something terrible was approaching.
The morning wind cut through the sect like a blade.Disciples spoke in whispers.Instructors stood unusually alert.Even spirit beasts hidden within the mountain forests refused to call out.
Zhou Shan hugged himself and muttered:
"Bro… this is it… the air smells like a funeral… please tell me it's not yours…"
Lian Hong did not answer.
His body still carried bruises from yesterday's void training.His mind still replayed the sensation of blades emerging from absolute nothingness.
But his senses—
were sharper.
His instincts—
were colder.
His breathing—
steady.
He was ready for the next stage.
Or so he hoped.
Disciples across the outer sect continued whispering:
"He went into the southern cavern?""Is he insane!?""Only three disciples in ten years survived that training!""And he's still walking?""No wonder Gu Xiang is panicking.""They say the masked killer is already on the move."
Rumors swirled like dark birds.
Some of fear.Some of awe.All of inevitability.
The masked killer—a presence so deadly that even the instructors avoided speaking his name—would arrive tomorrow night.
And the whole sect felt it.
On the cliffside, Rank 1 Mu Yanting practiced alone, swinging his wooden sword at the empty air.
Each strike carved a thin vacuum wave across the cliffside.Rocks shattered into dust.
A junior disciple approached carefully.
"Senior Mu… Lian Hong has completed Stage One of the void training."
Mu Yanting stopped his blade mid-air.
"…Already?"
"Yes, Senior."
Mu Yanting's grip tightened.
He whispered:
"Then Stage Two will break him."
The junior hesitated.
"You don't… want him broken, do you?"
Mu Yanting lowered his sword.
"I want him forged."
His eyes burned like embers.
"Because if he dies tomorrow—then he wasn't worthy of standing beside me."
In a bamboo grove filled with morning mist, Xu Jian practised calligraphy again.
This time he wrote a single character:
[断]Break.
A senior disciple stood behind him with a report.
"Senior Xu… more and more disciples are choosing to avoid Lian Hong. They fear being caught in the crossfire when the masked killer comes."
Xu Jian smiled faintly.
"As they should."
He dipped his brush into ink.
"What of Mu Yanting?"
"He is watching Lian Hong more closely."
Xu Jian nodded.
"Good. That means he recognizes the boy's potential."
He finished the second character:
[命]Fate.
The disciple swallowed nervously.
"Senior… will you still challenge Lian Hong on Day 4, if he lives?"
Xu Jian's eyes sharpened like a blade.
"If he lives…he will be worthy of crossing swords with me."
He set down his brush.
"And if he dies—the world loses a future threat."
Su Qingyue sat inside a quiet pavilion overlooking a tranquil lake.
She should have been cultivating.She should have been preparing for her own ranking trials.She should have been ignoring the turmoil.
But she wasn't.
She stared at a single jade slip glowing softly on the table.
It wasn't hers.It was Wei Feng's.
A message he left her:
"Do not interfere."
She touched the surface gently.
Her heart clenched.
She whispered:
"I know I shouldn't…but I won't watch him die."
She stood and walked toward the inner peaks.
Today—she would prepare her own way to help him.
Even if it broke a rule.
Even if it cost her something.
Even if it made her a target.
In his sealed chamber, Gu Xiang knelt before a black altar.
The flame representing the masked killer flickered violently.
Growing stronger.
Closer.
He spoke to the flame:
"You will arrive soon."
The flame pulsed in response, as if breathing.
Gu Xiang smiled.
Cold.Cruel.Eager.
"He has survived far too much.He is becoming something dangerous."
He lifted a dagger and sliced a drop of blood onto the altar.
It sizzled instantly.
"I will not allow another Mu Yanting to rise from the outer sect."
He pressed his forehead to the stone.
"Kill him."
The flame roared.
Lian Hong stepped onto the elite training plateau.
Every disciple froze.
Conversations died.Movements halted.
No one approached him.
No one dared to greet him.
Some looked at him in awe.
Others in fear.
Others with envy twisting their expressions.
Zhou Shan muttered:
"Bro… it's official. You're not a person anymore. You're a walking natural disaster."
But Lian Hong felt none of it.
Because he sensed something else—
A subtle shift in the air.
A ripple.
A disturbance.
He turned toward the mountain path.
Zhou Shan followed his gaze.
"Bro… what is it?"
Lian Hong answered quietly:
"A presence.But not one from the sect."
Zhou Shan's blood ran cold.
"You mean—the masked killer—?!"
Lian Hong shook his head.
"…No."
But this presence was still deadly.
It moved like a serpent coiling in the grass.
Silent.Precise.Intentional.
The kind of presence that belonged to someone trained—someone dangerous—someone sent.
Zhou Shan swallowed loudly.
"Then who…?"
Lian Hong's eyes narrowed.
"Someone who came to test me."
He stepped forward.
The mountain path rustled.
A figure emerged.
Not masked.Not cloaked.Not an assassin.
A girl.
Wearing the robes of a high-ranked inner disciple.
Her aura sharp as frost.
Her gaze even sharper.
She stopped in front of Lian Hong.
Studied him.
Then said calmly:
"So you are the one breaking our outer sect's balance."
Zhou Shan fainted on the spot.