The Blood Trial was not announced.
It never was.
By the time Kael felt the first shift in the Inner Grounds, the mechanism had already been set in motion. The air thickened subtly, spiritual energy curving inward as if drawn toward a single point. Lantern flames dimmed. Formation lines buried deep beneath the stone began to hum, their resonance low and hungry.
Kael stood in his courtyard, eyes half-lidded.
"So this is how you choose," he murmured. "Quietly."
The Trial Mark pulsed once—sharp, brief.
Not approval.
Recognition.
A bell rang somewhere deep within the Inner Grounds. Not loud. Not ceremonial. A single, dull chime that only certain people heard—and everyone else ignored at their peril.
Kael stepped out.
The pathways were emptier than usual. Doors were shut. Windows dark. Those who sensed the change withdrew instinctively, hearts tightening as something ancient awakened beneath their feet.
At the central plaza, the ground split.
A circular pit opened soundlessly, its edges smooth as if cut by intent rather than force. Stairs spiraled downward into darkness, each step stained a deep, permanent red.
Blood Trial.
Kael was not alone.
Seven others gathered at the edge—Inner Grounds disciples chosen not by merit, but by necessity. Strong enough to be useful. Disposable enough to be erased.
Kael recognized two of them.
Lin Hao stood among them, robes immaculate, expression calm. Another was a woman with sharp eyes and a blade at her waist, her aura coiled and predatory.
When Lin Hao saw Kael, his lips curved slightly.
"So you came," Lin Hao said. "Good."
Kael glanced at the pit. "You're confident."
Lin Hao shrugged. "Confidence is earned."
A presence descended.
Elder Zhou stepped into the plaza, his expression grave.
"The Blood Trial is active," he announced. "You will descend. The rules are simple."
He raised one finger.
"Only three may return."
A ripple went through the group.
Kael remained still.
"Within," Elder Zhou continued, "are blood constructs formed from past failures. They grow stronger the more fear and hesitation you show. Kill them—or be consumed."
His gaze flicked to Kael, lingering for a fraction of a second.
"The trial ends when three survive… or when no one does."
Silence.
Lin Hao bowed slightly. "Understood."
One by one, they stepped onto the stairs.
Kael went last.
The descent was long.
The deeper they went, the heavier the air became, pressing against skin and bone alike. The walls pulsed faintly, as if alive, etched with names half-erased by time. Some Kael recognized from his past life—promising cultivators who had vanished without explanation.
"So this is where you buried them," Kael thought.
The stairs ended abruptly.
They stepped into a vast cavern lit by a dull, crimson glow. Rivers of coagulated blood ran through grooves in the floor, forming crude symbols that radiated malice. The ceiling was lost in shadow.
Then the ground moved.
Figures rose from the blood.
Humanoid shapes, incomplete and twitching, their faces frozen in terror. Each one radiated killing intent sharpened by despair.
The Blood Constructs.
"Form up!" someone shouted.
They did.
Except Kael.
He stepped away from the group, eyes scanning the cavern calmly.
Lin Hao noticed. "What are you doing?"
Kael answered without looking at him. "Making space."
The first wave hit.
Three constructs lunged at Kael simultaneously, their movements jerky but powerful. Kael sidestepped, letting the first crash past him, then drove his fingers into the second's throat.
The devil sigil flared.
Fear was ripped out violently.
The construct collapsed into sludge.
The third hesitated.
That hesitation killed it.
Kael moved with ruthless efficiency, never overextending, never panicking. Where others struggled, shouting and bleeding, Kael flowed through the carnage like a surgeon.
Fear absorbed.
Authority increasing.
Across the cavern, Lin Hao watched with narrowed eyes as two disciples were overwhelmed, dragged screaming into the blood rivers and dissolved into nothing.
"So that's his path," Lin Hao muttered.
The woman with the blade fought back-to-back with Lin Hao, her strikes precise. "He's not slowing down."
"No," Lin Hao said softly. "He's feeding."
The cavern trembled.
A deeper rumble echoed as the blood rivers surged upward, merging at the center of the cavern. Something larger began to form—an amalgamation of all the constructs destroyed so far.
A Blood Sovereign.
Its body towered above them, formed from compressed fear and hatred, eyes burning with countless reflections of dying cultivators.
Despair hit like a wave.
Two more disciples broke.
They ran.
The Blood Sovereign roared.
Kael felt it—the trial responding to escalation, testing limits.
He stepped forward.
Lin Hao shouted, "Don't be stupid!"
Kael did not stop.
The Sovereign's gaze locked onto him.
For the first time—
It recoiled.
Kael raised his hand.
"This trial feeds on fear," Kael said quietly. "Then let me show you something better."
The devil sigil burned.
Not explosively.
Deliberately.
Authority surged outward, not crushing—but claiming. The blood rivers froze mid-flow. The Sovereign's form shuddered as its core destabilized.
Lin Hao's eyes widened in disbelief.
"He's overriding it…"
The Sovereign screamed as Kael stepped into its shadow and pressed his palm against its chest.
The cavern shook violently.
Kael's body screamed in protest, blood streaming from his nose as he forced the sealed fear to open just a fraction.
Just enough.
The Sovereign collapsed inward, imploding into a torrent of crimson energy that rushed straight into Kael.
He staggered.
Dropped to one knee.
But he did not fall.
When the dust settled, the cavern was quiet.
Too quiet.
Only three remained standing.
Kael.
Lin Hao.
The woman with the blade.
A voice echoed through the cavern—Elder Zhou's.
"The trial concludes."
The stairs began to reform.
Lin Hao stared at Kael, breathing hard. "You… you manipulated the trial itself."
Kael wiped the blood from his lips and looked up.
"No," he said calmly. "I taught it who it belonged to."
The Trial Mark burned hot against his soul.
Above the cavern, unseen gears turned.
The Blood Trial had ended—
—but something far more dangerous had just begun to pay attention.