Zhao Ming knelt in his room.
Porcelain shards littered the floor. His hands trembled as blood dripped from his palm, staining the wood beneath him.
One year.
Stripped of ranking.
Stripped of eligibility.
Stripped of dignity.
His uncle had not spoken to him since the public accounting.
"Chen Yuan…"
The name burned in his mouth.
"I swear," Zhao Ming said hoarsely, voice shaking with hatred, "this humiliation will be repaid tenfold."
He raised his head, eyes bloodshot.
"You think the inner court will protect you?" he sneered. "You think this ends here?"
His lips curled into a twisted smile.
"I will outlast you. I will surpass you. And when you fall, no one will care how righteous you once looked."
Outside his room, no one listened.
And that made his vow all the more pathetic.
At the same time, far above the outer courts, the Inner Court stirred.
Floating platforms drifted through the clouds, bound together by ancient formations. Spirit energy was dense enough to be visible, flowing like mist along jade walkways.
Here, outer disciples were irrelevant.
A group of figures stood atop the central platform.
They did not conceal their auras.
They did not need to.
One step from any of them could crush an outer disciple without effort.
At the center stood a young man in white robes, eyes closed, hands clasped behind his back.
His presence was calm.
Oppressive.
"Observation Trial results have concluded," said a woman beside him, her voice light but sharp. "A new name has appeared."
The man opened his eyes.
Golden pupils reflected the sky.
"Chen Yuan," he repeated softly.
Behind him, another figure laughed.
"Outer disciple?" he scoffed. "If he reaches Foundation Establishment before twenty, he might be worth noticing."
The woman smiled faintly.
"His foundation stability is unusual."
"Unusual means nothing," the man in white replied calmly. "Without true resources, he will stall."
He turned away.
"Send the invitations."
Elsewhere on the platform, two disciples sparred.
Their movements distorted the air.
A single exchange split stone.
An outer-court instructor watching from afar swallowed nervously.
This is real power, he thought.
Compared to them…
Chen Yuan was nothing.
Back in the outer court, Chen Yuan stood before the Inner-Court Gate.
A massive formation loomed overhead, radiating pressure that made even his newly stabilized aura feel thin.
Instructor Lu stood beside him.
"From this point on," he said evenly, "your mistakes will not be forgiven."
Chen Yuan nodded.
"I understand."
As he stepped forward, the system interface appeared one final time.
Arc Transition Detected
Inner Court Entry Arc Initiated
Note:
Power disparity: Extreme
Survival requires adaptation, not confrontation
Chen Yuan looked up at the towering gate.
For the first time since awakening the system, he felt genuine pressure.
Not fear.
Reality.
He exhaled slowly and stepped through.
Above him, the clouds parted.
And far beyond his reach, true monsters watched—uninterested, unimpressed, and utterly out of his league.
For now.