Emerald Lake LodgeNoon.Ragnar sat cross-legged on his bed, circulating energy through his meridians with slow, measured breaths, the faint glow of spirit power shimmering around his body and settling through the room like dust motes caught in the noon light.Theon and Vonn, who had gone to the central assembly almost immediately after waking, were nowhere to be seen. The lodge felt strangely quiet without Vonn's incessant chatter, the usually lively room reduced to the occasional hum of the formations embedded within the walls and the soft, rhythmic sound of Ragnar's breathing.The academy had summoned all participants to attend a briefing on the safety protocols and requirements for the tests scheduled for tomorrow.The semi-final trials.The gathering wasn't compulsory, but plenty of students had still attended, hoping to learn something useful from the academy's explanations of how previous years' trials had been conducted, what kinds of dangers they might encounter, and whether

Next Morning — Mirror CourtIt was eight in the morning.Just as it had been in Legend Court, every corner of Mirror Court was packed. Thousands of young cultivators stood shoulder to shoulder beneath the open sky, the air thick with sweat, spirit power, and anticipation, waiting for the trials that would decide who was worthy and who was disposable.Excitement buzzed through the crowd like a live current, but beneath it ran something colder, and more visceral. Fear.People spoke in animated voices, laughing too loud, speculating, boasting about how they would tear through the course, how they would make the obstacle courses know a genius had arrived in the academy. Yet many kept glancing towards the enormous, ominous gates leading to the points of no return. Tales of what lay beyond those gates already spread far and wide. Rust-stained war machines, obsidian arches humming with forbidden runes — with varying degrees of barely concealed apprehension.There was good reason for that.

Apparently, the students thought otherwise. “It’s all that damned Storm brat’s fault. Now everyone is forced to pay with him.” “Buddha’s Hall? Climbing just two of those stairs was enough to incite madness in most people. This isn’t a test, it’s slaughter.” “I think it’s better that way. This time, there will be no Nika Ainsel to cover for him. Let’s see if he can still keep up with the drama.” At the mention of Nika Ainsel, Ragnar’s brows furrowed. She hadn’t come to him even after arriving. She had merely stood at a distance, watching him. Ragnar slowly turned his head and found her standing with Darlene Fairfax several meters away. Darlene had one hand lightly wrapped around Nika’s arm, almost casually, but there was something deliberate about the way she kept the girl beside her. Nika, it seemed, had made where her loyalty lay pretty obvious. Ragnar’s lip twitched. This kind of blindness... She would only learn when Darlene plunged a spear into her chest. Hopefu

In all the tournaments since he entered the academy, Ragnar had never been the first person to climb onto any stage.Not once.He had either been somewhere in the middle of the line, deliberately stayed behind, or simply allowed others to take the lead while he watched and assessed the situation.Now, however, that had suddenly changed.The moment he began showing promise, the moment his name became known and numerous clans started wanting him dead, his name had somehow become the very first on the list.Worse still, he had been assigned to the most dangerous section, one where accidents were common and the first few moments were supposedly the most unpredictable.At the moment, Ragnar couldn't tell whether it was intentional or merely an unfortunate coincidence.And that uncertainty bothered him more than either possibility.While he stared at his name with furrowed brows, the rest of the students were fascinated by something entirely different.The little section marked E Division.

On the tech station, one of the cameras finally found Ragnar.Ragnar had landed in what appeared to be an endless hall.Unlike what he had expected, there were no flying needles filling the air, no murderous mechanisms immediately springing to life, not even the faintest indication that he had entered a trial designed to cripple some of the academy's most talented students.The room was calm. Far too calm.However, Ragnar did not relax. In his experience, it was always places like this, places that appeared completely ordinary to inexperienced eyes, that ended up becoming the deepest, coldest, and most bitter graveyards.The eerie silence made his tooth ache.He didn't dare move.His eyes darted around vigilantly, examining every inch of his surroundings as though expecting the walls themselves to suddenly open their mouths and swallow him whole. He seemed to be standing beneath an archway. Just one step from his current position and he would find himself in the trial area.His gaze t