The Whispering Woods, the designated hunting ground for the Heavenly Ascendance preliminaries, was a sprawling canopy of suffocating green and grey. Every tree was thick with spiritual moss, and the air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and predatory beasts.High above, floating outside the barrier, a massive array of scrying mirrors projected the hunt to the Grand Elder and the observing Peak Masters."Look at the Saintess's dog," one of the Peak Masters chuckled, pointing at a specific mirror. "He's carrying a pack the size of a boulder, and he looks like he's going to faint from the ambient Qi alone."On the ground, Dver was putting on an Oscar-winning performance. He trudged ten paces behind Lyra, hunched over beneath a massive, iron-reinforced wooden backpack. His knees knocked together with every step. He flinched violently every time a bird took flight.Lyra walked ahead of him, her silver rapier drawn. Her face was pale, her jaw locked. She wasn't scanning the trees for b

The Heavenly Ascendance Arena was a colossal colosseum carved directly into the peak of the Blood Lotus Mountain. Banners of crimson and black snapped in the high-altitude wind. Thousands of disciples roared from the obsidian bleachers, waiting for the 1-on-1 battles that would decide the Sect's future.In the center of the arena floor, the Grand Elder Vane sat on a floating throne of spirit-jade, looking down at the sixteen finalists who had survived the Whispering Woods.Lyra stood at the front of the line. She was pale, her eyes deeply shadowed. She had the highest score, but she looked like a woman walking to the gallows.Kneeling ten feet behind her, holding a silver basin of water and a silk towel, was Dver. The "Proxy" was officially allowed to attend to his master between matches. He kept his head bowed, his shoulders hunched, looking like a trembling mouse in a pit of lions."Dver?"A soft, hesitant voice cut through the roar of the crowd.Dver flinched perfectly, looking up

The Semi-Finals of the Heavenly Ascendance Tournament were an absolute farce.When Dver was called to the arena floor to face a scarred, Dual-Sword Peak disciple, the crowd braced themselves for another catastrophic string of "bad luck." The opponent drew his blades, sweating profusely, terrified of tripping on a pebble and decapitating himself."I surrender! I surrender!" Dver screamed the absolute second the match began.He didn't even pretend to fight. He turned around, sprinted directly out of the arena bounds, and threw himself face-first into the dirt of the proxy pen, weeping loudly.The crowd erupted in a chorus of boos and thrown garbage. Grand Elder Vane sneered from his throne. The "Lucky Rat" had finally run out of nerve. Dver was eliminated, officially ending the Saintess's run by proxy.But down in the dirt, hidden from the jeering thousands, Dver smiled."A calculated retreat," the Void God purred. "We do not need the title. We just need the Grand Elder to open the Ance

The air in the arena warped, the pressure dropping so violently that the floating lanterns burst into shards of glass and flame."FORMATION!" the Head Arbiter shrieked, rallying the surviving Enforcers.Sixty elite Foundation Establishment cultivators moved in perfect synchronization. They slammed their palms onto the cracked obsidian, summoning the Iron-Lotus Binding Array. Massive chains of concentrated, white-hot Qi erupted from the ground, crisscrossing like a steel spiderweb, aiming to lock Dver in place.Dver didn't dodge. He didn't even blink.He took a slow, deliberate step forward.As his foot touched the first glowing chain, he didn't break it. He infected it. The Void-Qi leaked from his sole, turning the white-hot chain pitch black. The darkness traveled up the energy tether at the speed of light, slamming directly into the core of the Enforcer who had cast it.The man didn't scream. He simply turned to ash, his robes collapsing into a pile of dust."One," Dver whispered.H

The subterranean river didn't flow; it thrashed. It was a freezing, lightless artery buried miles beneath the Blood Lotus Mountain.Ren didn't know how long she had been holding her breath. The freezing black water battered her broken ribs, threatening to tear Dver's heavy, limp body from her grasp. Just as her lungs began to spasm, the current violently spat them out.They crashed onto a jagged, subterranean shoreline.Ren collapsed onto the cold, wet stone, coughing up lungfuls of black water. She lay there in the pitch black, her body broken, shivering uncontrollably.A few feet away, Dver lay perfectly still. The only light in the massive, echoing cavern came from the Soul-Severing Blood Spear still lodged deep in his chest. It pulsed with a sickly, fading crimson light, violently warring with the pitch-black Void-Qi leaking from his wound.Ren dragged herself over to him, her useless right arm dragging on the stone."Dver..." she rasped, her voice echoing in the dark.His eyes we