The outer disciple arena buzzed with anticipation.
Morning dew clung to the crimson stone floor, slowly evaporating beneath the rising heat of the sun. Dozens of outer disciples clustered loosely around the central dueling platform. Today's matches were informal—voluntary sparring overseen by a junior elder—but the stakes were real.
Reputation. Status. Influence.
For most disciples, these matches were a chance to be seen. To impress. To earn favor. Maybe even to catch the eye of an inner sect elder or a visiting clan envoy.
But for Su Chen, this wasn't about approval.
It was about dominance.
"Are you sure you want to step up today?" Lin Yao asked, concern furrowing her brow as she followed him toward the challenge board. "You haven't even finished refining your first meridian."
Su Chen didn't slow. "I have my reasons."
He had restored three Void Arts the night before. Though they lacked brute force compared to modern techniques, they possessed something far rarer—ancient precision, layered intent, and the brutal sharpness honed across millennia.
A kind of mastery this generation had never even witnessed.
And now, they would.
"Su Chen, outer disciple rank 416, has issued a challenge," called the junior elder, an aloof man with a goatee and half-lidded eyes.
A wave of murmurs spread through the watching crowd.
"Him again?"
"Didn't he beat Lu Shan last week?"
"He's still Qi Channeling, right? Must be suicidal."
Su Chen stood calm and motionless on the dueling platform, arms folded behind his back. His robe fluttered lightly in the breeze, expression unreadable.
Across from him, his opponent stepped forward.
Meng Fan—outer disciple rank 83. Towering. Broad-shouldered. A brawler-type cultivator with a nasty temper and solid Foundation Establishment strength.
He cracked his knuckles as he stepped into the arena, grinning with unhidden malice.
"You got guts, worm," Meng Fan sneered. "I'll enjoy smashing your bones."
Su Chen tilted his head. "Speak less. Fight more."
The elder yawned. "Begin."
Meng Fan charged immediately, fists wreathed in shimmering red Qi. His spiritual pressure crashed forward like a wave, forcing some of the closer disciples to instinctively step back.
Su Chen didn't move.
Not until the last possible instant.
> Voidflow Step: Activated.
To the audience, it seemed like Su Chen vanished.
One moment, he was standing there.
The next—behind Meng Fan. Calm. Unscathed.
"What—?!" Meng Fan roared and spun, lashing out blindly with his left arm.
Too slow.
> Mirror Pulse: Level 1 Projection.
Su Chen lifted a single finger.
A ripple shimmered between them—like a curtain of glass.
Meng Fan's Qi-infused strike collided with the pulse.
And rebounded.
The spiritual energy redirected and struck his own arm, sending a jolt through his meridians and knocking him slightly off balance.
"Guh—!"
Su Chen moved with surgical precision.
A palm strike—not brute force, but placed perfectly against Meng Fan's central meridian node.
"Ugh—!" Meng Fan staggered backward, choking and clutching his abdomen.
The arena went silent.
A Foundation Establishment disciple—humiliated.
By a Qi Channeling nobody.
And it had looked… effortless.
Meng Fan growled and rose again. "You little—!"
> Soul Veil: Shadow Layer Applied.
Su Chen's presence blurred. Not invisibility—but an eerie distortion of perception. To the crowd, he seemed distant, shifting, hard to track.
To Meng Fan—he became a phantom.
Three more strikes followed.
One to the shoulder.
One to the thigh.
One to the ribs—stopping just before a killing blow.
Each hit targeted meridian intersections. Each strike disrupted his internal flow.
Meng Fan collapsed.
Not from pain—but from cultivation destabilization.
A clean, undeniable defeat.
The elder stared, stunned, then raised his hand.
"Winner—Su Chen."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"Did you see that?"
"Those techniques—what even were they?"
"I've never seen anyone move like that..."
Among the silent observers, two figures stood out.
One was Ji Liang, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
The other was Elder Miao's personal attendant, who turned silently and left the arena—likely to report.
Su Chen ignored them all.
He stepped down, expression unchanging, until he reached Lin Yao—who was still frozen in place.
"You planned this," she whispered. "You wanted them to see."
Su Chen looked up at the rising sun.
"I don't care for attention," he said quietly. "But power must be acknowledged."
Then he walked away—leaving her without a response.
That night, back in the herb shed, the System's voice returned.
> [System Notification]
Reputation Milestone Achieved: 'Outer Circle Challenger'
Rewards Unlocked:
— +1 System Stat Point
— Skill Unlock Available: [Void Shard – Minor Offensive Art]
— Optional Objective Triggered: Join Inner Sect Within 30 Days
Su Chen opened his eyes slowly.
"Thirty days," he whispered.
"Enough to topple the outer circle—and crack open the path to the throne."