Chapter 66- Battle against Diane
A chime signalled the end of the resting time, and everyone was stepping into their arena, Jin stood up and dusted his robes before stepping onto the stone platform against his first opponent, Diane.
The stone platform was silent except for the low hum of resonating essence. Jin and Diane stood at opposite ends, both encased in the eerie glow of the black tower's light. There were no cheering crowds, no spectators, only silence—and the looming presence of the tower's will observing all.
Diane moved with elegance, her silver hair trailing like wind-blown silk. Her aura radiated light and clarity. Wind essence rippled around her, coiling like serpents ready to strike.
Jin's stance was calm, his gaze sharp. Earth essence coiled subtly around his body, dense and heavy, contrasting Diane's fluid elegance.
The match began with a whisper of wind.
Diane vanished.
She reappeared at Jin's left, a blade of condensed wind slashing toward his ribs. Jin sidestepped, planting his foot and raising a stone wall. The wind blade carved a deep groove, but the wall held. Jin rolled under her next strike, drawing runes mid-motion.
A burst of rocky spikes erupted from the ground, targeting her retreat. Diane danced between them, twirling gracefully, a gust erupting beneath her feet and lifting her above the trap. From the sky, she conjured a vortex and sent it crashing toward Jin.
Jin sketched a stabilizing rune and slammed his hand into the ground. A layered dome of earth curved upward, shielding him from the whirlwind. The wind howled and scattered debris, but Jin emerged unscathed, his hand glowing.
He activated a runic node at Diane's feet. A sinkhole opened beneath her, threatening to trap her lower half.
She reacted instantly. A sweeping gust exploded beneath her, pushing her body skyward like a falling feather reversed. Her foot barely brushed the edge of the pit.
Jin smiled. She was good.
He shifted forms. His body moved with greater precision now, feet gliding through a practiced movement technique he had refined over the past year.
Diane noticed the change. Her eyes narrowed. With a twirl, she summoned five wind lances and shot them forward.
Jin's fingers danced.
He activated four glyphs simultaneously—two defensive, two reactive. Stone tendrils intercepted three of the lances, and Jin twisted his body as a wall exploded from his side, deflecting the remaining two.
Without pause, Jin surged forward.
He clashed directly with her for the first time, fist meeting a sharp gust that sent tiny cuts across his knuckles. He grinned.
She spun, wind curling into a protective cyclone around her. Jin dropped low and slammed the ground. A sudden tremor unbalanced her footing. Before she could react, Jin fired an earth spear from beneath her. She dodged at the last instant, her ankle grazed.
Jin pressed.
He cast a delayed rune that activated three seconds later, erupting in an earthen hand that tried to grab her from behind. Diane narrowly escaped, twisting with a flurry of cutting winds that forced Jin back.
Their battle became a storm of motion—gusts slicing through solid barriers, earth pillars rising to block or strike, and strategic runes altering the terrain.
Diane summoned a typhoon above. Jin could feel the pressure shifting. He'd seen similar techniques but none so refined.
Instead of waiting for it to strike, he forced it to collapse.
With precise timing, he activated a suppression field around the base of the typhoon using a web of pre-embedded runes. The typhoon destabilized and dispersed in a chaotic surge.
Diane landed softly, breathing hard, her arm scratched and bloodied.
Jin was breathing heavier too, his robes tattered at the sleeves. A clean diagonal cut bled down his shoulder.
Still, both smiled.
"You're not like the others," she said, circling him.
"Neither are you," Jin replied, and then charged.
No tricks now. Just raw movement.
He exchanged blows with her, dodging wind bursts, countering with bursts of earth essence. A downward palm strike sent a shockwave into the ground, erupting a series of staggered stone eruptions. Diane maneuvered between them, responding with a high-speed gale that sliced through the gaps.
Jin's palm glowed, a rune of compression forming over it. When he struck, the force doubled upon impact, sending Diane skidding back. She coughed, blood on her lip.
Still standing.
She raised her hand, took a deep breath, and then let it fall.
"I yield," she said.
Jin blinked.
"You what?"
"You would've won anyway," Diane said. "But I wanted to push you, I know you're hiding your strength. You're aiming for the top, right?"
Jin narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.
"Survive the next matches. I want to see you reach the end."
The stone beneath them pulsed. Jin's victory was registered. Diane vanished in a streak of light, transported out of the platform, to a spectator platform as she had lost
Jin stood alone, chest rising and falling.
That… had been a true fight.
He sat cross-legged and began channeling his essence slowly, restoring his strength. All his injuries were almost healed fully because of his body cultivation.The thirty-minute countdown had begun for the next match. Somewhere in the tower, others were winning, falling, or dying.
But Jin felt alive.
And this was only the beginning.