Chapter 67- Kaelun of the Stormlight Monastery
Jin sat cross-legged, the cold stone beneath him grounding his thoughts. The aftermath of his fight with Diane still echoed in his mind—the narrow counters, the relentless wind blades, and the final devastating earth array. He replayed every moment, analyzing what he could have done faster, cleaner, and more efficiently. As the fatigue ebbed, he activated a minor array beneath him to siphon ambient essence into his body. He wasn't about to let his guard down.
But then he saw it.
His next match was against kaelun—the fifth ranked on the leaderboard.
Jin's eyes widened slightly. He quickly shifted his gaze to the throne where the remnant will sat, cloaked in black energy and sitting motionless. For the briefest of moments, he saw it—a faint smirk playing on the figure's lips. It was gone almost instantly, like a mirage. Jin's mouth twitched. Was it a trick of his mind, or was something bigger at play?
Before he could linger on the thought, a familiar presence stumbled toward him. Lyra looked worse for wear. Her clothes were torn in several places, and dried blood crusted at her temple. Jin stood quickly, his usual calm overtaken by concern.
"Lyra, what happened?"
She waved a hand weakly and slumped beside him. "A miscalculation," she muttered. "I thought I had her, but she had a backup essence crystal. Caught me off guard. I'll be fine soon."
From her storage ring, she pulled out a vial of brilliant, swirling essence.
Jin raised an eyebrow. "You and Gorr have gotten too rich for your own good."
She smirked faintly and drank it. Her aura began to stabilize almost immediately. Then she checked her opponent for the next match and grinned. "Klaus, huh? Early-stage Adept Realm. Maybe I'll be the lucky one who gets to skip two matches."
Jin shook his head. It was a known fact that one among them would receive a free advancement due to the uneven number. Mid and early-stage cultivators were secretly hoping to win a spot through clever matchups or surrender baiting. Jin, however, wasn't one of them. And neither was Ignis.
As the arena platform finished healing itself from the last battle, the voice of the remnant will echoed again from the tower.
"Fifty cultivators remain. Eighteen have died. Twenty-two surrendered. Ten were rendered unconscious."
The voice echoed across the massive obsidian chamber.
"You have thirty minutes to rest. Use the time wisely."
As the participants moved to their corners, many eyes landed on Jin. His name beside kaelun's on the pairing board earned him pitiful glances. Some cultivators murmured quietly, already writing him off.
Kaelun, tall and stoic with glacial eyes, stood a distance away. Like the rest of the late-stage Adept Realm cultivators, his expression didn't change. Indifference masked everything.
Jin didn't care.
He wasn't here to play by expectations.
He reached out through the contract bond to Gorr. A wave of understanding passed between them. Gorr, still hidden within the outer essence layers of the tower, began to prepare in his own way. Their plan had contingencies, and Jin knew he'd need all of them.
He set up a swift energy-gathering array, the glowing lines circling beneath his legs as he stabilized his breathing and brought his essence to its peak. He let the ambient elemental energy sink into him.
He wasn't afraid of kaelun.
He would have to fight a late-stage Adept Realm opponent eventually.
Why not now?
The bell tolled, a low chime that reverberated through the tower.
Thirty minutes had passed.
Jin stood slowly, brushing the dust from his robe. Every movement was calm, deliberate. But inside—his blood simmered with anticipation.
He stepped into the arena again, this time face-to-face with kaelun.
And he was ready.