Volume 2, Chapter 26: The Shadow in the Stream
Professor Lakas leaned all the way back in his VIP chair, balancing a bright yellow pencil on his upper lip. His hands were laced behind his head as he ignored the serious atmosphere around him.
"You know, Mu En," Lakas said, his voice slightly muffled by the pencil. "For a city that brags about its fancy buildings, these chairs are awful. My lower back is killing me. Did you stuff the cushions with actual rocks?"
The Dean of the Anito Academy didn't open his eyes. He just let out a long, tired sigh. Long Xiaoyao, standing nearby, gave the young professor a sharp glare.
"A true master does not complain about his seat," Long Xiaoyao grumbled. "He adapts his body to the environment."
"Sounds like a great way to get a bad back, old man," Lakas replied cheerfully. He caught the falling pencil and tossed it onto the table.
Underneath the teasing, Lakan was watching the arena with sharp focus. He spotted Yuhao in the competitor's tunnel. The boy's stream of soul power felt steady and strong. It made Lakan smile quietly. He remembered the night he had given Yuhao the All-Seeing Library. He hadn't just handed him a book of techniques. He had placed a powerful foundation right into the boy's spiritual sea.
Since Tianmeng was already happily living with Shui Bing'er ten thousand years ago, Yuhao needed his own starting point. The God-Bestowed ring had acted as a perfect blank foundation. It adjusted to Yuhao's exact limits, giving him his first pale-gold ring and helping stabilize his weak meridians enough to begin the Crystalline Vessel training.
"Alright," Lakas said, clapping his hands together and leaning forward. "Let's see what the transfer students can do."
••••••••
Down below, the announcer's voice rang out. "Next match! Hall of Radiance Youth Squad versus Desolate Thorns Sect!"
A team of seven teenagers stepped onto Platform Two wearing the clean white and gold uniforms of the Hall of Radiance. They looked bright-eyed and confident, their martial souls already glowing — sunflowers, light swords, and golden shields. The air around them grew warmer instantly.
From the opposite side, only one person walked out.
Chen Feng.
He wore his ragged grey robes and a bamboo hat pulled low over his face. He didn't look up at the cheering crowd. He didn't even glance at his opponents. He simply walked to the center of his side of the ring and stopped.
"Is your team forfeiting?" the referee asked, frowning at the lone boy.
"They are not here," Chen Feng said in a flat voice. "Begin the match."
The referee dropped the flag.
The Hall of Radiance captain, a boy with a glowing broadsword, charged forward. "Light's Judgment!" he shouted, leaping into the air to bring a heavy shining strike down on Chen Feng.
Chen Feng didn't dodge. He didn't even pull out his scythe. He simply raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
A single blade of Wilted Grass sprouted from a crack in the arena floor. It wasn't green. It was a sickly, ashen black.
The moment the grass touched the air, the movement of energy in the arena died.
It wasn't a loud explosion. It was like watching a drop of black ink fall into clear water. The grey stain spread across the floor at a frightening speed. Wherever it passed, the bright light simply vanished.
The captain in mid-air gasped. The brilliant light of his broadsword flickered and went out. He hit the ground hard, his knees buckling. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't listen.
"What… what is this?" the captain choked out. He felt like he was drowning in dry sand.
The rest of his team tried to launch ranged attacks. A barrage of light arrows flew toward Chen Feng. But as soon as the arrows crossed the grey threshold, they turned into harmless brittle dust that blew away in the wind.
Chen Feng walked forward. His footsteps made no sound. The grey grass spread with him, wrapping around the ankles of the Radiance team.
There was no blood. There was no screaming. The Radiance students simply slumped to the ground one by one. Their eyes were open, but their bodies had been completely paralyzed by the heavy draining force. They looked like discarded statues.
"Call it," Chen Feng said to the referee. His voice carried a cold, empty echo.
The referee was shivering. The grey grass had stopped just an inch from his shoes. He raised a shaking hand. "W-winner. Desolate Thorns."
••••••
Up in the VIP terrace, the playful smirk disappeared from Professor Lakas's face. He rested his chin on his hand, his eyes tracking Chen Feng as the boy turned and limped back into the shadows of the tunnel.
"Well," Lakas murmured. "That's a neat trick."
A few seats down, Ye Guyi gripped the marble railing so hard her knuckles turned white. Her breathing was short and shallow.
She was a Seraphim. Her entire being was built on light, movement, and the warm song of the dawn. But when she looked at that grey grass, her martial soul actually shivered. It wasn't fear of a stronger fighter. It was the deep, instinctive fear of staring into emptiness.
"Captain Ye?" a younger official asked, noticing her pale face. "Are you alright?"
"Find out everything you can about the Desolate Thorns sect," Ye Guyi ordered, her voice tight. She didn't take her eyes off the empty platform. The grey stain was already fading from the stones, but the cold feeling in the air remained. "And double the patrols around the competitor dorms. That wasn't a normal soul skill. That was something much worse."
She thought about Yuhao and his strange, perceptive eye. The Sun-Moon heavy armor was crude and loud. But this lifeless grey was the real threat. She wondered if the boy from Anito Academy had seen it too.
•••••••
Deep in the catacombs beneath the arena, Yuhao was walking back from the vending machines with a cold bottle of water. He rubbed the back of his neck. The air in the building suddenly felt heavy, like the moments right before a thunderstorm.
"Huo Yuhao, I presume?"
Yuhao stopped. A young man was leaning against the concrete wall, blocking the path to the Anito team room.
He wore the dark red and silver uniform of the Sun-Moon Imperial Academy. His hair was perfectly styled, and his posture screamed old money and high status. Sleek silver heavy armor covered his arms and chest, humming quietly with power.
It was Xiao Hongchen, the golden boy of the Sun-Moon district.
"Do I know you?" Yuhao asked, keeping his grip casual on the water bottle.
"You know my work," Xiao Hongchen smiled. It was a polite, well-practiced smile. "I designed the disruption coils the Copper-Grid team used against you earlier. Or rather, I designed the prototypes they copied poorly."
Yuhao's eyes narrowed slightly. "They lost."
"Because they are amateurs. And because you have a very interesting set of eyes." Xiao Hongchen pushed himself off the wall. He didn't approach aggressively. He walked like a businessman closing a deal. "I saw how you found the gap in their cycle. You didn't overpower the static. You read its movement. That takes real perception."
"What do you want?" Yuhao asked. He really didn't have time for rich kids playing games.
"I want to offer you a better path," Xiao Hongchen said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small crystal vial. Inside, a thick amber liquid swirled with its own inner light. "My grandfather's scouts did a background check on you. Rank 19. Weak starting meridians. You struggle to handle ambient energy. You're a brilliant mind trapped in a fragile body."
Xiao Hongchen held up the vial.
"This is a Marrow-Cleansing Serum. Grade Seven. It uses Sun-Moon alchemy to forcibly widen your meridians. Drink this, and your body will catch up to your eyes in a week. Transfer to the Sun-Moon Academy. We need a 'Scanner' like you to help perfect our next generation of heavy armor. We can make you a king of the new era."
Yuhao looked at the vial. He remembered how weak he used to feel. How every breath of soul power used to burn his narrow veins. The old Yuhao would have grabbed that vial without hesitation.
But then he thought of Professor Lakas. He thought of the salty fish, the old stories, and the slow, painful work of building the Crystalline Vessel.
Why take a shortcut when the long way builds real strength?
Yuhao reached out and gently pushed Xiao Hongchen's hand away.
"I appreciate the offer," Yuhao said calmly. He shifted his grip on the water bottle. As he did, he let a small part of his Crystalline Vessel power show. The skin on his hand turned slightly translucent, taking on the hardness of compressed diamond. He squeezed the thick plastic cap. It cracked under his fingers with a sharp snap.
Xiao Hongchen blinked, looking down at Yuhao's hand in surprise.
"My body is fine," Yuhao said, letting his skin return to normal. "I'm rebuilding the foundation myself. I don't need your medicine, and I don't want to help build your machines."
Xiao Hongchen's polite smile disappeared. He slipped the vial back into his coat. The silver heavy armor on his arms whirred slightly, a clear sign of his irritation.
"A pity," Xiao Hongchen said smoothly. "Pride is a heavy thing to carry into a fight, Yuhao. Let's hope your natural foundation holds up when the real pressure comes."
He stepped aside, letting Yuhao pass.
"Oh, it will," Yuhao called over his shoulder as he walked away. "Just make sure your armor is waterproof. I hear the weather in the Capital is getting unpredictable lately."
•••••••
Back in the stands, Lakan stretched his arms over his head, popping his shoulders with a loud crack that made Long Xiaoyao wince.
"Good kid," Lakan muttered to himself. He had listened to the entire exchange in the hallway. He felt proud of Yuhao for turning down the easy fix.
The pieces were all moving now. Ye Guyi was awake to the threat. Xiao Hongchen was plotting his mechanical path. Chen Feng was spreading his grey silence. And Yuhao was finally learning to stand on his own.
"Hey, Mu En," Lakas nudged the old man's arm. "You got any snacks in those deep pockets? Watching these kids scheme is making me hungry. I could really go for some dried mangoes right now."
Mu En finally opened his eyes and gave the young professor a look of pure exhaustion. "You are an impossible man, Lakas."
"I try my best," Lakan grinned, his eyes sparkling with that familiar mischievous light. The tournament was just getting started, and the Phoenix was ready to see who would burn and who would rise.
End of Volume 2, Chapter 26