The outer disciple arena buzzed with anticipation.
Morning dew clung to the crimson stone floor, evaporating beneath the growing heat of the rising sun. Dozens of outer disciples formed loose clusters 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 morning matches were a chance to be seen. To earn favor. To catch the eye of a patron or inner sect elder.
But for Su Chen, it was about something far more primal.
Dominance.
"Are you sure you want to step up today?" Lin Yao asked, concern written plainly across her face as she followed Su Chen toward the challenge board. "You haven't even finished refining your first meridian."
Su Chen didn't stop walking. "I have my reasons."
He had restored three Void Arts the night before. Though they couldn't match the power of high-tier cultivation techniques in raw force, they held the supreme advantage of refinement—millennia of subtlety, precision, and layered execution.
The kind of mastery this generation had never seen.
And he would demonstrate that now.
"Su Chen, outer disciple rank 416, has issued a challenge," called the junior elder overseeing the matches, an aloof man with a goatee and half-lidded eyes.
A murmur ran through the disciples.
"Him again?"
"Didn't he beat Lu Shan last week?"
"He's only Qi Channeling, right? Must be suicidal."
Su Chen stood calm and still in the center of the platform, arms behind his back, robe fluttering lightly in the breeze.
Across from him, his opponent stepped forward.
Meng Fan—outer disciple rank 83. Thick arms. Towering height. A brawler-type cultivator with a known temper and decent early Foundation Establishment strength.
He cracked his knuckles as he stepped onto the stone.
"You got guts, worm," Meng Fan said, grinning. "I'll enjoy smashing your bones."
Su Chen tilted his head. "Speak less. Fight more."
The elder yawned. "Begin."
Meng Fan charged without ceremony, feet pounding the ground, fist wreathed in shimmering red Qi. His spiritual pressure surged, enough to make nearby disciples instinctively flinch.
Su Chen didn't move.
Not until the last instant.
> Voidflow Step: Activated.
To onlookers, it seemed like Su Chen vanished.
One moment he stood there. The next—he was behind Meng Fan, untouched, calm.
"What—?!" Meng Fan roared and spun, his other fist lashing out wildly.
Too slow.
> Mirror Pulse: Level 1 Projection.
Su Chen raised one finger. A ripple shimmered in the air between them—a thin, translucent wave like a glass curtain.
Meng Fan's Qi-imbued strike collided with it.
And reversed.
The pulse redirected the blow's spiritual energy back at Meng Fan's own arm—not enough to injure seriously, but enough to jolt his meridians and throw him off balance.
He staggered, eyes wide.
Su Chen struck with a palm to the gut—not brute force, but precisely aligned with Meng Fan's center meridian node.
"Ugh—!" Meng Fan doubled over, choking.
The arena went silent.
A Foundation Establishment disciple had been outmaneuvered—by a Qi Channeling nobody.
And it had looked effortless.
Meng Fan growled, rising again. "You little—!"
> Soul Veil: Shadow Layer Applied.
Su Chen's presence dimmed. Not invisibility—just an uncanny blurring of sense and spirit. To the crowd, he seemed half-present, hard to track. To Meng Fan, he now moved like a ghost.
Three more strikes followed.
One to the left shoulder.
One to the thigh.
One to the ribs—stopping just short of a killing blow.
Each hit with surgical precision, each disrupting internal flow.
Meng Fan collapsed.
Not from pain—but from the sheer destabilization of his cultivation base. A clean, undeniable defeat.
The elder blinked, then raised his hand.
"Winner—Su Chen."
The arena burst into hushed whispers.
"Did you see that?"
"His techniques weren't even from the sect's library!"
"I've never seen anyone move like that..."
And among the crowd, several watching figures narrowed their eyes.
One was Ji Liang, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Another was Elder Miao's personal attendant, who stepped away quietly to report the results.
Su Chen ignored them all.
He stepped down from the arena, unbothered by the attention, and returned to the edge of the platform, where Lin Yao stood frozen.
"You planned this," she said softly. "You wanted to send a message."
Su Chen looked up at the rising sun.
"I don't care for attention," he said. "But power must be acknowledged."
He walked away before she could respond.
That evening, in the herb shed, the System's voice echoed in his mind.
> [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.
Thirty days, was it?
Then he would conquer the outer circle… and take the first real step toward the Reset Sovereign's rise.