The sect's inner courtyard buzzed with tension.
Disciples lined up like a tide of blades, all facing the trial platform where the Inner Disciple Examinations were taking place. Thousands of outer disciples watched from a distance, hoping for a miracle. The inner disciples stood aloof, their gazes laced with disdain. The elders sat above, silently judging.
And Li Xuan walked in wearing black robes.
A cold wind swept the arena as silence fell.
He didn't wear black for intimidation. He wore it because the system—Long Chen—told him to.
System Notification:
"Wearing black in defiance of sect protocol: +30 Long Chen Points. Just like I did. Let's see if your bones are as hard as mine."
The elders narrowed their eyes. "Who dares…!"
"That's forbidden!"
"He seeks expulsion!"
Murmurs erupted like wildfire. But Li Xuan didn't flinch.
He stepped onto the stage calmly. Behind him, his legion stood unified, their gazes sharp, their presence intimidating. Even though many were still outer disciples, their auras had been refined—hardened through blood and flame in the final days of the special realm.
Among the watching crowd, a few inner disciples smirked. "Another arrogant brat thinking he can walk Long Chen's path."
Li Xuan ignored it all.
The First Trial: Spirit Suppression
The sect guardian released a soul suppression field across the platform. Many contestants instantly collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Li Xuan stood steady, his soul flickering like molten steel.
System:
"First trial's just a handshake. Don't embarrass me, brat."
With a calm breath, Li Xuan activated the Predator's Pressure, folding it into the soul field like a predator marking territory.
The elder monitoring the trial blinked in surprise. "He's counter-suppressing?"
The Second Trial: Combat Arena
Here, disciples were randomly paired to fight under the eye of the elders.
Li Xuan faced a peak Foundation Establishment inner disciple on his first match.
"Get off the stage before I cripple you," the smug opponent said.
Li Xuan didn't speak. He moved.
A blade slash, a subtle step, a sudden explosion—his Phantom Step shattered the air, his saber slicing through the smug grin.
But not a killing blow.
System:
"Good. Leave scars, not corpses. It irritates them more."
He won, barely winded.
Yet it wasn't all victories.
In his third match, Li Xuan faced a monstrous cultivator with dual spirit roots and overwhelming brute force. He was slammed into the ground after a brutal exchange.
He stood up bloodied, laughing softly.
"Thanks," he said to the stunned opponent. "I'll remember that trick. Just once."
During Breaks: Brotherhood Strengthening
After his fights, he didn't rest. He refined pills in the alchemy room—mass-producing Essence Condensing Pills and Blood Renewal Pills for his brothers.
They consumed them in silence, cultivating in the night. By dawn, their auras surged.
System Shop Notification:
"New Purchase: Bloodthirst Legion Formation (Uncommon) – 70 LCP."
"Effect: Legion members fighting together gain 15% combat effectiveness."
They trained like madmen. Slept little. Laughed loudly. And never forgot the demon path's cruelty.
Auction Conflict
On the third day, Li Xuan heard whispers of a sect-sponsored auction selling stolen beast cores—cores his legion hunted in the special realm.
"Same trick they pulled on me back then," Long Chen muttered in his head.
System Mission:
"Optional: Reclaim what's yours. Method? Yours to choose."
Reward: 200 LCP | Unlock Hidden Shop Tab: Long Chen's Relics
That night, the auction house burned.
A masked figure clad in black tore through the guards and vanished with two storage rings.
The next morning, Li Xuan donated rare beast cores to the sect's training grounds—earning admiration and suspicion.
The Black Robe Boy
By the sixth day, disciples no longer smirked. Some elders turned blind eyes. But certain inner disciples had taken notice… and offense.
Especially the favored disciples, whose power was rooted in sectal politics, bloodline, or ancient backings.
A challenge came.
Duan Fang, a disciple with half-step Core Formation cultivation and the third-ranked inner disciple, pointed at Li Xuan across the arena.
"You've gained attention, black-robed brat. Let's see how long that spine lasts when it's ground beneath my foot."
System:
"Oho. He's strong. I'd run."
Pause.
"But… If you win, you'll get enough LCP to unlock the first tier of the Nine Star Body Refining Art."
Li Xuan looked at the crowd, then his brothers.
He stepped forward.
"I'll fight. But if I lose… I won't explain myself."
The fight was brutal. Duan Fang used a Spirit Binding Palm that crushed Li Xuan's organs with every strike. Yet Li Xuan countered with absurd precision, reading and learning every movement.
He lost.
Badly.
But as he coughed blood and stood again, facing Duan Fang's sneer, he smiled. "I'll repay you. With interest."
System Update:
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment – Mid (422/1200 EXP)
Long Chen Points: 341
Skills:
Phantom Step
Predator's Pressure
Face-Slapping Divine Art
Bloodthirst Legion Formation
New:
Hidden Shop: Long Chen's Relics (Locked)
Mission: Inner Sect Trial Final Bout
Consequences:
Failure to win next match: 100 LCP deduction and temporary shop lock.