They moved in sequence, one by one, pressing their realm tokens against the gate's surface. The carved runes flared, pulling each cultivator in like a drop of ink sinking into water. Each disappearance left the air slightly colder.
When it was Tian Lei's turn, he didn't look at the envoy, nor at the shimmering surface of the gate. His gaze drifted toward Xiao Feng—still wearing that thin veneer of mockery—before he stepped forward, lips twitching into something halfway between a smirk and a death warrant.
The gate swallowed him whole.
Inside, the Secret Realm unfolded in full, intoxicating detail—a wilderness of spiraling cliffs, hanging forests, and a sky split by rivers of light. Yet there was no time to marvel. The trial had already been assigned.
Trial Directive: Hunt and slay one Spirit Awakening Realm—First Stage—beast.
The words burned themselves into Tian Lei's vision before fading, leaving only the rustle of unseen creatures in the distance.
