Kael stood in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by a circle of mocking eyes. Dozens of outer sect disciples gathered, each whispering, snickering, betting on how fast he'd lose. Most were here for the drama, but some wanted blood.
At the far end, Jinhai strutted toward the dueling platform, robes spotless, hair tied in a golden clasp. He radiated the kind of confidence that came from privilege and unearned praise.
"Are you really doing this, Kael?" Jinhai called out with a smirk. "With that trash cultivation and a broken blade?"
Kael didn't answer. He stepped forward slowly, eyes scanning the sect disciples like a wolf among sheep. He looked younger now 19 again but sharper than anyone else in the courtyard. His black hair was messier than it should be, skin pale from years of poverty, and his lean frame still bore the scars from his old world. But behind his eyes burned something different: awareness. A soul that had already died once.
He looked like someone who'd lost everything. And didn't care.
Jinhai leapt onto the dueling platform and brandished his polished saber. "You get one move. That's more than you deserve."
Kael rolled his neck. "Then make it count."
Snickers. Disciples chuckled. A few girls giggled behind their sleeves. Only one person didn't laugh.
Li Meixue.
She stood on the balcony above, watching with narrowed eyes. The same eyes that once looked down on him. The same woman who'd turned on him in his past life and thrown him to the zombies for fame and favor. Kael met her gaze, cold and unblinking.
She flinched.
Jinhai made the first move. Of course he did. He lunged with perfect form, blade whistling through the air a clean arc aimed at Kael's side. Fast. Efficient. Predictable.
Kael stepped in.
Steel hissed past his waist. He slammed his shoulder into Jinhai's ribs and followed with a low sweep that cracked into his knee. Jinhai staggered, his foot slipping. Kael twisted, surged behind him, and drove the hilt of his broken sword into his spine.
The crowd gasped.
Kael activated Surge.
For five seconds, time felt slower. Every twitch in Jinhai's body lit up in Kael's eyes like watching a puppet dance on strings. He saw the fear before the pain hit. Saw the panic flood his movements. Saw the opening.
He took it.
Kael slammed his foot into Jinhai's back and sent him crashing face-first into the platform. The saber clattered across the stone.
Silence.
Kael planted his foot on his brother's chest, lifted his chipped blade, and pressed it against his throat. "This is what one move looks like."
The courtyard went still.
"He… He beat him?" someone whispered.
"Was that a technique?"
"No… that was a mugging."
Kael leaned in. "You called me trash." His voice cut like steel. "You said I was beneath her. That I'd never be strong enough to even enter the inner sect."
Jinhai wheezed under his foot.
"I used to beg for approval," Kael continued, voice low. "Not anymore. I don't need you. I don't need this sect. I don't even need this world."
He turned to the balcony.
Li Meixue hadn't moved.
Kael gave her a slow, mocking smile.
"You chose him," he said, voice loud now. "But when I'm done, you'll kneel. Just like he is."
Meixue's jaw clenched.
Kael stepped off Jinhai and walked off the platform like a man walking away from a corpse. Because to him, that's exactly what Jinhai was. A corpse that hadn't fallen over yet.
The system pinged.
⟨Devotion Point Acquired: +15⟩
⟨New Title Unlocked: First Blood⟩
⟨Side Quest Available: Provoke Meixue's Submission⟩
Reward: Skill Fragment (Shadow Palm)
Kael grinned. The world was already playing his game.
And he was just getting started.