Chapter 719 – "An Age Worth Questioning"
Alex had barely taken a few steps from the center of the arena, the frost still fading from the stone under his boots, when a sharp voice cut across the noise of the crowd.
"Wait!"
The announcer faltered mid-breath as every eye turned toward the elevated seating for sect representatives. A middle-aged man in deep maroon robes — bearing the crest of the Mountain Sea Sect — stood with arms folded, his expression hard.
"I request," he said, his voice ringing through the arena's amplification array, "that this contestant's age be verified."
The murmur that followed was instant.
"His age?"
"Why bring that up now?"
"Oh… the rule."
The man continued, gaze fixed on the masked figure below. "The Central Continent Tournament's rules are clear. No participant may be over one hundred years of age. This regulation has kept the competition fair for centuries. And yet…" His eyes narrowed. "This one's aura — or rather, the lack of it — is suspicious. We have no proof of his realm, no proof of his age. I demand it be tested."
A ripple of agreement came from a few other sect stands, though most simply watched, curious.
In the Heavenly Sect's section, Yu Mei's gaze cooled, her fingers tightening on the railing. "They're looking for an excuse."
Alex paused mid-step, head turning slightly toward the speaker. The mask hid his expression, but the air around him seemed to settle into a deeper stillness.
Up in the elders' pavilion, Mei Suhua's lips curved faintly. "Trying to disqualify him before the real fun starts… bold, but foolish."
The announcer glanced toward the row of presiding sect masters for guidance. The Celestial Dragon Sect Master leaned forward slightly, his voice carrying across the platform. "It's within the challenger's right to request an age verification… though it's unusual to do so after a match has ended."
The Frost Moon Palace Sect Master's eyes slid toward Alex. "I'd be curious myself. The mask, the concealed cultivation… it wouldn't be the first time an older master tried to slip into the tournament."
All around the arena, the audience leaned forward in anticipation, the low buzz of speculation growing louder.
At the center of it all, Alex stood perfectly still. Then, with the calm of someone entirely unbothered, he said only:
"If you want proof, bring it."
The officiator descended from the platform, carrying a slender, rune-etched rod of pale silver wood — the Bone Age Verifier. Its tip glimmered faintly with sealed starlight, the enchantments designed to bypass any concealment arts and read the truth written in a cultivator's very marrow.
He stopped before Alex, bowing slightly. "Place your hand here."
Alex didn't hesitate. He raised his right hand, the same one still faintly marked by the three soul sigils, and set it against the cool metal plate at the rod's base.
A pulse of white light traveled up the shaft, flaring once at the tip before settling into a steady glow. Runes shifted along its length, forming a sequence of numbers that shimmered for all to see.
The officiator blinked. His mouth opened… then closed again. He checked the reading twice, as if suspecting a malfunction. Finally, he turned toward the gathered sect masters, his voice carrying through the amplification array.
"Bone age… twenty-two."
The words seemed to hang in the air.
The Mountain Sea Sect elder who had raised the challenge froze, his smug certainty cracking. In the pavilions above, sect masters glanced at one another in open disbelief.
"Twenty-two?!"
"That's barely past the minimum entry age!"
"He's… a child, by cultivation standards."
Even the Celestial Dragon Sect Master's brows drew together. "At twenty-two… and already this strong?"
Lan Xueya's fingers tightened on the railing, her eyes narrowing. You're telling me… someone younger than me did that to the True Void disciple?
Elder Mei Suhua's lips curved into something sharper than a smile. "Oh… this just became far more interesting."
Down in the arena, Alex simply withdrew his hand, turning away without a word, as if the revelation were meaningless. But the look in the eyes of every master, elder, and rival disciple watching him said otherwise.
The number had changed nothing about what he'd done — but it had shifted everything about how they saw him.
Before Alex could take another step toward the Heavenly Sect's seats, another voice rang out from the Mountain Sea Sect's section — joined quickly by murmurs from others.
"Wait!"
"If the mask conceals his cultivation, it could also conceal his identity."
"It may be a treasure hiding his true realm — and age."
Several nodded in agreement, their gazes turning toward the officiator still standing near Alex. The man hesitated, then straightened and spoke carefully.
"Alex of the Heavenly Sect… for complete verification, I must request that you remove your mask."
The arena went quieter than it had all day.
Yu Mei's brows drew together slightly, though she said nothing. Shui Yun muttered under her breath, "They're just trying to strip away every mystery they can."
Alex stood there for a moment in silence, the faintest sigh slipping past his lips. Then, without protest, he reached up and unfastened the plain black mask.
The moment it came away, the reaction was immediate.
Gasps.
Whispers.
A few stunned silences broken only by sharp intakes of breath.
Under the summer light, his features were laid bare — a face so flawlessly proportioned it seemed almost unreal, yet carried with an unshakable calm that made it more striking. Black hair framed eyes of deep, dark obsidian, the kind that drew you in and refused to let go.
Women in the stands, from junior disciples to veteran cultivators, found themselves leaning forward without realizing it. More than a few men exchanged glances, clearly aware they'd just been outclassed in a way no cultivation realm could fix.
But no one's reaction was stronger than Elder Mei Suhua's.
Her lips parted slightly, a faint hitch in her breath betraying the sudden spike in her heartbeat. She'd come here with an unshakable goal, certain of her control, certain that nothing could unsettle her. But looking at him now… she felt an unfamiliar, almost predatory pull, like her instincts were demanding she claim him.
Her fingers curled against her knee, nails pressing into silk. The corner of her mouth lifted slowly, her eyes never leaving Alex for even a heartbeat. Oh… now I know. You're mine.
Up in the Frost Moon Palace's section, Lan Xueya averted her gaze almost immediately, unsettled by the flicker of heat that tried to cut through her usual frost.
In the arena, Alex simply slid the mask into his belt and looked around, meeting the stares of sect masters and disciples alike without the slightest sign of discomfort — as though the storm of reactions washing over the arena was nothing to him at all.
The officiator, perhaps spurred by the sheer disbelief rippling through the stands, glanced down at the bone age rod in his hands. His brows knit, and after a moment's hesitation, he cleared his throat.
"For certainty's sake… we will perform the verification once more."
He stepped closer to Alex, lifting the rune-etched rod so all could see. "Place your hand here again, without the mask this time."
Alex didn't even bother to sigh this time — he simply extended his hand, palm steady against the plate.
The rod pulsed once more, light running up its length before flaring at the tip. The runes shifted, aligning into the same sequence as before.
The officiator's eyes flicked to the numbers, then widened slightly. His voice carried clearly through the amplification array.
"Bone age… still twenty-two."
The crowd erupted, half in shock, half in reluctant awe.
"It's true?"
"No concealment… no disguise…"
"Twenty-two and already that powerful—impossible!"
Even some of the sect masters who had suspected trickery exchanged uneasy glances. There was no faking a reading from a Bone Age Verifier — not without shattering the artifact entirely.
Elder Mei Suhua's smirk deepened, a glint in her eyes that bordered on possessive. Young… and strong enough to ignore the strongest strikes without moving. Perfect.
Lan Xueya's fingers tightened at her side again, the faint heat from earlier now tangled with a reluctant admission. Not only younger than me… but stronger than I can even measure.
In the arena, Alex lowered his hand, as unbothered as ever, and gave the officiator a short nod. "Satisfied?"
The officiator, still slightly pale, stepped back quickly. "The result stands. Age confirmed: twenty-two years."
The Heavenly Sect's section was silent for a moment… then Yu Mei's lips curved into a faint, proud smile. "Let them keep guessing."