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The air shimmered with heat, thick enough to blur the edges of the arena.
Kael stood at the center of it, spear leveled, chest heaving. His aura no longer blazed in waves — it condensed, folding in on itself until the flames seemed almost too heavy for the air to carry.
Peak Stage Qi Condensation. Burning his reserves.
The elders watching from above shifted uneasily. One murmured, "He's preparing that technique?"
Kael smirked, blood staining the corner of his mouth. "You've surprised me, Edran. But there's a limit to mountains. Even stone breaks under enough heat."
The tip of his spear ignited — not with ordinary fire, but with a pure, white flame. It didn't flicker. It consumed, the light eating into the shadows and even stripping color from the air around it. The temperature spiked so suddenly that cracks spiderwebbed across the stone floor.
"This is my White Phoenix Final Descent," Kael said, voice low but carrying. "The last breath of a dying sun."
The crowd erupted into a chaotic roar, half in awe, half in fear. Everyone knew the truth — this wasn't just an attack. It was a gamble that could cripple his cultivation for months, maybe years.
Edran didn't move. His expression was the same cold mask, but his qi shifted subtly. The ground beneath his feet seemed to sink, as though accepting more of his weight.
Kael lunged.
The spear's white blaze tore across the arena in a straight line, every inch of space between them melting under its passage. The sound wasn't a roar — it was silence, the kind that comes when heat swallows air itself.
Edran stepped forward.
And for the first time, his qi didn't simply thicken. It descended.
A deep, resonant hum rippled through the ground, vibrating through the soles of every spectator's feet. The floor around Edran darkened, stone turning the color of ancient, untouched bedrock. It wasn't flashy, but it was heavy — so heavy that the arena's protective barrier creaked.
His hands closed into fists, earthen qi wrapping them like twin mountain peaks. The hum deepened into a rumble. Somewhere in that sound was something else — something not entirely stone, not entirely earth.
The moment before Kael's spear struck, Edran's lips moved.
"Mountain's Heart – Collapse."
The clash was instantaneous — but not equal.
Kael's spear met Edran's fist, and the white flames surged forward… only to twist violently, pulled into the stone gauntlet as though the earth itself was swallowing them. The temperature plunged, steam hissing from the floor as molten stone cooled in an instant.
Then came the shockwave.
It rolled outward like an invisible avalanche, blasting Kael backward so violently his body struck the far arena wall with a crunch. The spear fell from his hand, clattering uselessly to the ground.
The flames were gone.
Edran stood in the center of the arena, right arm lowered, steam curling from his clenched fist. His breathing was steady.
Kael tried to push himself up — once, twice — before his legs gave out entirely. Blood splattered the ground as he coughed, his qi in disarray, meridians rattled from the impact. His eyes locked on Edran, wide with disbelief.
"You… crushed it," he rasped. "Like it was nothing…"
Edran said nothing.
The referee appeared beside Kael, checking his condition before raising a hand. "Winner — Edran Vale!"
For a heartbeat, the arena was silent. Then the eruption came — cheers, gasps, even a few screams.
Mid Stage Qi Condensation… defeating a Peak Stage in full burst. Without revealing his true strength.
In the viewing stands, some of the academy's elders exchanged glances. One muttered, "That wasn't just earth qi. There was… something older in that technique."
Edran walked past Kael without looking at him. But as he passed, Kael forced a grin despite the blood on his lips. "You're not just climbing the mountain… you are the mountain. I'll break you one day."
Edran didn't answer — but the faintest flicker of a smile touched his mouth before he stepped out of the arena.
The next round awaited. And now, every rival in the Academy of Crowns would be watching him.