The courtyard was not silent.
It was roaring.
But the sound was not the triumphant cheer Li Tianhao expected, nor the laughter Su Xian had envisioned when she tore our contract apart.
It was a storm of disbelief.
Gasps. Shouts. Screams.
"He… he pushed him back!"
"Lin Feng actually forced Young Master Li back!"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
The voices crashed into one another until the air shook with chaos.
Some disciples clutched the railings, their knuckles white.
Some rubbed their eyes as though afraid they had seen an illusion.
Others shouted so loudly their voices cracked, desperate to convince themselves it wasn't real.
I stood in the center of it all, my chest heaving, sweat rolling down my temple, my grip tight around the golden sword that still hummed faintly in my hands.
My arms burned.
My ribs ached.
My legs trembled.
But I was standing.
For the first time in three years, I was not crawling.
The impossible had happened.
And everyone knew it.
Li Tianhao staggered back two steps, boots scraping against stone, his aura flickering as he steadied himself. His eyes—so calm, so arrogant, so certain—now widened in a flash of raw disbelief.
"You dare…" he hissed. His lips twisted into a snarl, sharp and venomous. "You dare humiliate me before the sect!"
The golden qi around him surged like a tidal wave. His aura exploded outward, pressing on the courtyard until lanterns rattled on their poles and the nearest disciples staggered back, clutching their robes against the force.
"Now," he growled, his voice low but carrying, "you die."
His blade lifted, humming with power, and his body blurred into motion.
One instant he stood before me, the next he was a streak of golden fire cutting across the stage. His sword flashed, arcs of flame slashing from every direction—left, right, above, below.
The crowd screamed.
"It's his Thousand Flame Strikes!"
"No one has ever survived that technique!"
"Lin Feng's done for!"
Each blow struck like thunder.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
My sword met his again and again. Sparks sprayed across the stage, stone cracked underfoot, heat seared my skin. Every impact rattled my bones, every parry tore at my muscles.
My arms screamed.
My chest heaved.
My legs buckled.
I could barely keep up.
He's too fast. Too strong. I can't hold this…
---
Ding!
The golden screen flared before my eyes.
> System Notification: Host endurance critical.
Emergency Compensation Activated: +200 Health, +50 Strength (temporary).
---
Warmth flooded me, surging through my veins like molten steel. My grip tightened. My vision sharpened. The blur of his sword slowed just enough that I could follow it.
Clang!
I blocked.
Clang!
I parried.
Clang!
I staggered, boots sliding across stone, but I held.
The courtyard gasped as one.
"He blocked again!"
"How?! How is he still alive?!"
"Trash shouldn't be able to last a single breath!"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Su Xian's face. For the first time since this nightmare began, her icy mask cracked. Her lips parted slightly, her brows furrowed.
Doubt.
A flicker of doubt.
---
Ding!
> Passive Skill Activated: Aura of Confidence.
Effect: Women observing feel subtle admiration.
---
The warmth spread further, not just into my arms, but into the very air around me. It was subtle, faint, but real.
And Su Xian felt it.
Her cold gaze lingered a heartbeat longer before she snapped her eyes away, jaw tightening.
Li Tianhao saw it too. Rage twisted his handsome face, his grin curdling into a snarl.
"You dare make her waver?!" he roared. His qi flared, flames surging higher, brighter, hotter. The banners above us snapped violently, several tearing free and spiraling into the air.
"Then burn with despair, Lin Feng!"
He leapt.
His aura swelled, flames coiling around his sword until it became a blazing dragon of gold and crimson, scales shimmering, eyes glowing, jaws wide as it lunged down toward me.
"Dragon Flame Annihilation!"
The disciples screamed, shielding their faces from the heat. Elders rose from their seats, expressions hardening. Even the stone beneath the stage cracked, unable to bear the force of his qi.
The heat pressed against me, suffocating, threatening to melt flesh from bone.
My chest tightened. My grip faltered.
This is it… this is death.
---
Ding!
The screen blazed again.
> Main Mission Assistance Activated.
Reward Pre-Release: Beginner's Divine Sword Enhancement.
Effect: Sword durability +100%, Attack +50%.
---
The golden blade in my hands blazed brighter, light erupting outward like dawn splitting night.
My body screamed, but my soul roared.
I lifted my sword.
Golden light erupted upward as I swung.
The dragon descended, jaws wide, flames raging.
I roared back, my voice ripping from my throat.
The swords collided.
Light exploded.
The world vanished in fire and gold.
The courtyard shook. The stage cracked. Stone shattered and flew like shrapnel. Lanterns burst, banners ignited, drums toppled.
Disciples were hurled backward, some tumbling across the ground, others crying out as the shockwave slammed into them.
For a heartbeat, there was only blinding radiance.
When the light faded—
Li Tianhao stood frozen, his blade locked against mine. His eyes were wide, his arms trembling.
A sharp sound split the air.
Crack.
A thin line appeared down the length of his blade.
The courtyard gasped.
"His sword—Young Master Li's sword cracked?!"
"No! That blade was forged from firesteel!"
"This… this can't be real!"
Li Tianhao staggered back, his aura sputtering, his flames faltering. His face twisted between disbelief and fury, his lips trembling as though words refused to obey him.
And me?
I still stood. My sword hummed with golden light, its glow illuminating the stage, its power steady, unwavering.
The crowd's disbelief shifted. Their jeers died. Their scorn dimmed. For the first time, their eyes held something else.
Awe.
I stepped forward, my boots echoing against the cracked stone.
"You call me trash."
Another step. My sword lifted higher, golden light spilling across the courtyard.
"You call me cripple."
Another step. The warmth of the system thrummed in my chest, my aura radiating outward, fierce and unyielding.
"But tell me, Li Tianhao…" My lips curved into a grin sharp enough to cut.
"Which of us is kneeling now?"
Gasps erupted like thunder.
For Li Tianhao—once unshakable, once untouchable—now staggered back, nearly buckling onto his knees before the sect he had always dominated.
---
Ding!
The system blazed.
> Main Mission Complete!
Task: Survive duel against Li Tianhao.
Reward Granted: Beginner's Divine Sword (permanent) + Foundation Establishment Realm.
---
Power surged.
My veins burned, my bones hardened, my qi roared to life. The golden sword in my hands solidified, no longer flickering light but tempered steel wrapped in divine glow.
The crowd gasped again.
"He advanced a realm?!"
"Foundation Establishment… in the middle of battle?!"
"This… this is against the heavens!"
Li Tianhao stared, pale, his cracked sword trembling in his grip. His mouth opened, but the only word that escaped was broken.
"Trash…" His voice cracked. "You're still… trash!"
But the crowd heard the tremor. The fear. The disbelief.
And I saw it too—in Su Xian's eyes. The cold certainty she had wielded like a weapon was gone. In its place was something she had never shown me before.
Shock.
And doubt.
I raised my sword, its golden glow brighter than ever.
This was no longer about survival.
This was about domination.
The sect that had laughed at me…
The bride who had abandoned me…
The genius who had mocked me…
I was no longer their cripple.
I was no longer their joke.
I was no longer their trash.
I was the man who stood.
And I was just getting started.
---