Chapter 6: The Tournament of Blood

I. The First Trial – Gauntlet of Flames

The arena shook as the ground split open, revealing a chasm of molten rock. Fiend-corrupted beasts—twisted hybrids of flesh and magma—climbed out, their eyes burning with mindless hunger.

"Survive for one hour," Headmaster Mo's voice boomed from above. "Or become fuel for the Fiend Gate."

The fifty remaining cultivators scattered, their Genomes roaring to life.

Leng Xueyi leapt onto an obsidian pillar, her Frost Phoenix unleashing a blizzard that froze three lava hounds solid.

Princess Luo Ying laughed as she danced through flames, her Solar Phoenix incinerating everything in its path.

And Xiao Chen?

He walked straight into the inferno.

His Abyss-Shell Predator had grown to the size of a war chariot, its spiked shell now glowing with Fiend runes. A lava serpent lunged—

CRUNCH.

The turtle bit its head off, then devoured the molten core.

[Fiend-essence absorbed.]

[Evolution progress: 87%.]

Then—a scream.

Mei Ling was cornered, her mutated body struggling against a Fiend-infected cultivator, his Genome mutated into a six-armed monstrosity.

"Xiao Chen!" she cried, her veins black with venom.

He moved.

His fist shattered the attacker's spine, and his turtle swallowed the man whole.

[7/10 highborn lives consumed.]

Mei Ling panted, her eyes dilated with worship. "You came for me."

Xiao Chen grabbed her throat—not to harm, but to feel her pulse. "Don't make me regret it."

II. The Second Trial – Mirror of Shadows

The survivors (now twenty-three) were herded into a black-glass labyrinth, their reflections twisted into monstrous versions of themselves.

"Face your darkest self," Mo's voice whispered.

Xiao Chen's reflection grinned back at him—but it wasn't him.

It was the Heavenly Demon, clad in his flesh.

"You resist me," it mocked. "But you crave what I offer."

Xiao Chen slammed his fist into the glass. "I don't need you to kill."

"No?" The reflection shifted, showing a future—Leng Xueyi impaled on a Fiend's claw, Mei Ling burning alive, his turtle shattered into shards.

"This is your fate. Unless you embrace me."

Xiao Chen roared, his Abyss-Shell Predator smashing through the mirror.

The illusion shattered.

He stood alone in the ruins, his knuckles bloody, his Genome now pulsating with dark energy.

[Abyss-Shell Predator has reached S-rank.]

[New ability unlocked: "Worldbreaker Charge" – Can shatter terrain within 300 meters.]

III. The Empire's Betrayal

Only eleven cultivators remained when General Wu raised his hand.

"Enough. The Emperor has spoken."

The arena trembled as imperial assassins dropped from the airships, their void-tipped arrows aimed at—

Xiao Chen.

"The Sovereign's bloodline cannot be allowed to rise," Wu declared. "Kill him."

Leng Xueyi stepped in front of Xiao Chen, her blade freezing the first volley. "You dare?"

Princess Luo Ying sighed, then snapped her fingers.

Her Solar Phoenix turned on the assassins, burning them to ash.

"Sorry, Uncle Wu," she giggled. "But he's more fun alive."

Wu Tian snarled, his gryphon unleashing a sonic screech—

Then—

A blade of darkness pierced his chest.

The Heavenly Demon's arm retracted into Xiao Chen's shadow.

"I told you," Xiao Chen said, watching the general choke on his own blood. "Try."

IV. The Third Trial – Kingslayer's Gambit

With Wu dead, the final trial began prematurely.

Last rule: Only one leaves alive.

Leng Xueyi froze two cultivators mid-lunge.

Princess Luo burned three more.

Mei Ling sank her fangs into a noble's throat, her venom melting him from within.

And Xiao Chen?

He walked toward the center, where the last opponent awaited.

The Fiend cultist from the banquet hall—now mutated into a half-Fiend abomination.

"Sovereign," it gurgled. "Your blood will open the Gate."

Xiao Chen **pulled the Heavenly Demon's power for the first time willingly.

His arm morphed into a blade of living shadow.

One slash.

The cultist split in half, his body dissolving into black mist.

[8/10 highborn lives consumed.]

Silence.

Then—the ground exploded.

V. The Fiend God's Whisper

A voice shook the world:

"Xiao Chen."

The Fiend Gate beneath the academy glowed crimson, its seals breaking.

"I remember your ancestor."

Xiao Chen spat blood. "I don't have one."

The voice laughed.

"You will."

Then—darkness swallowed the arena.

Chapter 6 End