Chapter 3: Humiliation and the Seed of Vengeance

"You covet the token in my possession?" Kaelen discerned Darian's intent in an instant. It was evident that the wretch had accepted some onerous task from the Pavilion and, lacking the courage to confront the formidable among them, had instead chosen to prey upon him — the weakest of all.

At that moment, Darian, flanked by Theo and Lance, strode toward Kaelen with unabashed arrogance.

"Surrender it," Darian commanded, his voice steeped in disdain, his lips curled into a derisive sneer. His tone was imperious, leaving no room for protest.

"Darian..." Kaelen muttered, fury boiling like molten steel within his chest. Even a cornered beast will bare its fangs — how then could a man suffer such degradation? His patience, strained beyond its limits, shattered.

Since submission could yield no reprieve, then only resistance remained. If humiliation was inescapable, then he would embrace defiance without hesitation.

Before kaelen could act, Darian made the first move. With casual ease, he formed a lotus seal with his fingers and uttered a low invocation: "Seal Down."

In that instant, a muffled boom reverberated. Yet kaelen, summoning the entirety of his sinew and spirit, erupted like a dormant volcano awakened. The binding force that sought to imprison him was sundered with a resounding crack. With eyes ablaze and muscles coiled with rage, he hurled a punch with all the ferocity of a wounded beast.

"Bang!" His fist collided savagely with Lance's back. The youthful boy, still wearing a naive grin, had no time even to comprehend his fate before he was hurled bodily through the air.

"You—" Darian's expression contorted with fury and disbelief. His spiritual technique, broken so abruptly, left his mind reeling as though bludgeoned by an iron maul. His complexion turned ashen, and he staggered back, struggling for balance.

"Boom!" Lance crashed heavily onto the stone-paved courtyard, raising a storm of dust.

For a fleeting breath, Darian and Theo stood frozen, gazing at Kaelen— his dark hair disheveled, his crimson eyes radiating primal fury — no longer a boy, but a predator unchained.

The 'weakling' they had despised had transformed before their very eyes into a harbinger of dread.

Instinctive fear gnawed at their hearts. Though it lasted but an instant, the shame of it was unbearable. For those two cultivation realms above him to feel fear from one so lowly was an offense beyond forgiveness.

Darian, his pride wounded and rage unbounded, bellowed:

"You seek death!"

He lunged at Kaelen like a thunderbolt.

"Come, then!" Kaelen roared in reply, channeling all the fury in his heart into a punch that split the air itself. The violent force distorted the very atmosphere, whipping Darian's garments backward.

It was Kaelen's ultimate strike — a culmination of wrath, desperation, and burning will — but just as he launched it, Darian's figure blurred.

"Whoosh!"

The image of Darian split into two.

It was Phantom Step — a footwork technique crafted for lethal deception in close combat.

Kaelen's heart clenched, but the moment of alarm was too brief to avert disaster. His fist struck nothingness, a mere illusion dissipating before him. A wave of nausea and dread churned within him as the realization dawned.

The afterimage faded into the wind.

Before he could retreat, a cold breath brushed the nape of his neck.

Darian had appeared behind him, his countenance twisted into a sadistic grin.

Without hesitation, Darian's palm surged with energy, compressing the surrounding air.

"Five-Hammer Strike!" he hissed.

Boom!

The force struck Kaelen's back with all the wrath of a collapsing mountain. His body was hurled like a broken puppet against the towering ancient tree at the center of the courtyard.

The impact made the ancient trunk tremble and shed a rain of dead leaves.

Rebounding off the trunk, Kaelen crumpled to the ground, blood spewing from his lips, staining the stone with crimson.

Seeing the blood, Theo and Lance paled in fear.

Only Darian remained impassive, his arrogance deepened. He stepped forward and crushed Kaelen's head beneath his foot.

"Trash remains trash," Darian sneered coldly. "Wrath changes nothing."

"Darian, enough! Let's leave!" Theo urged, his voice laced with panic. Though sparring was tolerated within the sect, inflicting grievous harm was forbidden and could invite harsh retribution — especially when the injured party, however lowly, possessed a master within the sect.

"Fear not," Darian replied with a disdainful chuckle.

At that, he pressed his spiritual sense against the token he had seized from Kaelen. A moment later, a flash of delight illuminated his face.

"Haha! Kaelen, fortune smiled upon you — pity that your fortune now belongs to me!"

With a sneer, Darian swapped the two tokens, tossing his own discarded one onto kaelen's battered body as though discarding refuse.

Without sparing so much as a backward glance, he and his companions departed, their jeering laughter echoing across the courtyard.

Underneath the ancient tree, Kaelen struggled to rise. His teeth ground together with such force that faint cracks echoed in his skull.

"Darian..." he rasped, crimson eyes smoldering with vengeful fire. "I swear... the humiliation of this day shall be repaid a hundredfold!"

As he sat there, something slid free from his robe with a metallic clink.

Kaelen lowered his gaze. It was Darian's discarded token — by the ironclad laws of the sect, it was now rightfully his.

Running his spiritual sense over it, Kaelen's expression darkened further.

"Azure Frost pool... the task: capture a Emeraldfin Carp?" he muttered bitterly.

The Pool lay a hundred miles distant — a desolate, frozen lake perpetually shrouded in mist. Its waters were as cold as death, and few could even endure its touch, let alone wrestle forth a rare spirit carp from its depths.

His hand clenched around the token until his knuckles whitened.

"Boom!"

His fist struck the ground beside him, trembling the earth.

This was the wretched fate Darian had thrust upon him — and now, alone and bloodied, Kaelen would have no choice but to face it.