The world seemed frozen in place.
Jun Liang staggered back several steps, his face pale, eyes wide with a deep, creeping fear. He could hardly breathe, as if the air around him had suddenly grown thin.
"H-How is this possible…" he stammered. "I'm a Qi Condensation cultivator at the 6th level… You were just a castaway child… This… is impossible…"
His voice trembled. He no longer understood anything.
Jun Xiao tilted his head slightly, his eyes glowing with an unfathomable, almost supernatural light. In them lived an ancient, merciless cold.
"You should have thought twice… before condemning me to death," he whispered—his voice as soft as falling snow, but sharper than any blade.
In a blink, he vanished.
Then reappeared in front of Jun Liang, as if he had split space itself. Before anyone could react, his fist—shrouded in icy-blue Qi—smashed directly into Jun Liang's chest.
BOOM!
A deep rumble echoed. Jun Liang was violently hurled backward. His body shot across the arena like a comet, narrowly missing Patriarch Jun Ji, before crashing into the arena wall with devastating force. Stone shattered, the wall cracked—and silence fell once more.
A single breath escaped. Then… nothing.
Jun Liang was dead. Broken from the inside. No breath, no heartbeat. His once-powerful body was now a heap of lifeless flesh.
The force of Jun Xiao's blow was beyond what Jun Liang could possibly withstand.
When a cultivator enters the Qi Condensation realm, their body begins to transform. Their physical power is amplified. At the 1st level of Qi Condensation, one's strength equals about 5,000 jing—without even factoring in martial skills or Qi enhancement techniques. A 6th level cultivator could reach around 30,000 jing—ten times stronger than someone at the peak of Body Strengthening. Yet Jun Xiao's blow had far surpassed even that. So much so, that with just one strike, Jun Liang was dead.
Jun Xiao slowly turned toward Jun Ji. Calmly. Unhurried. His gaze didn't waver.
Around the patriarch, the clan's elders—so confident mere moments ago—instinctively stepped back. Their faces had gone pale. Even Chen Ying, usually unshakable, clenched his fists, his pupils shrinking as if he were staring into a forming abyss.
Jun Xiao took a deep breath.
Then he unleashed everything.
"Let me show you… what true power looks like."
His Qi erupted.
A swirling column of energy burst from his body, shooting into the sky like an inverted cyclone. Midnight-blue lightning crackled in the air, making the arena tremble. The ground split beneath his feet. Spectators felt their skin crawl, as though touched by an ancient, freezing force.
The very atmosphere seemed to bend. Space vibrated, on the verge of shattering.
Someone in the crowd screamed:
"That… that's not Qi Condensation!"
"This Qi… it's too dense… too pure…"
"No… he's beyond that stage…"
Jun Ji, who had stood stoically until now, gritted his teeth.
He recognized this energy. This wasn't just any Qi. It was purified spiritual Qi—unique to the Spiritual Incarnation Realm, a domain only touched by legendary masters after decades of cultivation.
And Jun Xiao… was only sixteen .
This wasn't just talent.
This was an aberration.
A monster.
And now, that monster stood before them.
Jun Xiao took a step forward.
Each footfall echoed like the descent of a mountain from the heavens. The atmosphere grew heavier. Even the air groaned under the pressure.
He stopped just a few steps from Jun Ji.
His gaze was calm. His face serene. But in his eyes… raged a cold and boundless fury.
Then he spoke.
His voice was not loud, not shouted—but so charged with energy that it forced itself into the minds of everyone present.
"You wanted me dead. You condemned my father, trampled my honor, tried to erase me."
He looked up at the sky, as if questioning the heavens themselves.
"Today… I pass judgment. I will erase you all in a single strike. But before I leave this place… let me show you what a real martial technique looks like."
He raised his hand.
With a blast of raw energy, a massive spear took form.
Made entirely of crystallized Qi, over three meters long, it floated weightlessly in his grasp. Around the shaft, an energy dragon silently roared, coiling with burning blue eyes made of lightning.
The very Qi in the air screamed.
Then Jun Xiao whispered:
"Heavenly Judgment – Spear of the Ancestral Dragon."
He threw the spear.
The world seemed to stop.
The next instant, a pillar of azure light slammed down on the arena like the wrath of heaven. The dragon's roar filled the skies. The ground disintegrated. Space itself twisted under the force of the technique.
BOOOOOM!
There was no scream.
No resistance.
Jun Ji, the elders, Chen Ying—even Jun Wei who lay writhing in pain—
All were reduced to dust.
Erased without a trace.
One blow.
One instant.
And the upper lineage of the Jun Clan… was no more.
The silence that followed was heavier than death.
The remaining members of the clan—the young, the servants, those who had stayed back—were frozen in place.
Their legs trembled.
No one spoke.
No one even dared breathe too loudly.
The patriarch was dead. The pillars of the clan, annihilated.
Jun Xiao slowly turned around and declared in a firm, implacable voice:
"From this moment on… the Jun Clan withdraws from the competition."
There was no objection.
In the distance, his father, Jun Tian, stood frozen, mouth agape, eyes wide.
He no longer recognized his own son.
His mother, Su Mei, trembled softly, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. What they had witnessed surpassed anything they had ever imagined.
But when Jun Xiao looked at them—this time, his gaze was soft.
"I'll explain everything… once we're home."
No one dared speak.
But all followed.
And so, in dead silence, the Jun Clan withdrew from the arena.
They turned their backs.
Their silhouettes slowly faded into the horizon—leaving behind a battlefield of ruins, silence… and fear.
In the stands, the representatives of the other clans—who had displayed arrogance, smugness, or amusement just an hour ago—were now locked in absolute shock.
No one spoke.
No one even dared breathe too hard.
The arena floor was nothing but a charred, cracked crater, still vibrating with a terrifying residual energy. Wisps of Qi floated in the air, burning everything they touched, refusing to disappear.
This wasn't just an attack.
It was a mark left by power.
You could guess what they were thinking without a word spoken:
"He wasn't just a teenager. He was… a calamity. An entity…"
"The Qi of that boy… is purer than anything I've ever felt… He's a monster."
"He's only sixteen…"
All were in utter disbelief.
And so, the day that was meant to crown the elite of young cultivators… became a turning point.
A day marked by the awakening of a sleeping dragon.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Jun Clan walked silently behind Jun Xiao, in an atmosphere so heavy it felt unreal.
No one spoke.
Even the oldest members kept their heads down, unable to meet his gaze.
They returned straight to the Jun Clan's manor.
The place was silent—solemn and tense.
All eyes turned to Jun Xiao.
Not with contempt or doubt anymore… But with respect, fear… and a hint of reverence.
Upon arrival, Jun Xiao issued a simple but firm order: house arrest for all clan members.
He wanted no chaos, no wild rumors.
Everyone was to remain in their quarters until things stabilized.
After that, he headed toward their old family home, accompanied by his parents and little sister.
The house hadn't changed—modest, but warm, full of memories.
But today, no one who stepped inside saw a mere young man living there. Jun Xiao now emanated a power too overwhelming to be associated with that humble past. Sitting in the living room, surrounded by his family, he felt their intense stares.
His father sat upright, his expression grim. His mother looked at him like he might vanish. And his little sister, usually so lively, remained silent, wide-eyed.
Jun Xiao let out a sigh, his tone slightly ironic:
"Wow… what's with those looks? Okay, I get it. Overnight I turn into someone powerful—it's normal you want answers."
He paused to think.
Of course, he couldn't tell them about the mysterious system that strengthened his body each time he slept.
So he created a believable story—simple, yet hard to disprove.
"A few months ago, I met an old man in town. He was begging. Looked starved, so I gave him some food.
Turned out… he was actually a powerful cultivator. He'd been searching for a kind soul to pass on his legacy."
His tone was convincing, his gaze sincere.
His parents were naturally shocked.
Jun Tian asked several questions about this mysterious master—his name, his sect, his history.
But Jun Xiao stayed vague.
"He forbade me to speak of him. He only told me to follow my own path."
His answers were fuzzy, but confidently delivered—enough to plant doubt, and finally, to convince them.
After all, their world was full of wandering cultivators and eccentric masters with strange methods.
It wasn't impossible.
Soon after, Jun Xiao summoned all clan members to the main hall.
The vast room filled quickly, everyone eager to know the clan's direction after the tournament.
Standing at the center, Jun Xiao addressed the gathering:
"From now on, my father, Jun Tian, is the new patriarch of the Jun Clan. As for the elders' positions, he will decide."
A murmur spread through the room.
Many were surprised.
To them, it was natural for Jun Xiao to take the lead.
He had the power, the authority, and now the recognition of every major clan in the city.
But he added calmly, with a voice that left no room for debate:
"I'm not meant to lead. My path lies elsewhere. I will travel across the empire, face powerful foes, grow without end… And make the name Jun Xiao known across the continent."
His resolve was clear. Unshakable.
The clan members eventually nodded.
After all, as long as Jun Xiao belonged to the Jun Clan, they had nothing to fear.
His name alone was enough to plant fear into the hearts of enemies.
In the days that followed, word of what happened at the tournament spread like wildfire.
Every clan from the humblest to the mightiest heard of the instant annihilation of Patriarch Jun Ji and the elders.
Of Jun Xiao's overwhelming display of power.
The other clans' representatives, once arrogant, now came personally to pay their respects.
None dared to speak arrogantly.
Even the city lord, Wang Shi of the famous Wang Clan, came humbly to the Jun Manor.
In a shocking gesture, he officially ceded his title of local governor to Jun Tian, recognizing the Jun Clan as Fenyan City's supreme authority.
From that moment on, the Jun Clan became the number one clan in Fenyan.
Dominating all others.
Not through politics…
But through pure strength.