Mount Sangzhao pulsed beneath Kai Jin's feet, its ancient heartbeat thrumming in rhythm with his own. Around him, shadows whispered, forming silhouettes of forgotten warriors and lost dreams. This was the Path of Echoes—the first trial of the Crownless Tournament, where one's deepest fears rose like specters, intent on unraveling their spirit.
The air thickened into darkness, wrapping him in silence until he was utterly alone. Then the silence shattered.
"Kai…" Yue's voice cracked through the darkness, filled with anguish. "Don't leave me… please."
He spun, heart hammering. Yue knelt on the ground, trembling, blood staining her robes and pooling beneath her like liquid rubies. Her outstretched hand shook, desperate and pleading.
"No…" Kai gasped, moving toward her, but invisible chains caught at his limbs, pulling tight, slicing into his flesh with each struggle.
"You must choose," a cold voice echoed around him, impassive and cruel. "Strength demands sacrifice. Power demands a price. Who will you abandon, Kai Jin?"
"I will abandon no one!" he snarled, fighting the chains that seemed to grow tighter with each breath.
Another voice whispered, sweeter but equally poisonous: "You cannot hold them all. You will shatter trying."
Kai gritted his teeth, pain shooting through his limbs as he fought the binding chains. "Then I'll shatter. But I won't let go."
A new vision appeared: Bai Ru, standing amidst flames, her eyes wide with betrayal, reaching out to him as her medicine pouch burned to ashes. "Kai…"
Then Lin Su, her demon mark flaring violently as shadows swallowed her whole, her laughter turning to a scream of agony.
Kai's vision blurred, tears mingling with sweat. "Stop it!" he roared. "I choose all of them. Every one!"
The chains tightened again, a metallic snap sounding like bones breaking.
"You are weak," the voice accused.
"I am strong," Kai whispered fiercely, his voice low but steady. "Because I will not abandon them. Love is not weakness."
The chains trembled. A crack appeared, spreading like lightning through ice.
"Love is your undoing," the voice mocked.
Kai closed his eyes, drawing deep within, seeking that quiet center he had forged through countless trials. He whispered softly to himself, to the darkness:
"Love is the blade that cuts through fear."
The chains shattered.
Light flooded back, painful and blinding. Kai staggered forward, collapsing to his knees on solid ground. His breathing ragged, his heart thundered, but clarity settled within.
Yue knelt beside him, hand trembling as she touched his shoulder. Her face was pale, eyes haunted, but steady. "You saw it too?"
He nodded, still catching his breath. "You were dying. You were all dying. Because of me."
Lin Su approached, eyes dark and distant. "We saw our fears—real and raw."
Bai Ru's gentle voice joined quietly. "But we chose differently. Together."
Kai reached out, grasping Yue's hand, then Lin Su's, then Bai Ru's, holding tight.
"Then we face what comes next," he whispered, strength returning to his voice, resolve hardening like tempered steel.
Above them, the storm cloud roared again, distant thunder applauding their resolve.
The Path of Echoes was only the beginning.
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On the far side of the arena, Wei Lan watched silently, lips curled in disdain. Beside him, Elder Jian murmured softly, "See how he clings to sentiment? A man ruled by heart cannot rule an empire."
Wei Lan smiled coldly. "Then we will tear that heart out. Piece by piece."
The trial had ended, but the real battle had just begun.
[To Be Continued in Chapter 82: Blades and Betrayal]
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