The morning air was cold.
Thin mist still hung between the courtyard stones. Light broke slowly over the mountains, casting long shadows across the outer sect grounds.
Wei Feng sat alone beneath the sparring pavilion.
His blade rested beside him. His fingers flexed in silence.
He had slept. Not well, but enough.
The ache in his shoulders lingered. Not from injury—but from effort. Jin Taohua had pushed him. Not enough to beat him. But enough to remind him this sect wasn't a ladder he could climb without watching his footing.
He thought about her chain blade. Her footwork. The moment she yielded.
"If her veins had been fully awakened…"
He didn't finish the thought.
His eyes lifted toward the dueling platform—empty for now.
Cleaned. Ready.
The last match.
---
He wasn't afraid of Dawn.
He didn't even know what to feel.
There was no anger. No clear rivalry.
But something in the way that boy stood—
Still. Silent. Present but unreachable—
It bothered him.
Wei Feng had earned his place with training, blood, and force.
Dawn had taken a single step and sent someone to the ground.
And yet… no one questioned it.
Not even the elders.
---
He stood, exhaling once.
His body was warm. Ready.
He had to believe something:
"Everyone can be cut. You just need to find the opening."
---
Sect Dueling Arena — First Light
The courtyard was full now.
Outer disciples, inner ones too. A few elders sat quietly at the edge of the pavilion.
No one called this match entertainment.
It was the last trial.
The one that would decide the first-ranked Core Disciple.
---
Wei Feng stepped onto the platform. No flourish. No pose.
His blade rested in his hand. His stance was balanced.
Across from him—Dawn.
Same plain robe. Same empty hands.
His eyes were calm.
Not relaxed. Not distracted.
Just… still.
---
The instructor raised a hand.
"Final match.
Wei Feng Dawn Begin."
---
Wei Feng didn't charge.
Not yet.
He circled first. Measured distance.
Dawn didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't even shift his footing.
Wei Feng's grip tightened.
"Move," he murmured.
But Dawn didn't.
Wei Feng snapped forward—just to test.
Half a lunge. A flick of the blade.
Dawn tilted his head slightly.
The blade missed.
No movement. Just absence.
Wei Feng circled again.
The air around him began to shimmer—Molten Serpent Physique waking.
He took a breath.
Then he lunged.
First form.
Second.
Arcing blade. Pivot. Spiral in.
Enough force to drop any other opponent.
Dawn stepped forward.
Two fingers extended.
Wei Feng saw them too late.
He dropped low—too slow.
The fingers grazed his shoulder—
And his knees buckled.
---
He rolled, caught himself, pushed off the ground, spiritual energy flaring.
"Not enough," he whispered.
His blade burned faint red now—not from flame, but coiled friction.
He lunged again.
---
From above, Elder Qin leaned forward.
"He's serious now."
Lanyue watched without blinking.
"Dawn's eyes haven't changed."
-------
Dawn lost in his memories-
Dawn was three.
The grass was tall. In the Wild.
The cave behind him was cold, shallow, and empty.
His clothes hung loosely—tied at the waist with frayed string.
His mother had left hours ago.
She had said nothing.
No comfort. No farewell.
Just a straight back, even steps, and silence.
He remembered watching her go.
He hadn't cried.
There was no one to cry to.
---
The wind that night had been sharp.
No fire. He didn't know how.
So he sat, knees tucked to chest, listening to the mountain's voice—
Stone creaks. Distant beasts. Leaves whispering in the dark.
And in that quiet…
He forgot how to wait.
Not in sorrow.
Not in anger.
Just stillness.
Something that fit better than words.
---
Back to the Duel
Wei Feng struck again.
Three-point pattern. Twisting, fast, sharp.
Dawn stepped between the movements like folding between breaths.
His palm touched Wei Feng's arm.
It should have done nothing.
Wei Feng staggered—breath caught, balance broken.
"You're not even trying!" he shouted, flaring his Qi again.
---
Dawn looked at him.
Not angry.
Not pitiful.
Just… looking.
Like someone staring through memory.
Then he moved.
No stance. No glow.
One hand extended.
---
Wei Feng swung again—full force.
Dawn touched the hilt.
Two fingers.
A soft twist.
The blade stopped.
Wei Feng's arm locked.
Then collapsed.
His knees struck the stone.
The blade fell beside him.
---
Above, someone whispered:
"He's not fighting.
He's… removing the fight."
---
Elder Pavilion
Elder Qin exhaled.
"He didn't overpower him. He dismantled him."
Elder Mu frowned.
"His meridians are unreadable. Like looking at mist through still water."
Lanyue's voice came quiet, cold, certain.
"He was abandoned as a child."
The others turned to her.
"You're sure?"
She nodded once. "I've seen that stillness before.
You don't learn it from scrolls.
You earn it—
when no one comes for you."
No one argued.
---
The instructor stepped forward.
"Match concluded.
Winner—Dawn."
---
Wei Feng didn't move.
Didn't protest.
He had fought with everything.
And it hadn't mattered.
---
Dawn stepped off the platform the same way he had entered.
Unchanged.
---
The crowd didn't speak.
They had watched a final battle with no flame. No fury.
Only silence.
And in it, something unshakable.
---
End of Chapter Sixteen