For the next two weeks, an uneasy silence stretched over the Wu Estate like a taut bowstring. To the outside world, the sudden quietness was almost suffocating. The news of Boss Bear's mysterious death had sent shockwaves through the lower underground circuits of Azure Mist City, causing smaller gangs to draw back into the shadows and rethink their ambitions toward the merchant clans.
Inside the Wu Estate, however, everyone knew that this quietness was merely the eye of a tempest.
Deep within his bamboo yard, Li-Wen sat beneath the shade of an ancient, weeping willow. The mid-day sun filtered through the green leaves, casting dappled light over his serene face. His physical form had undergone a subtle yet profound transformation over the past fortnight. His posture was effortless, his breathing as calm as a deep ocean current, and his skin bore an almost translucent jade-like sheen.
Beneath his robes, two divine runes burned softly against his spine—the golden **Celestial Rune** and the dark gray **Abyssal Bone Rune**.
*Sizzle...*
A dense, crystalline mist of jade-green Ki spiraled around his arms, condensing until it resembled tiny, solid needles hovering in the air. With a gentle flick of his finger, the needles shot forward silently, piercing through a solid stone boulder ten paces away as if it were soft tofu.
"Fifth Stage of Ki-Refine," Li-Wen murmured, closing his palm to disperse the remaining energy. "The liquid Ki in my Dantian has begun to crystallize into solid threads. In terms of raw volume, my Fourth-Stage cultivation, combined with two Celestial Runes, easily yields the destructive output of a Peak Late-Stage Ki-Refine warrior."
He stood up fluidly, dusting off his robes. Ordinary cultivators spent years grinding through the Fourth to Fifth Stage, relying on expensive medicinal soups and painful meridian purges. For a former God Emperor whose soul possessed the supreme blueprint of the universe, breaking through mortal bottlenecks was as natural as taking a breath.
Suddenly, the wooden gate of his yard creaked open, and Wu-Wen stepped into the bamboo courtyard.
The Clan Head looked visibly refreshed, his grey hair restored to a rich charcoal black and his posture straight. Having fully absorbed the Top-Grade Body-Cleansing Marrow Pill that Li-Wen had given him, Wu-Wen's cultivation had successfully shattered his long-standing bottleneck, jumping straight into the **Sixth Stage Peak of Ki-Refine**.
Yet, despite his newfound power, Wu-Wen's face carried a deep, troubled gravity today. In his hands, he held a heavy crimson scroll sealed with gold leaf and stamped with a three-legged raven emblem.
"Father," Li-Wen greeted gently, stepping over to the stone table. "You look troubled despite your steady breath."
Wu-Wen let out a heavy sigh, setting the crimson scroll onto the stone table with a dull thud. "Li-Wen, the situation regarding the Family Assessment has grown far more complicated than simple internal rivalry."
Li-Wen glanced at the gold seal on the scroll. "The three-legged raven emblem... That belongs to the **Azure Mist Academy**, does it not?"
"Indeed," Wu-Wen nodded, his tired eyes fixing on his son. "An hour ago, an official messenger from the Azure Mist Academy delivered this edict to the Clan Elder Council. Every three years, the Academy sends emissaries to observe the young generation's Family Assessments among the city's three major merchant clans. The top three performers in the assessment are granted direct entry into the Academy's Outer Sect."
Wu-Wen's hands clenched into fists atop the stone table. "Usually, this is an honor. But this morning, Second Elder Wu-Guang made a sudden proposal in the council—a proposal that the Academy's visiting emissary immediately accepted."
"Let me guess," Li-Wen smiled faintly, a cold, knowing light flickering in his eyes. "He altered the format of the assessment."
"Precisely," Wu-Wen gritted his teeth, his anger rising. "Instead of standard ring duels where fighters can concede or have elders step in to halt fatal blows, Wu-Guang suggested changing the assessment arena into a **Death-Match Gauntlet**! The participants will be placed inside the **Iron-Cage Arena** in the central plaza, and the fight will only end when one party surrenders, is knocked unconscious, or... dies."
Li-Wen let out a soft, mocking chuckle. "A Death-Match Gauntlet? Second Elder is truly leaving no exit for himself. He fears that if I am merely defeated, you will retain enough support among the neutral elders to protect me. He wants my life on that stage so that you will be broken emotionally and forced to hand over the patriarch seat."
"That is only half of it," Wu-Wen added darkly, his voice dropping. "The emissary sent by the Azure Mist Academy to judge our assessment... is **Deacon Han**. He is an elder who maintains extremely close ties with the Shadow Viper Pavilion. Wu-Guang has clearly used family funds to bribe him. If you step onto that stage, Deacon Han will oversee the fight—meaning if Wu-Tian uses underhanded poison or lethal weapons, the judge will turn a blind eye!"
Wu-Wen stood up abruptly, gripping Li-Wen's shoulders tightly. "Son, your recovery and sudden breakthrough are a miracle from the heavens! I will not see you thrown into a death trap! I can declare a Clan Head veto today and cancel your participation. Even if it costs me my title and forces us out of the Wu family, we can leave Azure Mist City together!"
Li-Wen looked into his father's eyes. He felt the fierce, unconditional paternal love flowing from this mortal man—a stark contrast to the ruthless, backstabbing imperial court of his past life where divine emperors slaughtered their own bloodline for a sliver of cosmic authority.
Li-Wen gently reached up and patted his father's trembling hand.
"Father," Li-Wen said, his voice quiet yet carrying an immense, grounding weight that instantly calmed the storm in Wu-Wen's heart. "A tiger does not run away because a pack of hyenas altered the rules of the hunt."
Li-Wen unrolled the crimson scroll on the stone table, his golden-tinged eyes casually skimming over the arrogant terms laid out by Second Elder and the Academy emissary.
"They believe they have cornered us," Li-Wen continued smoothly, a cold, dangerous smile curving his lips. "They hired dark assassins, bought volatile pills, bribed the Academy judge, and changed the rules to a death match—all to ensure I do not walk off that stage alive. But they have forgotten one fundamental truth."
Li-Wen looked up, his golden pupils flashing with an ancient, terrifying divine light that made the surrounding bamboo trees rustle violently without any wind.
"When you build a cage to trap a monster, you are not protecting yourself from the world—you are trapping yourself inside with the monster."
Wu-Wen stared at his son, completely speech-bound. For a brief second, he felt as though he was not looking at his fifteen-year-old boy, but standing before an ancient, supreme deity who looked down upon the heavens and earth with absolute disdain.
"Tell the Second Elder and Deacon Han that I accept the Death-Match Gauntlet," Li-Wen said calmly, rolling the scroll back up. "In seven days, on the Iron-Cage Arena, I will wipe clean every debt this family owes us."
Late that evening, in the opulent primary pavilion of the Second Elder's residence, a grand feast was taking place.
Incense burned in bronze burners, casting sweet, scented smoke over long wooden tables laden with roast spiritual meats and rare vintage wines. Sitting at the head of the banquet was Second Elder Wu-Guang, flanked by his son, Wu-Tian.
Sitting in the guest seat of honor was a middle-aged man dressed in the grand, high-collared white and gold robes of the Azure Mist Academy. He had thin, hawk-like eyebrows, small predatory eyes, and an aura of the **Seventh Stage of Ki-Refine** radiating faintly from his body. This was Deacon Han.
"Hahaha! Excellent! Drink, Deacon Han!" Wu-Guang laughed heartily, raising a golden goblet filled with expensive wine. "I must express my deepest gratitude to you for approving my proposal in the council today!"
Deacon Han took a leisurely sip of his wine, a subtle, cold sneer touching his lips. "Second Elder Wu, you are far too polite. The Azure Mist Academy values true, ruthless warriors who can survive real life-and-death combat. Changing the assessment into an Iron-Cage Death-Match aligns perfectly with our Academy's philosophy."
Deacon Han set his goblet down, glancing at Wu-Tian, whose aura was currently burning with the aggressive, volatile energy of the Fifth Stage of Ki-Refine thanks to the Flame Marrow Pill.
"Besides," Deacon Han added in a low, conspiratorial tone, "the Shadow Viper Pavilion has already sent a generous donation of fifty high-grade spirit stones to my private residence in the city. Since the Pavilion Master wants that brat Li-Wen silenced permanently, I am more than happy to facilitate a 'tragic accident' on the martial stage."
Wu-Tian grinned viciously, his fingers flexing as dark green sparks flashed beneath his sleeve—the hidden container of the **Seven-Night Paralysis Needle** securely strapped to his wrist.
"Deacon Han, you won't even need to cover up much," Wu-Tian sneered arrogantly. "That crippled waste thinks because he purged his meridians, he can act grand in front of me! On the assessment day, I will shatter his limbs within ten moves and let the whole city see what happens to those who dare oppose my father!"
Deacon Han stroked his sparse beard, nodding approvingly. "Good! Confidence is the mark of a true cultivator. Just remember, once the boy is dead on the stage, I will immediately declare you the victor and grant you the top spot for entry into the Azure Mist Academy Outer Sect. No one, not even Wu-Wen, will be able to question the authority of the Academy's official verdict."
"To the future Young Patriarch of the Wu Family and the new elite student of the Azure Mist Academy!" Wu-Guang raised his glass high, his eyes burning with boundless greed and ambition.
"To victory!" Wu-Tian roared, draining his goblet in one gulp.
Deep in the dark night outside the pavilion windows, a cold gust of wind blew past, rattling the iron lanterns hanging along the corridors. None of them noticed the subtle shadow flickering across the roof tiles above—a quiet watcher vanishing into the midnight mist, leaving behind only the calm, inevitable approach of judgment day.
See you in next chapter.....