CHAPTER 60 — "THE SHADOW KING RETURNS"
Victory should have felt loud.
It should have been cheers, celebration, adrenaline still buzzing in the veins.
Instead—
Long Hao felt uneasy.
The Frostcloud match had ended decisively. Azure Dragon Academy advanced cleanly. The crowd roared, the announcers shouted, his teammates basked in the win.
And yet—
Something scratched at the back of his mind.
Not danger.
Expectation.
Three hours.
That was the time given before Azure Dragon's next scheduled fight.
Most teams used it to rest.
Heal.
Strategize.
Celebrate.
Long Hao did none of those things.
He stood alone at the edge of Dragon Turtle Academy's outer training grounds—an abandoned stone plaza meant for duels that had long since fallen out of use.
Broken pillars.
Cracked tiles.
Dim lanterns that barely held light.
A perfect place.
He loosened his cloak slightly and let his aura leak.
Not power.
Presence.
A controlled, deliberate exposure.
