CHAPTER 90 — WHEN THE WORLD HOLDS ITS BREATH
The Grand Arena of Vermillion Phoenix Academy had never seen a morning like this.
From the moment the first light crept over the horizon, the city surrounding the academy began to move. Streets that were normally wide and relaxed choked with people. Airships hovered in regulated lanes, lowering passengers onto designated platforms. Spirit carriages lined up in long, glittering queues. Cultivators leapt from rooftops, merchants shouted directions, guards barked orders that barely kept pace with the flood.
By the time the sun fully rose, tens of thousands had already gathered.
And they were still coming.
The arena itself was no longer the familiar circular coliseum used for standard tournaments.
For Stage Three, Part Two, the Vermillion Academy had unveiled something entirely different.
The original arena floor had been dismantled.
