CHAPTER 100 — WHEN THE DOMAIN REMEMBERS ITS NAME
The hesitation did not last.
The arena had paused—only for a breath—caught between collapse and resistance, between the will of its builders and the pressure of those who now stood upon it. Stone groaned. Wind stalled. The abyss below roared softly, as if impatient.
Then Luo Qinghe opened his eyes.
The smile he wore was thin, almost polite, but something beneath it had shifted. The Verdant Sovereign's Embrace, which had until now behaved like a disciplined, adaptive domain, went quiet. Not weakened. Not withdrawn.
Quiet in the way a forest becomes quiet when something ancient wakes.
Green light dimmed across the battlefield. Vines froze mid-motion. Roots stopped expanding. Even the pressure that had been hunting fighters earlier receded, pulling back toward Luo Qinghe's position like a tide reversing.
Several fighters felt relief.
That was their last mistake.
Luo Qinghe lowered his hands.
