The violet lightning struck the ground.
For a moment, the entire world outside the Hall of Judgment disappeared beneath a blinding flash. The earth split open, sending stones and dust into the air. Several disciples were thrown backward, their defensive spiritual energy collapsing before they could even understand what had happened.
"Formation! Everyone, get into formation!"
The First Elder's voice cut through the chaos.
The surviving disciples immediately gathered behind him. He raised both hands, releasing his spiritual energy into the ground. Golden lines spread beneath their feet, forming a protective barrier around the expedition.
But the barrier trembled.
The First Elder's expression darkened as he examined the violet lightning crawling across its surface. This was no ordinary heavenly tribulation. He had witnessed powerful cultivators undergo breakthroughs, and he had seen the heavens punish those who attempted to defy their limits. Yet the force before him was different.
It did not simply destroy what it touched.
It seemed to question whether the things it touched deserved to exist.
"First Elder!" one disciple shouted. "The gate!"
Everyone turned.
A thin crack had appeared across the enormous entrance to the Hall of Judgment. Behind it, violet light pulsed like the heartbeat of some sleeping monster.
"We need to get inside!" another disciple cried.
"No!" the First Elder ordered.
"But Zarek is in there!"
"I know!"
His answer silenced them.
The First Elder clenched his fists. He wanted to charge through that gate more than anyone. Yet the earlier incident with the pillars remained fresh in his mind. One careless touch had nearly erased a disciple from existence. He could not risk sending everyone into another unknown danger.
Then a young disciple near the back stumbled.
"Who..." The boy looked around in confusion. "Who were we waiting for?"
A nearby cultivator grabbed his shoulder.
"Zarek! We're waiting for Zarek!"
The boy frowned. "Zarek? Why does that name sound familiar?"
The First Elder's heart tightened.
The Hall was affecting their memories again.
He looked toward the cracked entrance.
"Hold your minds together," he commanded. "Remember why we came here. Remember the people standing beside you. Do not let this place take your memories."
Another pulse of violet light rolled across the sky.
The protective formation shook violently.
And beneath the Hall, Zarek stood at the centre of the judgment platform.
The chamber was enormous, its ceiling disappearing into darkness. Seven empty seats surrounded the circular platform, and ancient inscriptions covered the walls.
Zarek could feel the judgment examining him.
It was not merely looking at his body. Something deeper was pressing against his existence, searching through his cultivation, his memories, and the principles he had begun to understand.
His wounded shoulder throbbed.
The black mark left by the previous lightning strike had spread slightly. Spiritual energy continued to avoid the affected meridian, as though that part of his body had become forbidden territory.
The First Keeper stood beyond the platform.
"Do not fight it with strength," he warned. "You cannot overpower a judgment that has not finished examining you."
Zarek looked at the circular markings beneath his feet.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Understand what it is examining."
A voice echoed through the chamber.
EXAMINATION CONTINUES.
The air grew heavy.
Zarek's knees bent under the pressure, but he refused to fall. He could sense something connecting the platform to the Hall above, and beyond that, something extending toward the expedition waiting outside.
His expression changed.
"The lightning isn't only targeting me."
The First Keeper looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"There's a connection between this place and everyone outside."
The Keeper examined the inscriptions.
"Judgment can extend beyond its original target when the disturbance affects a greater boundary. But I have never seen it spread this quickly."
Zarek remembered the three points he had noticed during the previous attack: himself, the black sphere, and the vanished shadow.
He had redirected the lightning by changing their relationship.
But this time, the connection was different.
The Hall was connected to the platform. The platform was connected to him. And somehow, the judgment had reached the people above.
His fingers tightened.
"The First Elder and the others are in danger."
The Keeper stepped forward.
"Do not allow your concern to destroy your concentration. If you act without understanding the law, you may make their situation worse."
Zarek turned toward him.
"Then help me understand it."
For a moment, the old man said nothing.
Then he pointed toward the inscriptions surrounding the platform.
"Look carefully. The ancient cultivators who built this chamber understood something that most people never discover. Distance is not the only thing that connects two places. There are relationships that remain even when distance separates them."
Zarek studied the markings.
"Connection..."
"Perhaps. But do not give it a name before you understand it."
The pressure increased.
A violet line appeared above Zarek's head.
The System finally spoke.
Zarek.
He recognised the unusual seriousness in its voice.
Do not attempt to consume the judgment.
Zarek stared at the approaching lightning.
"Why?"
Because it is not simply energy. It carries an authority that determines what should and should not remain within the natural order.
"Can I devour that authority?"
There was a pause.
I cannot recommend it.
"That isn't what I asked."
Your ability may attempt to process it. But I cannot guarantee that you will survive the attempt.
Zarek looked at the black mark on his shoulder.
He remembered how the previous bolt had rejected his spiritual energy. He remembered the feeling of his existence being questioned.
Then he thought about the people waiting above.
"If I do nothing, the judgment will reach them."
There may be another method.
"Tell me."
I do not know one.
Zarek almost laughed.
The System had accompanied him through countless dangers. It had given him abilities, warnings, and answers. But this time, even it was uncertain.
The violet lightning gathered into a massive spear.
The First Keeper's expression changed.
"Zarek! Move!"
The spear descended.
Zarek raised his right hand.
Instead of defending himself, he reached toward the lightning with the strange power that had always answered his desire to consume.
The moment his ability touched the heavenly force, pain exploded through his arm. His spiritual energy scattered.
His meridians shook.
A voice, neither the Keeper's nor the System's, entered his consciousness.
YOU DARE TO CONSUME JUDGMENT?
Zarek's teeth clenched.
"Why shouldn't I?"
The lightning wrapped around his arm.
His skin began to crack, and violet energy entered his body like countless burning needles. His cultivation foundation trembled. The black mark on his shoulder suddenly expanded, forming branching patterns across his chest.
The First Keeper took a step forward.
"Stop! Whatever you're attempting, it is destroying your body!"
But Zarek could feel something else.
Beneath the destructive force was a structure.
The lightning was not random. Its power followed a principle. It had been directed toward a target, carrying an authority that recognised disturbances in the natural order.
And that authority was now inside him.
He could not devour it all. But perhaps he did not need to.
"System..."
I am here.
"Help me separate the energy from the authority."
I have never processed anything like this.
"Then learn."
For the first time, the System did not answer immediately.
Zarek felt its presence shift within his consciousness, as though it were examining something it had never encountered before.
Then a strange sensation passed through his body.
The destructive energy began moving toward the centre of his palm.
The heavenly authority resisted.
A violent explosion threw Zarek backward. His body crashed against the edge of the platform, and blood spilled from his mouth.
The First Keeper rushed forward but stopped when the inscriptions ignited.
"Do not touch the platform!"
Zarek struggled to rise. His right arm was trembling uncontrollably. Yet a small violet flame now hovered above his palm.
It was no larger than a candle.
But the entire chamber had fallen silent.
The System spoke again.
Zarek... something has changed.
"What?"
I can detect a fragment of the lightning's destructive energy within you. But the authority attached to it remains separate.
Zarek looked at the tiny flame.
"So I can devour it."
You have consumed a fragment. That does not mean you can control what remains.
The violet flame suddenly turned black at its centre.
A sharp pain travelled through Zarek's chest.
The First Keeper stared at him.
"What have you done?"
Zarek slowly closed his fingers.
"Something I may regret."
For the first time since the judgment began, the pressure surrounding the platform weakened.
The inscriptions stopped glowing.
Far above, the violet lightning surrounding the Hall disappeared for a brief moment.
Outside, the First Elder felt the pressure lift.
He immediately looked toward the gate.
The crack across its surface stopped spreading.
"Did he do that?" a disciple whispered.
Nobody answered.
The First Elder took a cautious step forward.
Then the ground beneath them opened.
A circular symbol appeared in the earth, directly beneath the expedition's formation. The same ancient markings they had seen on the pillars emerged from beneath the soil.
The First Elder's face went pale.
"No..."
A voice descended from the heavens.
THE DISTURBANCE HAS CHANGED.
The disciples stared upward.
THE BEARER HAS TOUCHED THE AUTHORITY OF JUDGMENT.
Inside the chamber, Zarek heard the same words.
The First Keeper turned toward him in disbelief.
"You touched the authority itself?"
Zarek looked at his palm.
The tiny violet flame had disappeared, but a faint black mark remained beneath his skin.
Before he could answer, the System spoke in a voice quieter than he had ever heard.
Zarek, I need you to listen carefully.
"What is it?"
The lightning did not disappear.
Zarek's eyes narrowed.
"Then where did it go?"
The System hesitated.
It is inside you.
A cold sensation passed through his body.
And something else entered with it.
The seven empty seats began to tremble.
One of them produced a faint sound.
A sound like someone drawing breath after sleeping for thousands of years.
The First Keeper slowly turned toward the seats.
"No..."
The ancient chamber shook.
Then a voice emerged from the darkness behind the seventh seat.
"Who allowed a mortal to carry the judgment of Heaven?"
The First Keeper dropped to one knee.
Zarek remained standing, his wounded arm hanging at his side.
The voice spoke again.
"First Keeper, you were ordered to guard the threshold. You were not permitted to awaken what lies beyond it."
The old man lowered his head.
"I did not awaken it."
A long silence followed.
Then the voice turned toward Zarek.
"You did."