Li Changfeng’s fan snapped shut. “A blind man wed to a hydromancer? Preposterous.” His gaze lingered on Zhao Ling’er’s retreating figure—the sway of azure silk, the defiance in her stride. Four Treasures ruffled its feathers, beady eyes tracking every micro-expression.
Lin Hao’s milky stare remained fixed ahead. “Jealousy reeks worse than a goblin’s armpit.”
The insult hung unchallenged. Li’s attendants exchanged uneasy glances—their master’s reputation for cruelty was legion. Yet the blind man showed no fear, his posture relaxed as if gravity itself bent to his whims.
——
Dawn bled across the trial grounds. Ten thousand aspirants clustered at the stairway’s base, their breaths fogging in synchronized rhythm. Zhao Ling’er stood apart on the observation platform, jade pendant glowing faintly—her pass to bypass the carnage below.
“Begin!”
The gong’s decay lingered as the first wave surged forward. Lin Hao hung back, calibrating through Four Treasures’ eyes. Runes flared beneath polished stone—pressure spiked exponentially.
Crack.
A burly axeman’s kneecap shattered under sudden weight. Three steps up, a fire mage’s defensive glyphs imploded, roasting his own legs. Screams harmonized with the groaning earth.
“Master! Gravity x15!” Four Treasures squawked, wings plastered against Lin Hao’s shoulder.
Lin Hao’s grin turned feral. With a thought, he deactivated the gravity armor’s core—muscles rebounded like coiled springs. The world lightened.
——
Zhao Ling’er’s nails bit into the observation rail. Lin Hao moved now with pantherine grace, overtaking competitors who’d mocked his blindness. A spearman thrust at his ribs; Lin Hao pirouetted, using the attacker’s momentum to fling him into a cluster of earth mages.
“Cheater!” someone roared.
“Adaptation isn’t cheating.” Lin Hao leapt four steps, landing where the weight differential crested. His stolen boots—plundered from a bandit lord—absorbed impact through layers of wyvern hide.
Li Changfeng watched from the third wave, face curdling. “Kill him.”
His lackeys nodded. Twin daggers gleamed—poisoned, serrated, illegal in seven provinces.
——
The halfway mark reeked of vomit and desperation. Lin Hao counted through Four Treasures’ eyes: 93rd position. Top hundred advanced.
“Blind puppy thinks he’s clever.”
The twins struck in unison—left blade targeting kidneys, right slashing tendons. Lin Hao dropped into a crouch, the daggers whistling overhead. His palms slapped stone, channeling pent-up kinetic energy.
Crunch.
The attackers’ ankles dislocated, their screams cut short as gravity crushed them against the steps. Lin Hao stepped over their twitching forms, Four Treasures pecking out a victory rhythm on his collar.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
——
Zhao Ling’er’s pendant grew warm. Elder Wen materialized beside her, reeking of sulfur and secrets. “Your husband’s adapting faster than Subject 47.”
“He’s not—”
“Liar.” The elder’s chuckle rattled like bones in a sack. “Your pulse spikes when he bleeds.”
Below, Lin Hao breached the top fifty. Blood sheeted from a gash above his brow—Li’s parting gift via a windblown shuriken.
“Finish strong, little moth.” Elder Wen vanished in a plume of ash.
——
The final hundred steps warped reality. Lin Hao’s lungs burned; vision swam despite Four Treasures’ feed. A shadow fell across him—Li Changfeng, buoyed by illicit levitation talismans.
“Die in darkness, cripple.”
Li’s fan blades whirred—monofilament edges thirsting for arteries. Lin Hao rolled right, the fan shearing through granite where his neck had been. His hand found Li’s ankle.
“Gravity’s a bitch.”
Lin Hao reactivated his armor at full load. Fifteenfold weight slammed downward. Li’s talismans overloaded in a shower of sparks, his femur protruding through silk robes.
——
The summit gates loomed. Lin Hao crossed the threshold 99th, Four Treasures shedding feathers like a molting phoenix. Behind him, Li’s wails merged with the gong’s final echo.
Zhao Ling’er met him at the medical tent. Her healing glyphs hovered uncertainly—a wife’s duty warring with pride.
“Why push so hard?”
Lin Hao spat blood, grin unwavering. “Had to prove I’m worthy of the view.”
Far below, the lich priest raised a new toast. “To catalysts.”
The Testing Monoliths
Li Changfeng’s scream still echoed as Lin Hao ascended the final steps. Four Treasures fluttered triumphantly, its talons stained with blood from pecking at the fallen noble’s eyes.
“Master! Poison detected!” The parrot regurgitated a green-tinged feather—a warning about the daggers’ venom.
Lin Hao flicked it aside. “Useless theatrics.”
——
The trial square sprawled before them, its twin monoliths humming with ancient energy. Zhao Ling’er watched from the mage contingent, her fingers unconsciously tracing the jade pendant that marked her as elite.
He’s hesitating.
Her observation proved correct. Lin Hao stood frozen between the warrior and mage queues, milky eyes flickering as Four Treasures scanned the crowd.
“Blind fool can’t even choose a line,” sneered a fire mage.
Zhao Ling’er’s pendant flared. Before she realized her own actions, she’d crossed the square.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
“Need guidance?” Her voice carried frost, but the hand extended toward Lin Hao trembled slightly.
Four Treasures mimicked a kissing noise. “Wife helps husband!”
Lin Hao’s lips quirked. “The black stone smells like rusted iron. Which queue reeks less?”
Zhao Ling’er’s composure cracked. “You’re… sniffing your way through trials?!”
“Sensory compensation.” He leaned closer, inhaling her snow-lotus scent. “Works wonders.”
——
Elder Wen materialized atop the white monolith, his skeletal fingers tracing its glyphs. “Begin!”
The first warrior slammed palms against the black stone. Runes flared crimson—
Thud.
His head exploded.
“Ah, nearly forgot.” Elder Wen chuckled as gore rained down. “The monoliths dislike liars. Let’s try honesty this time, shall we?”
Panic erupted. A water mage bolted, only to dissolve into steam upon touching the perimeter barrier.
Lin Hao stepped forward. “My turn.”
Zhao Ling’er gripped his sleeve. “Wait! The stones detect dual cultivators. They’ll—”
“—kill me?” Lin Hao pried her fingers loose. “Watch closely, wife.”
The black monolith’s surface rippled like mercury at his touch. Glyphs spiraled—warrior tier 3 confirmed. Before the crowd could jeer, Lin Hao pivoted and slammed his other palm against the white stone.
Dual energy backlash should have vaporized him. Instead, the monoliths harmonized in a chord that shattered nearby windows.
Samsara Eye confirmed.
Elder Wen’s parchment-thin lips stretched. “Well now… a hybrid.”
——
Chaos became liturgy. Candidates prostrated themselves, some praying to Lin Hao as a reborn deity. Zhao Ling’er’s pendant cracked—the Zhao clan’s monitoring spell overwhelmed by primal magic.
“Your marriage contract,” Elder Wen purred, materializing beside her. “Nullified by academy decree. The Samsara bearer belongs to higher laws now.”
Zhao Ling’er’s retort died as Lin Hao turned. His once-milky eyes now swirled with galaxies, each blink rewriting reality’s code.
“The view’s better up close.” He offered his arm, courtier-polite. “Care to verify?”
Far beyond the mortal plane, the lich priest shattered his goblet. “To balance broken!”
