The Being Forgotten by Time

Chapter 4 - The Night in Flames (Part 2)

Lan Yue and Ji Han stared at each other, the dust dancing around their feet. He was a body cultivator, sleek as a panther, his muscles not exaggerated like the muscular cultivator with the axe, and under his cloak, they were barely noticeable.

As a body cultivator, his weaknesses mostly lay in a lack of agility, while his advantage was raw, destructive power. But the Ji family's techniques proved that strength was not always synonymous with being a brute. His speed made his opponents tremble. His sharp eyes gleamed with adrenaline.

Lan Yue maintained her composure, spiritual snow swirling around her in an ethereal dance. Her body radiated a cold aura, and the thin celestial ice blade in her hand reflected the sun's rays.

Until now, she had fought without using her blade, but the opponent before her forced her to take him seriously. Any opening could mean defeat—after all, even a lion gives its all to hunt a rabbit.

The judge gave the signal.

Ji Han struck first. He shot forward like thunder, his feet cracking the ground. The air crackled around him, the brute force of his body condensing spiritual energy. Lan Yue dodged at the last second, gliding with the lightness of a leaf in the wind. Ji Han spun in the air, launching a devastating kick.

BAM!

Lan Yue crossed her arms, creating a translucent ice barrier. The impact made the ground tremble, cracks spreading beneath her feet. The ice held, but Lan Yue was thrown backward, sliding across the arena with bent knees.

The crowd held its breath.

"You're fast, but I'm stronger." Ji Han smiled, flexing his fists. His body shone with golden energy—the mark of a body cultivator at his peak.

Lan Yue didn’t respond. Instead, she raised her palm.

The ground froze instantly.

The air turned frigid, the temperature dropping sharply. Ji Han frowned and tried to advance, but his foot slipped for a brief moment.

That was all Lan Yue needed.

She shot forward like a silver bolt, the ice blade in her hand flashing under the light. Ji Han reacted quickly, blocking the strike with his forearm coated in spiritual energy, but a thin cut appeared on his skin.

His eyes widened.

"You… cut me?"

The answer came with another thrust. Ji Han barely dodged, but Lan Yue kept advancing, her movements fluid and lethal. She attacked like a raging blizzard—swift, sharp, relentless.

Ji Han retreated, searching for an opening. His body radiated heat as he burned spiritual energy to maintain his speed. Then, Lan Yue vanished. A blue blur.

Before Ji Han could react, a chilling sensation ran down his neck. Lan Yue’s ice blade was a hair’s breadth away from sealing his fate.

The fight was decided.

But then…

Lan Yue's world spun.

Her body weakened. Her vision blurred. The ice around her wavered, dissolving like snow in the wind. A bitter taste rose in her throat.

Poison.

Her knees buckled. Her blade fell with a dry clang. The arena fell silent.

Ji Han looked at her, confused. His warrior instincts told him something was wrong.

Lan Yue gasped, cold sweat dripping down her forehead. Her eyes lifted toward the stands. And then, she saw him.

In the nobles’ balcony, a man smiled. His eyes were hidden serpents in the shadows.

Xu Jian.

The poison burned through her veins, and she understood—the tournament was not about glory.

It was a trap.

The silence that followed was unnatural.

Lan Yue was still on her knees, feeling the poison corrode her strength. Ji Han remained still, his muscles tense, his mind racing to grasp what had just happened.

Then, thunder roared.

BANG! The arena gates burst open with a crash. Dozens of guards in black armor swarmed in like a plague of locusts, their blades gleaming under the light. The golden emblem on their chests made Lan Yue’s heart sink.

Xu Clan soldiers.

Each of them was at least at the Sixth Layer of the Qi Condensation Realm, with some at the Pinnacle of Qi Condensation. Their power was overwhelming for most present.

No noble house had so many high-level cultivators.

The crowd murmured in confusion, and then the screams began.

The doors of the stands slammed shut, sealing the arena. The audience was trapped. Men and women began to run, but the soldiers were already everywhere, their blades cutting down anyone who tried to escape.

Ji Han tried to move.

Swords were pointed at his throat.

Lan Feng, Lan Yue’s father, was being taken to the side of the arena, surrounded by four guards with drawn swords at his neck. His fierce gaze did not hide his rage.

He was a Seventh Layer Soul Ascension Realm cultivator—a high-level warrior, experienced enough to know he could easily handle the four of them. But it would mean a massacre. So he had no choice but to be ensnared, his eyes burning with hatred as he desperately searched for a chance to turn the tide.

But no such opportunity came.

Of the four guards surrounding him, three were at the Sixth Layer of the Soul Ascension Realm, while one, a burly man in golden armor, stood at the Seventh Layer. More than enough to keep him in check.

It was a perfectly orchestrated plan.

Any of them would have been treated as an honored elder in any clan.

Footsteps echoed.

And then, he appeared.

Xu Jian.

The traitor.

He walked to the center of the arena with calm steps, a jackal’s smile plastered on his face. His black robe billowed in the wind. He was a middle-aged man with sharp features, graying hair at the temples, and eyes that gleamed like a serpent ready to strike.

In his hands, a single chain of black iron.

It shot toward Lan Feng, who was surrounded. With a flick of his arm, the chain moved and struck.

At the other end, Lan Feng was shackled like an animal. He spat a mouthful of blood, facing the chain head-on without retaliation, Xu Jian’s energy invading his meridians and causing internal damage.

With a groan, Lan Feng endured the attack, his bloodshot eyes locking onto Xu Jian.

Lan Yue's eyes widened as she watched her father being wounded, despair tearing through her chest.

"—FATHER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.