Su Chen didn't move. He stood in the center of the sand, his white robes fluttering in the hot wind. The smell of scorched sand and the metallic tang of ozone filled the air. Su Chen's gaze was no longer arrogant: it was wild, the look of a trapped animal.
"I am the Young Master of the Heavenly Beast Sect," Su Chen whispered. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small, jagged crystal filled with swirling black blood. "I will not lose to a mistake like you."
He crushed the crystal in his palm. A sudden, violent pressure exploded outward, a wave of darkness that turned the sun-drenched arena into a world of twilight.
[Warning: Target has consumed 'Ancestral Beast Blood'.]
[Target Level increased to 65.]
[Alert: Target's future-sight has evolved into 'Destiny Lock'.]
Su Chen's skin began to ripple, black fur sprouting along his jaw. His eyes turned into vertical slits of burning gold. The air around him hissed as his aura became physical, a heavy mist of shadows that ate away at the stone floor.
Han Sen felt the pressure. His 10 HP body groaned, the [Diamond Body Protocol] humming as it absorbed the weight of the dark mana. He could feel Su Chen's gaze locking onto his very existence: a predatory, cold focus that seemed to freeze his blood.
"In this future, you do not move," Su Chen roared. "In this future, you die!"
Su Chen vanished. He didn't just move fast; he moved through the gaps in time. He appeared directly in front of Han Sen, his hand transformed into a massive, shadow-clawed paw.
The claw swung, moving toward Han Sen's throat with enough force to decapitate an elephant. The crowd screamed, the sound lost in the thunder of Su Chen's movement.
Han Sen didn't flinch. He didn't even raise his hands.
[Skill Selection: Basic Perception]
[Allocating Skill Points: 20,000,000]
[Basic Perception has evolved into: Absolute Zero Chrono-State (Max Level).]
The world stopped. The screaming crowd, the falling dust, and even the shadow-claw an inch from his throat became a static painting. Han Sen walked through the frozen time, his steps leaving ripples in the air like stones dropped in a pond.
He moved behind Su Chen. He looked at the back of the Young Master's neck, seeing the pulse of the black blood through his skin. Han Sen didn't feel anger. He felt nothing but a cold, analytical necessity.
He raised his hand. The ten Star-Fall needles converged into a single point of midnight-blue light.
"The future you see is a lie," Han Sen whispered into the silence.
He flicked the needle. There was no sound. There was no explosion. The needle simply erased the space where it traveled.
Time resumed with a violent jerk. Su Chen's claw hit empty air. The shockwave of his own miss sent a spray of sand fifty feet into the air. He spun around, his golden eyes wide with a terror that bypassed logic.
He looked down at his chest. A single, microscopic hole had appeared over his heart. There was no blood. The needle had moved so fast it had cauterized the wound as it passed through, taking his mana core with it.
Su Chen tried to speak, but his voice was a wet rattle. The black fur vanished. The golden eyes faded back to a dull, mortal brown. He fell to his knees, his hands clutching at the sand.
"How?" Su Chen wheezed.
Han Sen stood over him, the blue needles returning to their silent orbit around his head. He looked down at Su Chen as if the Young Master were a broken toy.
"You relied on a level," Han Sen said. "I relied on the truth."
The silence in the arena was absolute. The City Lord stood up from his throne, his eyes fixed on the Level 1 boy. The delegates of the Heavenly Beast Sect were pale, their mouths hanging open in shock.
The face-slap was total. The pride of the greatest sect in the region had been dismantled by a boy with 10 HP and a tattered cloak.
Han Sen turned his back on the fallen champion. He walked toward the exit, his gaze meeting Zhao Ling's in the shadows. She didn't smile, but her eyes held a profound, quiet respect.
The trial was over. The name Han Sen was no longer a joke. It was a warning.