Ash drifted through the air like mournful snow, carried on the acrid breath of a land scarred by flame and ambition. Qin Ting stood at the heart of the gathering, his silhouette framed by the smoldering ruins of a once-thriving spirit peak.
His lips curved into a sharp, sudden smile, a crescent of triumph gleaming like a blade catching torchlight. His glacier-blue eyes flashed with a predator's certainty, the air around him humming with an unspoken promise. This was no mere man; this was a hunter savoring the stillness before the kill.
Ye Qiu stood a dozen paces away, his breath catching as he glimpsed that smile. A cold, instinctive shiver rippled through him, blooming in his chest like ink swirling in still water. He'd seen Qin Ting's smiles before—each one a cold, calculated harbinger etched with the promise of ruin. This was no different.
'He knows,' Ye Qiu thought, dread coiling tightly in his gut, a serpent poised to strike. 'He knows, and he's going to bury me with it.'
Qin Ting extended his hand, his finger cutting through the haze to pinpoint Ye Qiu with the precision of an arrow loosed from a taut bowstring. "It was you, Ye Qiu!" he thundered, his voice a tempest of ice and iron, silencing the restless murmur of the crowd. "You're the vile rat who stole the Warden's treasure!"
The words struck like lightning, stilling the murmurs of disciples, rogue cultivators, and merchants gathered in the wake of the Crimson Pyre Warden's rampage. Every gaze locked onto Ye Qiu, pinned beneath the weight of Qin Ting's accusation. Shock and curiosity rippled through the crowd, their voices buzzing like agitated bees.
"He did what?!"
"You stole the Mystic Sun Dragon Fruit? That's insane!"
"I can't believe anyone could be that stupid!"
Cold sweat beaded on Ye Qiu's brow, trickling beneath the coarse weave of his white robes. His heart pounded against his ribs, each beat a desperate plea to maintain the mask of composure he'd worn since childhood—a shield against a world that had never spared him its cruelty.
'This is bad,' he thought, the serpent in his gut tightening its coils. 'He's cornered me, and they're all watching.' Yet he squared his shoulders, drew a steadying breath that burned with the scent of charred earth, and met Qin Ting's gaze with defiance.
"Qin Ting," he said, his voice clear and steady despite the tremor in his hands, "this is nothing but slander! Look around—hundreds stand here, countless faces in this chaos. Why me? What proof do you have?"
His words rang with conviction, cutting through the crowd's fervor like a stone dropped into a turbulent sea. For a moment, doubt flickered in the onlookers' eyes. They didn't outright question Qin Ting—his title as the Xuantian Sect's future Holy Son carried an authority few dared challenge—but Ye Qiu? He was a shadow in their midst, unremarkable at first glance.
To the untrained eye, Ye Qiu's cultivation at the Divine Wheel Realm seemed impressive, a notable achievement for his age, rivaling the True Disciples of esteemed sects. Yet in the Eastern Wilderness, where titans clashed and legends were forged in blood and strife, the Divine Wheel Realm was but a fragile candle flickering against an unrelenting storm.
The Crimson Pyre Warden, by contrast, was a Great Demon of the Divine Palace Realm—a colossus of flame and fury whose presence warped the air with heat and menace. Could a mere Divine Wheel cultivator, however talented, have slipped past such a monster to claim the Mystic Sun Dragon Fruit, a treasure said to hold the essence of a fallen sun?
A grizzled cultivator near the front spat into the blackened dirt, his scarred face twisting with skepticism. "Him? That scrawny brat?" he growled, his voice rough as gravel. "I've seen Divine Wheel pups roasted alive by the Warden's traps in a single breath. This is nonsense."
Beside him, a younger woman in orange robes clutched a chipped spear, her brow furrowed in thought. "But Young Master Qin Ting is never wrong," she murmured, her tone laced with uneasy reverence. "If he says it's him…"
Qin Ting's smile widened, a silent blade slicing through their hesitation. 'I didn't need to see it,' he thought, his gaze locked on Ye Qiu with an intensity bordering on obsession.
'I know it was you. Only a Child of Destiny could defy the odds like that—slipping through fate's cracks where others stumble, claiming the impossible with blood-stained hands. Isn't that your gift, Ye Qiu? Isn't that why the heavens favor you over me?'
The thought gnawed at him, a bitter seed buried deep, but his expression remained cool, deliberate, a mask of unshakable confidence. He stepped forward, his ornate robes shimmering with the faint glow of protective runes, each stitch a testament to the Xuantian Sect's wealth and power.
"Whether I'm right or wrong," he said, his voice smooth as polished jade, "it's simple enough to prove. Hand over your belongings to the Crimson Pyre Warden for a search. If I've misjudged you, Ye Qiu, I'll offer my personal apology—publicly, before all these witnesses. How does that sound?"
The crowd erupted, their voices crashing like waves against a crumbling cliff. "Yes, let's see it! Prove Young Master Qin wrong!" a burly man shouted, his fists clenched as if eager to pummel the truth from Ye Qiu himself.
"An apology from a noble like him—what more could you want?" a sharp-eyed woman added, her tone dripping with mockery as she crossed her arms.
"That's right! Put it to rest!" The clamor grew louder, a tide pressing in on Ye Qiu until the air seemed to tighten around him.
Ye Qiu's face darkened, his jaw clenching until the muscles ached. Could he comply? No—he couldn't. The Mystic Sun Dragon Fruit rested heavy in the concealed pocket sewn into his chest, its radiant warmth pulsing faintly against his skin like a second heartbeat.
It was a damning secret, a prize he'd clawed from the jaws of death—hours spent navigating the Warden's lair, evading flames that could melt stone, all for this single chance at ascension. To surrender it was to surrender everything: his dreams, his survival, the faint hope of rising above the dirt and despair he'd been born into.
His hesitation was a spark to dry tinder. Eyes narrowed, whispers sharpened into accusations, cutting through the air like shards of broken glass.
"Is it really him?"
"Did he steal the Dragon Fruit? If it's true, I'll rip him apart myself!"
"That bastard! How many lives has he cost us?"
Each shout was a stone piling onto Ye Qiu's guilt, the weight of their fury pressing down until his lungs burned. 'This isn't going to end peacefully,' he realized, the inevitability sinking into his bones like cold iron.
A new voice cut through the clamor, sharp and quivering with conviction. "It is him! Young Master Qin is right!" From the shadows behind Ye Qiu, a disciple of the Qianyuan Sect stepped forward, his tattered robes streaked with dust and blood, his pale face etched with resolve.
He pointed a shaking finger. "I saw him slip out last night and return at dawn! He was gone for hours—no one else left the camp!"
The crowd exploded, their fury and grief igniting like wildfire, their voices a roaring tide that drowned out reason.
"It is you! You wretch!"
"My brothers, my friends—they're dead because of you, Ye Qiu!"
"I'll kill you myself!"
One voice rose above the chaos, raw and jagged with anguish. "Feng'er, my boy, you died so horribly… but I swear, I'll avenge you!" An old man staggered forward, his face streaked with tears, his gray hair wild and matted with ash. Old Man Tie, a rogue cultivator of the Divine Platform Realm, was a terror in his youth, now a grieving shadow.
He'd brought his grandson, Feng'er, to these unforgiving lands, dreaming of forging him into a warrior. But Feng'er had perished in the Warden's rampage, his body charred beyond recognition, his screams swallowed by the inferno.
Old Man Tie's hands trembled as he gripped the hilt of a worn longsword, its notched blade still keen enough to split bone. His eyes burned with visceral hatred, a desire to tear Ye Qiu apart, to drink his blood and gnaw his bones.
The Crimson Pyre Warden loomed nearby, a hulking figure wreathed in smoldering embers, his molten eyes fixed on Ye Qiu with a hunger beyond mere rage. Sparks dripped from his clawed fingertips, hissing against the scorched earth, each a promise of violence held in check only by Qin Ting's command. His silence was a storm brewing, a force of nature biding its time.
The Warden had struck the fatal blows, his flames reducing dozens to ash, his wrath a merciless scythe. Yet none dared turn their rage on him. A Divine Palace Demon, he was a titan beyond their reach, his power a mountain they could neither climb nor topple.
Instead, their fury funneled onto Ye Qiu, the spark that had lit this inferno. Had he not stolen the Mystic Sun Dragon Fruit, would the Warden have slaughtered them all?
Fury blazed in Ye Qiu's chest, a wildfire of his own. He whirled on the accusing disciple, his glare so fierce the young man recoiled, stumbling back into the crowd. "You dare slander me?" Ye Qiu snarled, his voice low and lethal, each word dripping with venom.
The disciple's bravado faltered, his eyes darting nervously. "If it wasn't you, why not allow the search?" he stammered, retreating further. "Tell us, what were you doing last night if you're so innocent?"
Nearby, Mu Qingyi stood frozen, her delicate features taut with disbelief. She'd known Ye Qiu since childhood—fought beside him through bandit raids and beast hunts, shared quiet moments under the stars when the world seemed less cruel.
She'd had faint suspicions when he'd slipped away under cover of darkness and returned at dawn, his face pale and robes singed with sulfur, but to have it confirmed? It shook her to her core. Her hands clenched into fists, nails biting into her palms as betrayal gnawed at her heart.
"Ye Qiu…" she whispered, her voice a fragile thread lost in the crowd's clamor. "Tell me it's not true."
His head snapped toward her, their eyes meeting for a fleeting second. Pain flickered in his gaze, raw and unguarded, a crack in his armor. 'I can't,' he thought, the words a silent wound. 'Not now, not here.' He masked it with resolve, turning away as if severing a thread between them.
He clenched his teeth, shooting a venomous glance at Qin Ting, whose smirk only widened, a silent taunt. Then, in an instant, Ye Qiu's body burst into motion, dissolving into a streak of rainbow light, a meteor tearing across the sky.
The air shattered in his wake, sending dust and debris spiraling outward. For a Divine Wheel cultivator, his speed was staggering—faster than some Divine Spirit Realm experts, a testament to the Dragon Fruit's nascent power and his desperation.
His escape was so sudden, so resolute, that even Qin Ting faltered for a heartbeat, his smirk slipping into a scowl. The Crimson Pyre Warden recovered first, a guttural roar tearing from his throat as he launched himself after Ye Qiu. The ground shuddered beneath his weight, flames erupting in his wake as he surged forward, a juggernaut of destruction.
"Stop him!" Qin Ting barked, his voice cracking like a whip through the haze. "He's guilty—don't let him flee with the treasure!"
Old Man Tie drew his sword with a rasp of steel, his tear-streaked face twisting into a mask of vengeance. "You won't escape me, boy!" he roared, leaping into the air with a surge of Divine Platform power, his blade trailing a crescent of silvery light aimed at Ye Qiu's retreating form.
Mu Qingyi's face contorted with inner turmoil, her breath catching as Ye Qiu's radiant streak vanished into the horizon. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, her resolve solidifying like steel in a forge. With a shaky hand, she stepped forward, positioning herself defiantly between Ye Qiu and his pursuers.
"Sister Mu, no!" a fellow Qianyuan disciple shouted, lunging to pull her back, but she shook him off with a glare that could have felled a beast.
"I won't let you pass," she said to the Warden, her voice steady despite the tremor in her knees. She reached into her sleeve, withdrawing a jade talisman glowing with ethereal light—a treasure forged by her father, Mu Leng, the Qianyuan Sect's leader, at the cost of his own vitality to ensure her safety.
She crushed it in her fist, and a wave of illusory energy erupted, coalescing into a shimmering barrier of light. It wasn't enough to defeat the Warden or Old Man Tie—her Divine Wheel cultivation couldn't unleash its full might—but it was enough to stall them, to buy Ye Qiu a fleeting chance.
The Warden's molten gaze locked onto her, his roar shaking the earth. "Foolish girl! Move!" he bellowed, slamming a flaming fist against the barrier. Cracks spread across its surface, but it held—for now.
Mu Qingyi's heart pounded, sweat beading on her brow. She wasn't concerned for her own safety—her status as Mu Leng's daughter was a shield; the Warden wouldn't dare kill her unless he'd lost all reason, risking the Qianyuan Sect's wrath.
But she knew the cost of her defiance. Drawing the ire of a Divine Palace Demon would bring a storm of trouble to her sect, a political maelstrom that even her father's authority might struggle to weather.
Behind her, the crowd watched in stunned silence, the weight of her choice sinking in. Qin Ting's eyes narrowed, a flicker of irritation crossing his features. "Mu Qingyi," he said coldly, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade, "you'd protect a thief? A murderer? Think carefully—your sect won't thank you for this."
She didn't turn to face him, her gaze fixed on the Warden's snarling visage. "I'm not protecting a thief," she said, her voice trembling with conviction. "I'm giving him a chance to prove himself. If he's guilty, let the heavens judge him—not you."
The barrier shuddered again, fractures widening as the Warden's fists rained down. Time was running out.