The officiating elder raised his hand, and the shimmering dome of the arena dissolved into a gate of blinding white light. Frost qi poured out like a frozen tide, chilling the air.
"The Glacial Lotus Trial," he intoned, "is not a mere test of combat. It is a trial of dao. Teams from each sect will enter the Frozen Lotus Realm, a dimensional space of ancient design. Within it lie stages meant to test insight, perseverance, cooperation, and strength. Only those who pass may reach the heart of the realm, where the Frozen Vein Spring awaits."
Excited whispers spread through the crowd.
"So it's a realm trial this year…"
"Problem-solving stages, spirit formations, even puzzles of dao intent!"
"Perfect. Brute force won't carry you far here."
The gates widened, and the disciples of the Moon Lotus Sect stepped forward.
Elder Ziyue's eyes flicked toward Haotian, who walked among them in his simple robes. The disciples whispered encouragements, their hearts steadied by the calm figure in their midst.
"Senior Haotian's here—we'll be fine."
"He can refine a solution to anything!"
"Don't be ridiculous… but also… yes."
Haotian ignored them, his gaze already fixed on the swirling frost light beyond the gate.
The world shifted.
They emerged onto a vast frozen plain beneath a sky of pale auroras. Ahead stretched a path of icy platforms leading toward a distant lotus-shaped mountain. Each platform shimmered faintly, as though concealing secrets beneath the ice.
A voice echoed through the sky:
"First Stage — The Puzzle of Ice Mirrors."
Before them rose walls of translucent ice, each reflecting twisted images of the disciples. Paths branched in a dozen directions, each seeming identical.
A disciple frowned.
"It's a maze!"
"No—look closer," Haotian said calmly. He stepped forward, running his fingers along the nearest ice wall. The reflection warped unnaturally, showing him holding his spear instead of standing empty-handed.
"These mirrors deceive. Each wrong path leads deeper into illusion." He tapped the ice. A faint rune flared beneath his touch. "But… they are constructed with flawed formations."
The disciples blinked. "Flawed…?"
Haotian's lips curved faintly. "A flaw in a pill, a flaw in a manual, or a flaw in an array—it is all the same. Watch."
With a wave of his hand, he sketched a counter-rune in the frost. The mirror shimmered, the false reflection crumbling away. Beyond it, a straight passage opened.
The disciples gasped. "He—he corrected the trial itself?!"
Haotian simply stepped forward. "Follow me."
Other sects, meanwhile, struggled. Cries echoed through the maze as disciples chased illusions or slammed blindly into mirrored walls. The Flame Dragon Sect tried brute force, only to find shattered mirrors reforming endlessly. The Snow Shadow Sect attempted stealth, but their own shadows turned against them in the reflections.
And yet, the Moon Lotus Sect walked smoothly behind Haotian, who unraveled each formation with steady corrections as though editing a flawed manuscript.
When they emerged into the open again, the watching crowd outside the realm gasped as a lotus-shaped sigil lit up on the Moon Lotus Sect's pavilion, marking their completion.
"They cleared the first stage already?!"
"Impossible! It's only been minutes!"
"Who in their sect could—"
The only answer was Haotian's calm figure, visible through the scrying mirror, guiding his disciples forward.
The path of icy platforms carried the Moon Lotus disciples deeper into the realm. The auroras above shifted colors, rippling violet and silver. Then the ground trembled, and a lotus-shaped gate of crystal rose before them.
The voice of the realm echoed once more:
"Second Stage — The Trial of Formations."
The gate unfurled, revealing a vast frozen courtyard. Strange glyphs glowed across the ground, walls, and ceiling, all interlocking in dizzying complexity.
Dozens of glowing runic arrays pulsed like living veins, each overlapping the other. Frost qi surged unpredictably, erupting in sudden bursts.
A Moon Lotus disciple gasped. "It's a grand array… no, several, layered together!"
Another's eyes widened. "If we step wrong, the backlash could freeze us solid!"
From across the realm, scrying mirrors showed rival sects struggling.
The Flame Dragon Sect disciples blasted the glyphs with fire, only for the flames to rebound and scorch them.
The Ironwood Sect charged forward, their brute force collapsing part of the array, only to be trapped in walls of ice.
Even the Snow Shadow Sect faltered, their assassins weaving silently only to vanish into illusions.
The Moon Lotus disciples froze in uncertainty.
Haotian stepped forward.
His eyes scanned the glowing glyphs calmly, tracing each layer. His lips moved slightly as he whispered. "A stabilizing foundation… but the cycle is inverted. A balancing rune here… but flawed in design…"
He knelt and pressed his palm against one sigil. Golden rune-light poured from his fingertips, overlaying the frozen glyph with lines of perfect symmetry.
Buzz…
The unstable frost qi in the courtyard stilled, as though soothed.
Gasps echoed from his disciples.
"He's… correcting it again!"
"Like he's refining a formation the way he does a pill!"
Haotian moved methodically, inscribing small adjustments with glowing rune-light. With each correction, the arrays calmed, their wild qi flows settling into harmony.
At last, he raised his hand, releasing a single rune that spread like a lotus bloom across the entire courtyard.
Boooom.
The countless overlapping glyphs restructured themselves into a single elegant formation—orderly, stable, flawless.
The gate of crystal opened silently, revealing the path onward.
Outside, chaos erupted among the spectators.
"They solved the Formation Trial already?!""That array was unsolvable! It's a trap meant to whittle down weaker sects!""…No. Look—the boy. He rewrote the formation itself!"
Rival elders leaned forward, eyes sharp.
"Who is he?"
"That calm-faced youth in plain robes… he's no ordinary disciple."
"…If he can do this in formations, what else is he capable of?"
Meanwhile, in the Moon Lotus ranks, disciples could barely contain themselves.
"Senior Haotian isn't just an alchemist—he's a formation master too!"
"Is there anything he can't do?!"
Haotian, brushing frost from his sleeves, only said quietly:
"Let's move on."
The path through the formation courtyard led into a cavern glittering with frozen stalactites. Cold mist swirled across the ground, and an ominous rumble shook the walls.
The voice of the realm boomed again:
"Third Stage — The Trial of Frozen Beasts."
Rumble… crack…
From the ice walls burst enormous creatures forged of frost and bone — wolves with glowing eyes, serpents of crystal, bears as tall as towers. Each radiated the aura of Nascent realm power, their bodies almost indestructible by brute force alone.
Disciples instinctively drew back. "So many! And their qi is—so strong!"
Haotian, standing at the rear, spoke evenly:
"Remember your corrections. Flow qi through the paths I taught you. Balance, precision, and control. Now—go."
The disciples inhaled, steadying themselves.
Then they charged.
One beast lunged at Liu Yanmei, fangs of ice aiming for her throat. But instead of faltering as she once would have, her blade moved with flawless arcs. The Frozen Moon Crescent Sword she once botched now sang with harmony—she carved the wolf apart in a single, perfect sweep.
Gasps echoed from the disciples watching.
Another group clustered around Mei Rulan. Once clumsy in footwork, now she flowed like drifting lotus petals, vanishing from a serpent's strike only to reappear and shatter its crystalline spine in a single thrust.
The beasts roared, pressing harder. Yet every Moon Lotus disciple moved with startling synergy. Their flaws—hesitation, wasted qi, sloppy footwork—were gone. Each attack flowed like a perfected manual.
And when wounds appeared, they swallowed Triple Recovery Pills, their stamina and qi restoring instantly.
The audience watching through scrying mirrors erupted.
"Impossible!"
"They're not just stronger—their entire sect's foundation is different!"
"Every disciple fights as if their techniques were perfected!"
Rival elders' faces turned grim.
"Their sword arts, their footwork, even their movement techniques—no wasted motion, no instability…""…Someone corrected their manuals."
And once again, eyes turned toward Haotian, who stood at the rear of the Moon Lotus formation inside the mirror, hands folded calmly, watching his disciples slaughter frost beasts with serene detachment.
Dozens of beasts fell, their bodies shattering into icy mist. At last, the cavern trembled, and the final wave came: a colossal frost lion, its mane glittering with shards of ice, its roar shaking the ground.
The disciples glanced at Haotian.
But he shook his head once. "You have what you need. Trust it."
They swallowed hard, then charged together.
Sword light, frost petals, flowing steps — each strike honed to perfection. The lion roared, swiping with claws that split the earth, but the disciples' combined formation pressed it back. Their strikes flowed seamlessly, no cracks, no hesitation.
With a final cry, Yanmei's sword pierced its core. The beast shattered into glittering shards.
The cavern gates opened.
The Moon Lotus disciples stood tall, frost qi swirling around them, unshaken and victorious.
Haotian walked calmly past the fallen beast, his voice soft but clear: "Onward."
The cavern doors rumbled open, revealing a staircase of ice leading higher and higher into the mountain's lotus-shaped peak. The disciples of the Moon Lotus Sect climbed steadily, frost qi swirling heavier with each step.
At the summit, a grand lotus of crystal awaited, each petal gleaming like frozen jade. As the disciples approached, the petals unfurled, and a voice resonated across the skies:
"Final Stage — The Trial of Dao Heart.
One may not advance without confronting the truth within."
The ground trembled. Illusory light flooded the air.
One by one, disciples staggered as illusions engulfed them.
Liu Yanmei gasped, tears streaming as she faced visions of failure, mocked endlessly by shadows of her past self. Yet, remembering Haotian's calm guidance, she steadied her breath, her sword shimmering with new resolve.
Mei Rulan trembled as visions of betrayal clouded her heart, old doubts resurfacing. But she recalled Haotian's quiet words: "Balance, precision, and control." Her steps steadied, and the illusions shattered.
All around, Moon Lotus disciples pushed through, their dao hearts firmer than ever before thanks to his corrections.
But then—
The lotus itself shifted, and its light swept toward the back.
Toward Haotian.
Frost surged around him, and suddenly he stood not in the Frozen Lotus Realm, but in the familiar halls of the Cold River Sect.
Whispers filled the air.
"He's a monster…"
"Kill him before he grows further…"
Twenty-one assassins surrounded him again, eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
Blood. Shadows. His spear flashing. His solitude afterward.
The vision shifted—now he was in the Moon Lotus Sect. Disciples swarmed him, not with blades, but with desperate pleas, laughter, gossip. His sanctuary crumbling beneath their noise. No peace. Never peace.
Is this your fate? the illusion whispered.
No matter where you flee, your talent will only bring storms. You will never rest. You will never refine in peace.
For a long moment, Haotian stood still, silent in the heart of the storm.
Then he exhaled.
"…If the storm follows me, then let it." His eyes hardened, his voice steady as stone. "I will not abandon my dao for their schemes, nor for their noise. My path is clear — refine, correct, and walk forward. Whether they chase me or praise me is irrelevant."
The illusions shattered like brittle glass.
Through the scrying mirrors, the crowd erupted.
"He broke the illusion instantly!"
"That test is designed to shatter dao hearts! Even sect geniuses falter there!"
"Who… is that boy?!"
Elders from rival sects leaned forward, their faces dark.
"He is no ordinary alchemist. He is… dangerous."
In the Moon Lotus Sect pavilion, Elder Ziyue smiled faintly, while Sect Master Yinxue's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
"Our sect's future," Yinxue murmured.
The lotus petals opened fully. A rush of divine frost qi poured forth, bathing the realm. The voice intoned:
"Those who endure shall claim the Frozen Vein Spring."
The Moon Lotus Sect's sigil blazed brightest of all.
As the final lotus petal unfurled, a dazzling beam of frost-blue light pierced the heavens. The entire realm trembled, and deep within the mountain, a path opened downward — a staircase of crystalline ice descending into the earth.
The voice of the trial rang once more, solemn and echoing like an ancient decree:
"Those who endure may drink from the source. The Frozen Vein Spring belongs to the Moon Lotus Sect."
The disciples followed Haotian and Elder Ziyue into the mountain's core. There, beneath layers of translucent crystal, a vast cavern unfolded. At its center lay a spring of glowing water, pale as moonlight, rippling with qi so dense it made the skin tingle.
The moment they stepped inside, every disciple inhaled sharply.
"This qi… it's purer than spirit stones!"
"No—denser, colder, but soft. It flows so easily into the meridians!"
"It's like the world itself is pouring into me!"
Ziyue's eyes gleamed, though her expression remained composed. "This is the Frozen Vein Spring. Cultivation here is said to be tripled compared to the outside. For us, it will be even greater."
Her gaze flicked toward Haotian knowingly.
The disciples one by one stepped into the waters, sitting cross-legged as the spring embraced them. Frost qi flowed into their bodies like rivers, their breathing cycles stabilizing, their bottlenecks loosening.
Liu Yanmei shivered as icy light filled her dantian. "It's flowing so smoothly… my sword qi—it's already condensing into the next stage!"
Mei Rulan gasped as her body trembled with the first signs of breakthrough. "So soon?! My bottleneck was months away!"
Cries of astonishment echoed as one after another felt their realms shift under the spring's influence.
And then, something remarkable happened.
The Frost Crystal Vein Pills Haotian had crafted began to glow faintly within the disciples' storage pouches. As they took them alongside the spring's qi, the effects multiplied — yin chi condensing seamlessly, refinement faster than anyone thought possible.
A disciple shrieked in joy. "I broke through to mid-Nascent stage!"
Another clutched her chest, eyes wide. "I—I advanced two minor realms at once!"
The cavern resounded with shock and elation.
Even the elders who entered the spring felt it. Their long-stagnant qi veins suddenly loosened, decades of bottlenecks softening under the spring's blessing. Elder Yunfei exhaled slowly, her aura rising with steady force.
"This… this is no mere fortune. With Haotian's pill combined with the spring, the Moon Lotus Sect will outpace every rival in the north!"
Elder Ziyue said nothing, though the sly curve at her lips betrayed her thoughts.
Sect Master Yinxue stood silently at the back, eyes narrowed, watching her disciples glow with advancement. At last she spoke, voice low:
"With this, our sect's destiny changes. No rival will dare underestimate us again."
Amid the cheers and breakthroughs, Haotian stood at the spring's edge. He did not enter the waters. His gaze was calm, his hands folded behind his back.
Peace was what he wanted. Yet as he watched his sectmates ascend in power, a quiet sigh escaped him.
Peace is fleeting. But if my dao can protect this calm… I will endure the storms to keep it.
Outside the Frozen Lotus Realm, the disciples of the Moon Lotus Sect emerged glowing with breakthroughs. Their auras surged with newfound power, and cheers erupted among their ranks.
But beyond their pavilion, the faces of rival sects were dark.
The Flame Dragon Sect disciples clenched their fists, eyes burning with jealousy.
The Snow Shadow Sect disciples seethed in silence, their gazes sharp as daggers.
Even the neutral sects whispered with unease.
"They advanced so quickly—it's unnatural!"
"It's him, isn't it? That boy among them."
"He dares hide behind the skirts of women, calling himself Moon Lotus Sect's disciple?"
Laughter rippled through the gathered crowd.
"Pathetic. A man in a sect of women—what a disgrace."
"He only dares thrive because the Moon Lotus elders shelter him. Without them, he's nothing."
"Step aside, boy. Or will you cling to their robes again?"
The taunts echoed like thunder. Moon Lotus disciples bristled, some stepping forward, but Haotian raised a hand. His expression was calm, his gaze steady.
"If you are so desperate to test me," he said evenly, "then come. But do not regret what follows."
The rivals jeered, thinking his words arrogance. They rushed forward, blades flashing, spells igniting.
Haotian's hand flicked, and from his spatial ring materialized the Fenglong Spear, its shaft dark as night, its tip gleaming with lethal frostlight.
He planted the butt of the spear against the frozen ground with a resounding crack. "Come."
They came as a mob—swords, flames, shadows.
Haotian moved.
Thrust—!
The first fell, pierced through the chestplate, sent flying.
Second thrust—!
Another's sword shattered, the disciple spinning away unconscious.
Then came the rhythm. A storm of spear thrusts, flowing into rotations. The Ninefold Thrust, so fast it blurred into a single shimmering dragon of frostlight.
One by one, they fell. Not dead, but broken, sprawled across the arena in stunned defeat.
The audience roared in disbelief.
"Impossible! He's fighting them all alone!"
"Each thrust… it's flawless, merciless, unstoppable!"
Shamed by the disciples' defeat, elders of the Nascent realm stepped forward, fury on their faces.
"This farce ends now. A boy cannot humiliate us so!"
They unleashed torrents of qi, strikes that would have crushed mountains.
But Haotian's eyes sharpened, and his aura surged.
The Heart of the Spear.
He exhaled slowly. His world narrowed to a single point—the spear in his hands, and the dao it carried.
He stepped forward.
Boom—!
The ground cracked. His spear lanced out, not with brute force, but with the purest embodiment of intent: precise, overwhelming, unshakable.
Each elder's attack shattered like brittle glass. They staggered back, their qi collapsing, unable to even breathe beneath the crushing weight of his spear's dao.
Not one was killed. But all stood humbled, defeated utterly.
The arena fell silent.
Cold River Sect's Shame
Among the spectators, the Cold River Sect elders stared, their faces dark as storm clouds.
"That boy…"
"That is Haotian."
They remembered his quiet departure, their attempts to silence him, the assassins they sent. And now, before the eyes of countless sects, he stood wielding a spear that crushed their best and their rivals alike.
A genius they had scorned. A talent they had tried to kill.
Now exalted before the world.
The slap resounded across the icy arena—not of flesh against skin, but of truth against arrogance.
The Cold River Sect elders lowered their heads, humiliated, their shame laid bare for all to see.
When the sect returned from the Frozen Vein Spring and the trial arena, the Moon Lotus Sect grounds erupted like a festival.
Disciples swarmed every courtyard, retelling the battle in increasingly exaggerated tones.
"Did you see him?! Senior Haotian didn't just fight them—he walked through them like they were blades of grass!"
"No, no—you're wrong. His spear split the frost lion's roar itself in two!"
"That's not what I saw! He moved once, and nine disciples fell like snowflakes!"
Every tale grew more ridiculous, but all carried the same awe.
Groups of female disciples trailed Haotian wherever he walked, some clutching their manuals, others clutching their cheeks as though he had struck them personally.
"Senior Haotian, please correct my footwork again!"
"No, no—look at my sword art, it must have flaws too!"
"Forget that! Senior Haotian, what about… my dao heart?"
One bold disciple actually thrust her manual into his arms and declared:"Even if you don't correct it, just holding it will make it better!"
Haotian remained calm, his face unreadable, though inwardly he sighed. Peace is impossible, it seems.
In the elders' council chamber, chaos reigned.
Elder Yunfei slammed the table. "A spear intent capable of suppressing Nascent cultivators—within a boy of his age?! He must be bound to the sect immediately!"
Another elder argued, "No—Haotian values freedom. Push too hard and he'll leave, as he did the Cold River Sect!"
Elder Ziyue, arms folded, watched their squabbling with thinly veiled amusement. "You saw it yourselves. Pills, formations, cultivation corrections, and now spear dao. His talent transcends categories. He is… inevitable. Instead of scheming, perhaps you should simply not annoy him."
The chamber fell silent at her last words, the memory of Haotian's serene yet crushing spear strikes still burned into their minds.
High in the snow pavilion, Sect Master Yinxue gazed down at the sect grounds, watching her disciples gossip and her elders fret.
"…Alchemy, formations, combat… and all in one man," she whispered. Her youthful face, still radiant from her earlier breakthrough, softened in rare admiration. "The heavens favor us… but will we have the wisdom to hold this blessing?"
Meanwhile, Haotian sat quietly in his courtyard, the Fenglong Spear laid across his knees, its cold gleam reflecting his calm eyes.
Disciples still whispered outside the walls, giggling and murmuring, but he shut it out, focusing on his breathing.
He whispered softly, almost to himself:
"Cauldron in one hand, spear in the other… if this is my dao, then so be it. But all I wish for is still the same—peace to refine."
The spear hummed faintly, as if in response.