Elder Chen Yong nearly dropped his wine bottle as he watched the viewing screen, his hands trembling slightly as the spiritual fluctuations from Wei Lin's breakthrough rippled through the tournament arena's monitoring arrays.

Around him, the other elders who had gathered to observe the trial were equally stunned, their conversations dying to whispers as they processed what they'd just witnessed.

"Tenth stage," Elder Meng breathed, leaning forward in his chair. "I haven't seen a tenth stage breakthrough in... what, four hundred years?"

"Longer than that," Elder Zhao corrected, his eyes never leaving the screen that showed Wei Lin emerging from the cave with that new, denser spiritual pressure radiating from his form. "The last confirmed tenth stage cultivator in our sect was Elder Fan's grandson, and that was five hundred and forty-three years ago."

"Look at his spiritual pressure," Elder Wan observed, gesturing toward the screen where Wei Lin was casually absorbing the death essence from the now defeated shadow phoenix. "It's not just denser than peak ninth stage, it's qualitatively different. More refined, more controlled."

"The boy's marketplace cultivation method must be extraordinary," Elder Chen Yong muttered, taking another drink. "To support that kind of breakthrough... I wonder what rank his technique actually is?"

The elders continued their hushed discussion, analyzing every detail of Wei Lin's performance against the pseudo-Elemental Realm creature. The ease with which he'd absorbed the phoenix's black fire attack, the precision of his lightning techniques, the almost casual way he'd decapitated and drained such a powerful opponent.

It was then that Sect Master Yuan's voice cut through their chatter.

"The breakthrough, while certainly impressive, will only cause more problems for his team."

The observation chamber fell silent. Every elder turned toward their sect master, a man whose cultivation had reached heights they could barely comprehend. Yuan rarely spoke during these trials, preferring to observe quietly from the raised platform at the center of the room. When he did offer commentary, it was worth listening to.

Elder Wan was the first to find his voice. "Sect Master, what do you mean? Surely having a tenth stage cultivator on their team is an advantage?"

"The boy's advancement will make them an even greater target," Sect Master Yuan replied, his eyes fixed on the screen showing Ke Yin's team beginning their journey toward the exit. "The Fallen Realm responds to more than just cultivation level."

Elder Zhao frowned, leaning forward with interest. "Responds how, Sect Master? The realm's inhabitants are drawn to spiritual pressure, but surely—"

Sect Master Yuan raised a hand, and the questions died in the elder's throat. The sect master's expression was thoughtful, almost curious, as he watched the three disciples navigate the twisted forest of bone-white trees.

"We shall see," was all he said.

The elders exchanged glances, clearly wanting to press for more information, but they knew better than to push when their sect master chose to remain cryptic. Instead, they turned their attention back to the screens, watching as other teams made their own desperate pushes toward the remaining exits.

Elder Chen Yong found himself dividing his attention between multiple viewing crystals. On one screen, a team was fighting their way through a pack of skeletal wolves. On another, disciples from were using formations to navigate what appeared to be a maze of crystalline walls. But his eyes kept returning to the screen showing his disciple's team, something about their journey feeling different from the others.

The number floating in the Fallen Realm's sky continued to drop. Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen.

"The competition is intensifying," Elder Meng observed, watching as two teams encountered each other near what looked like a potential exit. The confrontation that followed was brief and brutal, with the stronger team eliminating their competitors without hesitation. "These final stages always bring out the worst in disciples."

"It's necessary," Elder Wan replied. "Cultivation is not a gentle path. Better they learn to make hard choices now, in a controlled environment, than face such decisions unprepared in the real world."

The screens flickered as the monitoring formations adjusted to track the remaining teams. Many of the disciples' parents and family members had gathered in the outer viewing areas, their faces tight with anxiety as they watched their children fight for advancement.

It was nearly an hour later when the situation they'd all been anticipating finally occurred.

On the primary viewing screen, Wei Lin's team had just spotted another cultivator moving with the confident stride of someone who knew exactly where he was going. The young man was clearly heading toward an exit, and with only seven slots remaining, the mathematics of elimination had become stark.

"Here we go," Elder Chen Yong murmured, recognizing the tension that always preceded these critical encounters.

But before Ke Yin could act on his obvious intention to eliminate the potential competitor, two new figures emerged from the forest. The spiritual pressure that rolled off them was immediately recognizable to the watching elders.

"Wu Kangming," Elder Zhao said, his voice carrying a mixture of interest and concern. "And Luo Yichen."

Elder Chen Yong felt his eyebrows rise as he studied the pale-faced young man on the screen. Wu Kangming's reputation had been... complicated since his engagement to Wu Lihua had been broken and his cultivation had been crippled months ago. But something about his spiritual signature felt different now, stronger in ways that didn't quite match what they were seeing.

The confrontation that followed had every elder in the observation chamber leaning forward with interest. When Wu Kangming's sword strike carved through three massive trees with impossible precision, the reaction was immediate.

"That technique," Elder Chen Yong breathed, his eyes wide with shock. "That's not Qi Condensation Realm power."

"Impossible," Elder Wan protested. "Our monitoring arrays would detect any cultivation above the ninth stage. If Wu Kangming had broken through to the Elemental Realm—"

"He hasn't," Sect Master Yuan interrupted quietly. "His cultivation base remains at the ninth stage. But he has... other sources of power available to him."

The elders turned toward their sect master with questions clear on their faces, but Yuan had already returned his attention to the screens. His expression was unreadable, but Elder Chen Yong thought he detected a hint of recognition in the sect master's eyes.

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On the screen, the standoff between the two teams continued. The audience members in the outer viewing areas were practically vibrating with excitement, many of them clearly hoping to witness a battle between some of the tournament's most powerful participants.

"Finally, a real fight," one spectator could be heard saying. "I've been waiting to see what Wu Kangming can really do."

"Look at the pressure coming off that Wei Lin boy," another voice added. "Tenth stage cultivation against mysterious sword techniques? This should be incredible."

"One thousand spirit stones says Wu Kangming's team wins…"

"You're on!" another voice replied. "Wei Lin has higher cultivation. My money's on his team!"

But just as it seemed like the battle was about to begin, something unexpected happened. Instead of attacking, the two team leaders began to talk. The conversation stretched on for several minutes, with both groups maintaining their defensive positions but clearly negotiating rather than fighting.

Elder Meng laughed as he watched the discussion unfold. "Are they... making an alliance?"

"It appears so," Elder Wan confirmed, studying the body language of the cultivators involved. "Look, they're moving into traveling formation together. Both teams are going to advance as a combined unit."

A collective sigh of disappointment rose from the spectator sections as it became clear there would be no dramatic battle between the tournament's most powerful teams. The betting circles that had formed around the confrontation quickly dissolved into grumbling about missed opportunities and anticlimactic resolutions.

On the viewing platform, however, the elders' reactions were quite different. Instead of disappointment, there was talk about the strategic implications of such an alliance.

"This is actually quite intelligent," Elder Zhang observed. "Combined, those two teams should be able to handle any remaining threats in the realm while ensuring both groups advance safely."

"Pragmatic thinking," Elder Chen Yong agreed. "With only a few advancement slots remaining, cooperation makes more sense than elimination for teams of this caliber."

But Sect Master Yuan's reaction was entirely different from his subordinates. A smile played at the corners of his mouth, but it wasn't a pleasant expression. He shook his head slowly, as if watching students make a fundamental error in judgment.

"Sect Master?" Elder Chen Yong asked carefully, noticing the leader's unusual reaction. "Is there something wrong with this development?"

"The Fallen Realm will not react well to this," Sect Master Yuan said simply, his voice carrying that same ominous undertone from earlier.

The elders exchanged concerned glances. Elder Wan, emboldened by his seniority, decided to press for more information. "Sect Master, what do you mean by that? Why would the realm care about team cooperation?"

For a moment, it seemed like Sect Master Yuan might refuse to answer again. But then he settled into his observation chair with the air of someone preparing to tell a long story. The elders immediately gave him their full attention, recognizing the rare opportunity to gain insight into their leader's vast knowledge.

"To understand the Fallen Realm's nature," Sect Master Yuan began, "you must first understand its creator. Ancestor Tian was not what you would call a prodigy."

He gestured toward the screens showing the young cultivators making their way through the twisted landscape. "These disciples you're watching, most of them show signs of exceptional talent. Rapid advancement, innovative techniques, the kind of natural gifts that set them apart from their peers. Ancestor Tian had none of that."

Elder Chen Yong leaned forward, genuinely intrigued. "But surely he must have had some exceptional qualities to reach the Civilization Realm and master the Dao of Death?"

"Oh, he had qualities," Sect Master Yuan replied with a wry smile. "Determination, perhaps. Stubbornness, certainly. And above all, an incredible capacity for hard work. But natural talent? Spiritual sensitivity? The kind of heaven-blessed fortune that lets some cultivators advance in months what takes others decades?"

He shook his head slowly. "Ancestor Tian possessed none of those gifts. If anything, he was below average in most areas. His spiritual roots were mediocre, his comprehension was slow, his breakthrough speed was painful to watch. By all conventional measures, he should never have advanced beyond the Elemental Realm."

The elders listened in fascinated silence as their sect master painted a picture of struggle and perseverance that was quite different from the typical cultivation success story.

"But he refused to give up," Sect Master Yuan continued. "While his more talented peers advanced effortlessly through the realms, Tian spent decades perfecting each stage. While others broke through in moments of inspiration, he ground out his progress through sheer stubborn persistence."

Elder Chen Yong found himself oddly sympathetic to this description. "That's actually quite admirable, in its own way."

"Perhaps," Sect Master Yuan acknowledged. "But there was a cost to that approach. Throughout his long cultivation journey, Ancestor Tian was constantly overshadowed by more gifted individuals. At every sect gathering, every tournament, every public demonstration of ability, there was always someone younger, someone faster, someone more naturally blessed standing in the spotlight while he remained in the shadows."

The sect master's voice grew colder as he continued. "Imagine spending one hundred years advancing to the Elemental Realm, only to watch seventeen-year-old prodigies achieve the same level in a handful of years. Imagine dedicating your entire existence to mastering the fundamentals, only to see talented disciples casually surpass your lifetime achievements with techniques they invented on the spot."

Elder Chen Yong was beginning to understand where this story was heading. "He became bitter," he said quietly.

"Bitter doesn't begin to cover it," Sect Master Yuan replied. "Ancestor Tian developed a hatred for natural talent that consumed him from within. Every time he encountered a prodigy, every time he witnessed someone achieving in moments what had taken him decades, that hatred grew stronger."

He gestured toward the screens where Wu Kangming and Wei Lin's teams were traveling together through the bone-white forest. "And eventually, that hatred became something more than just emotion. It became a dao."

The elders sat in stunned silence as the implications of that statement sank in. Dao comprehension was the highest form of cultivation understanding, the ability to grasp fundamental laws of reality and incorporate them into one's spiritual foundation. Most cultivators spent their entire lives trying to achieve even basic dao insights.

"The fascinating thing about inner worlds," Sect Master Yuan continued, "is that it reflects the creator's deepest understanding of reality. When Ancestor Tian broke through to the Civilisation Realm, he didn't just infuse it with death qi. He embedded it with all of his dao comprehensions, all of his insights into the fundamental nature of existence."

Elder Feng was beginning to see the shape of the problem. "So even though Ancestor Tian is dead, his dao comprehensions remain active within the realm?"

"Exactly," Sect Master Yuan confirmed. "The Fallen Realm isn't just a testing ground filled with death-aligned creatures. It's a reflection of Ancestor Tian's worldview, shaped by centuries of watching talented disciples surpass him with apparent ease. Even after his death, even without an inner world spirit to guide it, his influence remains strong."

Elder Chen Yong's eyes widened as understanding struck. "That's why the exceptional teams keep facing impossible odds while ordinary disciples advance smoothly. The realm is actively working against those who display unusual talent or potential."

"Precisely," Sect Master Yuan confirmed. "The realm doesn't operate on random chance or standard difficulty scaling. It recognizes exceptional cultivators and responds to them the way Ancestor Tian did in life."

"But the realm has been... patient so far," he continued. "Individual prodigies, even pairs of exceptional disciples, fall within the normal parameters of what it can handle through conventional means. Ninth stage creatures, environmental hazards, the usual challenges of a death realm."

His smile grew more pronounced, but there was no warmth in it whatsoever. "But two teams of prodigies, working together, displaying the kind of effortless cooperation and mutual success that Ancestor Tian spent his entire life watching from the sidelines?"

The elders sat in stunned silence as they processed this revelation.

"Such a display will awaken the dao that truly defined Ancestor Tian's existence," Sect Master Yuan said, his voice growing cold. "Something far more dangerous than simple territorial defense."

"And what is this dao?" Elder Chen Yong asked carefully.

The elders turned expectantly toward their leader, waiting for clarification. The Sect Master remained silent for several long moments, his attention seemingly focused on something beyond their perception.

Finally, he raised one hand and pointed toward a specific viewing screen, one that had been dark throughout the tournament. As the elders watched, the screen began to flicker to life, displaying something that made several of them gasp in shock.

"The Dao of Envy," Sect Master Yuan whispered.