Ke Hong gripped the armrests of his cushioned seat, his knuckles white as he watched his son face the writhing shadow that had emerged from the desert sand. The viewing screen before them had expanded at his focused attention, drawing him so deeply into the scene that he felt as though he were standing just yards away from the deadly confrontation.

"What is that thing?" Lixue whispered, one hand pressed protectively over her rounded belly while the other clutched Hong's arm. The creature hovering before their son defied every natural law she understood, a being of pure shadow and malice that seemed to drink in the sickly light of the Fallen Realm.

"A wraith," Liu Chen answered softly, his young face grave as he watched the spiritual entity circle Ke Yin with predatory patience. "They're formed from the consciousness of beings who died with extreme regret. In a death realm like this, they're..."

"Dangerous," Hong finished grimly, watching as the wraith suddenly lunged forward with impossible speed.

What happened next should have been too fast for mortal eyes to follow. Hong had seen cultivators spar during festival demonstrations back in his younger days when he had visited the major cities. The cultivators’ movements were blurs of motion that left him dizzy trying to track them.

But the tournament screens were clearly designed with mortal spectators in mind. Every detail was crystal clear: the way Ke Yin's body dissolved into particles of green light, the precise timing of his teleportation, the look of cold calculation in his eyes as he rematerialized behind his opponent.

"He's so fast," Lixue breathed, wonder mixing with fear in her voice. "I can barely believe that's our son."

Hong nodded mutely, transfixed by the deadly dance unfolding before them. Each exchange between Ke Yin and the wraith was captured in perfect clarity: the writhing tendrils of shadow that lashed out like whips, the vines that erupted from nowhere to entangle the creature, the way the wraith could become intangible at will to avoid attacks.

When the wraith's claws raked across Ke Yin's chest, both parents gasped in unison. Hong half-rose from his seat as he saw the gray discoloration spreading around the wound, his paternal instincts screaming at him to help his child despite the impossible distance between them.

"He's hurt," Lixue said urgently, as if Liu Chen or the other spectators around them could somehow intervene. "That creature poisoned him."

"Death essence," Liu Chen explained quietly, though his own hands were clenched tightly in his lap. "It disrupts qi circulation. But Brother Ke is containing it, see how he's channeling energy around the wound? He knows what he's doing."

Hong wanted to take comfort in those words, but watching his son battle for his life against a creature of nightmares was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

In the village, the worst dangers were wild animals or bandits, threats that could be understood, fought with steel and strength.

This was something beyond mortal comprehension, a battle between forces that shouldn't exist.

The wraith's shriek nearly made both parents cover their ears, even transmitted through the viewing screen. They watched in horror as Ke Yin staggered, clearly disoriented by the spiritual attack. The creature descended with claws extended for what looked like a killing blow.

"No!" Lixue cried out, her voice lost in the gasps and exclamations of other spectators who had been drawn to the dramatic confrontation.

But Ke Yin vanished again, that impossible green light carrying him to safety just as the wraith's claws swept through empty air. Hong found himself holding his breath as his son began setting some kind of trap, vines burrowing beneath the sand in patterns too complex for him to follow.

"What's he doing?" Hong asked, leaning forward as if proximity to the screen could help him understand his son's strategy.

"Formation work," Liu Chen said with growing excitement. "He's using his vines to create an array. If he can disrupt the wraith's intangibility..."

The trap sprung with devastating precision. Vines erupted from the sand, wrapping around the suddenly tangible wraith as lines of green energy flared between them. Ke Yin teleported directly in front of the trapped creature, his palm driving through its chest with such force that Hong could almost feel the impact.

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The wraith exploded into particles of light that scattered across the desert like dying stars.

Hong sagged back in his seat, only now realizing he'd been holding his breath for the entire final exchange. Around them, other spectators were murmuring appreciatively about the technique and strategy displayed, but Hong heard none of it.

All he could see was his son standing alone in that desolate landscape, injured but victorious.

"He did it," Lixue whispered, tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. "Our boy actually defeated that monster."

"A ninth-stage wraith," Liu Chen added with clear admiration. "Brother Ke's combat abilities have grown incredible since his spar with Rocky."

Hong nodded, unable to speak for a moment. The display of power he'd just witnessed was beyond his comprehension. His son, the boy he'd taught to hold a needle, who'd helped in the tailor shop, who'd sat with them for dinner just yesterday, had just destroyed a creature that would have been the stuff of nightmares in their village.

"Your son is remarkable," said a Core Disciple sitting nearby, overhearing their conversation. "Most ninth stage cultivators, including myself, would struggle against a wraith of that caliber. To win alone, while injured... that takes exceptional skill."

The compliment warmed Hong's heart, but it also highlighted just how dangerous the world Ke Yin now inhabited truly was. Every battle could be his last, and there would always be another enemy, another challenge, another test that could claim their son's life.

***

I stood there, palm extended through empty air where the wraith had been, breathing heavily. The wounds on my chest and side throbbed painfully, but I was alive and still in the tournament.

"I didn't expect you to find me first," I said, slowly turning to greet the new arrivals.

Wei Lin's eyes widened as he took in the scene before him: the scattered remnants of spiritual energy still crackling through the air, the scorch marks in the sand where the wraith's attacks had landed, and most tellingly, the complete absence of what had clearly been a formidable opponent just moments before.

"Was that..." Wei Lin began, his voice trailing off as his spiritual sense swept the area, picking up the lingering traces of death essence. "A ninth stage wraith?"

I nodded, brushing sand from my robes and trying to look more composed than I felt. The wounds on my chest still throbbed, though the death essence had stopped spreading thanks to my qi barriers. "It found me about ten minutes ago. Wasn't particularly interested in having a conversation."

Lin Mei stared at me with something between awe and disbelief. "You killed a ninth stage wraith? By yourself?" She shook her head, letting out a laugh that sounded slightly hysterical. "And here I thought I had bad luck getting attacked by two seventh stage cultivators."

"Two?" I turned my full attention to her, noting for the first time the faint scorch marks on her robes and the subtle way she favored her left side. "Are you injured?"

"Nothing serious," she assured me quickly, though I caught the grateful look she shot Wei Lin. "Lei Zhong found my hiding spot first, then Meng Jiao showed up right after I dealt with him. If Wei Lin hadn't arrived when he did..."

"You would have handled it," Wei Lin said, though his protective stance beside her suggested he'd been genuinely worried and that perhaps she was closer to being eliminated than they’d like to admit. "That formation trap of yours was brilliantly executed."

Despite the concern I had for the situation, I felt a surge of pride for my teammate. Lin Mei had always been underestimated because of her relatively slower cultivation progression, but she'd proven herself capable of taking down opponents at higher stages than herself.

"Two seventh stage cultivators," I mused. "That's no small feat, especially back-to-back."

"It wasn't exactly back-to-back," Lin Mei admitted with a rueful smile. "More like back-to-back-to-back. I barely had time to catch my breath between them."

Before I could respond, a collective gasp from somewhere in the distance drew our attention upward. The crimson number hanging in the sky had changed again: 36.

"Another team found the exit," Wei Lin observed, his expression growing more serious. "That's seven teams who've made it out already."

I frowned, calculating the implications. "At this rate, we'll be competing for the final few spots. We need to start moving toward finding that exit ourselves."

"The problem is we have no idea where it is," Lin Mei pointed out, scanning the endless expanse of white sand around us. "This realm could stretch for hundreds of miles in any direction."

"Or it could be an illusion," Wei Lin suggested. "The spatial distortion in this realm makes distance unreliable. We could walk in circles for hours and never realize it."

I nodded, remembering my own experience with the inconsistent geography.

"Azure,” I called out privately. “Any insights on how to navigate this place?"

"I'm afraid not, Master," Azure's voice carried an unusual note of frustration. "My senses are significantly suppressed within this realm. The death essence that permeates everything here seems particularly hostile to inner world spirits. You'll need to rely on conventional methods to find the exit."

That was concerning.

Azure's guidance had become something I'd grown accustomed to relying on, especially in unfamiliar situations. The fact that even he was being suppressed by this realm's nature spoke to just how thoroughly Ancestor Tian had understood the Dao of Death.

"Any ideas on how to track down this exit?" I asked, turning back to my teammates.

Wei Lin's expression grew thoughtful. "Actually, I might have a way."

He extended his right hand, palm up, and I watched with fascination as thin wisps of dark energy began to drift toward his skin. The death essence that saturated the very air of this realm was being drawn to him like iron filings to a magnet.