Eight viewing screens floated in perfect formation around Sect Master Yuan and the elders. Each screen showed a different inner world, a different battle, a different test of character and skill unfolding in real time. The soft glow of the formations cast everything in warm golden light, making the serious faces of the Life Realm cultivators look almost serene.

Yuan sat in the centre; his attention divided between multiple screens with the kind of effortless focus that only came from centuries of practice. To his left, Elder Chen Yong nursed his wine bottle while pretending to only be casually interested in the proceedings. To his right, Elder Wan maintained his usual scholarly demeanor, occasionally making notes on a jade slip about promising disciples and techniques.

The arena below them buzzed with the excited chatter of thousands of spectators, but up here in the elder's section, the atmosphere carried a different weight. These weren't just entertainment; they were glimpses into the sect's future, assessments of which disciples might one day sit among their ranks as fellow elders.

"I'm surprised we're using that particular inner world for the tournament," Elder Meng murmured, gesturing towards one of the larger screens. "Former Sect Master Xue's cultivation was... unsavory."

"We're running out of suitable high-level realms," Elder Zhao replied. "The really good stuff we’re saving for the inner sect tournament."

"Still," Elder Chen Yong added, taking a long drink from his wine bottle, "using the inner world of a blood cultivator feels... inappropriate for our disciples. Even if the man achieved Civilization Realm before his methods were declared taboo."

On the screen they were referring to, Wu Kangming's eighth-stage opponent stumbled backward in obvious terror as crimson entities surged toward them both. The blood creatures didn't distinguish between contestants. In their realm, there were no such thing as divine beings, there were only sources of sustenance to be drained. Wu Kangming adapted with frightening efficiency, his sword techniques flowing like water as he carved through waves of sanguine horrors while pursuing his fleeing opponent.

It was clear the battle wouldn’t last long.

Yuan's gaze drifted across the various displays.

Luo Yichen fought in what appeared to be a perfect replica of the Azure Peak Sect's outer districts, but something was fundamentally wrong with the scene. The inhabitants moved with jerky, unnatural motions, and their faces kept shifting between familiar features: sometimes resembling Luo Yichen himself, sometimes Wu Kangming, sometimes people Yuan didn't recognize but who clearly held significance for the young swordsman.

The Realm of Endless Reflections was proving to be a perfect battleground for testing illusion techniques, as Luo Yichen's opponent wove complex mirages that turned the familiar environment into a labyrinth of false memories and phantom identities.

But it was only a matter of time before Luo Yichen's Mirrorwater Sword Style would adapt and cut him down.

Wei Lin's battle unfolded in the Eternal Stone Garden, where the Dao of Immutable Foundation had shaped an entire world from living rock. Every inhabitant was a sentient boulder, cliff face, or crystalline formation, and Wei Lin had shocked his opponent by choosing a massive granite monolith as his vessel. His marketplace cultivation method was somehow allowing him to establish trade relationships with the rock-beings, exchanging element energy for their inherent stability and defensive properties.

Each battle told a story of growth, adaptation, and the cultivation of character under pressure.

But it was a particular screen showing the Realm of the Chosen that held most of Yuan's attention.

Unlike the other inner worlds, this one felt different through the viewing arrays. The spiritual atmosphere was thick with conviction and delusion, every inhabitant radiating the kind of certainty that came from believing they were the center of some greater narrative. It was a realm where the Dao of Belief had run completely unchecked, creating a population of individuals who couldn't conceive of their own insignificance.

"Fascinating environment for a battle," Elder Wan observed, following Yuan's gaze. "Though I wonder how our disciples will adapt to fighting in a world where reality bends to conviction rather than natural law."

Yuan nodded absently, though his attention was focused on something the other elders couldn't see. Through his Dao of Karma, he could perceive the spiritual threads connecting each participant to the cosmic order.

Most disciples showed the standard patterns: golden threads of positive actions mixed with darker strands representing mistakes and moral compromises, all flowing in the predictable configurations of young cultivators finding their way.

But Ke Yin's karmic signature was... unusual.

Even before entering the realm, the boy carried threads that seemed to originate from sources Yuan couldn't identify. There were connections stretching into spiritual dimensions that shouldn't exist, links to entities and places that defied his understanding of how karma typically functioned. It was as if Ke Yin existed partially outside the normal framework of cause and effect. This was all likely due to the boy’s identity as a world walker.

"The battles are concluding faster than expected," Elder Chen Yong observed, taking a sip from his wine bottle. "These participants are more decisive than previous years."

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"Or more desperate," Elder Zhao added with his characteristic pessimism. "The stakes are higher this year. Everyone seems to understand that advancement opportunities like this don't come often."

Yuan watched as several more screens flickered and went dark, indicating completed battles. The viewing arrays would automatically shift to display the returning spiritual manifestations as they merged back with their physical bodies in the arena below.

It was routine. Boring, even. Yuan had overseen hundreds of these tournaments over the centuries, watching the same patterns repeat: young cultivators pushing themselves to their limits, some succeeding brilliantly, others failing spectacularly, all of them believing their moment was unique in the history of cultivation.

Then Ke Yin's spiritual manifestation returned from the Realm of the Chosen.

Yuan felt the shift before he saw it. The world itself seemed to shiver, reality rippling like a stone dropped into still water. Every karmic thread in his perception blazed with sudden activity, but it was Ke Yin's pattern that made Yuan's breath catch in his throat.

The boy's karmic signature exploded.

Not gradually, not in the slow accumulation that marked normal spiritual growth, but in an instantaneous eruption of positive karma so massive it made Yuan's enhanced senses reel.

Yuan shot to his feet, his chair clattering backward as shock overrode his usual composed demeanor. The karmic display was unlike anything he'd witnessed in his thousands of years of cultivation. It was as if Ke Yin had somehow performed an act of such universal importance that the very cosmos was showering him with rewards.

"Sect Master?" Elder Wan's voice carried concern as he noticed Yuan's sudden movement. "Is something wrong?"

The other elders turned their attention from the viewing screens, their expressions shifting from mild curiosity to worry as they saw Yuan's wide-eyed stare fixed on Ke Yin's returning spiritual form.

"What is it?" Elder Meng asked, rising from his own seat. "What's happening?"

Yuan forced himself to sit back down, though his hands trembled slightly as he gripped the armrests of his chair. Around him, the other elders waited for an explanation, but how could he possibly describe what he'd just witnessed?

"Nothing," he said finally, his voice carefully controlled. "Just... a slight spiritual fluctuation. It's passed now."

The elders exchanged glances but didn't press the matter. Yuan's reputation for mysterious insights was well-established enough that they'd learned not to question his occasional odd reactions.

But Yuan barely noticed their concern. His attention was entirely focused on trying to understand what he'd just witnessed.

The amount of karma surrounding Ke Yin was like comparing the sun to a candle when measured against the other disciples. Hell, it was like comparing the sun to a candle when measured against most Life Realm cultivators. Yuan had seen ancient masters who'd spent millennia performing good deeds accumulate less karmic weight than what Ke Yin had just acquired in a single afternoon.

And the most bewildering part was that Yuan had no idea what could have caused it.

From what the monitoring formations had shown, Ke Yin had entered the Realm of the Chosen, selected a suitable vessel, and begun converting the local population away from their delusional belief system. Impressive work, certainly, and the kind of systematic approach that created positive karmic threads. But a simple philosophical revolution, even a successful one, wouldn't generate this level of cosmic significance.

The only actions that created karma on this scale were those that affected fundamental reality. Saving entire worlds from destruction. Preventing cosmic disasters. Acts that influenced the fate of millions of beings across multiple generations.

But nothing like that had happened in the Realm of the Chosen. Had it?

Yuan settled deeper into his chair, his expression thoughtful as he watched Ke Yin continue his apparently peaceful meditation. The young man showed no sign of having just performed some reality-altering feat of cosmic significance. He sat cross-legged on his cushion like any other disciple recovering from spiritual projection, his breathing steady and his spiritual signature calm.

Which only made the mystery more confounding.

Hours passed. Other battles concluded. The round drew toward its close as the final contestants returned from their respective inner worlds. Elder Wan announced a rest period before the start of the next round.

Through it all, Yuan found his attention repeatedly drawn back to Ke Yin.

The young man's karmic signature remained blindingly bright, those golden threads of cause and effect reaching out in directions that seemed to extend beyond the physical realm entirely.

Whatever he'd done in the Realm of the Chosen, its effects were still rippling outward through the fabric of reality itself. But Yuan was no closer to finding out what was going on.

The soft chime of a communication talisman interrupted his brooding. Yuan glanced down at the jade slip that had appeared in his palm, noting the urgent pulsing that indicated a high-priority message from a Life Realm elder.

The message was brief and troubling: "Temporal anomalies detected in subsidiary realm. Require immediate consultation."