The Fractured Dome slept beneath its false stars, a dome of glowing sapphire haze. All was still.
But Fang Xi's eyes were open.
He sat cross-legged near the crumbling wall of the ruined tower, a faint mist of Qi hovering around his chest. His fifth thread was now fully open — faint, barely stabilized, but real.
Five threads. One step closer to true power. One step further from insects like them.
Behind him, the others slept.
Or pretended to.
Liu Yimei lay beneath the shadows of a broken arch, her daggers still tucked into her belt, her body loose — too loose. Fang Xi didn't need Mirror Vein Insight to know she was faking sleep.
Jiang Ping snored faintly, his breath steady, a soft rune-glow pulsing beneath his sleeve — probably some homemade trap trigger. Clever boy. Probably dies first.
Tie Ba leaned against stone, snoring like thunder. That one was simple. Honest, even. But dumb. And dumb men broke easily.
Fang Xi exhaled and closed his eyes, letting the Qi flow settle.
And that was when the silence broke.
A snap — soft, like bone breaking.
Then a metallic screech.
Then chaos.
Something large smashed through the trees. Roots exploded upward, and cold mist burst from the ground like breath from a dragon's mouth.
From the mist, a metal serpent slithered out — six meters long, limbs like scythe-arms, and a core that glowed faintly with spiritual heat.
A domebeast.
Jiang Ping screamed first.
Tie Ba roared and rushed it blindly.
Liu Yimei rolled into motion, blades flashing silver in the haze.
And Fang Xi?
He stood. Calm.
So this is the real trial.
Kill. Survive. Betray. Watch. Everything they need to judge us is here.
The beast lunged — blades spinning — straight at Tie Ba.
Tie Ba caught the charge with brute force, slamming both hands into the serpent's jaw. Sparks flew. Metal bent.
But the serpent's tail lashed around, catching the brawler in the ribs and hurling him into a wall. Dust exploded.
Fang Xi didn't move.
Instead, he activated Mirror Vein Insight.
Qi threads flared — not just from the beast, but from his own allies.
The beast's core pulsed in erratic bursts. Too fast. Too hot. It was breaking down. Overclocked.
It's not meant to last. A timed test. Meant to push us, not kill us outright. But it still could…
Jiang Ping scrambled behind cover, pulling a trap scroll.
"Keep it distracted!" he yelled. "I need ten seconds!"
Liu Yimei obeyed — or pretended to.
She danced close, striking at the serpent's flank. Sparks flew.
Fang Xi moved without haste.
He circled the beast's edge, watching its tail coil, watching Yimei's feet shift.
She left her left side exposed — too often.
Fake. She's drawing it toward me.
And sure enough — the tail whipped straight for him.
Fang Xi ducked low, rolled beneath it, and slammed a concealed blade upward — straight into the tail's segmented joint.
It shrieked — metal teeth grinding.
"NOW, PING!" he barked.
Jiang Ping threw the scroll.
The trap ignited mid-air — a net of shimmering fire that wrapped around the serpent's core, binding its limbs for three seconds.
Three seconds.
Fang Xi used all of them.
He stepped forward — one, two, three — and drove his knife directly into the Qi-thread he'd seen earlier, a golden spiral that pulsed behind the beast's eye.
The blade sank deep.
The beast screamed, a high-pitched metallic shriek — and collapsed.
Silence returned.
Steam hissed from its wounds.
Fang Xi stepped back, flicked blood from the blade, and turned.
Tie Ba staggered up, bruised but alive.
Jiang Ping collapsed, laughing nervously.
Liu Yimei walked past Fang Xi, brushing his shoulder.
"Nice cut," she murmured. "Almost like you knew where to hit."
Fang Xi didn't reply.
She tried to get me killed.
Not directly. But close enough to learn my limits.
Nightfall – Uneasy Campfire
The fire crackled in the hollow of a broken pillar.
Jiang Ping had set up a detection circle, hands trembling.
"No more domebeasts tonight," he muttered. "Please."
Tie Ba drank from a cracked flask. "You fight well," he said to Fang Xi, nodding. "Not many use their head in a brawl."
Fang Xi gave a curt nod.
Liu Yimei remained silent, sharpening her blades.
Then, she spoke.
"Tomorrow, they'll force us to compete. There's no way they let all four of us pass."
No one argued.
Tie Ba looked up. "If it comes to that, I'll step down."
Everyone looked at him.
"You will?" Jiang Ping asked, surprised.
"I fight with fists," Tie Ba said. "You three… you think more. Maybe that's what the sect needs."
Liu Yimei raised an eyebrow.
So honorable it's painful, Fang Xi thought.
He watched Ba's Qi — it pulsed with steady sadness. The man meant it.
But…
He won't get the chance to step down.
Yimei will gut him the moment it benefits her.
Or Ping will panic and cause something fatal.
Fang Xi closed his eyes.
I need to be one step ahead.
Early Dawn – Blade in the Dark
Fang Xi woke with a jolt.
Something had changed.
No sounds. No birds. Even the mist was still.
He reached slowly for his blade beneath the mat.
And then — a whisper.
"You're awake."
Liu Yimei crouched beside him, eyes glowing faintly in the blue pre-dawn.
"I had a thought," she said.
Fang Xi said nothing.
She leaned closer. "We both know Ping is dead weight. Tie Ba's too noble to win. You and I? We could work together. Reach the Inner Court."
She smiled faintly. "And if not? At least die more interesting deaths."
Fang Xi studied her face.
Too calm. Too close.
She's weighing whether to kill me now or later.
He smiled faintly.
"I'll consider it."
She stood. "That's all I needed to hear."
And disappeared into the mist.
Fang Xi stood and breathed slowly.
His five threads burned softly beneath his skin.
He drew his Qi inward.
Time to reach six.
And in the still hour before light, he began to cultivate again — slowly, dangerously, silently.