Chapter 4: The First Step on a New Path

The announcement of his match against Liu Feng sent ripples through the gathered disciples. Jin Tian ignored the whispers, the stares, the barely concealed glee on Chen Wei's face. Three hours. He had three hours to prepare for a man who had killed him in his past life.

He turned and walked away before anyone could speak to him. Let them think him arrogant. Let them think him scared. Their assumptions were weapons he could use later.

The training grounds were empty. Everyone else had gathered at the tournament platform to watch the inner division matches. Good. Jin Tian needed solitude.

He found a shadowed corner near the outer disciple dormitories, where the old training dummies stood weathered and cracked. He had trained here as a boy in his first life, swinging a wooden sword until his hands bled. The familiarity steadied him.

Liu Feng.

The name burned in his mind. He remembered the man's face—sharp features, cold eyes, a scar running from his left eyebrow to his cheekbone. In his first life, Liu Feng had been a rising star, known for his mastery of the Blazing Sun Technique, a fire-aspected cultivation method that turned his qi into molten fury.

But Jin Tian had never fought him seriously. They had been allies, not enemies. Brothers-in-arms who had shared meals and strategies and victories.

Until the betrayal.

He closed his eyes and let the memories surface. The day of his death. The ambush in the Celestial Peak. Seven figures surrounding him, their blades drawn, their faces twisted with something he had mistaken for loyalty.

Liu Feng had been the last to strike. He had watched the others fall first, watched Jin Tian cut down three of his attackers before exhaustion and poison took their toll. Then, when Jin Tian could barely raise his sword, Liu Feng had stepped forward.

"Why?" Jin Tian had asked, blood filling his mouth.

Liu Feng had not answered. He had simply driven his sword through Jin Tian's heart.

Jin Tian opened his eyes. The memory still hurt, but the pain was a tool now. A reminder.

He drew his sword. The blade caught the afternoon light, gleaming with a faint edge of frost. His Frost Lotus technique was his greatest weapon—a counter to fire-aspected cultivation. In his first life, he had developed it specifically to counter the Blazing Sun Technique.

But that development had come years from now. He was twelve years old, with the qi reserves of an outer disciple and the physical limitations of a child's body. His techniques were shadows of what they would become.

He needed a different approach.

*Think*, he told himself. *You have the knowledge of a Sword God. Use it.*

Liu Feng's fighting style was aggressive, overwhelming. He would open with a burst of fire qi, forcing his opponent onto the defensive, then press the attack until they broke. His weakness was stamina—the Blazing Sun Technique consumed qi rapidly, and if the fight extended beyond ten minutes, his power would wane.

But Jin Tian couldn't last ten minutes against a fully powered inner disciple. Not at his current cultivation level.

He needed to end the fight quickly.

He began to move through the forms, practicing the Frost Lotus technique at a fraction of its full power. Each strike was precise, economical, conserving qi while maintaining lethality. He adjusted the angles, shortened the ranges, modified the footwork to account for his smaller frame.

Three hours passed like minutes.

A bell tolled from the tournament platform, signaling the start of his match. Jin Tian sheathed his sword and walked toward the arena.

The crowd parted as he approached. Whispers followed him like shadows.

"Is he really going to fight Liu Feng?"

"He'll be dead in minutes."

"Chen Wei must be laughing."

Jin Tian ignored them all. He stepped onto the platform and faced his opponent.

Liu Feng was already there.

The inner disciple stood at the center of the arena, arms crossed, a lazy smile on his face. He was tall for his age—fifteen, Jin Tian remembered—with broad shoulders and the confident stance of someone who had never known defeat. His qi burned around him like a heat haze, distorting the air.

"Outer Disciple Jin Tian," Liu Feng said, his voice carrying across the silent crowd. "I've heard interesting things about you."

"Nothing good, I'm sure."

"On the contrary." Liu Feng's smile widened. "They say you're clever. Bold. That you have a talent for making powerful enemies."

Jin Tian met his gaze. "Some enemies are worth making."

The smile faded. Liu Feng's eyes hardened. "Are you sure I'm one of them?"

"I guess we'll find out."

Elder Zhou stepped between them, raising a hand. "This match will follow standard tournament rules. No lethal strikes. Surrender or incapacitation signals victory. Begin."

The elder stepped back.

Liu Feng moved first.

He exploded forward, a trail of fire following his blade. The heat was intense, suffocating, pressing against Jin Tian's skin like a physical weight. In his first life, he would have met this attack head-on, matching fire with frost, testing his opponent's strength.

Not this time.

Jin Tian stepped sideways. Not back, not forward—sideways. He moved at an angle that disrupted Liu Feng's attack trajectory, forcing the older boy to adjust mid-strike. The blade passed inches from his face, close enough to singe his hair.

Liu Feng recovered quickly, spinning into a follow-up strike. Jin Tian ducked under it, his sword sweeping low, aiming for Liu Feng's knee. The older boy jumped the strike, his fire qi flaring as he launched himself into the air.

"Running already?" Liu Feng called down, launching a wave of flame.

Jin Tian rolled, feeling the heat scorch the ground where he had stood. "Learning," he corrected.

He was reading Liu Feng's patterns. The way he shifted his weight before each strike. The slight hesitation in his left stance—a weakness from an old injury, probably. The tendency to overcommit on his third attack, leaving his right side exposed for half a heartbeat.

These were details Jin Tian had never noticed in his first life, because he had been too strong, too confident, too arrogant to study his opponent. He had relied on overwhelming power instead of precision.

Never again.

Liu Feng landed, his blade wreathed in flames. "You're faster than I expected."

"You're slower."

The taunt worked. Liu Feng's face flushed red—with anger or exertion, Jin Tian couldn't tell. He charged again, faster this time, his strikes coming in a furious barrage. Fire and steel blurred together, creating a wall of destruction.

Jin Tian retreated. He let the attacks drive him back, let Liu Feng believe he was winning. Every step was calculated. Every dodge was a measurement. He was drawing the older boy deeper into his rhythm, forcing him to burn through his qi.

"Stand still and fight!" Liu Feng roared, his strikes becoming sloppy.

Jin Tian saw the opening.

Liu Feng's left stance faltered as he overextended on a horizontal slash. The fire around his blade dimmed for a fraction of a second—the moment between qi expenditure and recovery.

Jin Tian struck.

His sword moved like water, flowing through the gap in Liu Feng's defense. Frost qi crystallized along the blade, forming a razor edge of ice. The strike was not powerful. It was not flashy. It was precise.

The tip of his sword touched Liu Feng's throat.

The arena went silent.

Liu Feng froze, his blade mid-swing, fire flickering uselessly around his hands. He looked down at the blade against his skin, then up at Jin Tian's face.

"How?" he whispered.

Jin Tian held his gaze. "You're predictable."

Elder Zhou's voice cut through the silence. "Match concluded. Victory to Outer Disciple Jin Tian."

The crowd erupted.

Jin Tian withdrew his sword and stepped back. He had won. He had defeated an inner disciple ranked seventh in the sect. But the victory felt hollow. He had not learned anything new. He had not discovered why Liu Feng had killed him.

"Wait."

Liu Feng's voice stopped him. The older boy had sheathed his sword, but his eyes were burning with something more dangerous than fire.

"That was not luck," Liu Feng said. "You knew my technique. You knew my patterns. You fought like you've faced me a hundred times before."

Jin Tian said nothing.

Liu Feng stepped closer, lowering his voice so only Jin Tian could hear. "There's a rumor among the inner disciples. They say you appeared three days ago, a nobody from the outer sect, and suddenly you're beating everyone. They say you know things you shouldn't."

"I know a lot of things."

"Do you know what happens to boys who know too much?" Liu Feng's smile returned, but it was cold now. "They disappear."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise." Liu Feng turned and walked away, his robes billowing behind him.

Jin Tian watched him go. The crowd was still cheering, still buzzing with excitement over his victory. But he felt no joy. Something was wrong. In his first life, Liu Feng had never spoken to him like this. They had been friends. Brothers.

What had changed?

He left the platform before anyone could congratulate him. He needed to think. He needed to understand.

As he walked through the empty training grounds, a voice called out from the shadows.

"Impressive victory."

Jin Tian turned, his hand on his sword. A figure emerged from the darkness—a woman in inner disciple robes, her face hidden beneath a hood.

"Who are you?"

She pushed back her hood, revealing sharp features and eyes that gleamed with an unsettling intelligence. "My name is Lin Mei. I'm an inner disciple, like your friend Liu Feng."

"He's not my friend."

"He will be." Lin Mei smiled. "Or he'll be your enemy. The line is thinner than you think."

"What do you want?"

"I want to offer you a warning." She stepped closer, and Jin Tian noticed the insignia on her robes—the symbol of the sect's intelligence division. "There are people in this sect who are watching you. People who are very interested in your... sudden rise."

"Should I be flattered?"

"You should be careful." Her smile faded. "The tournament continues tomorrow. Your next opponent will not be as easy as Liu Feng."

"Who is it?"

Lin Mei met his eyes. "Inner Disciple Feng Xian. Ranked fourth. The strongest fire cultivator in the sect."

Jin Tian's blood ran cold.

Feng Xian.

In his first life, Feng Xian had been his senior, his mentor, his closest ally. The man who had taught him the Frost Lotus technique. The man who had stood beside him through countless battles.

And the man who had been the first to betray him.

Feng Xian had not struck the killing blow. He had done something worse. He had given the order.

Jin Tian had never known why.

"Thank you for the warning," he said, his voice steady despite the storm inside him.

Lin Mei studied him for a long moment. "You're not surprised."

"Should I be?"

"Most people would be terrified of facing Feng Xian."

"I'm not most people." Jin Tian turned and walked away, leaving her standing in the shadows.

Tomorrow, he would face his mentor. Tomorrow, he might get answers.

But as he approached his dormitory, he noticed something. A figure standing in the doorway. Waiting.

Chen Wei.

The other boy stepped into the moonlight, his face a mask of cold fury. "I don't know how you did it," he said, "but you've made a powerful enemy tonight."

"Liu Feng?"

"No." Chen Wei's smile was sharp. "Me."

He threw something at Jin Tian's feet. A jade