Chapter 68 – Fighting against kaelun
The platform shimmered faintly beneath Jin's feet as he stood across from Kaelun, the fifth-ranked contender on the leaderboard. A late-stage Adept Realm cultivator, Kaelun carried with him the air of one who had already been through many brutal battles and emerged victorious. His wind and darkness aura fluctuated with quiet intensity, like a storm waiting to be unleashed at the faintest provocation.
Jin rolled his shoulders once and took a long breath. The pressure on the stage was intense, but his mind remained calm. This was inevitable. If he wanted to win, he'd have to cut down monsters like Kaelun. Gorr's presence flickered at the edge of his consciousness, silent but attentive.
The arena had quieted. Some battles had already concluded. Spectators—other cultivators who had finished their matches—stood in observation platforms around the tower's walls. Jin noticed the sharp gazes directed at him. A few pitied him, some admired his bravery, but most simply waited, eager to witness whether the rising anomaly would be crushed by one of the titans.
Kaelun's gaze was sharp. "You should've surrendered."
Jin cracked his neck. "Wouldn't be fun."
The moment the chime rang, Kaelun vanished, becoming a blur of silver wind and darkness. He reappeared behind Jin, already slashing with a curved wind blade.
Jin ducked, parried the strike with a burst of condensed earth essence on his palm, and retaliated with a swift punch imbued with fire.
Kaelun twisted mid-air, shadows swallowing his form as he emerged several meters away, barely phased. "Tch. Fast reflexes."
Jin smirked, drawing a rune with his finger mid-air. "You haven't seen fast yet."
The rune glowed, then burst into a trap formation beneath Kaelun's feet—spikes of hardened ice erupted, aiming to impale. But the darkness surrounding Kaelun exploded, a vortex of shadow consuming the ice, leaving only mist behind.
Jin wasted no time. He tapped the ground, activating a layered array he had planted moments earlier. The ground shimmered. Gravity surged. Kaelun was pulled down with crushing force.
But the wind howled.
With a roar, Kaelun used his wind essence to slice through the gravity field, launching himself upward. His eyes glowed. Darkness coated his arms, forming twin scythes of shadow. He descended like a reaper.
Jin responded swiftly—summoning Gorr.
The beast materialized in a swirl of spatial distortion, claws glowing, intercepting Kaelun mid-air. Their clash rippled through the platform, shattering tiles.
Jin's hands blurred as he drew five runes in rapid succession. A formation of rotating barriers appeared around Kaelun—light, earth, wind, ice, and fire—each triggering in sequence to trap him in a kaleidoscope of elements.
Kaelun snarled. His darkness surged like an ocean, devouring the barriers layer by layer. Wind surged outward, blowing back Jin and Gorr. He was getting serious.
Jin's expression turned grave.
This was getting dangerous.
Kaelun's speed increased. His strikes became unpredictable, carried by twisting winds and cloaked in shadow. Gorr was forced to teleport continuously, shielding Jin from critical strikes.
Despite his best efforts, Jin was gradually being pushed back. His rune traps were getting disrupted too quickly. Kaelun's elemental control was refined and devastating.
Jin grit his teeth. "Fine…"
He lifted his palm, and an unstable, pulsing orb formed above it—swirling with four elements: fire, wind, ice, and earth.
Kaelun paused, sensing the volatility of it. "What is that…?"
Jin didn't answer. He flung the orb forward.
The moment it left his hand, the stage warped. An explosion of conflicting elements detonated at the center of the platform—fire blazed, wind screamed, ice cracked, and earth quaked. Kaelun tried to flee but was caught in the storm, sent flying back as multiple wounds opened across his body.
The battle paused, the air thick with tension.
Jin, panting, watched the dust settle. Kaelun emerged slowly, bleeding, a wild look in his eyes.
Everyone watching from above was silent. They couldn't see the four fusion orb, but they knew that Whatever skill Jin could use that created such an explosion must be powerful.
No one had expected Jin to push someone like Kaelun this far.
And the fight… wasn't over yet.