The next hour blurred past in a parade of arrivals.

WHUMP. Two more Imperial Academy students emerged from their portal, brown-haired Silas greeting them with a nod. Imperial now had three qualified.

WHUMP. WHUMP. Two Empyrean Celestial students arrived in quick succession—silver and white uniforms pristine despite the horrid environment. The crowd erupted. Empyrean Celestial was now complete with five members qualified, their position cemented at first place.

WHUMP. WHUMP. WHUMP. Three more Astral Zenith students walked out, leaving only their vice captain and two others still on the planet.

WHUMP. WHUMP. Two elves from Sylvan Star Academy emerged—elegant features, forest green uniforms slightly torn but intact. The elf-exclusive academy had two qualified.

WHUMP. WHUMP. Two more Neon Abyss students stepped through, their dark auras making nearby spectators shift uncomfortably. Four total now.

WHUMP. WHUMP. Two monks from Axis Mundi, dressed in simple robes that somehow remained immaculate. Their expressions were serene, unreadable.

WHUMP. One student from Therion War College—their vice captain, a massive figure with scars covering every visible inch of skin.

WHUMP. One from Aether Institute, stumbling slightly, clearly exhausted.

WHUMP. WHUMP. Two vampires from Blood Moon Academy, pale skin gleaming under the arena lights, crimson eyes scanning the crowd with predatory interest.

Then—

WHUMP. WHUMP.

Two golden blurs emerged from the Heaven’s Gate portal. Sage and Rue walked out side by side, tails swishing, clothes dusty but otherwise unmarked.

The Heaven’s Gate staging area erupted in cheers.

At almost the same time, more arrivals—

WHUMP. A Scorched Earth student, looking battered but alive.

WHUMP. WHUMP. Two from Primal Heart Academy, beast-kin features prominent.

WHUMP. An Iron Nexus student.

WHUMP. One final Neon Abyss student stepped through, and the crowd’s volume doubled.

"NEON ABYSS ACADEMY IS NOW COMPLETE WITH FIVE MEMBERS QUALIFIED! They take SECOND PLACE from Empyrean Celestial—wait, no, Empyreal still holds first with five as well, but Neon Abyss has more total arrivals! The rankings are shifting, ladies and gentlemen!"

Kael watched the leaderboard update on his bracelet:

ROUND 1 RANKINGS

1st: Empyrean Celestial — 5/5 qualified

2nd: Neon Abyss — 5/5 qualified

3rd: Heaven’s Gate — 4/5 qualified

4th: Astral Zenith — 4/5 qualified

5th: Imperial Academy — 3/5 qualified

...and so on

Less than an hour remained.

Then—

WHUMP.

Mason Croft walked out of the Heaven’s Gate portal.

His clothes were torn. His skin was covered in dust and dried blood. But he was standing—barely—and the crowd recognized him immediately.

"MASON CROFT ARRIVES! HEAVEN’S GATE ACADEMY IS NOW COMPLETE WITH FIVE MEMBERS QUALIFIED! They take THIRD POSITION!"

Thirty minutes earlier.

The gravity zone was a hellscape.

Three times standard gravity pressed down from above, combined with terrain that shifted and buckled as if the planet itself was trying to shake off intruders. Lightning struck the ground in constant barrages—CRACK, BOOM, CRACK—and the wind screamed across the broken landscape with enough force to strip flesh from bone.

Mason Croft stood in the middle of it all and yawned.

The War God bloodline was a beautiful thing.

Where other cultivators struggled against the triple gravity, Mason’s body simply adapted. His cellular structure reinforced itself in real-time, muscle fibers densifying, bone composition shifting to handle the increased load. The more pressure he faced, the stronger he became. It wasn’t just endurance—it was evolution.

He’d been walking through the zone for an hour and twenty minutes when they appeared.

Four students from Therion War College.

Mason recognized the sigil—a crossed sword and shield over a crimson background. The military academy. The one that produced soldiers, not scholars.

And at their head—

A mountain of a man. Two meters tall, skin like weathered leather, tusks jutting from his lower jaw. An elephant beast-kin, his sheer mass making the ground tremble with each step. A halo flickered behind him—the spectral image of a massive elephant, trumpeting silently.

Their captain. Royal Elephant beast clan. Mana Heart Rank 2 Mid.

Behind him: a muscular human with fire manipulation crackling around his fists—MH Rank 2 Early. And two others at MH Rank 1.

Mason cracked his neck.

CRACK.

He reached into his storage ring and pulled out his weapon—a Tier 1 giant hammer that probably weighed more than two of the reinforcement users combined. The hammer’s head was the size of a car engine, forged from some metal that glowed faintly with stored solar energy.

The Therion War College captain’s eyes narrowed, taking in Mason’s weapon, his posture, his complete lack of concern.

"Let’s end this quickly." The captain’s voice was deep, rumbling, like boulders grinding together. "Gareth. Grendel. Buff everyone."

The two MH Rank 1 students moved immediately. One placed his hand on the captain’s back—golden light spreading across the elephant-kin’s body, reinforcing his already monstrous physical stats. The other did the same to the fire user, then to himself.

Mason smirked.

"Four on one." He spun the hammer lazily, the massive weapon moving like it weighed nothing. "You Therion War College boys like to gang up, huh? What’s the matter—scared to fight alone?"

The captain—Bakari ignored the taunt. His elephant halo blazed brighter.

"Idol’s Trumpet."

ROOOAAAAR.

A soul-shaking roar erupted from the spectral elephant behind him—a sound that existed partially in physical space and partially in the mental realm. It hit Mason like a shockwave, trying to shatter his consciousness and break his focus.

Mason’s smirk widened.

He reached into his storage ring again and pulled out a small bell—bronze, ancient-looking, covered in runes that glowed with warm golden light.

"Sky Burning Imperial Bell."

DING.

A single chime. Clear. Pure. Carrying harmonics that shouldn’t have been possible from such a small instrument. The sound wave met the elephant’s roar head-on—

BOOM.

—and shattered it. The soul-shaking roar fragmented into harmless noise, dissipated into nothing, left Bakari’s eyes wide with disbelief.

Bakari’s expression darkened. "All of you. Attack together. Now."

They moved as a unit. Bakari flanked left, fire-user flanked right, the two reinforcement users hung back to provide support and emergency buffs.

A solar energy exploded outward from Mason’s body—blinding, intense, a miniature sun erupting from his center.

WHOOOOSH.

The shockwave caught all four attackers, pushing them backward. Bakari’s feet carved trenches in the earth. The fire-user stumbled. The reinforcement users scrambled to maintain their footing.

Mason didn’t give them time to recover.

He was already moving—hammer raised, solar energy blazing along the weapon’s surface, targeting the weakest link.

WHUMP.

The nearest reinforcement user didn’t even have time to scream. Mason’s hammer caught him in the chest, solar energy detonating on impact, sending the man flying like a rag doll. He crashed into a boulder fifty meters away and didn’t get up.

CRASH.

"One down, three more to go."

Bakari reached Mason in three steps—massive fist cocked back, elephant halo blazing, reinforced muscles bulging. The punch came fast, fast enough that most MH Rank 2 cultivators would have struggled to react.

Mason raised both hands.

BOOM.

The impact sent cracks spider-webbing through the ground beneath Mason’s feet, but he held. His arms burned from the force, but he held.

War God bloodline versus Royal Elephant bloodline—a clash of physical titans.

What followed was brutal.

THUD. CRACK. WHUMP. BOOM.

Fist met palm. Hammer swung toward flesh. Bodies collided with enough force to create craters. The fire user joined the fray—flames licking at Mason’s sides, scorching his clothes, leaving burns that healed almost as fast as they formed.

Three on one but Mason had the advantage.

His bloodline wasn’t just about strength—it was about adaptation. Every hit he took, his body learned from it. Every wound he received, his cellular structure adjusted to prevent similar damage. He was getting stronger as the fight progressed, while his opponents were getting weaker.

Bakari noticed. His frown deepened.

"Vajra Indestructible Body."

The elephant-kin’s skin changed. It darkened, hardened, took on a metallic luster that made him look like a living statue. The technique was legendary among the Divine Elephant race—near-invulnerable defense that could tank attacks from cultivators entire realms above the user.

Mason’s next punch connected with Bakari’s chest.

CLANG.

It was like hitting a wall of iron. The impact reverberated up Mason’s arm, and for the first time, he felt pain. His knuckles split. Blood sprayed.

And Bakari grinned.

"Now you’re in trouble."

The dynamic shifted. Bakari stopped dodging, stopped blocking—started tanking. Mason’s hammer strikes connected, each one producing a sound like ringing metal, but the elephant-kin just absorbed them and counterattacked.

THUD. CRACK. WHUMP.

A punch caught Mason in the ribs. Pain flared. Mason staggered backward.

THUD.

Another punch. This one to the face. Mason’s head snapped sideways, blood flying from a split lip.

The fire user and remaining reinforcement user flanked him, pressing the advantage. Flames scorched his back. A reinforced kick caught his knee.

Mason was being pushed back.

Bakari’s fist slammed into Mason’s solar plexus.

CRACK.

Mason flew backward, tumbling across the broken terrain, leaving a furrow in the earth. He stopped ten meters away, coughing blood, one hand pressed against his injured ribs.

The three Therion War College students advanced, confident now. Bakari’s metallic skin gleamed. The fire user’s flames burned brighter. The reinforcement user was buffing everyone again.

Mason coughed. Wiped blood from his chin.

Looked at the blood on his hand.

And smiled.

"You know what’s great about the War God bloodline?" He straightened slowly, rolling his shoulders. "It’s not just the strength. It’s not just the adaptation."

He raised his blood-covered hand.

"It’s the blood itself."

"Solar Ignition."

The blood on his palm ignited.

Not like normal fire—like a miniature sun. Solar energy erupted from the droplets, expanding outward in a blinding flash of light and heat.

WHOOOOSH.

The reinforcement user and fire user were caught point-blank. The explosion sent them flying—SCREAM, SCREAM—their clothes burning, their skin blistering, their reinforcements shattered by the sheer intensity of the attack. They crashed to the ground thirty meters away, unconscious or close to it.

Bakari managed to raise his arms, Vajra Indestructible Body absorbing most of the blast. But even he was pushed backward—THUD—his feet carving trenches in the earth as the solar explosion washed over him.

Smoke cleared.

Two Therion War College students lay motionless. Only Bakari remained standing, his metallic skin scorched but intact, his eyes burning with fury.

Mason spat blood onto the ground.

"Bloodlust Empowerment."

A reddish aura erupted from Mason’s body—not solar gold, but deep crimson, the color of fresh blood. It wrapped around him like a second skin, and his eyes changed—brown to red, pupil to slit, something predatory awakening in his gaze.

His wounds started healing. Not the gradual regeneration of his normal bloodline—rapid healing, flesh knitting together in real-time, the bloodlust aura feeding on combat to fuel his recovery.

But Mason’s expression wasn’t triumphant.

It was strained.

This ability... I can’t use it for long. If I lose myself—

He pushed the thought down.

Only Bakari remained. Only one opponent left.

Mason raised his hammer, solar energy and bloodlust aura mixing into something dangerous.

"Let’s finish this."