Next Day Morning...

Tony stepped out of Lily’s room.

The academy stretched before him, vast and layered with snow mountains. Disciples moved in hurry for morning classes... but Tony walked forward, his eyes scanning every person, every aura, every interaction.

Because this time... he was searching for the Heaven blessed people.

"I must finish the quest as soon as possible. The Heaven rank movement technique is not a small matter." Tony muttered while going through log list containing people names.

The list was three pages long.

The list was prepared by the Clark family youth with compiled intelligence on every notable disciple across all four-peaks. Names, cultivation ranks, family backgrounds, known temperaments, current positions in the academy hierarchy.

Sunil and Fatty Lin had done thorough work.

Tony folded it, tucked it away, and untied the snow leopard from the pine tree.

"We will start from the Sword Peak," he said.

***

In the nine lotus academy, Sword peak is the most strict place with set rules and time schedules.

Disciples in training robes were moving in set groups, senior disciples conducting open-air form practice inside fighting rings, the training ground is chaotic with disciples sparring busily.

The entire peak was in serious cultivation environment.

People parted ways for Tony and the snow leopard moved slowly.

"Is that him again?!"

"What is he doing on Sword Peak?! He belongs to Healing Tower, he has no business here!!"

"He might be looking to cause trouble here now that the Healing Tower incident died down a little."

"My cousin was in that corridor yesterday. Said the sounds from that room were..."

"Don’t repeat it. Don’t repeat any of it." A lady disciple closed her ears. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Tony moved through the whispers without any care. Since childhood, he used to the habit of ignoring people’s whispers.

He is checking every disciples... but the system was silent without any response. Training ground... Nothing. Library hall— quiet, studious, several disciples who pressed themselves against the shelves as he walked aside... Nothing. Meditation chambers... Nothing. Lecture halls, gathering spots near the outer wall, the sparring terraces.

Nothing... Nothing... Nothing.

Two hours of systematic movement across Sword Peak and the system hadn’t produced a single flash.

Tony sat on the snow leopard in the upper courtyard of Sword Peak and looked at the list again. He had checked every name on it that corresponded to this peak and found exactly zero heaven blessed individuals among them.

Either the Clark family intelligence had missed someone, or the person he was looking for wasn’t here.

He folded the list. "Let’s go to Rising Sun Peak," he said.

The leopard turned around without being steered and started down the path.

***

Rising Sun Peak was a complete contrast to the sword peak.

Louder, for one thing. More populated— the paths between buildings were busy in a way Sword Peak hadn’t been, disciples moving in loose groups rather than precise formations, It was less disciplined and more chaotic.

Rising Sun Peak had a reputation for producing powerful fighters rather than refined technicians, and the training philosophy showed in the way its disciples carried themselves— bigger, louder, more comfortable taking up space.

They also parted for the snow leopard, but with more noise about it.

"WHAT?! is that a ghost leopard?!"

"That’s Tony Clark... the one from the Healing Tower incident!! Why is he here?!"

"Does he even have permission to be on this peak?! Someone check if he has permission!!"

Nobody actually went to check.

Tony moved from the gate inward, the system scanning steadily, the snow leopard padding along with an air of majestic indifference.

One hour in... Then two. The rising sun peak was larger than Sword Peak, the layout more spread out, and he covered it from one side— the outer training fields, the inner cultivation halls, the peak’s communal gathering spaces, the row of private practice rooms along the eastern cliff.

Nothing.

But suddenly Tony saw people rushing in one direction. More and more people continued to run in the same direction.

Tony didn’t understand where all these people were moving at this time.

He stopped a trio of disciples to ask. All three immediately said medical reasons and ran away.

Whenever Tony tried to stop someone, they instantly changed directions and escaped.

Finally, he spotted a servant girl in plain clothes... not a disciple, just academy staff... hurrying along the outer path with a bundle of towels under each arm. He steered the leopard sideways to intercept her.

She saw him, saw the leopard, and her feet stopped working for a moment.

"Relax," Tony said. "I just want to ask something."

The servant girl’s hands tightened on the towels. Her eyes went from Tony’s face to the leopard’s face and back. Neither option appeared to be settling her nerves particularly.

Tony reached into his storage ring and produced a stack of currency notes. She felt more tense after seeing large bundle of cash.

"What’s happening?!" he asked, pointing toward the direction everyone had been running. "I’ve been watching disciples sprint that way for the last ten minutes and nobody will stop long enough to explain why."

The servant girl looked at the money. Looked at Tony.

"The Death Trail, sir," she said, stabilising rapidly. "Between Max Pitt and Kevin Ten. On the fighting ground in the inner Arena."

"Death Trail?! What do you mean?!" Tony asked with a curious look.

"Sir, the disciple named Max Pitt forcefully violated a girl," she said, dropping her voice. "A servant girl. The inner disciple Kevin Ten was in love with her. They’d been close for a long time." She paused. "The academy investigated. But the Pitt family has connections here. Max was fined. That was all. Just a fine." Her jaw tightened slightly. "Kevin challenged him to the Death Trail after the ruling. Said he’d settle it personally since the academy wouldn’t."

"And the Death Trail means..."

"Loser faces death at the end," she said plainly. "Or at least that’s the official format. Both parties have to agree to it. The academy sanctions it and washes their hands." She shifted the towels under her arm.

"Max Pitt agreed— probably because he knows Kevin can’t win. Kevin is peak Master Warrior, but Max Pitt is Grandmaster early stage. The gap is significant." She looked briefly toward the dome building in the distance. "And the Pitt family lent Max an Earth Rank spear for the fight. Everyone wants to see what an Earth Rank weapon looks like in action."

"Earth Rank weapon?!" Tony said.

"Yes, sir. The Pitt family spent a fortune borrowing it just for this duel. People are saying Max could end it in one strike with that spear." She shook her head. "Kevin is going to die. Everyone knows it. That’s why everyone’s running— to watch."

Tony was quiet for a moment.

’A man going into a fight he can’t win, for a woman he loved. Only heaven blessed people will suffer such fate. That kind of character doesn’t stay ordinary. That kind of fire either burns out or becomes something extraordinary.’ Tony thought.

"Let’s go..." Tony urged the snow leopard as he sat tight.