The battlefield moves, shifts, and redefines itself.
The once-stable ground beneath De-Reece now tilts precariously, forcing him to adjust his footing as the floating stone platform continues to rise.
Competitors scramble to reclaim their balance, while others are already engaged in desperate battles—not just against each other, but against the newly risen stone warriors.
The constructs do not hesitate.
They do not slow.
They exist only to eliminate.
But while others are reacting, struggling to defend themselves, De-Reece is watching.
And calculating.
Because this is not his battle.
This is his opportunity.
He moves with measured precision, not rushing into unnecessary fights, not wasting his energy.
He doesn't need to.
Because the battlefield itself is fighting for him.
A competitor nearby, a young man clad in blue robes with a mid-tier blade technique, is too focused on fending off another cultivator to notice the stone warrior behind him.
De-Reece does not waste time.
With a single step, he shifts his weight—deliberate, controlled.
His foot presses down onto the unstable stone beneath him, subtly directing a crack along the platform's fractured surface.
The terrain tilts slightly—just enough to throw the blue-robed disciple off-balance.
A flicker of realization crosses the young man's face as he stumbles straight into the waiting grasp of the stone warrior.
The construct does not hesitate.
A single, crushing strike sends the competitor flying off the battlefield—eliminated instantly.
De-Reece never lifted a hand.
And yet, one less rival stands before him.
The battlefield erupts in chaos.
The stone warriors continue their relentless pursuit, eliminating those too slow to react. But De-Reece does not fight them.
Instead, he moves among them, letting their presence dictate the flow of battle.
He steps into the blind spots of competitors, shifting terrain beneath them, forcing them into the constructs' paths.
A well-placed movement here—a competitor falls.
A redirected attack there—another is struck down, taken out of the trial.
One by one, they begin to fall—not by his hands, but by his control of the battlefield itself.
While others exhaust themselves in unnecessary battles, De-Reece remains untouched.
Watching. Waiting. Controlling.
It takes time, but eventually, some of the stronger competitors realise what is happening.
He has not engaged in direct combat.
He has not struggled.
Yet, somehow, he is still here—untouched, unchallenged, unbothered.
Some begin to whisper.
Some begin to watch.
And some—begin to see him as a problem.
The battlefield continues to shift, competitors scrambling to survive the unpredictable terrain and the relentless stone warriors. Some have fallen through carelessness, others through exhaustion, but a select few—those who understand control, timing, and restraint—remain.
De-Reece stands among them, untouched. His strength is not in how he fights, but in how he dictates the battlefield itself.
But not everyone is blind to his methods.
A sudden, crushing boom echoes through the selection grounds.
A stone warrior—one of the relentless constructs enforcing the trial's brutality—explodes into dust.
Not from the shifting battlefield.
Not from another competitor's misstep.
But from a single strike.
De-Reece stills.
The other competitors turn, some stepping back instinctively as a lone figure strides forward from the chaos.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and wrapped in crimson-gold robes, the young man moves with complete authority. His eyes burn with confidence—not arrogance, but certainty.
A warrior who does not doubt his own strength.
The insignia of the Jin Spear Sect gleams on his chestplate.
The Jin Spear Sect disciple halts a few paces from De-Reece, his spear resting casually across his shoulders, but the ease of his stance is misleading.
He does not hesitate.
"Enough tricks." His voice carries over the battlefield, controlled yet firm. "If you are worth remembering, fight me."
The murmur among the remaining competitors grows. This is no casual challenge.
This is a demand for recognition.
The battlefield is still shifting, competitors still struggling, stone warriors still attacking—but for the strongest, none of that matters anymore.
De-Reece meets the challenger's gaze, unreadable.
He has avoided unnecessary battles, manipulated the environment to his advantage, eliminated others without exerting himself.
But some fights cannot be ignored.
And this one…
This one is necessary.
The battlefield remains in chaos.
The ground continues to shift, competitors battle desperately to survive, and the relentless stone warriors do not stop.
Yet, in the centre of it all, a single moment of stillness exists.
The Jin Spear Sect disciple stands firm, spear resting across his shoulders. His confidence is not baseless—he does not challenge those he believes beneath him.
And he is waiting.
For De-Reece to step forward.
For a fair, controlled fight.
But De-Reece has never played by someone else's rules.
Instead of answering immediately, De-Reece moves.
Not toward his opponent.
But along the battlefield itself.
His steps are light, calculated, barely more than gliding movements across the unstable terrain. The floating stone slabs beneath his feet shift, tremble, reposition.
De-Reece does not stop them.
He guides them.
With each movement, each subtle shift, he adjusts his environment—forcing the terrain to evolve in his favor.
And his opponent notices.
The Jin Spear Sect disciple's smirk fades slightly. His stance tightens.
He is no fool.
He knows.
This is not just a duel.
This is a battlefield.
De-Reece finally halts at the edge of a crumbling section of terrain, a lower platform teetering on collapse beneath the chaos.
His opponent tilts his head slightly, as if questioning the positioning.
De-Reece does not answer.
Instead, he moves—just a single, well-placed step.
The slab beneath him shifts slightly—barely noticeable.
But to the Jin Spear Sect disciple?
It is an immediate warning.
The entire section of battlefield beneath him tilts sharply.
The floating terrain does not collapse outright—not yet.
But it is unstable enough that any sudden, reckless movement could mean disaster.
And now?
His opponent is forced to fight carefully.
The Jin Spear Sect disciple's grip on his spear tightens.
He has already realised the flaw in his initial plan.
If he charges forward with full force? The terrain will betray him.
If he tries to move too aggressively? His footing will fail him.
The battlefield, once a neutral ground, is now an enemy.
And De-Reece is in control.
But a true warrior does not falter and knows his limits.
The Jin Spear Sect disciple does not retreat just yet.
Instead, he exhales slowly.
"I understand your prowess, let's meet later, ill admit with your speed I can't match you".
He retreats into the chaos.