The literature hall shimmered as if it breathed—vast, timeless, constructed not of stone but of thought. Shelves suspended in air without gravity held books whose pages fluttered though there was no wind. Words flowed like stardust across the walls, rearranging themselves silently. Ink dripped from unseen points in the air, forming symbols before dispersing again.

This was not a hall of learning.

This was a domain of intellect.

Shaurya took a single step forward, standing at the exact center of a circular sigil that glowed faintly like moonlit water. His posture was calm, not overly proud, not meek—balanced, centered, unforced. Like someone ready not to win… but simply be right.

Across from him stood the Guardian Spirit — the ancient, spectral scholar — robes woven from scripture fragments, beard flowing like pale fog, eyes deep with centuries of witnessed triumphs and failures. The faint aura of authority surrounding him didn't feel heavy—it felt inevitable.

Behind Shaurya, the entire Sanatan Flame Sect stood silent, breathing lightly, every gaze fixed on him—not with dependence, but with conviction.

Behind the Guardian, the White Tiger Kingdom elites knelt desperately beside their gasping, trembling prince, still bound by chains of glowing script. Their arrogance had shattered… replaced by terror.

The Guardian lifted his right hand.

The shifting hall froze.

Words stopped mid–air.

Even dust halted mid-fall, suspended like stars.

His voice resonated like temple bells.

> "Riddle One — Speak if you understand. Be silent if you do not."

Three golden spheres rose above him and spun slowly, forming constellations.

The first sphere brightened.

> "I devour mountains,

yet leave no bite.

I swallow empires,

but never fight.

I erase all kings,

and equal the poor.

What am I?"

The words glowed into existence, suspended before Shaurya like a floating scripture:

Time Limit: 15 breaths

Even the White Tiger guards dared not speak.

The riddle pulsed.

Lin Shu whispered so softly only herself could hear,

> "Mountains… empires… kings…"

Yan Chen's brows knit, trying not to think aloud.

But Shaurya remained still — as if he had heard something simple, not profound.

He lowered his gaze slightly, as if acknowledging the obvious.

His answer was calm, spoken without theatrics.

"Time."

The hall reacted instantly.

All books rustled at once like applause restrained by discipline.

The first sphere dissolved into golden dust.

The Guardian nodded—not shocked, but satisfied.

> "Correct."

But his eyes sharpened.

He raised his left hand.

The second sphere illuminated—its glow colder, darker, heavier.

> "Riddle Two — spoken only by the perceptive."

Words carved themselves midair, but this time… not as a single verse.

Fragments scattered throughout the hall:

> I can be held, but not touched.

I can break, without sound.

I can drown, without water.

And when lost, kingdoms fall.

A faint whisper followed:

> "What am I?"

The hall dimmed.

This time, the time limit was not written.

It simply was.

The disciples exchanged uneasy looks.

Xiao Rui's lips parted, then shut.

Su Quan's hands tightened.

Even Elder Wan, who usually understood layered meanings, stared hard, weighing interpretations.

But Shaurya did not rush.

He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly — not to think faster, but to think cleaner.

He replayed the lines internally, not as metaphor, but as function.

Held, not touched.

Breaks, without sound.

Drowns, without water.

When lost, kingdoms fall.

He opened his eyes.

"This answer," he said quietly, "is as old as ambition."

His voice didn't tremble.

"Trust."

A sudden tremor rippled through the hall.

Books slammed shut simultaneously.

Floating ink reversed direction.

A distant echo — like thunder beneath buried temples — rolled across the chamber.

The Guardian Spirit finally showed something new:

A smile.

> "Correct."

Shaurya bowed his head slightly — not as humility, but as acknowledgment of worthy riddles.

The final sphere rose — larger, brighter, heavier.

The Guardian extended his hand, tone deepening.

This time, he gave no poetic verse.

He spoke it slowly — as if testing not intellect, but essence.

> "Riddle Three — the final gate."

The hall darkened completely.

Only Shaurya and the Guardian were illuminated.

Then the riddle manifested — not in words, but in whispers.

Children laughing.

Battle cries.

Wedding bells.

Funeral chants.

Old prayers.

Regretful sighs.

The hall became layered with echoes: of living, dying, loving, fearing, trying, failing.

And then the final whisper formed:

> "What belongs to every person…

yet dies the moment it is spoken?"

Silence stretched.

Not confusion.

Reverence.

Even those who knew the answer were afraid to say it, because speaking it would violate the riddle itself.

Shaurya looked downward only once — then lifted his gaze with the faintest curve of amusement.

His voice was almost gentle.

"A secret."

The hall exploded with radiant golden light, cascading like thousands of unfurling scrolls.

All three spheres vanished in perfect harmony.

The Guardian Spirit raised both arms.

> "All three riddles answered flawlessly.

The First Test is complete."

Shaurya simply exhaled — not from pressure, but from finished effort.

Behind him, the Sanatan Flame Sect let out relieved smiles, pride gleaming silently.

But the moment of triumph shattered — violently.

The Fifth Prince tore against his binding chains, eyes bloodshot, desperation twisting into madness.

"ENOUGH! I WON'T ACCEPT THIS — KILL HIM! KILL SHAURYA NOW!"

His guards obeyed instantly, leaping to attack Shaurya with swords drawn and killing intent spilling into the air.

Shaurya's hand moved — but he never swung.

Because—

He didn't need to.

The Guardian Spirit did.

His eyes ignited with wrath, no longer the calm scholar — but the executioner of wisdom.

His voice shook the very hall:

> "To raise weapons in the Domain of Knowledge is heresy!"

He thrust his palm outward.

The air itself became a blade.

A colossal wave of spiritual force erupted — silent, invisible, unstoppable.

It didn't push.

It didn't blast.

It ended.

The elite guards didn't scream.

They simply ceased.

Their bodies dissolved into ash mid-motion, dropping to the floor as grey dust like pages burnt in sacred fire.

Only Bai Zhentian remained — trembling, frozen, hollowed.

His voice broke:

"W-Wait, no… I–I am a prince… My kingdom—my father—my–my–"

The Guardian didn't let him finish.

> "In this hall, lineage is lower than dust."

He raised one finger.

A small spark of golden fire ignited at its tip — no larger than a tear drop.

It floated toward the prince… slowly.

Bai Zhentian screamed like a dying animal.

"NOOOO—!! HELP MEE—!!"

The spark touched his chest.

He disintegrated like rotting parchment exposed to holy flame.

Ash scattered where royalty once stood.

Nothing remained.

No body.

No bone.

No legacy.

Only silence.

Sanatan Flame Sect members stared, shocked not by brutality — but by effortless authority.

Even Shaurya's eyes narrowed slightly.

Not in fear.

In measurement.

What realm wields such execution without fluctuation of aura or breath?

His System manifested silently as text — for him alone.

> [System — Answering Host's Unspoken Query]

Guardian Spirit = Former Nirvana Realm Stage-8 Scholar-Cultivator

Direct Disciple of: The Literature Emperor

Current State: Half-Soul Consciousness, Bound to Shadow Castle Trial

Shaurya felt his chest tighten — not out of fear, but profound respect.

So this is what a peak scholar-cultivator can become…

The Guardian lowered his hand, composure fully restored.

The execution had not slowed his breath.

He addressed Shaurya again — solemn, without theatrics.

> "You have completed the First Test.

Now, the Second Test begins — not of answers…

but of understanding."

The hall of drifting scripture fell still — as if every letter, every fragment of ink, every suspended book turned its unseen gaze toward the center of the trial space.

Then—

A faint vibration rippled beneath Shaurya's feet, so subtle that only someone as perceptive as him noticed it. The floor — once smooth golden calligraphy — began to deform, lines bending as if responding to an ancient command whispered across centuries.

A low chung—chung—chung resonance followed, like temple bells struck under deep water.

From the center of the hall, a small circular ripple of light emerged — no larger than a coin — rotating with elegant slowness. Then it expanded, widening with perfect symmetry, growing into a glowing ring more than six feet across.

Inside that ring, fragments of stone dust materialized from thin air, not falling, but rising — swirling upward like reverse snowfall.

Each grain glittered with muted silver, as though carved from forgotten mountain hearts.

The dust spiraled faster, merging, fusing, compressing — becoming stone.

Not ordinary stone.

A deep-gray, ink-veined stone, polished to moonlit smoothness but heavy with ancient density, like it had borne the weight of wisdom longer than kingdoms had existed.

With a sound like a heartbeat sealing a fate —

THUM—

the round table finished forming, its surface engraved with micro-thin lines of calligraphy that shifted like living ink, rearranging themselves into unreadable scripture that pulsed like a mind of its own.

Immediately after, the floor pulsed again.

Two chairs materialized — not abruptly, but in gradual, royal formation:

First, four curved lines of light appeared, sketching their outline in midair.

Then wooden texture bloomed along the lines, spreading like vines, forming armrests and a tall backrest carved with delicate clouds and constellations.

Their material was neither wood nor jade nor metal — an ancient hybrid that absorbed all reflected light, making them seem forged from silence itself.

They did not drop onto the floor — they glided downward, taking their position with the dignity of thrones.

Lastly, the center of the stone table opened like an eyelid, a thin slit forming in its middle without a crack or sound.

From that slit, white and black motes floated upward and assembled themselves into a flat board — one square at a time, arranged with immaculate alignment.

No hand touched it.

No breath disturbed it.

It completed itself.

Every tile shone faintly with its own micro–constellation, as though each square represented a single recorded possibility.

Then came the pieces.

Instead of appearing at once, they manifested in a sequence — like a ritual:

1. A soft ringing chime struck from nowhere.

2. A spark of white light appeared, folded itself, and formed a single white pawn.

3. Then a black mote condensed into a black pawn.

This alternation continued —

White. Black. White. Black.

Each gently lowered onto its designated square with perfect grace, no tilt, no sound.

The knights materialized with faint tiger–and–dragon shadows.

The bishops shimmered like incense smoke forming solid shape.

The rooks were forged like miniature fortresses.

The queens and kings emerged last — not from sparks, but from deep silence, as though they were already present and simply chose to be seen.

When the final piece settled, a silent wind swept the hall, making golden pages flutter all around.

The board glowed once.

Full. Ready. Alive.

And only then did the Guardian speak:

> "Sit, Shaurya.

The game is not played with hands —

but with the mind that commands them."

The Guardian placed one hand on the board.

> "This is not a match of victory…

but of rightness.

Let us begin."

As Shaurya placed his first chess piece, Lin Shu whispered with soft pride:

> "He won without fighting… and now he will fight using only words."

The disciples behind her smiled.

Not because they believed in him.

Because they never doubted him.

To Be Continued…

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