The old man stood inside the dome like he had always been there.
No gate. No sound. No ripple.
Just a step that happened between lightning flashes.
The air around him felt different. It was not stronger qi. It was not pressure. It was a feeling of rules being calm in his presence, like the world knew him and did not dare to act wild.
Above the dome, the hunting lightning lines froze mid-motion.
They did not strike.
They waited.
The Court elders, who had been so loud a moment ago, went silent. Their faces looked tight, like they were forcing themselves not to show fear.
The Silent Bell envoy lowered his head slightly. His voice came out small. "Elder Tian Lei… The Unbound Thunder Sovereign."
The name moved through the dome like a cold wind.
Qi Shan Wei did not bow in panic.
He did not shout.
He simply looked at the elder, calm and steady, like a ruler facing another ruler.
The elder's eyes were deep and quiet. Storm-light sat inside them, but it did not leak out. It was controlled, like a sea held inside glass.
He looked at the Time-Debt Ledger floating above the Court platform.
He looked at the silver crack in the air—the wound Heavenpiercer had made in the bell's "hook."
Then he looked at Qi Shan Wei's sword.
"Interesting," Elder Tian Lei said.
Two words.
But the Court elders flinched like he had swung a hammer.
One elder tried to speak, voice stiff. "World Elder—this man is under Court judgment—"
Elder Tian Lei turned his eyes to that elder.
He did not raise his voice.
He did not release killing intent.
He simply looked.
The elder's mouth froze halfway open. Sweat formed on his temple. He could not finish his sentence.
The elder's tongue felt too heavy to move.
The world itself felt like it was telling him: Don't.
Elder Tian Lei returned his gaze to Qi Shan Wei.
"You cut a bellhook," the elder said. "That is not a normal thing."
Qi Shan Wei answered plainly. "It was trying to take what is mine."
The elder's eyes narrowed slightly. Not anger. Not dislike.
Interest.
The Silent Bell envoy swallowed hard. He stepped forward, hands still together, like prayer was the only safe shape for his body right now.
"World Elder," the envoy said, "this place is unstable. The bell has begun Selection early. The Heaven-Rending Thunder Descent is touching this realm."
Elder Tian Lei nodded once, slow. "I heard it."
Then he lifted one hand and pointed at the silver crack in the air.
"The reason it started early," he said, "is that wound."
The Court elders stiffened.
The Thousand Masks watchers outside the dome leaned forward, masks tilted like hungry birds.
Elder Tian Lei continued, voice calm. "A bellhook is a knot. A knot tied to time. When you cut it, time bleeds. Lightning smells time like blood."
He looked at the sky above the dome.
"Lightning hunts what breaks the flow," he said. "Not to punish. To correct."
The Silent Bell envoy's face went pale. "Then… the hunting lightning is not here for the Court."
Elder Tian Lei's eyes returned to Qi Shan Wei.
"It is here for him," the elder said simply.
The words hit the dome like a rock dropped into water.
A wave of whispers rose outside. People backed away, terrified and excited at the same time. Some looked like they were watching the start of a legend. Others looked like they were watching the start of an execution.
Qi Shan Wei did not change expression.
But his grip on Heavenpiercer became firm, like the sword was part of his bones.
Ling Xueyao swayed slightly beside him.
The pale moon from her Lunar Frost Domain was gone, but the pain stayed. Thin frost scars flickered across the air around her, like invisible cracks in glass. Every time she breathed, the frost lines trembled, as if her body could not fully decide which rules to obey.
Qi Shan Wei felt it.
He turned his head just enough to see her.
Her eyes were sharp, but her skin was too pale. The corners of her mouth were tight like she was biting back a sound.
The backlash was eating her quietly.
A Court elder noticed and smiled, cruel. "Her Domain scarred the battlefield. She is unstable. Proof that his consort threads are poison."
Ling Xueyao's eyes flashed.
The frost scars flared again—too fast.
Her chest tightened.
For one heartbeat, the air behind her tried to form that moon again, but it shook like a candle flame in a storm.
Qi Shan Wei moved his hand.
Not fast like panic.
Fast like command.
A thin prismatic circle formed around Ling Xueyao's wrist and then spread into a clean pattern that wrapped around her body like a soft cage made of light.
It did not squeeze.
It did not bind.
It held her shape.
A stability formation.
Simple in design.
But the intent inside it was heavy.
Vow-heavy.
Qi Shan Wei spoke in a low voice only she could fully feel. "Do not force it. I will hold you."
Ling Xueyao's throat moved.
She did not look away.
She nodded once, small and proud.
The frost scars slowed.
Not gone.
But slowed enough that she could stand straight again.
Elder Tian Lei watched that moment.
His eyes softened a little, like he approved of something.
Then the elder looked at Feng Qingyue.
Feng Qingyue stood with her chin lifted, but her palm was still burning with that feather-shaped debt mark. Her phoenix flame was steady, yet something inside it felt… thinner. Like one layer had been torn away.
Elder Tian Lei's gaze stayed on her palm for one breath.
"A phoenix paid," he said.
Feng Qingyue's voice was controlled. "I did."
The elder nodded. "Then you will live more carefully."
Feng Qingyue's eyes hardened. "I always do."
Qi Shan Wei did not add words.
But his presence beside her, steady and unmoving, was its own answer.
The Silent Bell envoy's bell suddenly rang once on its own.
Not loud.
Not a warning.
More like a nervous twitch.
The envoy's eyes lifted to Elder Tian Lei. "World Elder… there is something you must know."
Elder Tian Lei looked at him.
The envoy's mouth went dry, but he forced the words out. "The Silent Bell Monastery… we do not only guard time."
The Court elders leaned forward, listening.
The crowd outside the dome went quiet.
Even the Thousand Masks watchers seemed to freeze.
The envoy's voice lowered. "Some bells are not guardians."
He pointed at the Time-Debt Ledger.
"Some bells are seals," he said. "Seals for things too old to die."
The dome turned colder.
Elder Tian Lei's eyes narrowed.
"Continue," he said.
The envoy swallowed. "This ledger… this Selection… this Bell that remembers… it does not feel like our monastery's normal law."
He looked at the silver crack again.
"It feels like something that was sleeping," he whispered. "Something tied to a bellhook… waking up because the hook was cut."
A Court elder barked, trying to sound brave. "Nonsense. The Bell is a tool."
Elder Tian Lei did not look at that elder.
He looked at the silver crack.
Then he said, quiet and sharp, "Tools do not hunt."
The Court elder shut his mouth.
A low sound came from the cocoon.
A rough, angry breath.
Drakonix.
The cocoon cracked wider with a wet, tearing sound. Prismatic flame poured out like a river. Two wings were visible now, trembling but real, each feather-like scale shining with colors that did not belong to normal fire.
Drakonix's head pushed out halfway, eyes half-open, like a newborn dragon who already wanted to bite the sky.
He stared at the hunting lightning line above the dome.
Then he growled.
And his growl made the lightning hesitate.
Not because it was afraid.
Because it recognized a predator.
Drakonix's voice came out broken and proud. "Thunder… food."
Zhen's head turned slightly, as if running logic. "Observation: the young lord is still hungry during crisis."
Drakonix snapped his jaw weakly in Zhen's direction. "Always."
Zhen replied, flat. "Confirmed."
The tiny humor lasted one breath.
Then the heavens moved again.
The hunting lightning line above the dome suddenly slid sideways faster, like it had made a decision.
It dropped toward the barrier, testing it.
The barrier shook.
Zhen's armor lit brighter.
"Imperial Shield Matrix: Fourth Pattern," Zhen said.
A new layer formed around them—not a simple wall.
It felt like a cushion.
Like a buffer.
The falling lightning line hit the shield and… slowed.
Not blocked by force.
Blocked by delay.
The lightning moved as if it was walking through thick water.
The crowd outside the dome gasped.
A Court elder whispered, horrified, "A shield that slows thunder…"
Qi Shan Wei's voice stayed calm. "Time can be guided in small ways."
Elder Tian Lei's eyes sharpened again. He looked at Zhen and then at Qi Shan Wei.
"Interesting," the elder repeated.
The Silent Bell envoy looked almost sick. "If you can delay lightning… you can delay Selection."
Qi Shan Wei did not answer with pride.
He simply said, "Enough delay to protect what matters."
A sharp sound rang out from the outer edge of the dome.
One of the debtless killers—the Thousand Masks unit—suddenly slammed their hand onto the barrier.
Black ink symbols crawled over their arm like living writing.
But the symbols were failing. The "Kill without karmic debt" clause above their head was burned and broken.
Their mask cracked further.
A real voice came out, shaking. "We didn't know it was a bell trap!"
Zhen stepped closer, eyes glowing a little. "State the buyer."
The killer trembled.
Another killer tried to retreat.
Qi Shan Wei's fingers moved once.
A thin public-grade suppression field—Triple-Pulse Suppression—flashed under their feet.
Pulse.
Pulse.
Pulse.
Their movement locked.
Not forever.
Just long enough.
Qi Shan Wei spoke, calm as stone. "Name who hired you."
The killer's voice broke. "The contract came through a hidden broker—"
They coughed, blood dark behind the mask.
"—a Court-side broker," they forced out. "He said the target was not you."
Their eyes lifted to Ling Xueyao, then Feng Qingyue, then the cocoon.
"He said the target was the threads," the killer whispered. "He said if the bonds break, you become easier to erase."
The Court elders' faces changed.
Some looked angry.
Some looked guilty.
One elder's eyes darted away too fast.
Elder Tian Lei watched them all like a storm watching grass.
"Which broker," Qi Shan Wei asked.
The killer's breath turned ragged. "We never saw a face. Only a… sound."
"A sound?" the Silent Bell envoy repeated.
The killer nodded weakly. "A bell tone. A small bell. Not yours."
The envoy went still.
Because the bell on his chest rang once—without him touching it.
Like it agreed.
Like it recognized an enemy tone.
Elder Tian Lei's eyes turned cold.
"Someone is wearing bell law like a mask," the elder said.
Qi Shan Wei's gaze sharpened.
"Silent Bell Monastery," he said quietly.
The envoy flinched. "Not all of us—"
Elder Tian Lei raised one finger, stopping him.
"Enough," the elder said. "If your monastery has a leak, your monastery bleeds."
The words were calm.
But they sounded like judgment.
Above them, the hunting lightning line suddenly brightened.
It pressed against Zhen's time-buffer shield harder, like a beast pushing a cage.
The shield groaned.
Zhen's chest core flared crimson.
"Warning," Zhen said. "Fourth Pattern strain increasing."
Drakonix's eyes narrowed.
He opened his mouth and released a rough roar—still half-born, still cracked, but full of law.
The roar hit the lightning line.
And something wild happened.
The lightning line did not just slow.
It shivered.
Like it had been bitten.
Drakonix's prismatic flame touched the lightning.
The flame did not die.
It ate.
The lightning line thinned as if a piece had been taken from it.
The crowd outside screamed.
"Drakonix is eating thunder!"
Drakonix huffed, proud. "Mine."
Zhen stated, "Efficiency improved."
Drakonix hissed at Zhen again. "Stop talking."
Zhen replied, "No."
Then the heavens answered back.
The lightning did not retreat.
It changed.
The sky above the dome split wider.
More lightning lines appeared.
Not falling down.
Sliding sideways.
Hunting.
The Heaven-Rending Thunder Descent was truly starting now.
Elder Tian Lei lifted his hand.
And every lightning line froze.
Not because he grabbed them.
Because lightning listened to him.
He looked at Qi Shan Wei.
"This is Selection," the elder said. "Lightning will choose a law-bearer. It will choose someone who can carry it without breaking reality."
He paused.
"And it will try to choose you," he added.
The Court elders leaned forward again, greedy and scared at once.
The Silent Bell envoy's voice shook. "World Elder… if he is chosen now, under a broken bellhook, his authority could fuse wrong."
Elder Tian Lei nodded slightly. "Yes."
Ling Xueyao's eyes tightened. "Then stop it."
Elder Tian Lei looked at her, calm. "Stopping Selection is like stopping hunger. You can delay it. You can guide it. But you cannot erase it."
Qi Shan Wei spoke, calm and firm. "Then guide it."
Elder Tian Lei's eyes sharpened.
He studied Qi Shan Wei again, like he was reading a long book with only one look.
Then he said one sentence, slow and clear.
"Lightning has finally found someone who does not beg."
The Court elders' faces twisted.
Because those words sounded like approval.
Like acceptance.
Like destiny stepping closer.
The hunting lightning lines moved again, but this time they moved in a circle.
They formed a ring above the dome, bright and silent.
A crown of thunder.
The Time-Debt Ledger flickered wildly, as if it did not like this at all.
The Silent Bell envoy staggered back one step.
"This is not… normal," he whispered. "The bell is being challenged."
Elder Tian Lei's voice stayed calm. "The bell is a knot. Lightning is a river. Rivers hate knots."
The ring of thunder tightened.
Then one thin lightning needle dropped—fast, silent, perfect.
It did not strike Zhen.
It did not strike the Court elders.
It went straight toward Qi Shan Wei's chest.
Ling Xueyao reached out without thinking.
Feng Qingyue's phoenix flame surged.
Zhen shifted the shield.
Drakonix roared.
All at once.
But Qi Shan Wei lifted one hand.
Not to block.
Not to dodge.
To command.
"Stop," he said.
The word was quiet.
But it landed like a mountain.
And Qi Shan Wei stepped forward.
He stepped into the lightning needle.
The needle touched his skin.
The world held its breath.
For one heartbeat, the dome vanished from everyone's mind.
There was only light.
Only thunder.
Only a single calm man refusing to move away.
Then the lightning needle pierced into him—
And instead of burning him…
It sank into his meridians like it had been waiting for its home.
Qi Shan Wei did not scream.
He did not shake.
His golden eyes stayed open.
A thin line of lightning formed inside his pupils.
Heavenpiercer hummed.
The prismatic lines around his heart flared.
And the Time-Debt Ledger above the Court platform flashed one brutal new line:
SELECTED.
The Silent Bell envoy's face went white.
Elder Tian Lei's eyes narrowed, satisfied and sharp at once.
The Court elders stared like they had just watched a man become a disaster.
And from inside the cocoon, Drakonix whispered, almost angry with pride:
"Mine… emperor."
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
All rights reserved.