The Bear from The Tree stepped into the Tribunal Hall like an executioner walking into a courtyard of criminals.
Each stride was heavy enough to crack the marble floor.
Each breath rolled like distant thunder.
His towering figure dwarfed every guard, every disciple, every Elder present.
The Bear's mask—carved with brutal simplicity—seemed almost alive under the dim lanterns.
Elder Zhao froze.
For the first time in decades, fear touched his eyes.
The Bear's voice resonated through the hall, deep and slow—
not loud, yet impossible to ignore.
"So. This is the thing that calls itself an Elder."
He walked forward.
Not fast.
Not aggressive.
Inevitable.
The guards parted instinctively, swallowed by his presence.
Chen Yuan stepped back involuntarily, breath caught in his throat.
Even The Conquest felt muted in the Bear's shadow.
Zhao Yuan trembled—not in fear, but in awe—
recognizing a being whose strength eclipsed every cultivator he had met.
Gu Long whispered, barely audible:
"…that's not a man. That's a calamity."
Elder Zhao attempted to regain composure, drawing breath for a counterattack—
But the Bear lifted one hand.
A simple gesture.
And Elder Zhao's qi collapsed instantly, as if crushed under a mountain.
The Elder staggered, choking.
"What—what did you—?!"
The Bear kept walking.
He wasn't listening.
He didn't care.
He pointed a massive finger at Elder Zhao, his voice echoing like a hammer striking anvil:
"You are prey."
The Judges rose from their seats in panic.
"Y-you have no authority here! This is a Sect Tribunal!"
"Stand down, Hunter of the Tree!"
"No executions are permitted within the—"
The Bear did not spare them a glance.
He addressed the entire hall instead, his voice rolling through the stone chamber like a verdict.
"You call yourselves Elders.
Pillars of strength.
Guides. Protectors."
His tone sharpened—
not with fury, but with disgust.
"But all I see are fat snakes wrapped around their own power.
You devour your disciples.
You extort your clans.
You twist the laws meant to bind you."
He stepped closer to Elder Zhao, who was now pinned to the floor by pressure alone.
"And the prey you hunt?
Children.
Weaklings.
Those who cannot fight back."
He leaned down, mask inches from Elder Zhao's face.
"You are not a cultivator."
His voice dropped into a growl.
"You are vermin."
A collective shiver ran through everyone present.
The Bear rose again and addressed the Judges.
"You wish to know why the Tree despises Elders?"
He spread his arms, encompassing the entire hall.
"This. This is why. Because every Elder clings to their seat like a starving dog to a bone."
He pointed down at Elder Zhao.
"They forget their duty.
They forget their purpose.
They forget the simple truth—
that strength is earned, not inherited."
Elder Zhao tried to crawl backward, his fingers digging into the cracked marble.
He whimpered:
"Y-you can't kill me… this is the Tribunal…"
The Bear laughed.
A deep, thunderous rumble.
"I do not need permission."
The guards readied their weapons instinctively—
but their legs shook.
Not one dared step forward.
Chen Yuan felt his heart pound violently.
This was beyond anything he had imagined.
He thought he wanted retribution.
He thought he wanted Strife.
But what stood before him was judgment incarnate.
The Bear lifted his hand—
and Elder Zhao was dragged upward by invisible force, feet kicking helplessly.
"You cry," the Bear said flatly. "Always crying. Always whining. Always demanding."
He tightened his grip.
"Prey like you do not deserve breath."
With a single motion—
He slammed Elder Zhao into the ground.
The marble shattered like glass.
Dust exploded outward.
Gasps and screams echoed.
The Bear's voice rolled over the chaos:
"Today, I finish what your disciples never could."
The Bear raised his massive arm, ready to crush Elder Zhao like a pest beneath a boot.
No silver light.
No starfire.
No miracle rescue.
Only the sound of Elder Zhao's ragged breathing and the cracking marble beneath him.
The Tribunal guards trembled where they stood.
The Judges tried to speak, but their voices died in their throats.
Chen Yuan felt his heartbeat hammering painfully in his chest.
No one in Central City could stop this.
No one dared to.
The Bear's voice rumbled like an avalanche:
"Prey must die."
He seized Elder Zhao by the throat with one enormous hand, lifting him effortlessly into the air. The Elder's legs kicked helplessly, his face reddening, qi sputtering without control.
"You talk," the Bear growled.
"Always talk.
Always threaten.
Always hide behind your titles."
He squeezed.
Elder Zhao gagged, fingers clawing at the Bear's hand.
"You forgot strength," the Bear said, voice low and seething.
"You forgot duty.
You forgot that Elders are supposed to protect their disciples—
not devour them."
The Bear slammed him against the floor again, the marble splitting like dry earth beneath a hammer.
Gasps.
Screams.
Silence.
"And so," he continued, "I put you where you belong."
He lifted Elder Zhao one final time, now barely conscious, mouth hanging open.
"Beneath the ground."
The Bear's hand ignited with a deep, earthen light—
not flame, not qi, but something older.
Raw will. Brutal discipline.
The power of someone who had long since abandoned compassion.
The Bear pressed his palm to Elder Zhao's chest.
The stone beneath them cracked.
Cracked again.
Then collapsed—
SWALLOWING ELDER ZHAO WHOLE.
The ground sealed itself instantly, smooth as untouched marble.
No body.
No blood.
No corpse.
Just silence.
The Tribunal Hall stood frozen.
Zhao Yuan stared in disbelief.
Lu Fu collapsed backward in shock.
Gu Long's mouth hung open, completely robbed of words.
Chen Yuan felt his legs weaken beneath him.
The Bear straightened, dust shaking off his fur-lined cloak.
He looked at the Judges.
"At least one Elder has been… corrected."
He turned toward Chen Yuan.
His masked face tilted slightly.
"You—ordinary boy. Do not forget this lesson."
Chen Yuan swallowed, throat dry.
"W-what… lesson?"
The Bear began walking toward the exit, each step echoing with terrifying weight.
"That weakness and corruption lead to the same pit."
He paused at the doorway.
"And that The Tree always collects its due."
With that, he left the Tribunal Hall.
No one dared follow.
No one dared breathe for several long seconds.
Only after the Bear's shadow vanished did the Judges stand again—shaking, pale, utterly broken by what they had witnessed.
One of them whispered, voice trembling:
"…Trial dismissed.
Elder Zhao… is no more."
Another muttered:
"This… this changes everything…"
Zhao Yuan sank to his knees, overwhelmed by the weight of what had been unleashed.
Gu Long clutched Chen Yuan's robe.
"Do you understand… what just happened?"
Chen Yuan could only whisper:
"Yes."
He felt The Conquest pulsing faintly at his hip, as if acknowledging the death of the first true enemy.
Gu Long exhaled shakily.
"Chen Yuan… He vanished in thin air..."
it wasn't metaphorical.