"Ninth Challenger— The Warden of Bones"

  A low groan rolled across the arena, like metal grinding against stone.

  The gates creaked open, and the Warden of Bones stepped out.

  Tall and unnervingly slender, his body was wrapped in bone-white chains that clinked with every motion. His bald head bore ritual scars. Bone fragments floated in lazy circles around him like satellites, and in his right hand, he held a crooked staff with a skull impaled at its top, its hollow sockets flickering with a green flame.

  ???: "He fought in the Bone Pits of Yi’an... survived sixty death matches."

  a hoarse voice whispered in the stands.

  ???: “He doesn’t kill. He imprisons... forever.”

  ???: “He was a warden in the underworld. And he still thinks he is.”

  The man didn’t speak. He simply looked at Jin Yu, and the floating bones around him began to clack like teeth.

  Jin Yu stood tall, refreshed by the breakthrough, but he couldn’t ignore the subtle shift in the air. It was heavy and Quiet.

  The moment the gong rang, bones shot forward like arrows.

  Jin Yu spun, deflecting them with his sword, dashing sideways and darting into the Warden’s blind spot. His blade struck the man’s shoulder with a clean hit.

  Clink.

  It bounced off.

  What?

  The Warden didn’t flinch. Instead, he raised his skeletal staff, and with a guttural hum, the bones circling him split into a swarm—dozens of them, each inscribed with ghostly glyphs.

  Then they came like a storm.

  Jin Yu dodged and danced, like a whirlwind of motion, but still, some slipped past.

  Crack!

  A rib was bruised.

  Thud!

  His shoulder grazed.

  Craa!

  A bone spike caught his leg.

  He winced.

  Ding!

  Breakthrough Progress: 9.5%....13.2%

  His body drank in the foreign Qi like it was starving.

  But the Warden didn’t seem to notice. He continued his command, hands weaving signs, each gesture bringing a new swarm or spectral cage.

  Jin Yu dashed in again, this time with a feint and kick, but even when he landed a palm against the Warden’s chest, the man barely budged.

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  Like hitting a corpse long dead and preserved in frost.

  The audience had grown quiet, not from boredom, but from realization.

  ???: “Is... is Nameless slowing down?”

  ???: “No. The Warden isn’t letting him in.”

  ???: “He’s being worn down.”

  Blood trickled from Jin Yu’s mouth. He landed a hit, but for every one blow he delivered, he took three in return. His chest was littered with shallow bruises, arms weighed down, and Qi-cages flickered around him constantly, dissolving just as fast as they formed thanks to his immunity, but taking a toll all the same.

  The worst part?

  The Warden was barely trying!.

  Ding!

  Breakthrough Progress: 13.2%....22.8%

  He dropped to one knee for a second, panting, his hands dug into the dirt, lips curling into a grin.

  He wasn’t losing.

  He was leveling.

  “You think... I’m fading?” he murmured.

  The Warden tilted his head.

  Then Jin Yu exploded forward with a burst of speed, catching the Warden off guard and slamming a fist directly into his jaw.

  CRACK!

  Bone fragments shattered and scattered like porcelain. The Warden staggered, stunned.

  The crowd screamed.

  ???: "YEEEEEEEEEEESSS!"

  ???: “HE LANDED IT!”

  ???: “He can hurt him after all!”

  Ding!

  Challenge Progress: 50% → 56%

  Breakthrough Progress: 22.8%...27.6%

  The Warden lifts his staff again, now missing its skull.

  For the first time, he looked at Jin Yu, with emotions in his eyes.

  And it wasn't anything good...

  Ding!

  Influence +10,000

  Ding!

  Influence +10,000

  Ding!

  Influence +10,000

  Ding!

  Influence +10,000

  Ding!

  Influence +10,000

  (Emotion provoked: Slaughtering Will)

  Out of nowhere, One chain wrapped around Jin Yu's leg and yanked him into a wall of bone spears.

  Crack!

  He slammed into them chest-first, bones digging into his ribs. A coughing grunt escaped his lips as he rolled free, but the Warden gave him no time. Another chain struck his side, and the staff followed.

  Crack!

  Boom!

  He was slammed into the ground.

  Ding!

  Breakthrough Progress: 27.6% → 35.7%

  Jin Yu’s fingers trembled slightly, then clenched.

  He rose, limping. Blood ran down his jaw.

  ???: “Ha! He’s cracking!”

  ???: “No one escapes the Warden’s chains!”

  ???: “Break his legs! Make him crawl!”

  Some still screamed for Jin Yu, but their voices wavered as his blood began staining the sand.

  Jin Yu tried to phase again, but the Warden had already begun binding the space around him with flickering bone runes.

  The Divine Phase began to falter.

  Every bone carried ghostly Qi. Every strike now dealt both force and energy. It was overwhelming.

  BOOM!

  A staff strike to the shoulder.

  Ding!

  Breakthrough progress: 35.7%....40.8%

  BANG!

  Bone spikes formed a cage and slammed him from all sides.

  Ding!

  Breakthrough progress:40.8%....55.9%

  He hit the ground, coughing blood violently.

  But stood up, again.

  The Warden raised his staff, then made a gesture. Pale Qi surged, forming a skeletal maw that rushed toward Jin Yu like a devouring beast.

  He couldn’t dodge. Not fully.

  SLAM!

  Cough! Cough!

  His back hit the arena wall, coughing blood again. The sound of cheering roared louder.

  ???: “Bleed more, Spiral Gate Dog!”

  ???: “Warden, crush his spine!”

  ???: “Take his soul! Make him scream!”

  Coins, spirit stones, even weapons were thrown into betting urns.

  ???: “A hundred stones he breaks the boy’s ribs next hit!”

  ???: “Nah, he’s gonna choke him with his own intestines!”

  Among the upper booths, even nobles were leaning forward. Some laughed, others frowned in thought.

  The woman with eerie black eyes narrowed her gaze: “If he survives this... I want him alive.”

  Another ghostly barrage struck Jin Yu.

  Chains coiled around his arms, then his neck.

  BANG!

  He was hoisted, slammed down, and dragged through the arena like a doll. His robes tore. His face bloodied. Bones cracked audibly.

  Crack crack crack

  Ding!

  Breakthrough Progress: 79.7% → 94.9%

  He tried to lift himself, but, another chain lashed him across the face.

  His body twitched.

  The Warden raised both hands. All his bone Qi gathered, forming a massive cage of gnashing jaws and chains to devour Jin Yu whole.

  Jin Yu barely lifted his head.

  Blood stained his teeth.

  And then—he laughed.

  Low. Hoarse. Maddening.

  "Hahaha....hahahahahaha"

  ???: “He’s done,” someone whispered.

  ???: “He’s laughing while dying.”

  Ding!

  Breakthrough Progress: 94.9% → 100%

  Next Breakthrough Available.

  The light behind Jin Yu shimmered.

  Qi surged. Not in anger—but in awakening.

  Ding!

  Breakthrough achieved.

  Internal strength: Nascent Soul Realm - Beginning stage.

  The attack came.

  WHOOSH.

  And hit… nothing.

  Mist bloomed.

  Thick, silver mist unfurled in an instant, curling through the air like a ghost tide. The audience gasped, stood, cursed, eyes darting.

  ???: “Where did he go?!”

  ???: “He vanished?”

  ???: “Impossible! Did he teleport?!”

  Even the announcer faltered.

  But in one of the upper booths, the shadowed figure, the veiled one, tilted its head slightly.

  "No... he’s still here," it murmured, unseen. "He simply let go of presence."

  Suddenly—

  CRACK!

  A kick broke through the mist, shattering ribs. The Warden gasped.

  BANG!

  Another strike. Then a third.

  BANG!

  A blur danced through the fog, untouchable. Immune to Qi. Moving faster than sight.

  Jin Yu reappeared behind the Warden, bloodied, shirtless, smiling.

  “…You’re dead.”

  He muttered, like a verdict.