Chapter 62

Master Alistair stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed on Felix Arnault. "Felix, are you satisfied?"

A faint smile touched Felix's lips, but his eyes remained icy. "His groveling was the price for earlier offenses."

His finger pointed at Magnus Blackthorn. "Now... he dared raise a hand against me. The price has changed."

Master Alistair's brow furrowed slightly. "What do you want?"

"Magnus is powerful and harbors deep hatred for me." Felix's voice was calm. "Letting him keep his cultivation would cost me sleep."

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Magnus's eyes burned crimson, his entire body trembling. "Felix! You go too far!"

"Know your limits, Felix," Master Alistair warned.

"I find this perfectly fair." Felix didn't yield an inch.

He knew Magnus's nature too well. Sparing the tiger today meant certain death tomorrow.

Master Alistair fell silent.

To stand at the pinnacle of the heavens, he was no saint. Justice and righteousness meant nothing to him. Only profit mattered.

Had Felix been an ordinary First Star cultivator, he'd have crushed him already. But now...

Magnus's internal alarms blared at his master's silence.

"Master!" His voice cracked as he struggled to rise. "You'd actually listen to him?"

With a flick of his sleeve, Master Alistair froze Magnus in place like a marionette.

Felix's pulse quickened. This old monster's power was unfathomable—killing him would be child's play. His leverage existed only because he still held value.

Power. That was the only truth.

"Magnus." Master Alistair finally spoke. "Shatter your own cultivation, and I'll spare your life."

Magnus looked as if struck by lightning, his face deathly pale.

"Master!" His voice shook. "You'd discard decades of my training... for him?"

"Had you not repeatedly targeted Felix," Master Alistair said coldly, "we wouldn't be here."

"I—" Magnus suddenly laughed, a broken sound. "Fine. Just fine!"

Before the echoes faded, he lunged toward the Trial Tower's exit.

Master Alistair sighed and raised his hand.

Magnus froze mid-air as if trapped in quicksand.

"Since you refuse, I'll do it for you."

Invisible forces dragged Magnus back, his eyes filled with despair. "Master! Felix! Spare me!"

Felix's expression didn't change.

Master Alistair's palm descended lightly.

"Ahhh—!" Magnus's scream tore through the air.

The crisp sound of shattering came from within his body. Countless starlight erupted from his orifices like a celestial river pouring forth.

A full minute passed before the light dissipated.

Magnus collapsed, his cultivation utterly destroyed.