Weapon seller in the world of magic

The sound wasn't just thunder. A crushing pressure dropped over the entire sect like a blanket of gravity.

Lan Xia's knees buckled slightly. "What the hell..?"

Back at the sect, a dozen elders were forced to come and witness with their eyes. One grand elder snapped to his feet, his face went pale as he watched the cloud. "This rumble! That's not a mortal tribulation!" he hissed.

Even the Sect Leader stood up with a sharp breath. "That's the Sky-Judgement Bolt. It hasn't appeared in the last five hundred thousand years anywhere in the plane of existence…"

"Let's go, Pavilion Master. We have to see this…" Grand Elder Qianxu said, turning into specks of light and disappearing from the sect grounds.

Back at the mountain, Lan Xia was on her knees, as if she had lost her will to resist.

Far above the snow-covered cliffs, the heavens growled with malicious intent. The clouds twisted and raged like a beast denied, building toward the final judgment.

The Sect Leader and the Grand Elder Qianxue appeared on Lan Xia's side at the same time.

Lan Xia looked at them. "Pavilion Master, you've got to save him." She hurriedly screamed, tugging his sleeves.

Both old men looked at her in surprise. It was a side of Lan Xia that they were completely unfamiliar with. In their eyes, she was someone who was emotionless and only had the ability to express either curiosity or anger. Worry or panic is something they expect from this girl,

Lan Yujin patted her head as he commented, his eyes turning to the clouds.

"It's not a tribulation, Lan Xia. It is the Sky Judgment Bolt. We don't have the authority to interfere."

He shifted his gaze toward Mark, still seated in silent meditation, still channeling ether calmly like none of this concerned him.

The Grand Elder, however, commented. "But if we don't do something, Lan Zhen might not survive this."

The Sect Leader clenched his fists behind his back. A thousand thoughts flooded his mind.

This boy... the one who upended the arena, the one the Grand Elder had to hold back for.. Brother of the inheritor of the Blizzard Pegasus. A phoenix reborn. Even Lord Hei spoke of him with guarded respect.

And now, he might die here.

The Sect Leader's aura flared briefly.

He could stop this.

But the moment he did, the backlash would be catastrophic. The heavens would curse the entire Lan Clan. Spiritual roots would wither. Children would be born crippled. No one would rise for generations.

He hovered there, caught between responsibility and fate.

His jaw tensed, and then he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. But it is too late to interfere. Perhaps, this is his destiny."

"So, are you saying we abandon him, Pavilion Master?" Grand Elder Qinxue furrowed his brows in displeasure. "If you are not going to interfere, let me do it."

However, the Sect leader raised his hand. "No, you will not." Staring at the sky, he sighed. "Perhaps, it is best this way. Xiao Zhen has the bloodline of Immortal Phoenix. Even if he dies, he will resurrect, although there will be a dent in his cultivation. But it will be fine. He can attempt once again after recuperating and training further. The Sky Judgment bolt won't attack more than once, anyway."

"But…" As Lan Xia was about to say something, the vortex screamed.

Then, BOOM, the final bolt fell in the form of a purple bolt.

But it wasn't just a purple bolt of lightning. It was thick as a mountain. And one could see the silhouette of a dragon behind it as it descended from the clouds with a piercing scream that split the air in two.

Mark looked up just in time to raise his wings one last time.

BOOOOOM!!!

The impact shook the mountain range. Snow from peaks a hundred kilometers away was blasted off. Trees shattered in every direction.

His Blizzard Wings flared white, absorbing the brunt, but it became too much.

A fraction of the purple bolt pierced through. It struck his back directly, bypassing defense, drilling into his body.

"Argh…"

Mark screamed loudly in pain. His body flew backward, crashing to the frozen ground. Steam hissed from his charred limbs. The wings dissipated. His clothes were burned. His skin, blackened.

And then...

Silence. He lay there motionless.

The clouds slowly receded as if the heavens had delivered their judgment and were satisfied with the result.

Lan Xia, who had watched it all with clenched fists and trembling knees, finally couldn't hold herself back.

"LU ZHEN!" she screamed, dashing toward the crater.

She dropped beside him, knees in the snow, her hands hovering uselessly over his blackened form. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"Why... why weren't you more prepared..." she choked.

The Sect Leader and the Grand Elder remained watching from afar, his face calm but... not unmoved. By then, some of the elders had also arrived and saw the situation.

They saw Lan Xia bawling at what seemed like Mark's corpse.

Murmurs spread among them.

"He was dead?"

"I couldn't just believe Lan Zhen failed his tribulation."

"The heavens were too much. How could they send a Sky Judgment Bolt at such a young man?"

"He is so young… poor soul…"

"Look at Lan Xia… I know they were close, but didn't expect this close…"

"Were they perhaps, really lovers in the past, and he really came to the clan for her?"

"I wonder how Princess Lan Fei will take this news. Her only brother has died like this…"

While many elders expressed their condolences, feeling pity for the young man, a couple of them were feeling satisfied, though. They were happy to see his death as if they thought the heavens had really delivered justice.

But it was just then…

Mark's body suddenly glowed, throwing away all of their unnecessary thoughts in the trash.

A golden light burst from within him, blinding and pure.

His charred flesh peeled away, flaking into particles.

Lan Xia gasped and stumbled backward. "Wha…"

Mark's body rose into the air. Slowly and Weightlessly. A gentle pulse of wind flowed out with each beat of his heart.

His hair shimmered silver-white.