Chapter 9: Entry Wounds (Revised)
"A ghost doesn't draw crowds. A ghost draws fear."
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📆 Age: 8 Years
📍 Location: Outskirts of Balak Kingdom
Cultivation Rank: Spirit Elder (Rank 30)
Alias Used: Hollow Turban
Known Name in Arena Circles: The Unspeakable Howling Thunder
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The first lesson Tian learned in Balak's underground arena wasn't about power.
It was about obscurity.
Don't shine.
Don't dazzle.
Don't exist.
He walked into the arena registration office like a stray dog—shoeless, wrapped in a tattered grey turban that hid most of his face, carrying a forged spirit master license that listed him as Rank 30.
"Name?" the clerk asked without looking up.
"…Hollow Turban," Tian said flatly.
The clerk snorted. "You religious types die fast."
Tian said nothing. He simply handed over the entry fee — gold looted from the last bandit fool enough to tail him in Star Dou's outer forest.
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🥊 First Tier Matches: Month 1
The arena's lower brackets were pitiful. Weak Spirit Elders with inflated egos and no discipline. Tian didn't waste a single drop of spirit power. He refused to reveal his rings, never summoned his martial soul, and fought using only brutal, refined martial arts.
He moved with inhuman precision, using styles cobbled together from Rokushiki, Seimei Kikan, and raw street brawling. He didn't aim to entertain. He aimed to end fights before the crowd blinked.
> Match 1: Opponent with Snake Fist martial soul – unconscious in 15 seconds.
Match 2: Fire Bone user – disabled in 9 seconds.
Match 3: Twin Daggers spirit master – choked out before spirit rings appeared.
And so it went.
The arena goers didn't know what to make of him.
No spirit rings. No flashy soul skills.
Just that every time he moved, someone hit the ground.
The announcers dubbed him:
> "The Ringless Ghost"
But the betting rings had their own name:
> "The Unspeakable Howling Thunder"
Because people swore they heard something — just once — in a duel where a Spirit King challenger collapsed dead.
A brief hum.
A silent scream.
Then thunder...
With no lightning.
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📆 Age: 8½ — 6 Months Later
Tian had become a quiet legend.
He never spoke. He never stayed in the crowd.
He fought, claimed his winnings, and vanished into the slums.
His body hardened over months of combat, spirit power rising slowly.
He cultivated in darkness — Rank 30 to 33 by his eighth birthday's end.
He didn't fight every day.
Only when the betting odds were good enough to justify risk.
But his tactical genius showed in how he manipulated outcomes:
He faked injuries to inflate odds before crushing a foe.
He deliberately dragged fights to mislead record keepers.
He lost a match by ring-out to dodge arena suspicion.
He was building something.
> Wealth.
Combat data.
And a reputation only whispered — never printed.
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🎭 First Life & Death Duel – Month 8
It was inevitable.
A drunk noble challenged him to a real match — Life & Death.
The noble's spirit rank: Rank 48 Spirit Ancestor.
His martial soul: Shadow Claws.
He mocked Tian at the gate.
"Don't worry, turban rat. You'll get to show the crowd how real men fight—"
BANG.
One shot.
No warning.
The noble's skull split like wet fruit.
The audience didn't understand.
There had been no light, no spirit ring flare, no aura surge.
Just… sound. A sound they couldn't describe.
And from then on:
> "Don't challenge Hollow Turban. He doesn't fight. He executes."
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📆 Age: 9 – The Blood Year
Dao Heishen, the arena's founder, began attending fights personally.
He never said a word to Tian. Never approached.
But Tian could feel it — eyes on him. Always.
He changed his fighting styles every three months.
Rotated disguises. Shifted patterns.
But it wasn't enough. Word of a "gun-type martial soul" had begun to circulate in underground info networks.
He needed to vanish before the net closed.
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🕛 Final Match – Age 9, 11 months
Tian agreed to one last fight.
High payout.
Opponent: Spirit King – Rank 52
A beastmaster who fused with his lion martial soul.
Tian limped into the arena.
Pretended to be injured.
Even let the man roar and charge.
Until the distance closed.
And then…
BANG.
A silent scream. A hole in the beastmaster's heart.
And Tian was gone before the man hit the sand.
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🧭 The Exit
No goodbyes.
No final match highlight.
Tian walked out the back alley, cloak soaked in blood.
His gun vanished into the void.
Spirit power at Rank 39.
Next step:
> "53,000+ years. Catastrophic spirit beast. I need a power that eats walls and bends space."
> "If they call me thunder… I'll make sure the gods fear the sound."
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[End of Chapter 9 – Entry Wounds (Revised)]