Chapter 29 · The Gatekeeper's Gambit - Chapter 29: The Spire Picks Him

Lin Mo didn't get to savor the new admin mark for long.

The corridor outside the Black Gate was packed. Disciples from four sects, maybe five, all crammed into a space meant for half that many. The air smelled like sweat and burnt talismans. Someone's storage ring had cracked during the Floor Seven collapse, and now there was a faint hum of leaking spiritual energy that made Lin Mo's teeth ache.

He stepped into the crowd. Kept his face blank. The mark on his wrist was hidden under his sleeve, but he could feel it—warm, pulsing, like a second heartbeat.

"Move."

Wei Tiegu's voice cut through the noise. Lin Mo looked up. The senior Keeper was shoving his way through, not bothering to apologize when someone stumbled. His black and silver robes were pristine. No dust. No blood. Like he'd been sitting in his office the whole time Floor Seven was eating people alive.

"Gate's closed," Wei said. He wasn't talking to Lin Mo. He was talking past him, to the crowd. "Black Gate trial's suspended. You want to advance, you wait for the next rotation."

A girl near the front—Windborne Sect, by the look of her sash—shook her head.