V3C38: The Competition, Part 1

A few hours later, it was beginning.

The crowds of observers gathered at the many seats above the main arena floor, arranged in a circle around the primary circular arena and an empty circle of space around it where various healers and those who would ensure that the talisman-based protective environment of the arena was maintained could stand, also giving some room for anyone thrown off of the arena to fly without striking the wall directly.

Most of the combatants were gathered behind the doors on either side of the arena, mostly so that they couldn’t easily observe every tactic of their future opponents or assist one another secretly, although it wasn’t necessarily impossible given the right kind of skills.

However, some of those that would participate last, as well as the leaders of both duelling groups, sat among the spectators, Shi Taihao and Luo Lia Kun glaring at one another as they always seemed to do.

Beside the latter sat a few of the strategists of the Brotherhood of Power, as well as those that specialised in observation, spiritual perception, deduction and the like, and they readily observed the first two figures that emerged onto the arena, although neither looked to be particularly impressive in any respect.

They bowed to one another, displayed their cultivations as some sign of respect, clearly displaying the fact that they were both in the third realm and the third stage, prompting the interest of some while also making others look away, for their conflict would either be rather dull, with one winning over the other just barely, or it could be a great demonstration of the manner in which one’s cultivation wasn’t necessarily the deciding factor, and how one’s skill could create an enormous gap between two people.

Both began with weaker, testing attacks, using physical strikes empowered with planar energy, resulting in several exchanges of limited visual excitement for the average observer, and to the more knowledgeable amongst the audience, entirely lacking in great talent or technique, demonstrating nothing of note. After their testing blows exposed some flaws in the defence of the other foe, they unleashed their first planar constructs, their energies colliding and splashing onto the arena, glowing light striking the ground and throwing up clumps of sand and dirt.

However, when their powerful attacks proved unsuccessful, they limited their attacks to more tactical, weaker strikes, and all of the visual flare was limited even further, causing the casual spectators to yawn.

It soon became clear that they were wrong to become hopeful over something like this, thus inspiring one of the Brotherhood of Power to question an earlier event.

“So, vice-leader, what happened with that woman that you recruited? Is she competent?”

Contrary to their expectation, their vice-leader suddenly twitched, nervously turning towards the one that asked the question. She hesitated for a moment, making some of the group ponder whether the woman had somehow disappointed her immensely, but when she finally spoke, they received their answer.

“That’s… one way to put it. She’s a freak, like that Zhi Qiu Ya, but in human flesh…”

“What did she do?”

“Pure physical force? A’ight, I can do that,” Wei Yi gave her a confident smile, raising her clawed hands and entering the appropriate combat stance to maximise their effectiveness, “I’ll avoid your face, though. As I said, you’ve a cute face.”

She acted the instant after, practically vanishing from the spot as she dashed forward and slashed at Luo Lia Kun’s chest, the sharp tips of her gauntlets nearly cutting straight through her flesh and bone if not for the appearance of a barrier of dense planar energy. It wasn’t even channelled through a technique, instead simply pouring from her meridians in order to avoid the attack as fast as possible.

‘Fuck, she’s so fast!’ Luo Lia Kun found herself cursing within her mind, activating her planar energy and initiating a passive movement technique in order to greatly balance the odds, ‘She must be a body cultivator of some kind, or else there’s no way for someone to move that fast without an artefact, talisman or something of the sort. On the positive side, it does mean that she is more than capable of catching any opponent off-guard, and potentially inflicting lethal damage in just one strike.’

Just with her physical strength, this woman had been able to lightly affect planar energy of the fifth realm, albeit one that wasn’t empowered by any of her marks, meaning that if she had focused and maximised her strength for one powerful defensive technique, she wouldn’t struggle to ward off one attack and then retaliate.

Then again, she doubted that she would have had the chance to consider something like this when her opponent hadn’t demonstrated a single technique yet.

While she was somewhat stunned, Wei Yi was not. As Luo Lia Kun retreated, she advanced, one claw heading straight for her heart while the other sought her neck, not to pierce her olive skin but instead to grab onto it and prevent any further movement from her.

“She’s terrifying, that’s what. You’ll see her in action soon, since she’ll be next,” she shivered, “Is there a cold breeze here?”

“I don’t sense anything, vice-leader…” the one that initially asked the question had begun, although he quickly became quiet as he understood that it was better not to press the matter any further, and instead looked onto the battle in the arena, where the two average combatants were combing close to exhausting themselves.

They punched and kicked at one another, and then one finally succeeded in striking the other’s head, stunning him for long enough for him to be thrown out of the arena with one final exertion of force, concluding the duel with very little excitement, bringing victory to the Gang Hong Clan.

The crowd expressed their disinterest with various noises while the two men were removed from the arena, and the next duel was announced.

“We’ve been told by both sides to expect far more from the following battle, everyone!” the announcer of the arena called out, his voice being projected throughout the entire arena through the use of a Voice Proliferation talisman that had a limited duration, forcing him to continue with little pause, “It is also a duel between two groups of two, so there’s far more potential for excitement! On the side of the Gang Hong Clan, a man with a flame-based cultivation and a woman that is somehow much bigger than him! Their potential cooperation is bound to be an incredible thing to behold, and they are all in the third realm!”

Those two emerged onto the arena and bowed to the audience, looking towards the other side of the arena to be able to take in their competition properly.

“On the side of the Brotherhood of Power, we have an all-female team! One expert of the quarterstaff, and one… come again? Claws? Does she have a bestial bloodline? No? Then what exactly is she doing with claws?”

While the announcer was rather confused – not that Wei Yi or Luo Lia Kun intended to blame him, since the like of her clawed gauntlets was not common in the slightest, even if finger or hand techniques based on claws were somewhat frequent – the two combatants were told to emerge from their resting area and to ascend onto the arena.

When they did show their faces, the audience was able to understand their description, for they witnessed the gauntlets upon the hands of a crimson-haired, silver-eyed woman that didn’t have a single feature that might stand out too significantly, save the high heeled boots that most wouldn’t be able to immediately notice from their perspective above her, but when her black robes, highlighted by thin metal plates, her boots, claw-like gauntlets, and her incredible features were taken together, she was quite outstanding.

In fact, her tanned skin was perhaps the least notable feature, as there were quite a few people from further north within the Luo District, meaning that darker skin was far more common than in the Yi District, where a single person from the Endless Dark assassin organisation attracted great interest due to her skin.

“Oh, those kinds of claws. They’re just decorative, right?” the announcer continued asking some unheard individual about her, “Wait, don’t-”

He suddenly went quiet, although none cared for his loss.

Without him, the timing of the battle was left up to the combatants, who quickly delegated it to a random guard from the arena, giving him a Glistening Spark talisman that would create a bright light to signal the beginning of the fight without needing someone else to vocally contribute his opinion.

Before that occurred, the pairs from both sides stared at one another, trying to probe one another’s tactics and strengths through their subtle movements. Well, Wei Yi was certainly doing this, being able to scan through all of them with ease without a single person being able to observe her spiritual perception, but the others mixed that with random examination of their opponents and partners, with the Gang Hong Clan in particular being rather interested in the bodily assets of their foes, paying particular attention to the quarterstaff-wielding woman’s chest.

“They’re staring at my boobs, aren’t they?” that woman whispered to Wei Yi, who nodded quickly.

“You do have a nice chest. Do they not get in the way?”

The quarterstaff wielder shrugged, “I manage. I have some techniques that help, of course… You’ve got a nice butt yourself. You clearly manage with it as well…”

“That’s different, but I do. Are you interested in learning more about it?”

“So long as you’re not proposing a long-term relationship, I am more than open to new experiences.”

Even with the increased range of spiritual perception granted by the fifth realm, Luo Lia Kun was unable to sense exactly what they were saying, but something gave her the impression that they were not discussing battle strategy.

‘Given that both of them seem to have those tendencies… They wouldn’t be flirting, would they?’

She had no opportunity to continue watching them, whether for better or worse, as the Glistening Spark talisman was finally activated, briefly lighting up the arena and causing some of the nearest observers to cover their eyes, which proved to be a significant mistake on their part, for the moment that their vision cleared, the situation changed greatly.

The two from the Gang Hong Clan, and the quarterstaff wielder of the Brotherhood of Power, were mostly in the same place, but Wei Yi had practically vanished from her previous spot, appearing before her male foe while performing a jab heading straight for his eyes.

‘That kind of move…’ Luo Lia Kun unwittingly quivered again.

Once more, Luo Lia Kun attempted to block using her planar energy, obscuring the entirety of her front as she did not have the time to properly defend herself in an efficient manner.

With her vision blocked by the bright blue light, all she could see was how five dark points suddenly pierced it, heading straight for her neck, while five more managed to penetrate far enough to lightly touch her clothes that obscured her chest, nearly prompting a shocked cry from her mouth that she restrained with great effort.

The claws did not appear to be able to pierce any further, but the fact that they had been able to go that far was enough to make the woman using them absolutely terrifying within her eyes. She could tell that they were made from an unusual material, as the metal parts of the gauntlet were incredibly thin and sturdy, as well as having a curious colour and shade, but she was aware of nothing that wouldn’t require sufficient force to pierce a powerful barrier, or else power would be determined through artefacts and weapons rather than one’s own ability.

Since she was able to pierce energy of the fifth realm while only at the third, even if the barrier was poorly constructed and thus only as useful as a regular technique from the fourth realm, meant that her physical strength alone matched the fourth realm.

Without knowledge of physique cultivation or killing will, Luo Lia Kun couldn’t realise that she was actually quite close to the truth, given that Wei Yi’s physique cultivation was in the fourth realm. Physique cultivation was actually weaker than planar cultivation in the boost of strength that it granted to the cultivator, although it was something that became clearest within the later realms, but with the empowerment of the Yin-Yang Ascendant energy, it matched the effects of a high-grade cultivation method and thus granted her sufficient strength to pierce the energy barrier, albeit just slightly.

The moment that the barrier was dispelled, and her fingers were freed, she stepped back and awaited instructions.

“You… Gracious sands, that’s ridiculous.”

“Would you like to see more of my strength, or is that enough? If you keep using weak barriers, I might hit you by accident,” Wei Yi lied, as she had enough control over her own strength to avoid that.

“That seems to be the case, I suppose…” Luo Lia Kun sighed to herself, ‘She really must be simple if she can’t be bothered to show even a little bit of tact when speaking to the vice-leader of a large group of powerful individuals, which is fortunate. Having someone to speak to that isn’t trying to decipher the meaning of your every word is bound to be relaxing in the long term.’

“B-BREAK!” the targeted man cried out, desperately jumping back as talisman ash poured from his pocket.

A golden light formed into a shield where he had just stood, and her claws pierced directly through it, as if it was just an illusion formed within the air. With it scattered, Wei Yi was able to charge through at an even greater speed than the person she was chasing, and in just an instant, her claws were once more heading for the man’s heart, and he couldn’t possibly react in time yet again, for his first reaction time came as a surprise even to him.

The dark metal cut straight through the cloth that covered the man’s chest and tightened on the beating muscle within him. For a moment, she did nothing, only gripping the heart and digging into it slightly when it beat, and the man did not dare to do anything, just standing there with panic in his eyes.

Then, with seemingly practised movements, she dug in deeper, grabbed onto the heart, and tore it out with a great shower of blood, performing every action in an instant.

By the time the man realised what had happened, his life had already soared away from him.

Up on the spectator’s seats, Shi Taihao gripped his armrests tightly, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything, despite the fact that the man that had just died was part of his Gang Hong Clan and that he had quite high hopes for him in the future. However, no matter what he did, a dead man cannot be brought back to life, and he knew that he couldn’t punish her any time soon, not just because that man would have done the same had he been given the opportunity, but also due to the fact that Luo Lia Kun had to be well aware of the loss that he had just suffered, and that she couldn’t possibly let someone as capable or lucky as that woman go.

He glanced over the arena below and at Luo Lia Kun, finding her looking back towards him with a barely contained smirk.

“That bitch…” Shi Taihao muttered to himself, looking towards the other pair of fighters with a little more hope, only to see the woman on his side being struck over and over again with a quarterstaff, without her being able to retaliate with anything more than feeble, ineffective strikes of her own, “Long Jiu, bring an Energy Outburst and Yang Explosion talisman to every single combatant, and tell them that if they face a blood-covered, claw-wielding maniac, it doesn’t matter how many they expend, or what resources they use. So long as she dies, they will receive a significant portion of our profits.”

“Wouldn’t she be a good fit for the Great Yang Enlightenment Ceremony, if she’s that capable?”

“Don’t question me when you are exactly what Luo Lia Kun describes us to be. I’m the one with a Chen as a parent, not you.”

“Alright, boss.”

While they spoke, Wei Yi and the quarterstaff wielder finished off their foe together, beating her but not killing her, once more impressing Luo Lia Kun and frustrating Shi Taihao, for she was naturally a weaker member of the Clan and thus her death wouldn’t have given them much of an advantage while giving the Gang Hong Clan one more case of reckless murder to bring up to still receive some benefits from this conflict even in the case of loss.

It was due to this that the Brotherhood of Power’s vice-leader made it clear that only the strong and dangerous were to be killed, as it wouldn’t be worth it to slaughter everyone even if it made a significant dent to the Gang Hong Clan’s forces that couldn’t be replaced for many years to come.

“Phew, that was easy. I’m Chao Ru, and I have a bed with plenty of space for both of us.”

“Excellent. My name is Wei Yi, and I would love to become intimately familiar with it, and you, of course.”

They smiled at one another for a moment, then looked up as the announcer’s voice finally returned.

“Bleh, that was a terrible experience. Shoving random rags into people’s mouths is not funny in the slightest, you understand that! Ahem, it appears that the Brotherhood of Power have claimed a victory as well, and that the first death of the day has occurred. That is truly unfortunate, and I am compelled to request future combatants to pay careful attention to the way in which they fight, and avoid further deaths if possible,” the announcer proclaimed, as he had to, “Now, the next battle will be between three opponents, and all of them are near the peak of the third realm, so it is bound to be even more exciting! The first combatant…”

He went on to introduce the participants from both sides, although the only one of interest to the three most informed people there, that being the leader of Gang Hong Clan, the vice-leader of the Brotherhood of Power, and Wei Yi, who was able to listen in on most conversations in the arena with the rather obscene range of spiritual perception that she had, only cared about one particular individual from the Gang Hong Clan’s side, and that was the man that Wei Yi had seen earlier, with banner-like cloth on his shoulders.

Wei Yi was interested in his abilities due to the traces of a physique within his body, and of its energy within those banner-like cloths, Luo Lia Kun had observed his performance during the aura test and noticed that although it did not reach as far as Wei Yi’s, it was able to inflict a significant amount of damage to the two nearby stones, and Shi Taihao was curious whether he had made the right choice.

The man himself, a tall figure with black hair and the Luo family’s green eyes, appeared very confident, for he walked in a relaxed manner and took little time to examine his foes, instead simply getting into position and waiting for the beginning of the fight.

When he was finally given leave to act, he moved more swiftly than any of the others on his side, raising his hands into the air, grabbing onto a pair of invisible objects, then slamming them into the ground, as if he had retrieved a banner or a battle standard with each hand and thrust them into the ground.

To the surprise of most, that was what actually occurred, for a pair of great banners fell from the sky, ethereal in appearance yet containing a great quantity of energy, landing with a powerful impact at the very edge of an Emergent Anchor cultivator’s range of control, which, in his case, appeared to be roughly eight metres, far enough away from his foes to avoid them being attacked while also being close enough for the circles of energy that sprouted from the banners to still be able to affect them and the man’s allies.

Every ally that was affected by the banner’s aura was enveloped in a thin veil of pale light, one that stuck tightly to their skin and clothing, and the moment that it was struck by the enemy’s greatsword, the function of it became clear. The low-grade artefact that would normally be able to pierce any common clothing and the skin of those that did not specifically cultivate it failed to do so, giving the one being attacked a magnificent opportunity to strike back, which he was able to capitalise on very successfully, severely injuring the shoulder of his attacker and then withdrawing towards the banner, which seemed to be almost divine in terms of power.

The three foes were affected in an entirely different manner, which they only realised some time later, after they had begun to charge at the man that had set down the banners, Luo Rongmeng. They had thought that he was specialised in defensive techniques, and that his combat abilities would be nigh non-existent, but the moment that he confidently turned towards his nearest uninjured foe, they got the impression that this was not the case.

He reached out towards the incoming fighter and closed his hand into a fist, seemingly accomplishing nothing, for his foes were unable to view his planar energy circulation due to his own spiritual perception obscuring them.

Just as that combatant was about to strike, he felt a source of great danger appear above him, forcing him to stare up to ascertain the true danger he was faced with – the very thought of using his spiritual perception fled his mind, as unpractised as he was with applying that wonderful power of cultivation to genuine combat situations.

A great bronze fist loomed over him, dropping down seemingly in synchronicity with his gaze upwards. It crashed onto his head and thrust him onto the ground, burying his body half-way into the ground before the fist dispersed and allowed for Luo Rongmeng to casually step onto his back as to acquire a slightly higher perspective from which to observe the arena, as well as his two surviving foes and the two allies that chased after them while preparing planar constructs and techniques to deal with them quickly without requiring their teammate to struggle.

However, he just put his hands behind his back and stood calmly once more, as if he couldn’t be touched at all.

When the two foes neared him, he only nodded, watching as the light from the banners enveloped them even further and seemed to seep into their very flesh and bones, although they were too distracted and preoccupied to notice the full extent of this effect until their limbs became incredibly heavy, and every movement appeared to be far too difficult to perform, getting worse and worse with every single moment until they dropped to the ground.

“This… appears to be a victory for the Gang Hong Clan! I wish I had some idea of what just happened, but I don’t think that I do…”

Although he had little understanding of the matter, Wei Yi listed through the enormous list of physiques within her mind and settled on one that appeared to fit, ‘Warlord’s Banner, then. Something that is akin to the Redeemer’s Frost of talismans and banners, and something that is either an absolute pain to deal with, or an absolute blessing on a battlefield. He is on the other side and won’t be able to make the most of this even if I recruited him somehow, so he will be the next person I am absolutely forced to kill when I encounter him.’

She checked the order of the day’s battles but found that she had not been placed against him today, causing a quiet sigh that was nonetheless picked up by Chao Ru, who moved a little closer to her and looked questioningly into her eyes.

“What’s the matter?”

“That guy with the banners looks like he’ll be a pain to deal with, and yet I can’t fight him today. I don’t like this whole slow arena fight nonsense,” she came up with something that would suit her character.

“Most people use the time to relax, in my experience. Fortunately, I’m not dealing with the guy either. I’d probably not survive, given the fact that I’m… subpar, to say the least,” Chao Ru gave an awkward smile, although her tone made it obvious that she wasn’t as comfortable with the matter as she tried to be, “If Luo Lia Kun puts you up against him, could you kick his ass?”

“I think I could. I’m fast, he deals best with slow people. It would work out.”

“Yeah, I think so too…” she sat still for a moment, her head resting just above Wei Yi’s shoulder, “Say, do you rip people’s hearts out frequently?”

“Not too often. Not always convenient or necessary.”

“Hm. I know that I’ve said that I don’t want any long-term relationship, but could you train with, or, at the very least, spar with me? You weren’t even using an artefact, unlike everyone else, but none of those guys could do a thing to you… If I could manage that, then maybe…”

“Sure, although I had the impression that you were interested in a different kind of exercise first,” Wei Yi smiled, grabbing the woman by the waist and moving her closer until she had no choice but to rest on her shoulder, at which point she moved her hand to her ass, tightly holding her with a confidence and deftness that only an insane warrior wielding claws could possibly possess, “You’re not changing your mind, are you?”

“N-No, I’d never do-” before Chao Ru had the chance to decide whether to remain in her grasp or move away and wait for a more private occasion, she saw that the current battle had ended and that it would be her turn next, “Sorry, I have to get going!”

Wei Yi let her go, though not before confirming the slight blush on the woman’s face with her own eyes, “I’ll be waiting, then.”

As Chao Ru left and the others headed off to get a drink or some sustenance pill in order to prepare and replenish their energy, Wei Yi was briefly left alone, and she let the façade drop for a moment as she sighed once again, looking towards the other side of the arena, where the man of banners sat on his seat with a calm expression, not unlike the one he had been displaying all day.

‘Redeemer’s Frost, Warlord’s Banner, perhaps I’ll find a Hunter’s Toxin and Crusader’s Runes and will be able to investigate those rumours of them having some kind of central link… I will see, I suppose…’