Book 2: Chapter 46

ONE LOOK AT the crowd outside the arena and I understood why no one from the block was coming to cheer me on. Where there were once long lines of locals and commoners, there were now queues of hovering skiffs waiting patiently to discharge their passengers at the front of the arena valet style.Inside the prep area was no different, with cultivators arriving with whole teams of attendants and support personnel, from people carrying their weapons and armor, to beauticians and tailors tending to makeup and robes.

I immediately felt out of place, hauling my covered Phalanx Glaive over my shoulder with my axe strapped to my back. I got a fleeting glance or two from some of the cultivators who perhaps recognized me, but most looked from off-world, people I was more used to seeing in my old job as a handler than here in the ring.

Some preliminary match was already underway and was being displayed on the billboard behind the service counter. I watched as the cultivators fought, mesmerized to see exactly what the next level looked like. The cultivators were both airborne and clashing with lightning-quick exchanges and ranged Qi attacks. A cold lump formed in my throat as I suddenly felt as inept as Fia’s three dumbass cousins.

What the hell was I going to do against people who could fly?

Fia and I had practiced some of that, but aerial superiority was something I still didn’t have a solution for. She had eventually won every time.

Ah to hell with, I thought. Fly or no fly, I’ll figure something out.

Something slammed into my shoulder, stirring me out of my thoughts and I came face to face with a long-eared cultivator I’d never seen before. His entourage of lackeys immediately surrounded him, as if I were the one who had just bumped into him or something.

“Out of the way!” one of the lackeys shouted at me. “Can’t you see you’re in the way of a competitor? Go catch up to your master or whoever the hell you’re with.”

I paused dumbfounded for a moment and then burst out laughing.

I guessed I looked so shitty compared to the rest of them he figured me for a porter.

“What’s so damn funny? You softheaded or something?”

I merely sighed.

“Once a handler always a handler, I guess,” I said more to myself than to him, ignoring them all with a straightforward stare of [Indifference].

The guy must have taken it as an insult against him however and took a swing at me as I walked past.

“Rude little bastar—Ahhh!!”

I didn’t duck or flinch, instead letting his knuckles hit my jaw as I concentrated my [Steel Skin] technique in the spot where his fist landed. By the force of his hit, I pegged him for a low-tier Foundation Realm cultivator with basic martial training. Rat shit compared to where I was now, but enough to nearly break his own wrist when punched me.

He danced around shaking his hand as he cursed and screamed.

I glanced back at the cultivator. “A thousand apologies. I seem to have broken your porter’s hand with my face. I’ll be sure to steer clear of his fist so that it doesn’t happen again.”

I walked on, cultivating the anger and resentment spewing from the porter and cultivator alike. The cultivator then turned his wrath on the porter, chastising him for embarrassing the Blue River Clan or some shit.

I suppressed a laugh as I approached the counter and was happy to see the familiar face of Master Bo Ren there. I waited patiently while he served another cultivator and then drew his attention with a wave.

“So he finally shows up!” Bo Ren said with a laugh. “Making my job damn hard, you are.”

“Yeah, I was pushing it to the last second, I know,” I said. “How’s the field looking?”

“Well, you’ve missed a week and a half thus far,” he said, manipulating a device on the counter to change the feed on the display. “But I was able to keep your lucky number of 93 as a starter position. A good deal of the lower matches have taken place already though, so I couldn’t give you an ideal match-up.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I knew the risks. Tell me what you got.”

Bo Ren scrolled down to the bottom of the ranks until he came to my fight.

Rank

Name

Sect

Affiliation

Aspect

Element

Cultivation Realm and Tier

Current

Standing

92

Li Gong Qui

Frozen Cloud Sect

Ice

Core 6th

92

93

The Iron Bull

Furious Lightning Sect

Lightning

Core 5th

93

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Holy crap, are you serious? Li Gong Qui!?”

“Oh, you know him?”

I laughed. “Kind of. Oh man, what kind of fate is this?”

“They say he’s pretty formidable in the Qi department. The Untouchable Ice King they call him.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.”

I recalled my excursion with him as a handler out in the wild. He was a clueless, egotistical dumbass, but he was indeed powerful. When we fought that B-class salamander, he was able to do tons of damage to it with his Ice Techniques. I’d progressed a long way since that time, of course, but surely he had progressed as well.

“What are the odds looking like?”

Bo Ren checked. “16 to 5 in his favor.”

“Damn that bad?”

“Well, he’s a tier higher and his element is strong against yours too, but that’s the best I could get you. Plus, people don’t really know you in this bracket yet,” he said. “It’s a totally different crowd than the Iron and Wooden matches.”

“Yeah, so I’m beginning to understand,” I said, glancing at all the unusual faces about. It was confirmation that what Lo Feng and Hin Wu had said wasn’t bullshit. My fame within the tournament community would likely end tonight. I was going from a big fish in a small pond to a minnow in a lake, starting at the bottom all over again.

“You’re going to need to keep on your toes,” Bo Ren said. “He likes overwhelming his opponents with multiple techniques and he has the Qi concentration to keep it going for a long time.”

The [Odds were growing ever Against Me] but even that might not be enough to balance the scales.

Shit… I thought. I need another edge.

Li Gong Qui was going to be using powerful techniques and I couldn’t rely on just my weapons to counter that. I needed to ensure my defensive techniques were strong enough to protect me from the same. I looked again to my opponents around me, all of them decked out in outlandish fighting costumes and gear.

Then suddenly I had an idea.

“Hey Master Bo Ren, I need a favor.”

“What’s up?”

“You got any body paint back there?”

* * *

It took me a few extra minutes to get ready for the match, but as soon as I stepped onto the stage, I knew it was worth it. The crowd was enormous, bigger even than it had been for the Iron Bracket finale, but the atmosphere was totally different. Gone were the yells and cheers, replaced by complete silence like it was a damn tennis match or something.

Dead silence.

Until I entered.

Murmurs and whispers flowed and an announcer I had never heard before came onto the mic with an accent that kicked the poshness of the event up a notch.

“Ah… and who is this here? Seems to be one portrayed as some kind of devil…” There was another pause, as if he were looking up my name on a roster. “Ah… a local entry. And winner of the local Iron Bracket tournament… the Iron Bull, apparently.”

I could count the number of cheers I heard at the mention of my moniker, short claps in a space otherwise devoid of sound and filled instead with confused stares. And I couldn’t blame them. My bare chest, face, arms and legs were all covered in red body paint, save for my hands that were covered by thick gloves. I waved my Iron Bull mask for them all to see, but it barely got a rise from the snobbish crowd.

That didn’t matter, however.

The pantomime had achieved its purpose.

The Iron Bull was now a clown that entered the ring covered in red body paint and had a full-faced iron mask with bull’s horns. I had spent a few extra minutes modifying the iron of the mask itself, cutting away the sides of the helmet that connected with the horns. Now there were holes that led to the hollow interior of the horns themselves. A hollow interior that I could hopefully squeeze my own horns into when the time was right.

A trumpet sounded and a sedan chair being carried by no less than eight porters entered the ring. The announcer came back on the mic again.

“And now, entering the arena, we have the second in line to the Grand Patriarch of the Frozen Cloud Sect, hailing from the planet Azul, dubbed the Untouchable Ice King, the young master Li Gong Qui.”

Golf claps reigned as the sedan chair made a painstakingly slow entrance with only a gloved hand emerging from a window to perform an elegant wave. Stopping a few paces from me, the porters finally lowered the chair and the door to the sedan opened. A short, middle-aged man in dark robes hopped down and placed a set of steps at the bottom of the sedan. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

I recognized him immediately.

“Master Sen Cho!” I said with a short bow. “Greetings.”

He froze at the mention of his name and peered at me quizzically. Then like lightning striking, recognition lit his face as his eyes grew wide.

“Handler?” he said. “Is that you?”

I grinned and gave him a wink.

He looked even more stupefied, but was unable to respond further before Li Gong Qui made his grand entrance, descending down the small flight of stairs. He was decked out in his sky-blue robes, with purple and gold trim and was still wearing that ridiculous crescent moon shaped hat on his head. He looked all of twenty but carried himself with the air of a man twice that age. He waved to the crowd again eliciting more golf claps as two women descended the steps behind him. They were dressed the same as him, wearing pale blue gowns and instead of hats, small tiaras on their heads. Their faces were painted thick with makeup like geishas, vibrant red lips and blush on pale white skin.

I recalled them from before, although I couldn’t quite remember their names.

They made a big show of placing kisses on both sides of his cheeks and the crowd responded with more golf claps.

“The ever-fashionable Li Gong Qi receiving kisses of good luck from his lovely concubines,” the announcer said with a deadpan enthusiasm worthy of a golf commentator. “Not that he may need it according to the odds. But locals here say the Iron Bull is an unpredictable one. Let’s see if he lives up to that reputation.”

“Indeed, let us see,” Li Gong Qui said glancing me up and down. He then leaned back to whisper to Sen Cho. “Sen Cho? Why is the opponent’s skin red? Is it a fashion? Or is it a local race I do not know?”

“I do not know, master,” Sen Cho said. “Fashion perhaps? But you have met him before.”

“Him?” Li Gong Qui cocked his head back as if insulted. “Certainly, you are mistaken. This One would never consort with the likes of such a one.”

“He was our handler some months ago, do you recall? He found you your first core. A giant fire salamander.”

Li Gong Qui laughed. “Surely you jest. Sen Cho, ask the opponent if this is true.”

“Master Iron Bull, can you confirm—”

“Yes, it’s true,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter. The boy you met then is long gone.”

Sen Cho chuckled. “So it seems. Not sure how you did it, lad, but well done.”

The lemonade in his soul was palpable and I cultivated it with pride.

“Sen Cho!” Li Gong Qui shouted. “What is it he is saying to you? Does he confirm that you are the liar or is he? For I do not know this red-skinned bull man at all. This, I am sure!”

Sen Cho politely bowed. “It was a misunderstanding, master. Clearly you have never met the man you are about to face today in combat. I apologize for the confusion.”

Li Gong Qui nodded. “As rightly you should, Sen Cho.” He then snapped his fingers. “Another kiss for luck to wipe away that bad misfortune Sen Cho has clearly cast upon me.”

The girls giggled like idiots and did as they were told, placing two more kisses on his cheeks. I stifled my headshake with [Indifference] and shared another private smile with Master Sen Cho before he and the women embarked upon the sedan chair to leave the arena once again.

“Prepare, bull man, or whatever you are,” Li Gong Qui said as he summoned his Qi, whipping up a flurry of snowflakes around him. “You are to face a royal demise this day. The Untouchable Ice King of Planet Azul shall decimate you.”

I couldn’t sense Qi but I knew he had to be packing a shit ton of it.

And I couldn’t afford to be taken down by a stray blast I wasn’t prepared for.

“[Mark of the Demon]…”

As I whispered the technique, I could feel my horns growing and conforming to the shape of the helmet’s own. It was uncomfortable at first, like squeezing my head into a vice, but I endured the pain and after a few seconds it seemed to subside. My skin color too had changed, turning red, but the crowd would be none the wiser now.

A horn sounded the start of the match and Li Gong Qui flew away from me like an arrow, leaving a blast of frost trailing behind him. “[Lancing Cloud]!”

I reacted in an instant, summoning my [Steel Skin] technique. The blast hit like a fire hydrant spewing slush and the force alone knocked me off my feet and sent me skidding across the arena.

Holy crap!

I slammed into the ground as the spray pushed me along, finally coming to a stop a couple hundred yards away. Li Gong Qui was indeed an idiot, but he was not one to be fooled with, that was for sure.

As I flipped to my feet, I surveyed the collateral damage around me. The ground had been torn up and frozen mid blast, forming huge icicles all around me. Had I not used [Steel Skin] in Demon mode I could only imagine what damage the blast would have done to my body, but for now I seemed to have resisted it just fine.

Li Gong Qui was still half a mile away, flying on a cloud of frozen air. He waved his staff, preparing another attack.

“[Divine Avalanche]!”

The sky above me darkened as something covered the brilliance of the stadium lights.

I knew the attack all too well and braced myself as a hundred tons of ice fell earthward towards me. I went on the offensive, stowing my axe to double hand the Phalanx Glaive.

“[Lightning Three Log Chop]!”

My [Demon]-enhanced technique went off like a cluster bomb, shattering the iceberg and sending currents of electricity crackling through the air. I flipped and landed on my feet, showers of hail and chunks of ice falling all around me. I looked for Li Gong Qui and saw him already preparing for another attack.

I fought back with my axe, sending [Lightning Arc Strikes] sailing in his direction, but Li Gong Qui lived up to his moniker as he weaved between them on his frozen cloud, untouchable as ever. He paused long enough to send a shower of icy crystals falling from the sky, forcing me to duck and weave myself as he then repositioned himself even further away.

The battle dragged on, me countering the supercharged Qi attacks with techniques of my own. But the score wasn’t changing any. Just as I feared, with complete air superiority, he could drag the match out to its end and win with a single hit. And as skittish as he seemed of getting hit, that was likely his strategy.

Damn coward, I thought. But what could I do?

With the [Mark of the Demon] in use I was burning Frenzy fast and the apathy of the crowd did nothing to help me replenish it. The commentators were as monotoned and flat as ever, giving snarky commentary wrapped in posh accents.

“Another ice attack by Li Gong Qui, clearly displaying his versatility here tonight.”

“Indeed,” another commentator chimed in. “Also, an interesting choice of weapons by the Iron Bull. Perhaps someone should have told him he’d be facing a Qi master. Good luck using those I’d say. Just under thirteen minutes left in the match. Looks like another easy win by the Untouchable Ice King, Li Gong Qui.”

That suddenly got me pissed.

Who the hell said he’d won already? But one look at the scoreboard and I couldn’t deny the truth.

Li Gong Qui vs The Iron Bull

Odds: 19:4

Time - 12:42

Li Gong Qui

Iron Bull

16

0

Shit…

His victory was as good as in the bag unless I did something about it. I racked my brain as I dodged icicles and threw [Lightning Arcs], desperate to get at least one hit in.

I paused as an idea struck.

My Frenzy was low, but I’d have to risk pushing it a little further.

I tapped into the subtle anger caused by the thought of a tool like Li Gong Qui actually beating me, causing fresh Frenzy to flow from my Flame.

Hell no… I’m not going down like that. Screw this guy!

I bided my time, waiting for him to attack with the technique I wanted, inching ever closer to him. I engaged [Mark of the Beast] in half form, feeling the pull of my lip as my canines grew beneath my helmet into fangs. My fingernails too lengthened, forming claws but were concealed by my gloves. Only my limbs grew slightly longer, but constantly staying in motion I prayed it would be a detail too fine for anyone to notice.

“Come on, come,” I urged. “Do it, damn it! Do it!”

And then finally, after a few more minutes of dodging, he did.

“[Divine Avalanche]!”

I leapt as soon as he annunciated the technique, sailing towards the giant iceberg crashing down on top of me.

“[Steel Lightning]!!”

My body rippled with energy as the advanced technique took form, supercharged by [Mark of the Demon]. I’d used it only within my inner mind before, never field tested it once, but now I was going to give it the testing of a lifetime. I gritted my teeth as I flew undaunted into the opposing technique and the huge chunk of ice shattered with a crackling boom! of thunder.

I felt nothing, my [Steel Lightning] technique holding true.

Heck yeah!

But that was only half the plan. I channeled all my Frenzy into my reflexes next, now heightened by [Mark of the Demon]. The world slowed to a crawl as the technique sent my senses into overdrive. The shattering iceberg became a still picture frozen in time and I bounded from ice chunk to ice chunk, leaping ever closer to reach Li Gong Qui.

With the speed I was travelling, I was sure he couldn’t even see me, much less react. For all intents and purposes, I had just improvised my own form of [Flash Step], ping-ponging off the ice chunks to teleport right in front of Li Gong Qui’s Face.

I was spent for Frenzy, but I didn’t need much for what I had to do next.

“[Three Log Chop]!”

I brought my axe right down on top of his stupid moon-shaped hat, crushing the thing as I slammed him towards the ground full force. I rocketed off an ice chunk and flew right after him, crashing into the arena floor next to him.

I could have landed on his body, but there was no need. Li Gong Qui was a Qi master, a mage for all intents and purposes, and his body cultivation had all the ineptitude to show for it.

The dumbass was already out cold.

“And the winner, it appears… is the Iron Bull.”

The announcer said it with more surprise than enthusiasm and the lackluster response of sparse claps from the crowd was underwhelming as hell. Before I could even leave the arena the names on the scoreboard changed and attendants began cleaning the ring of ice.

“Next match, Shun Sao versus Yu Wang Fu.”

I suddenly understood firsthand why it would be safe for Hin Wu to attack me now. The matches at this level were assembly-line unimportant. And so was my ranking. Number 92 out of a hundred on the Gold Bracket charts.

The sedan chair returned to collect Li Gong Qui and the bastard came around with a choking cough as Master Sen Cho applied some smelling salts. He then whined and cried, rolling on the ground as his two concubines fawned over him, mothering him like a child.

Master Sen Cho gave me a bow filled with lemonade.

“A thousand thanks for sparing his life, Master Iron Bull,” he said. “He is an intolerable one, but he is all I have.”

I smiled and returned the bow. “Take care of him, Master Sen Cho.”

By the time Sen Cho pushed Li Gong Qui back into the sedan chair, he seemed back to his old self again.

“Explain it, Sen Cho!” he cried. “Why has this happened? Why is the score so, yet they assume I have lost?”

“He knocked you unconscious, master. Those are the rules.”

“Yes, but why?! Explain!”

“I just did.”

“Unacceptable! Summon my barrister! I wish to appeal! You must explain this to them, Sen Cho! You must!”

I could no longer suppress my laughter as I gave Master Sen Cho a final wave.

The Gold Bracket was a strange new place indeed.

* * *

I left the arena after washing off the body paint and, not much to my surprise, found no one waiting outside to greet me there. No crowds or groupies, just an endless line of skiffs waiting to collect their bored patrons once the final match was over.

As I began the walk home, I kept my guard up though.

A lack of fans meant ample opportunity for someone else to be lying in wait.

I’d gotten halfway and was almost starting to believe Fia’s Shadows had been right and that Hin Wu had indeed left the city, but a sudden chill up my spine told me they were dead wrong. I paused to glance over my shoulder.

And Hin Wu was standing right there.

“Shit!” I exclaimed and jumped immediately into a defensive stance grabbing my axe.

How she’d managed to get that close to me without noticing, I still didn’t know, but one look at her and I knew why the Shadows assumed she was gone. The woman had changed her appearance completely. Gone was the fiery mane of red hair, replaced by a short gray bob. Her robes too were of ordinary fashion, dark and fitting of a commoner or servant. Only her large stature gave any inkling of her former appearance, but even that she hid by stooping over like a crone.

“You can relax, Iron Bull,” she said. “I have no intention of killing you tonight.”

I glanced around for Fia’s Shadows.

None of them in sight.

“Congratulations by the way,” Hin Wu said. “Your victory was impressive. You’ve advanced much since you competed last.”

“What do you want?” I said, choking up on my axe.

“To buy you a drink,” Hin Wu said before turning to walk away. She then stopped to look over her shoulder at me, lemonade dripping from her soul. “There is one last proposition I wish to discuss with you, Iron Bull. One I think you might indeed enjoy.”