As the hours passed, so did the next fights, until the first round was finished. From thirty-two young men and women, they had been reduced to sixteen. Everyone was already jittery during that first round, but those who were left were getting truly restless, as, with just another win, they’d get a prize that money couldn’t afford. As Elder Lung Rong had said earlier, those who would manage to get in the top eight would automatically get a chance at entering the Sacred Wave Sect.

  Any other year, only the finalists would be tested by a Sect from outside their city, and a simple regional one at that, not one that had its power and influence recognised in the entire kingdom like that year.

  Being accepted by a second-rate one would already be a great boon that none, bar a few with far too high standards, could refuse, but one of such calibre could offer resources in an entirely different league, be it in terms of techniques, pills, training, and more.

  Their name was known far and wide for a reason.

  Chang Heng, despite his anxieties, couldn’t help but be swept up by that wave of feverish energy all of his peers seemed to share, his foot tapping on the ground as a break was announced.

  At that, Xin stood and left to have a chat with some of the other participants, only after a smily “bye-byee”.

  Looking around, the only thing he could do was walk up the stands of the Colosseo and meet the people who waited for him.

  As he struggled to get through the growing mass of people, he finally reached the first person he wanted to see: his little sister Xia.

  She stood there, in an opening forcefully created by the group of children who so vehemently followed her, back straight and chin raised with confidence, her closed fists resting at her side as if imitating the pose of a hero of legends.

  The kids, who kept pushing away all the onlookers, stared at her.

  She wants to appear calm and confident, I see. I wonder what she did to get all these kids to follow her… There is so much of her I missed over the years. She never was one to only play in front of our window.

  “Nice to see you, Big Bro!”

  “Yo, stranger. I’ve never heard anyone greet me like that. Who are you truly?”

  “Hmg- Heng Bro, come on! I have an image to keep!” She pouted.

  “That’s new, I thought your image was that of an annoying brat who could never shut up. Has it changed lately? Did you upgrade it to house pet, finally? ‘Cause if you did, I clearly was the one who called you that first, and as your inspiration, I want a coin every time someone calls you that.”

  “I- You- Stop being so smug! I was here to wish you good luck, not bicker like children!”

  Her tone was annoyed and embarrassed, but he could see the relief in her eyes. This was the dynamic they had shared for years, a side of themselves they only showed to each other and no one else. To have such a moment of normalcy…

  He opened his arms, and waited.

  She stared at him for a few seconds. Looked in one direction, then the other. Her cheeks were slightly reddened

  Finally, she rushed at him and gave him a hug, his arms gently closing around her. She was holding tight, but for once, it didn’t hurt. He caressed her hair, a smile on his face as he swore he’d never forget moments like this.

  …

  A few minutes later, she was gone again, bringing with her the weird gathering of red-haired children. It had been a short interaction, but he had felt his mood shift from something so small.

  That moment made Chang Heng feel even more grateful for awakening as a Cultivator. If he hadn’t, by then his bones would have been so brittle that a hug like that… well, the fear of hurting him would have stopped her from giving it at all.

  As his smile slowly faded, a familiar aura got closer, calling for his attention.

  Chang Jian was easily distinguished in the crowd: copper red hair, robes of a deeper shade of the same colour, a beauty unbefitting of his younger age, and a sheathed katana by his side. People parted before him to let him walk.

  The whispers of the day before had been glorifying, telling the story of a hero, but in that moment, they were more… mixed.

  “He beat all the competition last year…”

  “... killed more rampaging monsters than anyone else in the Acclimation stage…”

  “... the Underground Arena Bloodbath…”

  “A sword master like no others…”

  Through all the voices, his confident brown eyes focused only on him as he walked down the stairs.

  Chang Heng wasn’t sure of how he felt about his cousin. On one hand, he was grateful for all he did to help him. He knew that all the time spent training him was time not spent getting better, which he was starting to realise, the boy was obsessed with.

  On the other hand, he was probably the one who proposed his challenge first, the reason why he was at risk of not seeing his family ever again.

  Yet, as he walked with that particular smile, the one he used when he was teaching him a lesson… Chang Heng could only close his mouth and wait for him to talk.

  “You suck with girls, you know that?”

  “You already told me, and apparently, I don’t. Are you here to say anything useful, or to try and get on my nerves?”

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  “Something useful. I just came to repeat it, and I did. Did you understand, this time?”

  “My best guess is that you actually do want to get on my nerves, and that’s the lesson. Something about keeping my cool in a fight, or something.”

  “That would have been another good lesson, but I’m starting to see there is a limit even to what I can teach you. So, no, that was a pretty bad guess.”

  The shorter boy did his best to stay calm, but Heavens if it was hard to be whenever his cousin spoke like that. With the time they spent together, he knew he was supposed to try again and again until one of them got bored. But usually it was about fighting, or understanding your opponent, not… girls.

  What did he want him to say, exactly? That he got lucky, and luck was always a factor? That he had talents he didn’t know about yet, as he had charmed her while thinking he wasn’t capable of it? That he actually could learn really fast, just on different topics?

  No, these all sound too good. He doesn’t do praise, not to anyone who isn’t himself at least. What could it be then?

  “Ugh… can you give me a tip, please?”

  “Oh, come on, older Cousin. Don’t talk about ‘tips’, you should know I don’t do sex jokes. As the respectable person that I am, I don’t say the wrong things out loud.”

  Chang Heng could only give him back the flattest stare of his life.

  Why am I talking to him? Do I even have the time to?

  He looked around, seeing the spectators slowly disperse, going back to their seats at a leisurely pace. Down in the lowest ring all around the arena, about ten of the sixteen remaining fighters were waiting. He noticed Xin talking with a boy and a girl in black clothes, and she seemed much more confident than when she was chatting with him. It was a good sign that she kind of lost her cool with him, right?

  Taking his mind off that worry, he went back to focusing on his cousin.

  Sure, I can give him some time.

  “Please… let’s just get back on the main topic, alright? I have no idea how I being allegedly bad with women could be a useful lesson for my future, so please, give me a tip, again.”

  “Oh, I just did, but I’ll throw in another one. Use yesterday’s lesson as a starting point.”

  I am stressed out enough already, I don’t need a cryptic teacher moment here!

  “Listen, I get that it’s unusual, but maybe I’m just her type, or something. I don’t see why you have to make such a big deal about it, to be honest. Can we just, instead, focus on something else right now? I still have some time before my fight, and the guy seems quite dangerous. If you could give me some last minute tips, I’d be really grateful.”

  A couple of seconds passed, while they just stared at each other.

  “Sure, I can do that. It’s a bit sad that you’ve yet to understand what I’m trying to teach you, but at least you are asking for one of the few right things now. Your opponent does seem a step above the usual Cultivator, at least for your level of experience.”

  Without waiting, Chang Jian started walking down the stairs to the seats reserved for the tournament participants, and sat in the row just before it. He patted the back of the seat right in front of him.

  “Alright, come here. I will not tell you anything about your opponent, you should learn to figure that stuff up on your own. But I can give you some tips on improving yourself in these few minutes.”

  As Chang Heng got to his seat, he noticed again the figure of Xin in the distance. She was getting closer until she moved her gaze a bit and saw who was sitting beside him. She stopped dead in her tracks and found another place to stay, limiting herself to a wave of her hand at the boy.

  He waved back, motioning at her to come there, but she refused with a shy gesture.

  The boy chalked it up to the mixed reputation of his cousin, and the image she had of him for some reason, and accepted he wouldn’t see her until the end of this round. Maybe even more, since, if they both won, they’d end up on the opposite sides of the arena.

  “Well, she may be a shy girl, but trust me, she isn’t thy girl for sure.”

  He could only cringe at the awful pun. The fact that he needed so desperately to share his thoughts on Xin and him so clear was only a side note at that point. It was much less painful to hear those rather than the pun itself, at least.

  I feel like this guy could kill someone better with his words than with his sword. Swords. Words. Hey, this could easily become a great pun…

  He felt compelled to share this idea, even if it would probably end up making someone want to end their own life.

  In response, Chang Jian gave the biggest, truest smile he’d ever seen him make.

  “You just earned the best short lesson I can give you, my dear Cousin-for-now. We’re going to talk about…”

  …

  Time passed, and the various fights began once again. This time, there were going to be only eight in total, with Chang Heng’s as the sixth.

  Once again, the matches were either slow and calculated when between those coming from noble or wealthy families, or rough, fast and violent when they involved the few remaining of the lower classes, just Xin and one other boy he hadn’t heard the name of.

  One in particular was the fifth, the one which would decide his opponent. It involved Xin and a strong-looking girl from one of the historically always-important families, the Le clan, just a step too low in influence to be considered part of the noble ones.

  As soon as it started, they raced at each other. The bigger girl, Le Hui, was controlled and stable in her movements, ready for a sudden rush of speed from the other, who was instead… feral in her movements, diving headfirst without a care, only aiming to attack with no care of what would happen to her to do it.

  Le Hui blocked a hit, then another, then saw her opportunity and struck back, a vicious straight imbued with energy, with Xin fully accepting the hit. A thud could be heard even from the seats as the fist impacted on her belly, but with a grunt, she wrapped herself around the stronger girl’s arm and torso, forcing her to hold her weight or fall on the ground.

  She made the mistake of trying to stay on her feet, and the nimble girl managed to quickly get a proper hold of her arm and twist her leg behind her opponent’s head. In that moment, all that would take for her to dislocate the shoulder the wrong way was a push against it.

  For a second, she seemed to think about it, hesitate, but her mercy was put away the second later as she started to put her whole body’s strength against the other girl’s arm. Immediately, Le Hui responded by slamming them both on the ground, less trying to hurt her opponent and more to just force her to move.

  In the following minutes, Le Hui tried time and time again to defend herself, as Xin kept trying to break any of her joints. At some points, she managed to score a hit back, seemingly gaining some space before the feral girl came back.

  A few in the crowd couldn’t help but notice how some of her movements were a little too elastic, probably the work of a technique, especially those who would have to fight her later, taking notes of the two young women’s actions.

  When Xin got a proper hold on her opponent’s neck, the match ended with a choked surrender.

  Immediately, she stood and walked back to a random empty seat, giving an apologetic look at her opponent, her breath missing, as the referee loudly proclaimed the result of the match- her victory.

  Next, two names were called: Xie Mo and Chang Heng.