“All teams,” Elder Song called out, “proceed to different sides of the arena.”

  “This way,” Rhee said, moving toward the western edge of the stage.

  “We should stay back once the fight starts,” Bo said in a hushed voice, moving to Rhee’s side. “Let them fight each other until they are weak and tired. With our reputation, I bet they’ll be reluctant to attack us unprovoked.”

  “What honor would there be in that?” Lei asked in his booming voice. “This is a contest of battle. Of martial prowess. Of glory! We need to win by fighting!”

  “Ishin?” Rhee asked. They were nearly at their side of the arena. The other three teams had assumed their own positions, and Ishin noticed that the Crystal Sword Sect was to their right, the Twin Moon Sect to their left, and the Iron Root School across from them.

  “Is one of these teams weaker than the others?” he asked the team.

  “Iron Root School,” Bo answered immediately. “They aren’t even considered a true martial school. Just one of the dozens of minor schools that can barely afford entry into the tournament.”

  Ishin looked across the wide stage to the Iron Root team. They were dressed in grey and brown robes. Only one of them carried a sword.

  Too far away.

  In contrast, as Ishin looked to the right, he saw that the purple and white dressed disciples of the Crystal Sword Sect all carried swords.

  With a name like theirs I’m not surprised.

  Ishin considered the final team from the Twin Moon Sect. Curiously, none of their disciples carried any weapons.

  They must be like Lei and use body enhancement techniques. Ishin assessed the possibilities again and realized that they may rely on ranged techniques instead.

  “I think both Lei and Bo are right. We need to fight, but should focus on a single team. We can still use our original plan that way and allow the other two to weaken each other before we move in to finish them off.”

  “A sound suggestion,” Rhee acknowledged. “But we can’t assume that the other teams will leave us alone while we’re fighting the first team. As you saw during the selection process, sometimes the weaker combatants will try to team up against a stronger threat before fighting amongst themselves.”

  She’s right.

  “However,” Rhee continued, her mind racing, “we might be able to deter them from trying that.”

  “What are you proposing?” Bo asked.

  “We do what Nie Hai and Ouyang Xue did during the selection process. Make someone, or in this case a team, an example to scare the others.”

  “All teams, listen carefully,” Elder Song called out.

  The Eight Oaths Resolve team turned their attention towards Elder Song.

  “We’ll charge the Twin Moon Sect team once the match starts,” Rhee whispered. “Bo, guard our flank in case either other team tries to fight. We’ll defeat them quickly to scare the other teams.”

  “In order to pass this round, each competitor needs to obtain one of these.” Holding out her hand, a yellow sphere manifested above her palm. “Once a competitor obtains one, they only need to successfully leave the stage with it. Those who succeed will move on to the next round.”

  “By the Heavens, what?” Bo exclaimed, his composure gone.

  “That’s different,” Rhee ground out.

  “We don’t have to beat the others to win?” Ishin asked no one.

  Lei only laughed.

  Peering around, Ishin saw that the other teams were just as confused by this task.

  “New plan,” Rhee said quickly. “Depending on how many of those spheres there are—we’ll each sprint off to claim one. If there are more than four, I bet there will be eight, we go off in pairs.”

  Ishin was amazed at how quickly Rhee managed to adapt to the changing situation. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Now then,” Elder Song continued, her voice even more enthusiastic than before. Ishin had a bad premonition. “I’m sure you’d all like to know how you’ll obtain these spheres.”

  A wide set of doors on the eastern side of the arena wall opened up. Four wooden constructs, each ten feet tall, walked through the door. Each step they took shook the ground. Ishin’s eyes went wide at the sight.

  “What… what are those?”

  “Golems,” Rhee answered, pinching the space between her eyebrows.

  “Golems?”

  “Constructs that can operate independently,” Bo explained, staring at the autonomous constructs. “They can typically follow a single set of commands and are extremely advanced spirit tools.” His brows furrowed in worry. “I’ve never seen four of them at once though.”

  “How strong do you think they are?” Lei asked excitedly.

  The four golems stepped onto the stage and then assumed a square formation, each facing one of the different teams.

  “The spheres you need to win are inside each of these golems, crafted by the Kurai Clan’s own artificers.” Elder Song held up a single finger. “Each golem only contains a single sphere, so only four competitors will proceed to the second round of the Exhibition Tournament.”

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  Ishin used his third eye and detected a chakra buried deep inside the golem. It radiated more power than an Initial Realm chakra. Adept Realm!

  But cultivators at the Adept Realm had two chakras. The golem only possessed one.

  The chakra must have been harvested from something in the Adept Realm and used to power the golem. It won’t be as strong as a true Adept Realm combatant, but it’ll still be stronger than any of us.

  “Finally,” Elder Song continued, “the Righteous Mantle Sect has provided healers to tend to any wounded competitors at the conclusion of the matches.”

  Ishin’s eyes went wide.

  There are no rules against crippling or killing each other?

  “What should we do, Captain?” Lei asked.

  Elder Song brought her hand down with a chop. “Let the first match of the Exhibition Tournament begin!”

  “We’ll follow our second plan,” Rhee called out. She began to run toward the golem facing them. “I’ll trap it. Lei and Bo, rush in and bring it down. We’ll deal with the other teams afterward.”

  “On it!” Lei beamed. He followed Rhee and within moments darted ahead.

  Ishin and Bo advanced as well, prepared to follow their assigned roles. The whole time, the wooden golem remained stationary. Ishin didn’t notice any eyes on the construct, but he got the impression that it was observing them somehow.

  Rhee stopped when she was thirty feet away. Shadow tendrils emerged from beneath the golem and wrapped around its limbs, trapping it in place.

  “Ishin, watch our flanks in case the other teams try something!”

  “Understood!” He fell back behind the others and assessed the other teams.

  So far they’re all focusing on their own golems.

  The Crystal Sword disciples had drawn their swords and taken up a diamond formation of their own. To the left, the Twin Moon Sect disciples were launching crescent-shaped projectiles at their golem.

  A loud boom from ahead drew Ishin’s attention. Lei was up in the air, falling back toward his teammates, a wide grin on his face. The golem in turn was lurching backward, a sizeable crack now upon its chest—the aftermath of a powerful punch. Rhee’s tendrils kept the golem locked in place. Bo had moved in front of their captain, ready to defend.

  Well done, Lei!

  The golem ceased its fall and snapped forward. Its arms shot upward, breaking the immobilizing shadow tendrils.

  “Get ready, Bo,” Rhee called out.

  Bo brought his shields up immediately, preparing. Lei finally landed behind Rhee and Bo, but in front of Ishin.

  The golem swiped at the remaining tendrils with its now free arms, removing the last of the bindings. Ishin watched it take a single leap, shooting into the air and landing directly in front of Bo.

  It can move that fast?

  Like the training posts Ishin had practiced with so many times, the golem’s arms lacked any fingers. Its single thick limb swung down upon Bo. The metal cultivator brought his shields up to meet the impact. A loud thunk echoed from the strike, but Bo remained firm.

  “Coming!” Lei declared as he darted forward.

  Bo shoved the golem’s limb back. Six shadow fists appeared, colliding with the golem. They failed to crack the wooden shell but managed to push it back, preventing a second attack. Lei, now at the golem’s feet, jumped up and successfully landed a second strike at the exact same position as before.

  Splinters flew from the golem’s chest, revealing a hollow opening as it fell onto its back. Lei dropped to the ground and rotated his arm.

  It must be sore after landing two blows. I wonder if that golem’s wood is as strong as the school’s training posts.

  Another series of tendrils emerged around the downed golem, pinning it against the ground.

  “Hurry up, Brother Lei,” Rhee commanded with a strained voice.

  “On it!”

  Lei leaped into the air and began a quick descent toward the golem, no doubt aiming for the same central spot as before.

  “Pull him back, Rhee!” Ishin suddenly shouted.

  Not hesitating, Rhee conjured a shadow fist that rapidly reached out and grabbed Lei before he could complete his attack. Lei was yanked backward just in time to avoid four crescent blades that flew from the left.

  That was close.

  Lei landed beside Bo and glared at the source of the attack. “Cowards!”

  Two Twin Moon disciples smirked at him, each holding another pair of crescent blades. Behind them, their other two team members were still flinging their techniques at the golem.

  I didn’t think they’d try to engage us before dealing with their own golem. Ishin frowned at the development. We didn’t plan for this.

  “Take care of them, Ishin,” Rhee ordered.

  The wood golem pushed itself to its feet, breaking free of the shadow restraints.

  “Lei, prepare to finish it off. Bo, move to assist Ishin if needed.”

  Bo grunted and moved to a position between their team and the Twin Moon disciples.

  Ishin twirled his spear around. “I’ll take care of them.” Now it was his turn to grin.

  Cycling qi to his legs, Ishin charged the two enemy competitors. They threw their crescent blades at Ishin, but he brought up his spear and deflected the projectiles. Looks of astonishment appeared on their faces, but they conjured another set of weapons. But by then, Ishin was already in front of them.

  He thrust his spear at the woman on the right. She dodged left, but Ishin merely transitioned his thrust into a swing. Ishin’s spear collided with her right shoulder, knocking her aside.

  Instead of pursuing that opponent, Ishin pointed his fingers at the other Twin Moon combatant. His enemy readied his weapons to parry a thrust, but Ishin had other plans. An indigo spark of lightning appeared at the tips of his fingers and then shot at the rival cultivator.

  With the technique’s speed and their close proximity, the Twin Moon cultivator had no chance to dodge. The bolt ripped through the unfortunate man’s left shoulder, leaving behind a searing hole.

  “AAAH!”

  In severe pain, the Twin Moon cultivator dropped their crescent blades. Ishin wasted no time and thrust his spear through the man’s other shoulder to completely incapacitate him.

  Another cry of pain escaped the man’s lips as Ishin yanked his spear back. Dropping to his knees, Ishin could tell that the competitor had been neutralized.

  There’s no rule against it, but I don’t need to kill them.

  He spun around to face the other Twin Moon cultivator. She wore a stunned expression, evidently intimidated by Ishin’s display.

  I’ll move then.

  Ishin charged at the woman and made several thrusts. She managed to dodge one, block another, but the third pierced her right thigh. Impressively, she didn’t cry out, instead opting to try striking at Ishin while his spear was lodged inside of her.

  Ishin shifted his head to the side, avoiding the cut, and then punched the woman square in the face, cycling qi into his arm to enhance his strength. Her head snapped back, but she was still conscious. Ishin withdrew his spear while she was temporarily stunned and smacked the end of his spear against her face, knocking her to the floor and rendering her unconscious.

  Two down.

  *                *            *

  Off along the edge of the arena floor, Dong Jing observed the fight with keenly focused eyes.

  They have a lightning cultivator.