“It’s more challenging this year,” Kurai Lan said from the side of the Golden Arena floor.

  A young woman with a heart-shaped face, dark hair kept in a ponytail, and a beauty mark below her left eye, Kurai Lan was the most beautiful woman Dong Jing had ever seen. Her beauty, combined with her cultivation talent and kind personality, would have made her the prize of the Kurai Clan had she not been born to a distant branch family. Dong Jing didn’t care, though. Kurai or not, he had fallen in love with Lan for who she was. Her heritage only made marrying her more challenging. But Dong Jing was not one to run away from a challenge.

  “A nice change. A fight of this caliber will truly separate the weak from the strong.” Honestly, Jing hoped that future iterations of the Exhibition Tournament would follow this format.

  Jing stood close to Lan, leaning against the wall. His team—the strongest disciples the Red Burning Comet Martial School had—waited beside him, observing the current group of teams fighting in the first round. The Three Blessed Petals School’s team was in this match, making it a given as to who would advance. Jing spared a glance at the only combatant worth his attention.

  Chu Winxi, heir to the Three Blessed Petals School, moved with a grace that was reminiscent of a leaf gliding on a breeze. Curved sword in hand, she dodged the attacks of an entire team, smoothly dispatching them one at a time.

  She’s not even using any techniques. Only skill.

  Jing’s warrior spirit felt a pulling urge to fight the sword cultivator. He knew that Chu Winxi and Zhu Rhee would be his greatest obstacles in this tournament. Even with his recently gained fifth layer, victory would not be assured.

  “Does she catch your eye?” Lan teased. Normally, only tournament participants were allowed on the ground floor of the Golden Arena. However, rules didn’t always apply to the Kurai Clan.

  Jing rolled his eyes. “Not like that.”

  Lan’s lips curved into a playful smile. “I know.”

  One of the golems collapsed to the floor with a thundering boom, defeated. “She’s good though,” Lan remarked, now watching the match.

  “She’s undoubtedly the greatest sword cultivator here,” Jing admitted. The counter to my spear dao.

  “Who do you think would win, her or Zhu Rhee?”

  “Zhu Rhee’s shadow techniques are a complication that makes it hard to predict.” Her match had shown him that much. “If Chu Winxi got trapped by those shadow tendrils, I don’t think she’d have an easy time escaping.”

  “And you?” Lan asked wryly.

  Jing folded his arms. He had spent an entire summer training with Lan last year. Aside from his masters, she knew his capabilities better than anyone else. “I wouldn’t allow myself to get caught.”

  “A bold claim, Jing,” Lan laughed.

  “The truth. From what I saw, that technique only works on stationary targets. As long as I keep moving, I won’t fall victim to it.” He gestured at the spear leaning against the wall beside him. “And she doesn’t have the defenses to guard against my spear. Not with mere shadow constructs.”

  “The winners of the eighth match of the first round are Chu Winxi, Tang Min, and Jiang Peng of the Three Blessed Petals School, and Tan Fei of the Howling Woods,” Elder Song declared.

  Only three members of the Three Blessed Petals School made it to the next round?

  Jing quickly examined the arena stage, trying to ascertain what happened. Sure enough, one combatant dressed in the green and yellow robes of the Three Blessed Petals School lay flat on the ground, one leg twisted at an unnatural angle.

  “What happened?” he asked his team.

  “What are you referring to, Jing?” Ma Lian, his closest teammate, asked for clarification. She was an impressive woman who fought with a chain whip that she kept wrapped around her waist.

  “How did someone from a no-name team make it to the next round instead of a disciple of the Three Blessed Petals School?”

  “He struck her from behind,” Lan answered. Jing turned to look at his love. Lan continued explaining, pointing at different sections of the stadium as she narrated. “After the third golem was defeated, the Three Blessed Petals disciple went to retrieve the sphere, but after she pulled it out, the Howling Woods cultivator ran up behind her, smashed her back with his hammer, took the sphere, and then ran off the stage.”

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  “How dishonorable,” Jing growled.

  Servants from the Righteous Mantle Sect moved to the stage and quickly began escorting the wounded away and dragging the destroyed golems off using ropes.

  “Yes,” Lan agreed with a frown. “Strange name, Howling Woods. Is that a sect or school?”

  Lian shook her head. “No. They are a group of wandering cultivators who formed a team just to compete in the tournament. I think they chose the name because they met in the Hollow Scape Forest.”

  “A team of wandering cultivators?” Lan asked, surprised.

  “Appears so.”

  Interesting, Jing mused.

  While in theory any team of four could participate in the Exhibition Tournament, the entry fee of one gold tael per team member usually prevented any cultivators not sponsored by a prominent institution from participating. Even if a wealthy young master could afford the participation fee, it usually wasn’t worth the cost if they knew they’d lose in the early rounds.

  I’ll have to learn more about this Howling Woods cultivator. Jing also realized that he needed to get better at remembering names.

  “Now for the ninth match,” Elder Song announced. She held out her hand and conjured the turquoise jar that Jing expected. Four more wooden sticks floated out of the jar. “The competitors will be teams 3, 60, 10, and 31.”

  “That’s us,” Jing said, moving off the wall. He grabbed his spear before turning to Lan. “This will be quick.”

  Her eyes contained a longing that she wasn’t allowed to put into words. “I know.”

  The Red Burning Comet School team assumed a position along the western side of the arena stage. Jing looked around at the other teams as they took their own positions. He knew they were from lesser sects and schools within Yellow Dome City, but none were notable enough to warrant his recollection.

  “What’s the plan, Jing?” Lian asked, moving to his side. She had unfurled the chain whip that had been around her waist and was ready for battle.

  The large eastern doors swung back open and four more towering wooden golems strode through, each step echoing across the arena.

  “I’ll bring down our golem first,” Jing answered. “Afterwards,” he pointed at the team to their right, “we’ll defeat them and their golem and continue working our way around until we are the only ones left.”

  He recalled how only three of the Three Blessed Petals School’s competitors had advanced. “We’ll fight as one so that no one gets left behind.”

  Lian nodded in approval. “Understood.” She moved back with the other two members of their team. When Jing was at the front, none of the others were needed.

  Jing watched as their golem meandered forth into its starting position. Now that Jing was this close to the construct, it appeared even taller.

  Let’s see how thick its shell is.

  He had watched dozens of other teams defeat the wooden golems at this point. Some had struggled to render any real damage and were summarily overwhelmed by the pseudo-Adept Realm golem. Others, who had eventually overcome the golems, had needed to land multiple attacks against a single focal point.

  Jing decided he would try destroying the golem with a single technique.

  He began cycling his qi in the necessary pattern for his Folded Silver Star technique. Metal qi, focused and spread over the tip of his spear like an additional coating of metal, magnified the weapon’s sharpness. Elder Song had yet to declare the start of the match, but there were no stipulations against preparing techniques beforehand. Jing used that time to execute his technique three more times until his spear’s tip was glowing a brilliant grey color.

  The grey aura surrounding the spear only increased as he used amplified the Folded Silver Start technique two more times.

  “Begin!”

  Jing sprinted forward at the golem, using his Steel Streak movement technique to reach his target in seconds. When Jing appeared directly in front of the oblivious golem, he launched himself toward its chest and thrust his empowered spear with all his strength.

  Spear met wood and after a few moments of resistance, that seemed to stretch, the spear pierced through the golem’s chest with destructive force. Jing burst through the golem’s shattered torso, a shower of splinters filling the air. As Jing landed on the ground, he was accompanied by the resounding collapse of the golem.

  Jing walked over to the motionless husk until he was standing atop it. Reaching down, he retrieved the yellow sphere from the golem’s remains.

  One.

  * * *

  “That’s… impressive,” Ro Ishin remarked. He was seated at the Eight Oaths Resolve School’s private balcony with his team and the school’s present staff.

  “It’s a problem,” Rhee replied from the seat to his left. She looked at him, curious. “You pursue the same dao. How does he compare to you?”

  Ishin kept his attention forward, watching as Dong Jing proceeded to single-handedly engage and then defeat one of the other teams. He felt his soul growl at the spectacle, eager to engage a worthy wielder of the spear. To prove his superiority.

  “He’s good. Very good, and his metal qi complements his fighting style.”

  “Could you beat him?” Rhee pressed.

  Ishin thought about the question for a moment. Dong Jing’s skill with the spear was equal to his own, but Ishin wasn’t capable of complementing his spearmanship with his lightning qi. That, coupled with Dong Jing’s superior cultivation level, put him at a disadvantage.

  The Pale Azure Lightning Fore Strike would probably be enough, but I only have one shot at it. And he seems to have a good movement technique too. Could he evade my Indigo Sky Bolt?

  Ultimately, Ishin shook his head. “Probably not. At least, not a guarantee.”

  Rhee didn’t reply, instead leaning back into her seat, lost in contemplation.