The world dissolved around in a flash of azure light, and suddenly I was back in the familiar confines of the tournant arena. The transition from the Eternal Winter Realm to the warm morning air of Azure Peak Sect felt jarring, like stepping from a freezer into a furnace.
The roar hit imdiately.
Thousands of voices erupted from the spectator sections, a wall of sound that made my ears ring. But it wasn't just polite applause or general excitent. There were specific cheers with my na in them, voices calling out with the kind of enthusiasm that went beyond simple sect pride.
"Ke Yin! Ke Yin! That's fifty spirit stones right there!"
"I told you he'd win in under a minute! Pay up!"
"Easy money! The kid's a monster!"
I blinked, scanning the crowd as understanding dawned. These weren't just supporters cheering for their sect's disciples. These were people who'd bet on , and apparently bet heavily. The betting pavilion must have been popular than I'd thought.
So of the loudest cheers were coming from disciples I'd never even spoken to, their faces flushed with excitent as they waved betting slips in the air. One particularly enthusiastic outer disciple was jumping up and down, shouting about "ten-to-one odds on first-round first minute knockout."
If this was their reaction to winning my first match, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I actually managed to win the entire tournant. The thought was both thrilling and terrifying.
Shaking my head, I looked for my parents in the Core Disciple section and gave them a wave, noting the relief on their faces. My mother looked like she'd been holding her breath the entire ti, while my father was trying to project calm confidence despite the obvious tension in his shoulders. Liu Chen was grinning beside them, probably explaining the finer points of the battle to anyone within earshot.
But even as I acknowledged the crowd, my mind kept drifting back to what had just happened in that frozen wasteland. The whole encounter with Tang Shuo felt surreal, like sothing out of a fever dream.
"Master," Azure said quietly in my mind, "you look troubled. The battle went exactly as expected, didn't it?"
I shook my head slightly, careful not to draw attention. "It's not the outco that's bothering . It's... everything else."
And it really was everything else. Sure, I'd read plenty of xianxia novels back on Earth, and I knew how arrogant young masters were supposed to behave. But even I hadn't expected an eighth-stage Qi Condensation cultivator to talk down to a Pseudo-Elental Realm cultivator in a one-on-one match where there wasn't any clan elder to back them up and do the dirty work for them.
The sheer audacity was breathtaking. In what world did soone with that kind of cultivation gap think intimidation tactics would work? It would be like a high school swimr trying to intimidate a professional heavyweight boxer by talking about their trophy collection.
And then things had gotten even stranger when Tang Shuo started sharing his life story. Who randomly begins bragging about their entire existence from the mont of birth? It was like he'd morized every protagonist backstory trope and decided to claim them all at once.
At first, I'd actually believed so of it. After all, a phoenix flying above the family estate at the ti of birth wasn't too unbelievable, especially for soone with genuine heavenly destiny. The cultivation world was full of auspicious ons and celestial signs marking the birth of future powerhouses.
As for discovering a thousand-year-old spirit herb, that also seed pretty common, relatively speaking, in a main character backstory. Most protagonists stumbled across rare treasures through luck, destiny, or so combination of both.
And when Tang Shuo started talking about being trained in a pocket dinsion by so ancient sword saint, that's when I'd begun to worry. Maybe he really was a protagonist-like character. Where else did that dense sword aura suddenly co from? The story had all the classic elents: mysterious master, hidden training, lost techniques.
But the mont he ntioned the previous Azure Peak Sect Master begging him to join the sect, my skepticism had kicked in hard. Not because it wasn't possible, if there really was godly talent involved, sects would do anything to recruit the right disciple. But because if that was true, then what the hell was Tang Shuo doing years later as an outer disciple participating in this tournant?
If the sect master had personally recruited him, he'd be a core disciple by now, or at least an inner disciple with special privileges. He wouldn't be fighting in the outer sect tournant like so common aspirant.
And then when he'd started talking about being the reincarnation of the Jade Emperor...
"That's when you knew for certain you had to act," Azure observed.
"Exactly. I couldn't afford to let him finish that particular story. If it was actually true, I would have been completely screwed." I paused, watching the arena workers clean up residual energy escaping from the portals. "But after he went down in one hit without even trying to defend himself, I realized he wasn't a Son of Heaven with a tendency to over-share. He was just..."
"Delusional," Azure finished gently.
Before I could share my agreent, I noticed a commotion near one of the exit portals. Tang Shuo was being dragged out by two sect healers, but he wasn't going quietly. His legs were kicking weakly, and his voice carried across the arena despite the ambient noise.
"This doesn't count!" he was shouting, his words slurring slightly. "The trial was corrupted! I was clearly drugged! No one could survive the killing intent of the Jade Emperor's reincarnated soul!"
The healers exchanged glances and tried to move him along more quickly, but Tang Shuo's voice only got louder.
"You think this proves anything? I was holding back out of rcy! The phoenix mark on my soul was sealed to give him a fair chance! I could have ended him with a thought if I'd been serious!"
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One of the healers muttered sothing about "severe cultivation deviation" and "ergency soul stabilization," but Tang Shuo was beyond listening.
"The Celestial Hamr Clan will not forget this insult! When my true mories fully awaken, you'll all understand what you've done! The heavens themselves will weep at this injustice!"
Even as they carried him toward the dical pavilion, his voice continued echoing off the arena walls, growing more frantic and desperate with each claim.
"The Ancestral Dragon promised seventeen wives! I'm destined to beco the Sword Emperor! This is just a test of my resolve! I haven't lost anything!"
I watched him disappear through the exit, feeling genuinely concerned. This wasn't just arrogance or wounded pride. Tang Shuo was having a complete ntal breakdown, desperately trying to maintain his constructed reality even as it crumbled around him.
I just really hoped that I wouldn't be blad for causing it. I hadn't done anything particularly dramatic or humiliating. I'd just... won. Quickly and efficiently, sure, but that was the point of tournant combat.
But I knew that logic didn't always matter when xianxia politics were involved.
If Tang Shuo really was from a powerful clan, it wouldn't surprise if so old ancestor saw his descendant go insane and decided to bla for it. Hunt down for "humiliating" their family heir or so similar nonsense.
Sure, even a Civilization Realm monster wouldn't dare attack the sect directly. But what about when I left the sect grounds? I really didn't need such a big target on my back, especially an undeserved one.
"You shouldn't worry about the Tang Clan."
I spun around to find Wu Kangming standing behind , looking completely pristine. There wasn't a mark on him, not even a wrinkle in his robes. He must have finished his own opponent just as quickly as I had.
"What do you an?" I asked, genuinely curious. Wu Kangming rarely volunteered information without being asked directly.
"The Tang Clan," he said simply, his voice carrying that sa controlled tone he always used. "They're a strange bunch. They believe their clan is the number one power in the Eastern Continent, and they find every excuse they can to brag about it. But in reality, they're just a minor clan led by a Stellar Realm cultivator."
I blinked in surprise. "Why is that? What makes them think they're so important?"
Wu Kangming's expression remained neutral, but I caught a flicker of sothing that might have been amusent in his eyes. Without answering, he simply turned and walked away, his footsteps barely making sound on the arena floor.
I stared after him for a mont, then shook my head. At least there was so progress in our relationship. Wu Kangming had actually initiated conversation, which was more than he'd done in months.
I thought about the information he'd provided. If Tang Shuo was suffering from so kind of psychosis, it wouldn't surprise if other mbers of the clan also suffered from similar issues. ntal health problems could run in families, and from what I'd gathered during my ti in this world, cultivation actually made ntal health issues worse, not better.
The pressure of constantly striving for advancent, the isolation of long ditation periods, the stress of life-or-death battles, the ego inflation that ca with increasing power—it all seed designed to produce psychological problems. And that wasn't even considering the effects of various dao comprehensions on personality and worldview.
"Master," Azure said quietly, "the cultivation world doesn't really acknowledge ntal illness as a legitimate dical concern. They typically classify such issues as 'spiritual imbalances' or 'dao conflicts' rather than treatable conditions."
I nodded my head sadly. Tang Shuo needed professional help, but knowing this world, he'd be lucky if they tried to fix his "spiritual alignnt" instead of just writing him off as a failed cultivator.
Putting those depressing thoughts aside, I focused on the floating screens around the arena that were displaying results from other battles. The favorites were all winning easily and convincingly, which made sense considering this was rely the first round.
Yuan Zhen had dispatched his opponent so casually it looked like he was swatting a fly.
Chen Feng had ended his match with a single shadow technique that left his opponent unconscious before they even realized they were under attack.
Wei Lin's battle had been entertaining to watch. His opponent had been a fire specialist who'd tried to overwhelm him with raw power, only to discover that Wei Lin's rchant's Path could absorb and convert fire qi faster than it could be produced. The poor guy had basically fueled his own defeat.
Earth Fist Liu had done exactly what his na suggested - punched his opponent once. The resulting crater in the arena floor had been impressive even by Elental Realm standards.
About twenty minutes later, the last portal flashed with returning light as the final pair of competitors erged. The arena floor now held exactly sixty-four disciples; the winners who would advance to the second round.
The other sixty-four were being escorted to various exits, so looking disappointed but accepting their elimination gracefully.
Others were less gracious about their defeats.
"This is outrageous!" one eliminated disciple was shouting at a sect official. "I demand a rematch! The formation array in that world was clearly malfunctioning!"
"The elental conditions were completely unfair!" another complained. "How was I supposed to fight effectively in that environnt?"
"My opponent was using forbidden techniques!" a third insisted. "I want an investigation!"
The sect servants handled these protests with practiced patience, firmly but politely escorting the complainers toward the exits. It was clear this kind of sore losing was common enough that they had standard procedures for dealing with it.
So of the advancing competitors were receiving dical attention from the healing specialists. A few had suffered injuries during particularly intense battles and needed spiritual energy restoration or wound treatnt. The healers worked efficiently, their techniques flowing like gentle streams of light as they nded torn robes and closed cuts.
After about thirty minutes, when everyone had been properly healed and the arena floor was clear of eliminated participants, Elder Wan stepped forward to address us again. His spiritual pressure radiated outward, instantly silencing the various conversations taking place among spectators and competitors alike.
"Congratulations to the sixty-four disciples who have advanced to the second round," Elder Wan announced. "You have proven your basic competency and earned the right to continue in this tournant."
He gestured, and the massive formation array above us began glowing again, new nas and matchups appearing in organized pairs.
"The second round will now comnce," Elder Wan continued. "As before, each battle will take place in a randomly selected inner world environnt. Competitors should prepare for any conditions."
I searched for my na, hoping for a favorable matchup.
"Ke Yin versus Ming Yue - Infinite Ocean Realm"
I blinked, then read it again. Ming Yue. I definitely recognized that na from the original rankings; she was the eighth-stage water cultivator who supposedly never lost a fight. But when I looked at her spiritual pressure signature across the arena, sothing was different.
She'd broken through to the ninth stage.
Ming Yue caught looking and laughed. She then winked playfully and perford a small demonstration with water qi, creating a miniature whirlpool in the palm of her hand.
"Looks like I'll have the ho field advantage," she called out cheerfully, her voice carrying that particular confidence of soone who knew they'd been handed a significant tactical edge.
My eyes narrowed as the reality sank in.
I was a plant-based cultivator fighting in a water-based inner world, and I'd been paired against a newly broken-through ninth-stage cultivator who just happened to specialise in water techniques.
This definitely didn't feel random. This felt calculated.
"Master," Azure said quietly, "the odds of such a specific pairing occurring by pure chance are... remarkably low."
No kidding. Either I had the worst luck in the multiverse, or soone was pulling strings behind the scenes. The question was whether they wanted to see fail, or if this was so kind of test designed to push to my limits.
I looked up at the elder viewing section, where several figures in flowing robes observed the proceedings with carefully neutral expressions. Sect Master Yuan wasn't visible, but that didn't an much. Soone of his power could observe without being detected if he chose to.
Regardless, the ssage was clear: the tournant organizers wanted to see how I'd handle fighting at a severe environntal disadvantage.
Well, I guess it's ti to find out.
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