Cattaleya ate like a calamity.
Plates vanished. Bowls emptied. Even the waiters started watching in fear.
ng Bai whispered, "I think she is eating her anger."
Daoist Chu nodded. "It is working. Slightly."
Still, even after three rounds of food, she was only barely calr.
"Food is good," she admitted. "But fists are better."
That night, Little Shrubby stepped in.
He hopped onto the table, puffed up his chest, and declared, "I will cook." Cattaleya raised a brow. "You?"
"Yes," Little Shrubby said proudly. "We bought herbs with your points. Rare ones. Delicious ones."
"I went with Shrubby. You weren't using them anyways." Lin Mu added.
With that said, Shurbby disappeared into the kitchen.
What ca out later was nothing short of miraculous.
Golden leaf stew with Immortal beast marrow. Frost lotus dumplings. Fla pepper at glazed in Six Pronged Immortal Bee honey essence.
Even Lin Mu was impressed.
Cattaleya took one bite.
Her eyes went wide.
She took another.
Then another.
"This," she said slowly, "is better than punching"
Little Shrubby puffed up. "Of course."
That night, she was calm.
The next morning, she was restless again.
Thus began the routine.
Every day, Little Shrubby cooked.
Every day, ng Bai and the twin snakes took Cattaleya sightseeing.
They visited markets, sparring arenas, weapon streets, and ancient plazas.
Everywhere they went, people recognized her.
"ONE FLICK WOMAN!"
"MASTER CATT!"
"SIGN MY ROBE!"
"SIGN MY CHILD!"
The crowd swelled.
Ten people beca a hundred.
A hundred beca a thousand.
Then ten thousand.
ng Bai panicked. "Senior Cattaleya, this is too many!"
She waved lazily. "Let them co."
Guards had to be dispatched and the organizers quickly realized that letting
her roam freely was a disaster.
So they made a decision.
They set up a proper et and greet area.
A large plaza with barriers, guards, and numbered lines.
People could co in groups, get numbered tokens, take turns, get autographs, talk, and leave.
Cattaleya sat on a large stone chair like a queen.
One fan said nervously, "M... Master Cattaleya, how do you get so strong?"
She answered, "Punch things. A lot."
Another asked, "Do you have advice for body cultivators?"
"Yes. Eat well. Sleep well. Fight well."
One child asked, "Are you scary?"
She leaned forward. "Only to bad people."
The child nodded seriously.
This routine kept her busy.
anwhile, Lin Mu and Daoist Chu went to the organizers since the array repair hall was in chaos.
Formation masters argued. Elders shouted. Disciples ran with immortal stones.
The overseer looked utterly exhausted.
Lin Mu cupped his hands. "We wish to help."
The overseer hesitated. "This is a sect matter."
Daoist Chu stepped forward with two badges. "I am a Core Disciple of the Zenith Dao Sect as well as a Trainee of the Western Immortal Court."
The room went silent.
"And," Lin Mu added calmly, "I have repaired arrays linked to Space, Realms and
more before."
That sealed it.
They were brought to the core array chamber.
The damage was severe.
Cracks ran through formation lines. Qi conduits were misaligned. Energy nodes
were unstable.
Lin Mu studied it quietly.
"This array channels force," he said. "But it lacks layered diffusion. That is why it
broke."
Daoist Chu nodded. "We can add auxiliary loops."
Together, they worked.
Lin Mu adjusted Dao Trace channels, Daoist Chu rebuilt flow circuits
and Formation masters assisted like apprentices.
Within days, what was supposed to take weeks was nearly done.
The overseer bowed deeply. "You have saved the tournant."
Lin Mu waved it off. "We just want the fights to continue."
At last, the announcent was made.
"The stadium core array will be fully repaired by tomorrow. The semifinals will
resu."
Cattaleya heard it while eating.
She froze.
Then she stood up so fast that her chair cracked.
"Tomorrow?" she asked slowly.
"Yes," ng Bai said carefully.
Her lips curled into a wide grin.
"Tomorrow," she said, "soone is getting hit."
Little Shrubby sighed. "I will miss cooking for her all day."
Lin Mu smiled. "Do not worry. She will still be hungry after fighting" Cattaleya cracked her knuckles. "Good. I am starving for battle."
The next morning, the Great Fist City woke up earlier than ever.
People did not need alarms. They did not need bells. They did not need sect
announcents.
They had excitent.
Streets filled before sunrise. Food stalls ran out of breakfast before noon. Betting halls were so crowded that even cultivators who could fly chose not to,
for fear of being dragged down by the shouting masses.
Today was special.
The semifinals were resuming.
And after last week's blood, sweat, flying elders, broken arrays, and emotional
trauma, only three contestants remained.
Cattaleya Duskthorn.Lin Mu.High Elder Redfist of the Martial Fist King Sect.
All outsiders had been eliminated.
This was now a battle between legends.
When Lin Mu and his group arrived at the stadium, the atmosphere felt heavier.
The sky itself seed to vibrate with anticipation.
Cattaleya bounced on her heels like a child waiting for festival fireworks.
"I want to fight," she muttered."I really want to fight." "If I get the free pass, I will punch the air.""And then probably punch soone else."
ng Bai blinked. "Senior Cattaleya, the free pass ans you go straight to the
finals without effort."
She glared at him. "Effort is the point."
Lin Mu sighed. "She has been starving for combat longer than so beasts
starve for food."
The announcer floated into the air.
"Due to an odd number of semifinalists, one contestant will advance directly to
the finals without fighting. The other two will battle for the remaining spot."
The crowd buzzed.
A massive formation circle lit up above the ring.
Two glowing orbs rose into the air, spinning slowly. Cattaleya clasped her hands together.
"Not . Not . Not . I want to punch."
The orbs stopped.
They transford into nas.
The announcer read them loudly.
"Cattaleya Duskthorn..."...versus High Elder Redfist of the Martial Fist King
Sect!"
For half a second, there was silence.
Then.
"YESSSSSSSSS!" Cattaleya scread so loudly that several weaker cultivators watching from outside the stadium almost fell out of the sky.
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