The arena brimmed with restless energy as the contestants gathered for the second round. For the common spectators, it was nothing more than another day of blood and spectacle — yet among the elders and seasoned cultivators in attendance, an unspoken tension stirred.
When Xiao Chen stepped onto the waiting grounds, a few sharp gazes turned his way. His aura had shifted — heavier, more oppressive, like a predator no longer content to lurk.
"His Dou Qi… jumped again?" one elder murmured, brows furrowed.
Yao Lao's voice was low in Xiao Yan's mind. "That one… his progress is unnatural. Even with the best pills, one cannot advance like this without consequence."
Xiao Yan crossed his arms, gaze fixed on the cloaked figure across the platform. "You're saying he's burning himself out?"
"Or worse," Yao Lao replied. "That boy's walking a path that doesn't care for the price."
But the bell's clang silenced all whispers.
"First match!" the announcer barked, and two figures leapt onto the stage.
It wasn't Xiao Chen — not yet.
A tall youth draped in crimson strode forward, each step accompanied by a faint heat shimmer that made the air around him waver. From the east — the Fang clan's prodigy, Fang Ming.
His opponent, a lean girl from a lesser sect, tightened her grip on her twin short spears, Dou Qi flickering like a thin veil around her frame.
The ground cracked as Fang Ming drew in his Dou Qi. A blast of heat erupted from his body, and fire surged along his arms, forming a blazing gauntlet.
With a shout, he charged — each strike a fiery explosion that sent tremors through the stage.
The girl parried desperately, her twin spears blurring in the air, but Fang Ming's onslaught didn't relent. A spinning kick, wreathed in flame, caught her side and hurled her from the platform in a single decisive blow.
The crowd roared.
Fang Ming barely acknowledged them. He turned, casting a single glance across the waiting grounds, his eyes landing on the cloaked Xiao Chen for a moment too long.
Then he walked off the stage.