Bu Xuan slowly got up from the bed he was placed onto and slowly came back to reality.
He shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up as he was still disoriented from the fight and injuries.
"I have to go see how everyone is doing.." He muttered as he slowly made his way to the arena, limping.
The medical pavilion did a great job in healing his injuries, but they did not see value in giving such a lowly cultivator a precious pill.
Soon enough, Bu Xuan neared the arena and heard the announcers speaking and the crowd cheering. It was almost deafening.
Bu Xuan's heart began to beat faster but he was unsure as to what the cause was.
"Su Yan is somehow still standing! This in itself is a miracle!" The announcers yelled out and Bu Xuan quickened his pace.
"Su Yan? What's going on? Did I miss the next fight already?" Bu Xuan muttered as he entered and joined the crowd.
The sight in front of him shocked him.
Su Yan's figure was completely coated with blood. Injuries amongst her body were numerous.
The blue outer disciple robe she had was crimson. Her pale cheeks were now a deep hue of purple and her blonde hair was likened to her newly dyed robe.
Bu Xuan eyed next to her and saw a corpse of a male disciple, it seems that one of them had already fallen.
"Wow! I really didn't think you'd survive that attack!" A petite brunette woman on the opposite side of Su Yan commented.
The most surprising part of the appearance of this contender was the fact that while Su Yan was littered with battle scars, not even a single cut was present on her body.
Su Yan glared at her as she breathed heavily in an attempt to catch her breath.
She could hardly create a proper stance, let alone breathe.
"Yeah? I guess you're not as strong as you think then.." Su Yan spit out blood and shakingly straightened her sword.
Bu Xuan's eyes widened. He had only ever been utterly defeated by Su Yan, he knew her strength better than anyone!
Even with his recent insights in swordsmanship and intent, he felt that he would still lose to her 9 times out of 10!
"It seems the legacy of your ancestor, the sword empress was truly lost.. otherwise how would the likes of me defeat a descendent of hers?" The woman chuckled.
"It's a shame, that was the only worth people had in you. Your measly talent will only ever be capable of bringing you to the peak of foundation establishment." The woman then began to walk slowly towards Su Yan.
Su Yan tightened the grip on her sword.
"You speak of foundation establishment so lightly. I've recently learned that it's not one stage that you establish, but encompasses all stages." Su Yan spit out as she remembered her training throughout the week.
"What nonsense are you babbling?" The woman asked.
"Such fools as yourself would never understand, even I have trouble understanding it. But, I have learned a thing or two, about establishing one's foundation!" Su Yan then closed her eyes and began to mimic Bu Xuan's fighting style!
"What's this? Su Yan has just closed her eyes while Jing Lan is approaching!" The announcer shouted.
The woman, now identified as Jing Lan, continued stepping forward and then instantaneously kicked off the ground with high speed, her fists in front of her!
Bu Xuan watched on as Su Yan began to mimic his ability to see intent, no it wasn't that she was mimicking, she too had the same realization he did!
"..." Bu Xuan was speechless. Not on the fact that she was doing acts similar to him, but the fact she was still losing one sidedly!
Su Yan was beaten senseless. She perfectly saw the intent of her opponent, but she could not react to it.
Blood streamed out from her body but she refused to give up.
She fell once more and slowly got up, the strain on her body immense.
She turned her head and locked eyes with somebody in the crowd.
Wujin Ji looked back at her and simply nodded in affirmation.
A smirk crept up on her face.
"A final struggle? Fine, let's see it." Jing Lan thought as she rushed forward with her fists once more.
Su Yan placed her feet onto the ground firmly and began to channel the Qi beneath the earth into her body.
"The foundational teaching I have been given. It is just a single stone. But over time the stones turn into a mountain." She muttered, and the Qi was directed towards her veins and muscles.
Su Yan was then enveloped in a blue aura and she gripped the sword and rushed forward, leaving foot prints in the concrete she was just standing at!
Jing Lan was taken aback and quickly attempted to retreat so that she could cautiously examine this odd state.
"What did you do?" Jing Lan questioned, but Su Yan fif not answer.
Her sword then met Jing Lan's fists and pushed her back.
Every fiber in Su Yan's body was screaming, but she just grit her teeth and pushed forward.
"Even pebbles can be used to grow!" She screamed internally and a powerful strength built inside of her!
She slashed Jing Lan upward and she had no choice in the matter!
Su Yan flipped in the air and used the moment to create a downward slash, crushing Jing Lan and forcing her to be pushed into the ground!
Jing Lan maintained her defensive cross armed posture but she was not unscathed.
For the first time, signs of exhaustion crept up on her!
"Very interesting. Is she the one who has been praised as a genius?" Elder Dong asked Elder Fu.
"No. That's Liuyan Xue. This is the dark horse of the Su family." Elder Fu explained. To which the other two elders revealed a surprised expression.
"That bloodline still exists?" Elder Hang said with a strange tone unbefitting of his status.
"Yes, though the sword empress was defeated, Goku Yomi spared her life." Elder Fu said with a complicated expression.
"To think that an enemy of our ancestors' descendents is in our sect. Haah.." Elder Hang let out as he watched the spectacle.
"Though, I have never heard of the empress using such a technique, nor is it one that is known in our sect. Is it a Su Clan original?" Elder Dong said with his eyebrows raised.
Elder Fu looked at Wujin Ji and saw a smile on his face. "I wonder about that.."
Su Yan was hitting Jing Lan with slash after slash, the two appearances were beginning to resemble the same bloodied figure!
Jing Lan attempted to make distance and create a strategy but Su Yan did not give her that comfort for even a second!
The overwhelming speed was now from Su Yan's side as she went forward with high precision!
"Is this truly a battle of recruits?" A single voice asked within the crowd, breaking the silence.
"Did you truly think this would be a simple battle? You all heard the name announced, that's Su Yan of the Su Clan!" Liuyan Xue shouted back and that spectator's face went pale.
Everyone immediately realized just who they had been watching fight.
"No more talk? I guess we're at a good point then." Su Yan said as she held her sword to the right of her and directed her qi at her legs, bursting forward with unparalleled speed!
Jing Lan could only watch on in horror as her sword was coming increasingly closer to her jugular!
But the strike never came, right before Su Yan was to claim victory, she fell unconscious.
"The match is over!" The announcer screamed.
The crowd, confused at first just began murmuring to each other, unsatisfied with the conclusion.
"That was it?"
"What happened to that power.."
"What a throw! I had money on her!"
Wujin Ji however was not unsatisfied. The battles so far were all satisfying in their own way, but only Su Yan and Bu Xuan took his teachings to heart.
He did teach those that were willing to learn individualized skills that would suit them.
"If it was easy to perfect the foundation, then wouldn't we all be immortal? Even the thoughts you have can create the start of something." Wujin Ji thought as he saw the elder to go down and bring the two to the medical pavilion.
Liuyan Xue watched as Elder Fu grabbed Su Yan's battered body and left.
With this loss it would be tough for them to win. They would need to win twice in a row!
The area was soon repaired when one of the inner sect disciples used a technique and washed away the debris. Another one rebuilt the tiles.
Everything was now as if a bloody fight had not occurred moments ago.
Liuyan Xue's heart pounded as she realized the gravity of the situation. With Bu Xuan barely scraping by and Su Yan falling unconscious just before victory, the team's chances seemed slim.
"Next match!" Lu Changsheng's voice boomed across the arena, his expression grim. "Liuyan Xue, Leng Miao, and Wang Shu will compete!"
Instantly, Leng Miao looked at Liuyan Xue and noticed something was wrong.
The energy she gave off was not similar to her own at all.
"You.. You don't seem to be in the Qi Refining stage? Hah this is hilarious! I was excited for this battle, and for what? You came to ruin that for me?"
"Fight already!" The crowd erupted again, hungry, eager to witness another intense battle!
"Wasn't she the one who broke the sect record for fastest Qi Refining?" Someone whispered.
"Senior Lu said it himself in the outer courtyard! And she threw it away?!" Another said in astonishment.
"This will end quickly," Elder Dong said lightly, though his eyes gleamed. "Leng Miao has perfected the Thousand Strikes, while Liuyan Xue has wasted her talent."
Elder Fu's jaw tightened. "She rebuilt. Do not mistake patience for incompetence."
Elder Hang snorted. "Fastest in the sect's history, and she throws it away? For what?"
Elder Dong leaned forward, peering. "Not only that, but she appears to only contain two wisps!"
Liuyan Xue stepped forward. Her cultivation was a quiet thing, two condensed strands resting in her dantian like coiled rivers. No roaring aura, no flashy light.
Across from her, Leng Miao rolled his shoulders and let out a slow breath. His qi surged. Veins lit under his skin. His feet sank into the stone.
Wang Shu stood to the side, unreadable, blade lowered, eyes calm.
He let a thin thread of qi spiral from his palm and frowned.
"Your vortex… where did it go?"
Leng Miao snorted. "She must have smashed it back into mist. A self-cripple."
Leng Miao tilted his head and smirked. "So you really did it. Maybe those rumors regarding you and an elder having special sessions was no joke!"
Liuyan met his eyes. "I burned a house built on sand to create one built on jade."
"You burned your future," he laughed. "Kneel now, spare yourself a few broken ribs. Apologize to Elder Dong for wasting the sect's resources while you're at it!"
Wang Shu's tone was almost kind. "Courage is admirable, but the arena is impatient. Perhaps your timing was off."
"Begin!" Lu Changsheng shouted as he looked at Liuyan Xue with confidence.
Leng Miao vanished.
The arena detonated.
Stone cracked outward from where Liuyan had stood a heartbeat before. She shifted a half inch to the left.
A fist howled past her ear. Then ten more. Then a hundred.
"Thousand Strikes Technique—Mountain-Crushing Form!" Leng Miao's voice split the air, and the barrier shook. His fists blurred, piling force on force.
Liuyan lifted her sword.
The first barrage hit like a landslide.
Her body bent and slid.
Her blade traced thin arcs that caught only a fraction.
Impacts hammered her ribs, shoulder, thigh.
Blood slipped from the corner of her lips.
"Is this the famous quality?" Leng Miao's laughter chased each strike.
"Show me the miracle of starting over!"
Her vision doubled. Not illusions.. momentum stacked.
He wasn't just attacking, he meant to erase her.
Every blow carried killing intent within it.
Another strike and her feet left the ground.
She crashed into the arena wall hard enough to spiderweb it.
The crowd roared in approval.
"End it!" someone screamed.
"Crush her!"
Elder Fu clenched his fists, then forced himself still.
Liuyan slid down the wall and tasted iron.
Her lungs refused to pull in air.
Her sword felt like it weighed a mountain.
A thin chuckle reached her over the ringing.
"You rebuilt your cultivation, for what reason?" Leng Miao's voice was close, too close.
"Its almost cute. A pity quality can't outrun quantity. You traded your vortex for a black hole!"
He stepped, and the air buckled.
Liuyan closed her eyes.
Breath in. Breath out. Not to flee. Not to block. To listen.
Resetting wasn't madness.
What remained was a starting point that was stronger than before!
She remembered Wujin Ji's words: Foundation is not a realm. Foundation is in everything we do and think of.
Breath anchors intent. Intent guides the body.
Her two condensed strands spun in opposite directions.
Thin qi ran through her veins.
She bent her knees, not to resist, but to give it a path.
Leng Miao arrived, a storm with a heartbeat.
The second barrage fell. Tiles exploded. Dust billowed.
She slipped aside by inches, letting fists pass a hair from her throat and cheek.
Hits still managed to land consecutively, something cracked in her side.
A loud pop was heard and intense agony washed over her face but she didn't scream.
Wang Shu's eyes narrowed as he noticed the amount of hits missing.
"That's… not just dodging," he murmured. "She's threading through the flow."
"Press!" Elder Dong snapped under his breath.
"You can do it!" someone yelled, cheering Liuyan Xue on.
Liuyan Xue noticed that this was Bu Xuan, he was next to Wujin Ji, both of them looked at her with trust in their eyes.
Leng Miao didn't wait for her and pressed forward.
The air seemed to turn into thunder.
The barrier above the arena flickered as a hairline crack appeared and then healed.
Elders looked up with surprise in their eyes and spectators leaned forward in excitement.
Her footwork drew a tight spiral, shaving time from his rhythm with each pivot.
"Stop playing and die!" Leng Miao roared, his qi surging!
"Thousand Strikes—Heaven-Cracking Tempest!"
The arena dimmed. For a heartbeat there was no sound, only pressure. Then everything hit at once.
"Heaven-Cracking!"
Liuyan's world went white.
When it returned, she was on her knees, one hand braced on her blade, the other pressed to her side where something ground horribly whenever she breathed.
The stone beneath her hissed where her blood fell. Her vision tunneled.
Leng Miao strode from the dust, gauntlets glowing, breath steady. Completely unharmed..
"Reset again," he said softly.
"Start from birth this time."
She smiled through blood, scarlet partially blinding her sight.
"What are you smiling at?" he asked softly.
"At the seam," she whispered.
Elder Dong's pupils shrank. "Has he found it? No… it seems she did."
Leng Miao's eyes flicked, barely, to his own right wrist.
He moved to finish it. Wang Shu moved too, his blade whispering toward Liuyan's neck, expression mild, almost apologetic.
"Forgive me," he said. "I am here to advance."
Liuyan pushed off her sword, body screaming, and stepped into the storm instead of away from it.
Her heel kissed a fragment of shattered stone she'd placed with an earlier slide.
The fragment rocked and her hips turned a hair before her shoulders.
Her condensed strands spun, one clockwise, one counter, dragging all the borrowed breaths of the last minute into a single point behind her palm.
She struck, not at his chest, but the seam.
The seam of the technique itself!
A precise tap at the instant his qi shifted at the wrist, the point where his momentum braided.
His flow broke instantly and he felt shock for the first time in this battle!
"Gha!"
The Tempest buckled for a heartbeat.
Leng Miao's fist still landed, refusing to stop!
It sank into her shoulder with a sound like breaking stone and hurled her across the arena in a ragdoll arc.
Her vision shattered into black and silver.
Somewhere in that black, she felt Wang Shu's blade change course toward her throat, opportunistic and precise.
"Nothing personal," Wang Shu breathed. "Opportunity is also a teacher."
Her body moved before her mind returned.
Her sword flicked forward.
Steel kissed steel with a bell-like tone, deflecting the cut by the breadth of a hair, a melody that resounded throughout the arena!
She hit the ground, rolled, and somehow came up on one knee, sword trembling, eyes still alive.
Leng Miao staggered forward.
Only a step. Only a breath. But he staggered, qi tripping over itself inside the collapsed seam.
His eyes widened in fury and disbelief.
"Stand up!" Elder Dong barked. "Perfect it!"
"Perfect trash!" someone in the cheap seats yelled back, leading to Elder Dong to burn a hole into their face with his eyes.
The audience member sank back and swore to say nothing else.
"Again!" Elder Dong snarled, refocused on the fight.
Leng Miao bellowed, tore open his dantian's floodgates, and charged. The Tempest swelled. The barrier above shrieked.
"Thousand Strikes—Abyss-Grinding Cycle!" he roared, layering momentum over momentum until space felt thick.
Liuyan's legs shook.
Her arm hung useless.
Each breath coming out of her lungs felt like they were burning knives.
She lifted her sword anyway, and when the world rushed to erase her, she took a step that wasn't a step at all, a fall into the gap between heartbeats.
Her blade drew a thin line.
It wasn't strength or speed. It was timing across the seam of the technique!
"How could she see through my technique!" Leng Miao looked on in horror as he realized what she was doing.
The wheel that was his technique, jammed.
Impact ripped through both of them.
Leng Miao's gauntlet shattered, metal shards flying out.
Liuyan's blade screamed, cracked from hilt to tip, and held long enough to bite a line across his forearm and into his shoulder.
"You—" Leng Miao tried to sneer and swallowed blood instead.
They passed each other.
Silence.
Then, a sudden eruption blood poured out like a volcano.
They both fell in parallel lines across the ruined stone.
Leng Miao took another step.
His knee buckled and betrayed him.
He dropped to one hand, breath finally ragged, qi in revolt, the Tempest eating its own tail inside him.
He tried to rise and could not.
Wang Shu exhaled, tension easing from his shoulders. He sheathed his unswung blade and bowed toward Liuyan.
"I concede," he said simply. "I came to learn, nothing more."
Liuyan's mouth opened. No sound came out. She braced her cracked sword in both hands and refused to fall.
Roars swallowed the arena, disbelieving, ecstatic, horrified.
Elder Dong stood, face like iron. "Impossible… he should have perfected it!"
Elder Fu let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"Foundation," he murmured.
"Intent, Stone to mountain, and now threading techniques? That Wujin Ji seems to have learned a lot from the ancestor.."
Elder Hang clicked his tongue.
"The girl who set our record abolished her realm and still stands. The sect will talk for a decade, for better or worse.."
Elder Fu's eyes cut toward Wujin Ji. "We will speak after the tournament."
Wujin Ji watched Liuyan tremble under the weight of her own body and did not smile.
Victory was a blade with two edges, and too many were starting to stare.
They had a single victory back. They needed one more.
"One more match," Wujin Ji muttered. "One more to decide everything."