Her eyes widened in shining wonder. On top of the sky-high white Guan Di Hall building were several imposing dragon statues, all of which were made of polished gold. Quietly, they seemed to peer down at the crowds of mortals sweeping inside. With sweet petals sprinkling against the beasts, Mei Ying found them to be less fierce than usual. It was as though they are welcoming her into their domain. One even gleamed at her, their eyes of rubies glittering for a moment.

The maiden nearly stumbled, blinking. Maybe it was a trick of daylight… A gentle breeze stroked past her wide pale-green sleeves like the leaves of a lone flower. When Mei Ying halted to glance again at the roof statue, the dragon was rather ordinary.

A pair of heavy footsteps halted beside her. “We need to get going if we want to enter the battle arena in time, with the other sect representatives.”

“Ah, yes, yes.” replied the huntress, absent-mindedly. “I apologize.” She then sped up her walking.

But Bing Wen did not follow, causing Mei Ying to glance back.

With a piercing glare, the god examined the dragon statue that had blinked. He became near motionless. In the brilliant sunlight, his copper eyes were intense. Compared to Jian Yu’s soft features, the younger Bing Wen still maintained his strong brow ridges, thick eyebrows, and broad shoulders. Though his transformed person appeared no older than twenty years old, he retained the confidence and dignified air of a god.

Seeing that nothing was amiss, the young man strode past the maiden. His long cedar-brown hair swept back.

“Hurry.” murmured the warrior.

Earlier in the morning, little Wei Sheng had hurriedly explained that the individual whom they are ‘escorting’ back to Heaven is unaware of his noted absence. Not only that, but the child-god also admitted that he has not yet informed the Heaven Emperor, because he did not want to be dealt with. Of course, it is a myth among mortals that gods are omniscient.

Moreover, it was Wei Sheng’s mistake to leave important confidential scrolls laying around. The person came across them and may have intended to use the knowledge for their own gains. It was smarter to keep the number of people who know of this as small as possible.

All in all, if the missing individual recognize either of the gods, they are more likely to flee. It would make the situation more difficult since they should not even be here, and if they are, it should only be a quick visit. The impact that a god or any Heaven Immortal can have on the Mortal realm is too much of a high risk, often resulting in devastating effects.

Hence, Bing Wen will also be under a transformation spell.

Their runaway must be also be a god. Mei Ying thought, considering how urgent the situation must be for the sheltered Wei Sheng to sneak out of the Heaven realm. Cai Shen the God of Wealth? Sun Wukong the God of Mischief?

A sense of unease came over the huntress as she followed the young Bing Wen’s receding back.

❁❁❁

Once inside the bright, spacious hall of the Jin Sword sect palace, the huntress admired the high snow-white ceilings, the various Heavenly Steeds with their rolling clouds of white stones, and colossal pillars that lined along the grand path. Everywhere she looked, the young woman found various sect disciples clustered together here and there, chatting exciting among themselves. With innumerous people talking all at once, the entire building rumbled from the front entrance all the way to the very end.

“Xia Qi!” Out of nowhere, a loud, excited voice called out.

The name rang through Mei Ying’s mind before she realized that the speaker was none other than an exhilarated young man dressed in silver, followed by the stern shixiong. Though given a new face, the young woman’s heart beated rapidly. Her hands were hot with sweat. All prior thoughts dispersed.

“You’re representing the Shujing Jian sect?” In the middle of the marble-white hallway, Li Qin ran up to the beautiful shijie and her younger martial sister, both donned in jade-green robes. His high ponytail swayed side to side in the air. “This is great! I’ve always wanted to see you fight!”

“My second shijie injured her leg yesterday during a hunt, so they asked me to take her place.” Xia Qi sighed, bowing her head. The lustrous gold flower in her hair dipped. “She pushed herself too hard, but her trap succeeded in trapping fifteen Wild walking corpses.”

Promptly, Mei Ying hid behind a giant pillar. Her maneuver left Bing Wen walking forward by his oblivious lonesome. Should Li Qin notice her and want to converse, the maiden would be interrogated by the stony shixiong! Aiya! The young woman is a terrible actor…

Is this why they did not tell me about the Tian Shan Feng martial arts tournament? Sneaking a glance, the maiden studied the small shimei by Xia Qi’s side and Nian Zu’s furrowed brows. Since I am fighting for our fictional sect, I am more likely to fight them, with Nian Zu being the strongest…and Xia Qi being the quickest.

Truth be told, Mei Ying had never seen her friends fight other people during their travels. The tournament would mark the young woman’s first time in clashing with others, besides her shifu. She would also be exposed to a great range of different martial art and magic skills, many of which she had never seen before.

Likewise, fighting the restless deceased is entirely different from using martial arts and magic on the living. The body movements are different, and there are more sophisticated strategies involved. As far as Mei Ying knows, the variety in magic spells or seals are much greater too in numbers.

Stepping away from the tall column, the huntress felt for her long veil. Right. No veil today. Her ribs seemed tightly bounded together. There was an urge for her to tell Xia Qi and the others about her entry. However, burying that impulse, the maiden sighed and proceeded to hurry ahead. There is a far more important matter right now.

Just as Mei Ying breezed behind a few pillars up, a group of young men abruptly gathered at the one in front of her. Like a party of peacocks, they shuffled closer together and flapped their lustrous golden wings. Their dark eyes darted around as they whispered to one another.

With the other hunters far behind, the young woman returned to the main expansive hallway and strolled on. Step by step, she slowed down and leaned in to listen. In the main cultivation world, it is always important to keep up with gossips and other information since they may be useful.

“Did you see that the fallen Song clan is also here?” sniggered a Jin Sword disciple. He seemed a bit older than the huntress, arching an eyebrow at his shixiong. “Kong and about seven others are representing them.”

The older student smacked the shidi on the head, causing the other to yelp. “One hundred years is not too long though, given that Kong was one of the three hundred survivors from that battle in the Ghost War. If he had survived while thousands of cultivators…” There was hesitance. The others nodded in understanding. “…you know…he must have talent. Besides, he is at the late Nascent Soul rank.”

It was a warning. If the stupid disciple provokes Kong in the event, he will risk sullying the image of the Jin Sword sect since it may uplift the Song clan in the other eyes instead. Why would a major sect pay attention to a fallen cultivation clan? People may misunderstand and think that it is because the Jin Sword sect is afraid of the Song cultivators.

Either that, or the masses will consider the Jin Sword sect to be bullying the weak, especially a group that is still rather pitiful.

Another disciple joined their shixiong in lecturing the foolish one, “Twenty thousand cultivators, ten thousand on both sides, and all but three hundred were obliterated by the demon king…” He glanced down. “…all because the Xu cult, the former top sect that turned to demonic cultivation, dared to summon a Netherworld God to do their own bidding.”

That’s impossible. Mei Ying shook her head.

“They were fools to act as though they are gods.” The disciple continued, “That battle alone was won by the righteous cultivators…if you can even call that a ‘win.’ It decimated the Song clan because they had sent many of their best cultivators there. Some even say it was Kong’s fault…”

In that moment, the huntress' lashes quivered.

For most of her life, the young woman had never once heard about Kong’s role in the Ghost War, a calamity between hundreds of cultivation sects that ran seas of red and black blood. It must be an unspoken taboo in Cheng Xiu Village, out of pity and respect for the man and other survivors. At long last, Mei Ying understood why the Heaven Immortal had always watched Kong with soft, melancholic eyes.

Shifu had told the little disciple that the Ghost War was a frightening span of ten years for mortals, because the Xu cult’s patriarch went mad after his wife died. He had tried to resurrect her by turning to demonic cultivation. Many innocent civilians and cultivators were abducted for experiments. The former first seat of the main cultivation world was crushing the weak, and soon, the other nine righteous sects and numerous smaller ones banded together for survival. The Mortal realm became a near endless bloodbath in the chaos for power and control.

Both ends of the maiden’s red lips fell downward. Her eyes fixated themselves onto her pale-green cotton shoes. Inside her chest, there was a sinking rock.

❁❁❁

Wave by wave, cultivators continuously hummed and gathered around in their towering balconies, which were assembled by white-and-gold beams, colossal bridges, and jade-tiled roofs. Thousands more were seated below the higher places, which was also divided according to their sects and positions of power in society. A variety of colors decorated the regal stadium, each area signifying a different sect as seen by their designated color. At the center, which laid quite generously, were the hundreds of sect representatives who would fight in the Tian Shan Feng martial arts tournament.

Overhead were vivid blue skies, stretched endlessly with soft, sailing puffs of white clouds. Birds twitted by in graceful flocks. The breeze was mild but sweet, with a scatter of fluttering petals due to the flashy Jin Sword sect’s magic to entertain their wide sea of audience.

“THEN, THERE IS YUN PANG FUA FROM THE HONG YUANFEN SECT!”

As the announcer hollered, Mei Ying felt her face rise in temperature from the thousands of scrutinizing eyes and roaring cheers from all around. Warm sweat crept through the palms of her small hands and down the side of her neck. Like drums, her heart pounded heavily. Fortunately, there was still a breath of wind despite its balmy nature. Her long locks billowed back gently.

There were also dozens of chuckles from several parts of the crowds.

Word had already spread…that Mei Ying had knocked out a pervert the day before the tournament.

Slowly, the young woman peeked at Bing Wen, who stood by her side with arms folded across his wide chest. His entire face was flushed. Regardless, he mumbled a few curses under his breath with a twitching eye.

In other parts of the cosmic-sized arena, several cultivators on their flying swords also yelled out the names of different contestants and their sects. It was efficient to go through the introductions in this way.

Before Mei Ying could brace herself, the same announcer soon called from the top of his lungs, “AND BAI ZHANG YONG!”

The thought of Jian Yu and Xiao Li participating in the martial arts tournament without him was nearly enough to drive Bing Wen crazy. The two could not be trusted. Furthermore, the young woman was a concern. Perhaps, it was his own ego, but the warrior decided that he could not let her do the work by herself. As 'Zhang Yong', he would play by the rules and repress much of his strength and magical powers; however, he did not want Jian Yu to win. Only with that person, he would not hold anything back at all.

Quickly, the announcer flew by on his shimmering sword. “AT THIS CORNER, WE HAVE ALSO—CAI JIAN YU AND CAI XIAO LI FROM HUO XING SECT!”

Oh. Both people were bold enough to use their real names!

Right away, Mei Ying tip-toed to look over shoulders and craned her neck to see where the two young men could be.

Sure enough, at about ten arm spans away, there stood the cultivators, one in red and the other in all-black. The two did not bat an eye during their introduction, talking to one another in low, hushed voices. They spared no glances for the representatives who were sizing them up.

Nevertheless, the shower of lovely, pink petals softened the cultivators’ grave expressions.

A few nearby female students giggled. Like a trio of ripe lychees, their cheeks flushed. Their eyes were all glued onto the alluring Jian Yu, who stroked his chin, as the pensive Xiao Li whispered. Unaware of the attention received, the red-robed person lowered his eyes, blinking slowly, exposing his long lashes to be like gentle fans. The other one raised his face, revealing himself to be also rather good-looking to the young women.

“Young Miss.” Returning her attention to Bing Wen, the huntress listened curiously. Without looking at her, the warrior stated, “I’m only going to say this once: Do not trust Jian Yu.” His tone shadowed caution.

Mei Ying observed the rigid posture of the god, folding his arms. Her eyes softened, with a faint glimmer of light. Although the warrior’s words were brief and severe, their intention seemed pure. Bing Wen's words are not baseless at all.

Ah, what does the life of a mortal mean to a god? It is but a grain of thousands more.

“NOW, THERE ARE THREE RULES AFTER THOROUGH PROPER PROCEDURE OF CHECKING FOR ILLEGAL WEAPONS AND OTHER ITEMS!” As the announcers zipped out of the grand center, a single cultivator flew high above the selected disciples’ heads. “LISTEN WELL OR RISK DISQUALIFICATION!”

With magical seals carefully woven into his flowy turquoise robe, it allowed the man to be heard from anywhere in the enormous stadium.

The person was from a sect that specialized in using sounds to attack their opponents. Like certain sects of cultivators who specialize in hunting, hunters, and those who practice mainly divination, diviners—this type of cultivators are called sounders. While they may be underestimated by some, their skills and chances of lethality are not to be taken lightly at all. They are often seen at huge public events where they can work as top-tiered announcers, singers or musical performers, storytellers, and managers of music performances and festivals.

“ONE, DO NOT KILL!” shouted the sounder. “TWO, DO NOT CHEAT! AND THREE, DO NOT REVIVE!”

“I can’t kill?” The warrior blurted out.

Mei Ying rubbed her temple. “Bing Wen, ah…”

There was a dry laugh. “I was just joking…”

As voices buzzed about in anticipation, the young woman’s attention did not waver from the sounder, who suddenly became silent. While standing on his levitating sword, the cultivator gradually stared down at the hundreds and hundreds of different sect disciples. Many were unaware of the shift in his demeanor. His dark eyes brimmed with glinting mirth. His lips curved up.

Creasing her brows, Mei Ying sensed a chill of dread. Why is he looking at us like—

All at once, it felt as though the ground was pulled from underneath the huntress and the hundreds of other contestants.

Swiftly, the bright skies and streams of clouds eclipsed the young woman’s vision. At the same time, the eternal tapestry retreated from her. Her body felt light. A frosty draft swoop past her wide, feathery sleeves and delicate pale-green robe.

The earth seemed to have crumbled off, leaving nothing for everyone to grab onto. An endless black hole eagerly swallowed the wide-eyed cultivators up. Deafening screams filled the air. Crowds rose from their seats, pointing and shouting at one another.

Floating at the rim of darkness, the sounder kept watch. With a wave of his hand and lavish turquoise sleeve, his figure receded farther and farther way. “LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!”