Wu Shan was ready.

So was Zhang He.

The arena howled loudly, unceasingly in its endless adulation. The finals were now. The two finalists came as predicted, and now it was time to truly decide who was the winner of this year’s Dragon Flight Gala.

“I’m betting on Zhang He,” Lao Chen muttered. “My son is much too stupid to win this one. Your disciple truly is a genius.”

“Really, now?” Yi Ming laughed. “I’m actually betting on Wu Shan to win this one. While my disciple is very resourceful, I’m afraid Wu Shan’s unrelenting power might decide the match.”

Lao Chen huffed as he pulled out a wad of gold bars from his bag of holding. “Twenty-five gold bars.”

Yi Ming laughed. “Don’t insult me, junior brother,” With a wave of his hand, he produced an equal amount, and in addition, a staff made of golden wood. “I bet twenty-five gold bars plus this legendary treasure, the Primordial Wood Staff, enchanted to grow up to eighteen li!”

Lao Chen laughed. “You underestimate my prowess, senior.” He laughed as he pulled out a two-meter long sword made of steel that glowed blue. “I have no idea what this sword is, but it has to be at least twice as valuable as that staff of yours!”

Yi Ming frowned. “It is indeed a strong treasure. Well,” he smirked. “Then I’ll just have to double down.”

With another flick of his hand, he produced a gem the size of a head. “This is a Soul Gem. It can help immensely to bolster one’s Nascent Soul which will consolidate your foundation and allow you to go much farther in your cultivation journey.”

Lao Chen scoffed. “You make a strong wager, senior. I’ll just have to triple down,” Lao Chen pulled out a scripture. “This thing seems to be a treasure. Surely, this must be extremely useful and valuable.”

Yi Ming gaped. “What?” Yi Ming waved his hands again, producing twenty other Soul Gems. Gnashing his teeth, he retorted. “You make a damn good wager. I’m afraid this is where I draw the line. Now, all that remains is to simply watch the match.”

Wu Shan and Zhang He glared at each other. They still hadn’t forgotten the events that occurred the day before, incensing them to no end. Like bulls restrained, they looked ready to bite at each other’s necks.

“Ladies! And Gentlemen! This is the event that you have all been waiting for! The ‘Blood Dragon’ Zhang He versus the ‘Storm Fist’ Wuuuu Shaaan! The most anticipated battle in the Dragon Flight Gala is to occur! Llllllllllllet’s get ready to rrrrrumbleeeeeee!”

Fireworks shot up into the sky, illuminating the night for brief moments as the tension rose by the moment.

“The wagers are up, and ladies and gentlemen I tell ya, the odds are equal for the both of them, one to one! That’s madness! There’s no way to predict the outcome of this battle at all!”

“On go, everybody! Three!”

Wu Shan began to think clearly, clearer than he ever had.

“Two!”

Why was he fighting? To defeat the man in front of him. But why? To prove that he was strong? People already knew that. Then why? What was driving his competitive spirit? What drove him?

“One!”

Battle wasn’t just senseless violence. Neither was it something as crude as ‘might makes right’. Was it more? Yes. Wu Shan trained to have a battle where he could pour everything he had. It wasn’t battle for the sake of violence. It was battle for the sake of battling.

“Go!”

It was just pure fun.

Wu Shan wasted no time drawing from the tempestuous maelstrom that was his large Dao Pillar, creating a raging dragon consisting of both Yin and Yang energy.

The dragon driven by conflicting energies was furious and swift beyond belief, tearing its way towards Zhang He who summoned his own staff before turning it into a dragon.

Both dragons clashed, but then Wu Shan’s opened its wide maw, swallowing the Blood Dragon whole, making its way towards Zhang He.

Wu Shan stood there calmly, watching his rival dart around, eluding the giant dragon, sending several of his own after it to slow it down.

Zhang He was being pushed back. The Yin and Yang dragon was near indestructible, eating up his blood dragon constructs without even batting an eye.

Wu Shan took advantage of his evasiveness and rushed into battle with a black gauntlet in his right hand and a white one in his left.

Luring Zhang He into a pincer attack with his dragon, Wu Shan got close enough to land a punch on his chest which grazed him. Zhang He summoned his spear with a flick of his hand and swung it to Wu Shan, but as the dragon closed in, Zhang He opted to evade once more.

Wu Shan was nimbler than the dragon, so he gave chase, subtly manoeuvring the dragon as he stalked Zhang He.

Zhang He predicted the pincer and rushed towards Wu Shan instead with his dragon in tow. Using his spear to vault over Wu Shan, he let the dragon crash into its creator.

Wu Shan was blown back by his own dragon several dozen meters before rushing up to his feet, rage evident in his eyes. Zhang He stabbed his spear on the stunned dragon, hopping off just as it began to jerk wildly.

Wu Shan clenched his fists, forcing the dragon to regain its senses as Zhang He summoned several spears, turning them into dragons, allowing the constructs to fight it out while he focused on Wu Shan.

One on one, they clashed. With his gauntlets, Wu Shan managed to land another hit on his chest, causing a miniature explosion that forced Zhang He to cough out a globule of blood. Wu Shan capitalized on his opponent’s dazed state, launching a devastating uppercut that lifted him off his feet for a brief moment.

While in the air, Wu Shan rotated, kicking him into the air. Zhang He coughed some more blood, but nonetheless regained his bearings, turning the spear in his hand into a dragon, holding onto its tail before climbing on top of its back.

Summoning several dozen spears over his head, Zhang He sent them flying downwards at Wu Shan, turning them into dragons right upon impact.

Wu Shan destroyed them as they came, punching them simultaneously with both hands at once, destroying their heads. Zhang He turned around to keep an eye on the black and white dragon, relieved that it was still fighting it out with his own blood dragons.

Zhang He kept up the barrage, firing more and more spears at Wu Shan, who began to visibly falter, allowing one dragon to tear a bite out of his flesh. Wu Shan grunted in agony, upping his effort in repelling the damned spear dragons.

With a mighty punch, Wu Shan repelled several dragons, giving him enough breathing space to open up a rift, sending the oncoming dragons towards Zhang He, who barely reacted to the first dragon as it appeared right behind him. Zhang He hopped over it, seizing control once more, sending them back towards Wu Shan who had already erected a transparent barrier, sitting cross-legged within it.

Zhang He smirked. “Turtling up, are we?” Biting his tongue, Zhang He spat some of his blood on a spear, transforming it into a legendary-looking spear before launching it towards Wu Shan who, right before impact, disabled his aegis and hopped to the side, avoiding the spear.

Zhang He transformed the spear into a dragon, allowing it to give chase to Wu Shan. Tired of running, he faced it head-on, throwing both his fists at it with a front lurch, causing a major explosion that blew the dragon back a few meters before it attempted a head-on blast again.

Zhang He redirected the dragon spear to himself, grabbing it in spear-form as he hopped from his dragon, landing with grace. Zhang He pointed his spear at Wu Shan, who… smirked?

Zhang He then felt the terrifying aura of Wu Shan’s dragon envelop him as he found himself deep within the dragon’s maw. Forgetting to keep an eye on it, it had managed to swallow him whole.

Wu Shan grinned, holding his fist in the air in a victorious pose.

The dragon began to spin around, then it began to jerk wildly, as though it ingested poison. Suddenly, it began to pulse blood red intermittently, matching the rhythm of a heart beat.

Wu Shan was puzzled, but erected an aegis before himself in preparation for what was to come.

True to form, the dragon burst and Zhang He absorbed the ambient Qi from the broken construct. Zhang He was transformed. All the blood vessels in his body glowed in an ominous red, and the plain leather breastplate that he wore was tattered, revealing a living tattoo of a blood dragon swimming around his chest.

Zhang He grew a claw out of his index finger and poked himself in his chest, drawing out a pearl of blood. Flicking his hand, he stretched it into a crimson spear that shone with a metallic gleam.

Wu Shan destroyed the barrier, donning a serious expression. “I can only hope that this will work,” he whispered.

Deep within Wu Shan, his Dao Pillar began to rotate as the Qi within spun wildly. Wu Shan let it seep out, but intertwined it as he pushed it through every single one of his meridians.

With the Yin and Yang Qi coursing through him, Wu Shan activated an original technique for strengthening similar to Yang Fists.

His right eye became a vast white while his left eye became pitch black.

Fist and spear connected, and an epic explosion occurred.

The arena was deathly silent, and once the smoke cleared, both youths were down for the count.

The medic in charge hopped down to assess the both of them.

Lao Chen and Yi Ming leaned closer, almost falling out of their chairs.

Lin-Lin and Shao Lei also leaned forwards.

The medic finished assessing the both of them and gave a flat hand sign.

It was a tie.

Assessing the both of them once more to see which one had more Qi potential to gauge the talent, the medic was at a loss once more, giving a flat hand sign.

Another tie.

The medic gestured a few times, unleashing a technique on both of them to gauge their ages.

Both Lao Chen and Yi Ming were completely dumbstruck.

They were both seventeen years old, and two months to boot. Because the medic couldn’t be more accurate, he crossed both his arms.

The MC was dumbstruck. “An… an absolute tie?”

Yi Ming and Lao Chen looked at each other slowly. “I, eh… I suppose we should just trade our wagers?” Lao Chen proposed.

Yi Ming nodded. “A wise decision,” He concurred as both of them stood up to pick their winnings.

From the arena seats, Shao Lei hollered. “Oh, come on! What a load of bull is that?! An absolute tie?! How in the hell is that even possible?”

“Ladies and gentlemen! This year’s Dragon Flight Gala concludes with an absolute tie, not seen in several centuries! In its youth, a dragon takes flight, and Zhang He and Wu Shan have both proved to be dragons taking their flight for the first time! In the name of the One Under Heaven, I crown both these contestants the winners of the Dragon Flight Gala!”

The audience cheered loudly. Then, three cloaked men hopped onto the arena.

“The One Under Heaven approves of this event!” They all boomed simultaneously, silencing the crowd promptly.

“We have all selected the talents qualified to become Lotus Buds!” The middle one yelled.

“Zhang He, the ‘Blood Dragon’!”

The crowd cheered raucously, clapping their hands as loudly as they could.

“Wu Shan, the ‘Storm Fist’!”

Lao Chen beamed! “Yes! My son has qualified to become a… my son has won something!” Pushing Yi Ming with his elbow, Lao Chen laughed. “And yours won something, too!”

Yi Ming laughed. “I didn’t expect anything less from that fool!”

“And!” The middle talent scout removed his hood, shocking Lin-Lin and Lao Chen. “Shao Lei, the ‘Cloud Dragon’!”

Wang Chun.

“Wait!” Lao Chen exclaimed. “I know him!”

“These victors are to be brought to The Forbidden City to be sworn in as Lotus Buds, a special reserve of talents to be developed for the sole purpose of serving the Empire during war-time.”

Lao Chen’s smile fell. “What?”

“These three young souls will be cultivated into individuals capable of wreaking great destruction upon the Azure Empire in order to perpetuate our sacred way of living for millennia!”

Lao Chen looked at Yi Ming. “They are to be soldiers?”

Yi Ming raised an eyebrow. “Well, yes? That’s the whole point of having talent scouts come over for the Gala… were you not aware?”

Lao Chen swallowed. “I’m more fearful of Wu Shan not knowing what he got himself into…”

“Come dawn, we will have departed to The Forbidden City, and the gods willing, we shall arrive in a month!”

“And with that, we bid thee good night, and to a thousand more years of Jade rule!”

“Long live the empire!” Came the unanimous response of nearly every citizen spectating.

Lao Chen stamped his foot on the floor rapidly. “That foolish boy…”