The next round of combat started just like the previous one did. With a lot of people rushing to fight in the middle of the arena and the rest holding themselves back, staying at its far edge. This time no one overly powerful was there to interfere, and the groups took out nearly all of the smaller groups of people at the edge before the mayor called stop, and they returned back to where participants stayed at.

A wise move, ridding themselves of the opposition that was more cautious. It could also backfire, if the really powerful enemies went to the middle because they were confident in their abilities. Well, those that deserved it would surely advance. Probably.

Anyways. As the next group entered the field a grin crept on my face. I immediately saw one of my customers. He was strange for a cultivator, ready to try new stuff, if it helped him win. So he told me he’d buy a robe that held the most protection I could manage. Which was a lot. He was in the second realm already, and I was pretty sure he had some heat qi intent, because no normal human could actually use the monster I created.

Ten layers of different, qi filled cloth, and an additional layer of spirit bark, woven into one, single robe. I attached a hood to it, meaning everyone attacking him had to effectively hit on solid wood.

It was a masterpiece. There was no other word for it! Everyone wearing it would look fat though, as the armor, for that thing was no robe anymore, was designed to resist both impacts and cutting. Even the bark was woven as a fabric, so it wasn't all that useful against stabbing, but I had yet to see someone use a stabbing weapon, so he was good to go.

My customer easily survived the first round without moving even one metre. He sat down at the start of the round, but my armor protected him even with three cultivators giving their all. It was simply great to watch. The sheer futility of people beating on my ‘clothes’, the frustration they must have been feeling while doing so. It made me giddy.

I should offer discounts for people that wore my stranger designs. Perhaps some would come to test them now that this one armored robe performed as good as it did. After all he defeated his opponents in the first round by doing nothing.

“Say how many free for alls are there?” I asked.

“How do you not know? Do you never leave your house?” Lady Chela asked.

“Well, not often no. I pay a bunch of mortals to go and buy me my stuff, and why would I leave the house otherwise.” I said.

“To go out, to meet people perhaps?” She asked.

“But why would I do that? People are boring, experimenting with stuff is a lot more interesting. Though I could use a few life test subjects again.” I mused.

“Life test subjects?” She asked.

“Oh, nothing, a folly of my childhood. I was very good at finding crabs, and used them for a lot of things. Anyways. About those free for alls?” I asked.

“Oh yes, well there are over one thousand one hundred cultivators participating. So we’ll see twenty four of those. Afterwards there will be a bunch of one versus ones until we reach the seventh round, where we will see four free for alls between five cultivators until only two remain standing. That will be followed by another two rounds of best of ones.” She said.

I couldn't help but groan.

“What's the matter?” She asked.

“It’s going to take forever!” I complained. “And I don't want to sit here and watch a bunch of morons ehhh excuse me, watch a bunch of cultivators hit each other for a whole month!”

“Don't worry it won't take all that long. The first round will take a few days, sure, but everything after that will take less than two days. Don't worry, we won't be here for a month.” She said, tactfully ignoring my outburst.

“Ahh, but I can't see anything happening. They’re all holding back for later!” I said.

“Do you fancy a small spar then? To see a few of the more flashy techniques I have.” She suggested.

“I wouldn't stand a chance, you’re a second realm cultivator after all.” I said. “But sure, I can visit you sometimes. Just not to fight!”

“Great, I will hold you to that!” She said. “Now watch, it’s Tiger’s turn. He may be a musclehead, but he’s quite the good fighter. And he knows some flashy techniques.” Chela explained.

“Though he probably won't use them.” She admitted.

I did as told, and looked over the assembled cultivators down below. And right as she said, there was the giant form of captain Tiger down there. And he was still a giant, even among other cultivators. Well, it’d be interesting. Because I spotted a group of cultivators eyeing their giant competitor, clearly debating whether to bother the giant man or seek easier targets.

Even from all the way up here I could practically see it. Their pride and their instinct of self preservation battling it out.

Well, he’d probably have to deal with five to ten of them. It would be interesting.

“Say, how good is the giant?” I asked. “Because his control over his aura sucks.”

“He’s the second most dangerous fighter in the town. Or at least he was before the tournament was announced, who knows what hidden experts came to join in?” She said. “But I do have to admit, while his fighting is great, his other areas are a bit lacking.” She said, adding a cheeky, “All of them.” in the end.

“Good to know. He’s too old anyways. Where would you rank yourself then?” I asked.

“Well, I'm somewhere in the upper middle of the pack.” She admitted.

“So why didn't you join in? You do admit you enjoy fighting after all.” I asked.

“I had a bad run in with a bunch of beasts a few days prior, and am still healing. Fighting now would be a folly.” She explained.

“So, you got hurt. Ever thought about using armor?” I asked. “I do make armored fabric too, on demand.”

Chela laughed, but shook her head.

“Armor is for soldiers, guards, and some .. special cultivators. I prefer my robes as they are. You should really think about getting some information on arrey symbols though, it would allow you to do more than just strengthen the material with a bunch of qi, but get actual effects.” She suggested.

“And where would I get something like that?” I asked. “The only merchant importing in town hates my guts.”

“Well, I am sure you could just pay a bunch of cultivators to go on a quest for you, find you a manual of some kind. We love to do that kind of stuff.” She said.

“Huh. Well I might just do that. Arrays do indeed sound interesting.” I admitted.

“Shush now, it’s starting.” Chela said.

I shut up, and looked back at the arena. Just like I thought captain Tiger was facing seven cultivators, with the rest of the arena giving the group of wight a wide berth.

“So you dare challenge me?” The captain laughed. “I will show you why I held my job for over a decade!”

With that he dashed forwards, far faster than any man his size had any right to be, and swung a left hook at his first opponent slash victim. The woman simply dropped, her lights knocked out with a simple punch.

As he turned around to face his next opponent the rest of the group arrived, screaming bloody murder, and swung at him. They had to stagger their attacks, he was tall, but not that wide, meaning the captain had ample time to defend against all attacks.

Right until he intercepted the left hook of one of his opponents, picked the man up, turned him around and cleared the area around him.

“I like his style.” I admitted openly.

“His fights are a joy to watch.” Chela said.

Tiger used his beating stick to batter another attacker a few metres away. He then proceeded to throw his weapon at someone standing still, concentrating a few metres from him, picking up a new weapon shortly after. His three remaining enemies looked at each other, and one took a step back. The moment he did the others bolted, leaving a disappointed looking captain of the guard behind them.

Considering his earlier speed he could have followed, which meant he chose not to. Which meant he wasn't all that disappointed in reality. Interesting to know.

Anyways, time to watch on, plot and see what happened, hoping for a few more, exciting fights. Not that I was all that hopeful, we were still in the first round, with all the dregs fighting it out.

It was the later rounds that would be really interesting. After all I didn't, hell, probably couldn't even imagine all uses qi had. And I would only get to see some of the easier ones, considering the tournament didn't allow anyone beyond the second realm to attend, so those really powerful wouldn't be there to show their understanding. A pity.

Looking at the sun this would probably be the last fight for today, which was good. Those fights were quite boring, so long as none of the more powerful participants decided to make a show. Which not all of them did, I imagined, only those that were supremely confident in their abilities, and thought they could manage to defeat all opponents on the field. This time none of those was a part of the fight, which meant a bunch of cultivators hitting each other until enough of them collapsed.

I spotted some more of my customers, which made the fight a little bit more fun to watch, but also had me taking notes. After all if I knew how my robes held up in a real fight, and saw where they were hit the most, I could improve the protection of my clothes.

Wait, I should do that anyways, no reason to limit myself. I smiled, perhaps this tournament wouldn't be the colossal waste of time I initially thought it’d be.

“Hello, mr Fox. Are you there?” I asked into the night.

Sneaking out of the town was surprisingly easy with as many cultivators present as there were.

"Hi." He said.

From right behind me. I spun around, as waved at him.

"So, how are you? Are you fine with all those humans in your forest?" I asked.

"Don't worry, some human kits don't scare me. I see you have made quite some advancements in your cultivation. Now would you like something to drink?" He asked.

"I would be delighted." I answered.

"Very well." He said, and we were somewhere else.

I pouted. I did my best to catch the movement, but the moment I blinked he moved me. It just wasn't fair! Ah well. Next time.

“So, did you improve your cultivation?” I asked.

“Yes. I am getting ever closer to the fifth realm. Just a few more centuries and I should be able to reach it. How about you?” He answered.

“That's great.” I responded. “And I'm doing fine. I recently finished purifying all qi in my body, and got myself some qi intent. Let me show you!” I said, and burned some qi to increase the gravity of the world on him.

I didn't know what to expect, but the fox simply stood there, completely ignoring my gravity.

“Gravity is it? Are you sure you can progress down that path long enough to reach critical understanding?” He asked while nodding to himself.

“Critical understanding?” I asked.

“Well, the upper realms are mostly about understanding, and advancing your understanding, and much less about sheer power. The moment you reach critical understanding you can advance your understanding by simple observation, as you gain a new sense. And fundamental forces, like gravity, or heat, are extremely hard to understand.” He explained.

“So like I did with my gravity when I gained it a few days ago?” I asked with a small grin.

“You gained a new sense? Already? But you are only in the second realm!” He explained.

Before grumbling “Stupid natural talents and their luck.”

“Hey, I had to learn stuff for nearly a decade to reach that understanding!” I protested. “And you didn't even flinch when I did that!”

“What did you expect, you’re a small human, I am a mighty immortal!” He said. “So why are you here in the night? Don't you humans normally sleep in the night?”

“Well, we do. But I don't need all that much sleep as a cultivator, and I can't come and visit during the day. There’s a stupid tournament going on, and I have to attend because I made the prize for first place.” I explained.

“A tournament. Who can join?” He asked, perking up.

“Not you. It’s only for first and second realm cultivators. The mayor wanted to cement our town as the most important and powerful around.” I said.

“Oh, you were given that honor, perhaps I should visit, it’s been some time since I left the forest.” He said.

“Do that, but don't cause a scene. I don't think it’ll end well with that many cultivators hyped up at once. But why can all those cultivators enter the forest? I thought you hated visitors, when you came to confront me when I entered back then.” I said.

“I don't hate visitors. I usually ignore the humans that come in to pluck some weeds, but you seemed like a challenger to my half sleeping mind. You know, when immortals fight, we create a spiral of qi just like you had back then, to increase the qi at our disposal and deny it from our enemies.

Checking such a spiral with your own aura, especially when your enemy is prepared, is a folly and only leads to ruin, so I didn't. Otherwise I would have left you alone.” He said.

“Wait, you can do more stuff with your aura than see qi and gravity?” I asked.

“Of course! Your aura is your most important defensive tool in a fight! It stops your enemy from directly influencing your qi and rip your body in half! There is so much you can do!” He said.

Huh. That called for experiments back in town, in the safety of my own home! Yay!

“Thank you for that. Well, I have to go if I don't want to be seen missing, I’ll visit you sometime later again.” I said.

“Don't come too soon.” His voice called.

I appeared near town, out of sight from any of the guards. Welp, I would come back in a few weeks. Now, I still had a few hours to cultivate more qi, which I intended to use to the best of my ability. Training my aura and gravity qi would have to wait until after the tourney.