The next few days were rather tranquil Kou was seldom disturbed, just one time a neighbor came by to introduce himself, he was a giant of a man with a belly that could probably hold her own body about 3 times while still having space. In short words, he was a big pig like man.

He was the rich head of the town's auction pavilion and was very very polite to her, the whole interaction made her uncomfortable and she felt like his small beady eyes were .. not undressing her.. but trying to figure out how many coins he could squeeze out of her. Which... was weird, she promised him after he just would not leave to visit his auction house in due time.

Which...was good, as she wanted to go there anyway, but.. being kinda forced like that made it taste a lot more bitter then it had to. Wu Xiao had also visited her a few times. The man was always rather polite to her now and she did not feel all that bothered by his presence - even if she sometimes caught him starring at her which also was kinda weird.

Their interactions, however, were minimal, he just came to "See how she was doing." and Kou used that chance to ask a few questions about the city and where she would find manuals for basic things and alchemy supply shops.

"Basic manuals? Why would Miss Xue need those? Your power dwarfs mine, surely such mundane manuals are beneath you." The question obviously very strange and Kou rubbed the back of her head somewhat uncertain before she just waved her hand "I.. collect those.." She simply explained herself. It was simple enough of an explanation. And Wu Xiao seems to buy it, however, he was acting strangely, he seemed a bit ..feverish and hesitant about something.

Kou just tilted her head slightly, a normal person might've asked the man what his problem was but Kou just looked at him in minor confusion as she waited for him to gather his thoughts.

Finally, he stood up "If Miss Xue would allow me, I'm very knowledgeable, I could guide you through our fine town and point out all the shops you might need."

....

He did it! He had invited her! Everyone would understand his thoughts on this! A young Master guiding a lady through the city what else could it be but a date! He knew that many young ladies were waiting for their chosen one to accompany them on a stroll thought the city, flaunting their wealth and connection in front of the woman was almost a needed step for the young nobles before courting began!

However the reaction of Miss Xue was different, she simply nodded slightly with a half-smile on her face while brushing a few loose strands of hair out of her face. "That.. would be good, I have never been to a cultivator town so I'll probably get lost otherwise." Her reply sucked the nervousness out of him and made his chest feel warm! She was clearly a sheltered Princess on her first journey outside! He would explain and show her everything very thoroughly!

...

And then he was gone. Kou stretched out her left hand, glancing at the simple ring that was still there, one of the treasures she got on the island... It had quite a nice effect that was hiding her presence, but there was one more thing she could use it for. The ring was actually also a storage tressure. But not an ordinary one, you could not place any items in it but Qi! Every time she used it it stored part of the Qi inside of it, and over the last year, she had amassed quite the amount. Right now the ring was her trump card, if she meet someone way stronger then her she could use the amassed Qi inside to fight back for a little bit.

Shi Shi had really sent her to a good place... and Kou would not forget that, and save her grandma. But there was no use in heading back to the sect head over heels. She was not confident in being able to deal with whatever held Shi Shi there and all the elders. And the potential grand elder or sect leader who she never even got to see.

That was one other thing she would have to find out here.

...

Carefully she jumped forward, she had opted to not move like a peacock through the streets like many cultivators liked to do but rather had climbed the roof of her place to jump towards the next. It was faster and less bothersome after all. Her goal? She had no specific goal this evening, she wanted to have a good look around on her own first

She had waited until it was dark enough that she could pretty much move without being spotted by anyone, and now she just moved back and forth in the city, and at some point, she could make out the place most people would flock to... It was some kind of cave that lead into the mountain that was towering over the city. People in colorful robes moved in and did not come out again. And listening in to the chatting she could hear apparently it was some kind of arena.

That did pique her interest, she had cultivated a whole bunch and fought many beasts but she was lacking when it came to a confrontation with others. Therefore she jumped down from the roof her cloak closed around her hiding her frame and face just letting a few white hair strands fall down. Nobody paid much attention to her as she had scaled her cultivation level down to the early second realm, which most people here were in.

....

"Today we have quite the line-up!" A masculine and very loud voice filled the cavern she was in, there were places to sit carved out of the rock and the places were filling fast, so Kou had opted for one place that was further in the back to have space for herself, still, did he have to be so loud? " Gue the crusher is back in town to fight with our new champion Huang Jin! With one being half step into the fourth realm and the other being late third this is going to be a fight to remember!"

Kou curled her nose slightly at that piece of information... so they were not even in the fourth realm? This was not worth the spirit stones she had paid for entry then. She was just about to get back up and out as the announcer continued to shout. "And as a very special guest, we have the grand-elder of the noble black mist sect! The mid-fourth realm elder is here to give pointers to anyone who dares challenge him! Those he seems worthy may have a chance to join his sect!"

This did entice quite the excitement in the crowd! The black-mist sect was the second strongest power in Wu city, right after the Wu clan themselves, their sect Master was said to be about to step into the core realm after all!

This also made Kou stay on her place a small smile on her lips as she rested her head on her left knuckle. "Maybe that elder can let me test some things out... It's a fun way to recruit people."

....

The fights were... well they were clearly a show, those fighters of the late second and early third realm managed to fool the eyes of those that came to watch and have a good time while marveling in blood and violence, but not Kou. The wounds were at best shallow, and the winner and loser seemed to be predetermined for most fights.

The once that were not were fights were both contestants had genuine grudges with each other. Those fights were wild and very bloody... but they were still boring because for Kou these people were all rather weak. Even the "title" fight had little excitement for her, clearly, Huang Jin was more skilled than the Gue even if he was lower in cultivation, the gap in skill between the two was too big to be overcome like that.

Gue was a large muscle covered brute of a man, the type of person Kou would've been scared of a few years ago, he looked like a giant bear, hairy and able to crush boulders with his raw power alone, a thing he demonstrated before the fight as he ...well crushed a boulder.

Huang Jin, on the other hand, was almost scrawny, thin with a very prominent nose and large eyebrows, he carried a thin sword with him and was dressed in wide robes that seemed not very warrior-like... he looked more like a scholar. Gue had some technique that made his skin hard like stone and with his rocky fists he crashed with the thin sword, one might think it would bend and break at the onslaught of punches it parried, but neither the weapon nor Huang Jin seemed particularly perturbed even as they were pushed into a corner.

But then with a fluttering of his robes, Huang Jin shot forward clearly using some form of movement technique his blade skillfully finding the cracks in the rocky armor of his opponent shedding blood in the process. The fight continued like this, Gue would push Huang Jin into a corner but failed each time to actually land a hit, while Huang Jin would avoid being cornered at the last moment while cutting Gue's weak points.

The fight was drawn out due to Gue's resilience but the winner was clear after the first few moments, it was just Huang Jin playing with his food to make it a show for the crowd while Gue continued to get frustrated until he could not hold on any longer and went to his knees.

That was the "Fabled" Champion fight, and from the crowd's reactions, they got what they had wanted, for most people this fight was probably every exciting and not at all predetermined. Unlike Kou the normal people could not see the fine signs in their movements could not see the strikes. Kou was fairly sure she was the person with the highest cultivation level that was currently viewing so there was some weight on her opinion!

However, she did not waste any more thoughts on the fight, but what was supposed to come next!

"What a fight, Young Ladies and Masters! What a fight! This concludes or advertised program for today! But do not leave quite yet! We still have our honored guest Grand Elder Lo!" The announcer quickly left the ring and an old man sitting further down in the first row slowly stood up, he looked very fragile, his back hunched his face full of marks of age. He was even holding himself up with a staff.

Some mumbling went through the crowd as the old man was trying his best to climb into the arena before calling for one of the young ring girls to help him up. Finally up he seemed to be out of breath and paused for a moment before he made his way into the middle of the ring.

"About 200 years ago I was the champion of this arena once!" His mouth just barely had a few teeth left and his voice was riddled with age. "Therefore I thought it might be a good idea, to give you young ones a chance to ... prove yourself, getting into a good sect is hard, but today anyone that lands a hit on me will be allowed into my sect, and shall be personally trained by me."

That made the crowd murmur even more, while the training of this man that looked like he might be already halfway into the grave was nothing they were wild for, the resources his sect would give them were! Not just a few young men and women qued up, even some older folk did, and Kou did as well.

She had followed the old man's entry with curiosity. He was not as simple as he seemed, that much was clear. And Kou was fairly certain that his actions before were just a clever ruse to fool the people! She also did not miss how his hands had squeezed the ring girls behind very quickly, so quickly in fact that neither the girl nor anyone else seemed to have noticed!

Kou was actually just the fourth in line, she did hurry down but not so fast that it would reveal her powers so some of the cultivators that sat right in front of the ring managed to be there before her. All 3 of them were somewhere between mid-second to early third realm, respectable .. probably? They all looked rather young, around 20 to 25. So they were talented, right? Kou tilted her head to the side as she tried to figure this question out and completely missed the first and second fight in the process.

Luckily she snapped out of her calculations before the third one ended, not quite sure still but marking the whole problem as to unimportant to ever think about ever again. The young man that was in the ring currently was zapping back and forth rather pointlessly, he was running circles around the old man while his feet were covered in lightning which seemed to make him faster, Kou had not paid attention before so she didn't know how fast he was without his technique.

Whatever he wanted to happen however did not seem to happen, the old man just kept standing there with his staff seemingly dozing off mid-fight, then the young man that was fighting charged the old-timer but before his attack could connect the old-timer stumbled to the side, his holding stick swinging out hitting the young man on the back of the head sending him flying out of the Ring, under the cheerful snickering of the old man.

"Well then next one please, Oh.. our next contender is rather small?"

Kou covered in her cloak slowly stepped into the Ring, under her cover it was impossible to see her face or make out her body form, she was fully hidden underneath the cloak down to her boots. Her voice, however, gave her gender away, a voice that would fit a song-bird it was. And it was wasted on their owner any melody or charm seemed to lack in the voice it was very, matter of fact and deadpan. "You better take care this time..."

Under her cloak darkness flickered out, filling her side of the Ring in a matter of seconds. The old man that had been just grinning until now suddenly tensed up his hunched over body straightening up his robes falling down his chest. One could hear his bones as he stretched himself out, chiseled muscles on every inch of his body betrayed the picture he had given before and he gripped his walking stick like a proper staff weapon.

Kou gave him this moment of time to ready himself while being just slightly in awe of the old man's observation. She had not canceled the effect of her ring yet, for anyone watching she seemed just very ordinary, but he was able to understand that nobody in the second realm could do what she just did in the speed she did it with, without even moving at all.

Her shadows moved forward, she did not give a damn about the audience, after all, this was to test herself out against someone that was supposed to be strong in this empire!

....

The old man stood quietly and unmoving as her shadows washed over him, his spiritual pressure rushed out moments later producing a small pocket of shadow-free space, but much to his apparent surprise he was not able to push further out, in fact, he was pushed back!

While he had prepared himself feeling something od about that girl, he had not expected this! His old body tingled in excitement as he felt like he could die at any moment if he was careless.

Suddenly he heard that pretty voice again "You ready?" He felt his spine tingle at that voice, she clearly was fairly young, to be already this powerful in her age she must be a genius among geniuses! Suddenly he felt something at the edge of his shield, he was barely able to react as the girl shot forward, a white dagger in her hand. The attack was superb but the force was lacking, he managed to block with his staff and for a moment as they clashed he got a glimpse at the girl's face.

So young! Was his first thought as he stared into the faintly glowing ice blue eyes. Very pretty! Was the next! Finally followed by... She tricked me! Her attack had not been aimed at attacking him, it was just to pin him down and avert his attention for a moment. Behind her hovered a blue flame that produced bone-chilling cold energy. It was already seeping into him he was unable to fully block it even with his shield still up.

Puffing up his chest he opened his mouth and fire spewed out! He could see the surprise of the girl as she backed off quickly away from the flame, her cloak blocking most of the damage. "Ain't that easy to beat little one." He grunted as he hammered down his staff filling the area with spiritual energy blasting away the shadows for now.

....

Kou curled her nose slightly, the old-man was surprisingly powerful for how old he was, she had been going easy on him just because she did not want to hurt him, just test herself out. But now she understood that that was not a possibility if she wanted to have a firm grasp of how she compared to people like him she would have to go full throttle.

With her shadow's gone she remained at a distance while her ice-flame burned next to her chilling down the temperature inside the cave so much so that clouds left the mouths of the audience. Suddenly she jumped backward around her spears of ice formed and shot towards the old man, but it was not just spears of ice, it was also spears of light mixed in between, she combined her ice-flame and spiritual weapon in one attack, a barrage of two elements rained down on the old man.

At first, he seemed to try to block them with his breath again but after he got gazed by the first light spear he started to finally move, with a surprising speed he avoided most attacks while throwing weird balls of earth at Kou. He produced these with his hands out of thin air. She avoided all of them easily, her speed clearly outmatching his.

But that was not all to his attack! The balls of dirt hovered mid-air and after the old man made a weird hand sign they started to shoot towards Kou once more, this time however they followed her as she avoided them. This was annoying and she stopped her own attack, her ice-flame effortlessly freezing the earth making it fall to the ground.

"Fine then.." She mumbled as she stepped forward into the air. Something resembling an illusionary bridge appeared in front of her and Kou's foot was placed on the first of 9 steps. Boom! Her pressure increased dramatically! Her shadow's returned and the pressure forced the old man on the ground, his expression full of shock and even feat.

"I give up!"

Kou blinked, that was it? He just gave up? She just went serious on him and he gave up? Dissatisfied she stepped back down and adjusted her cloak, quickly she backed off - using her shadows to avoid the gaze of the elder and audience as she quickly left the cave.

She could imagine that it would be bothersome to stick around after this.