From his words, Tai Bu understood three things. Jun Qian was exhausted, probably from using his wax domain from the very start of his fight. He had an idea as to who the Light-Breaker Pavilion would send out, and if Jun Qian himself called that person 'powerful', it could only mean the truth.

And last of all, Tai Bu understood that Jun Qian would now fight him completely unrestrained. His full power against Tai Bu in a last attempt to down their numbers.

"He is very talkative during a fight" thought Tai Bu. It was only then he realized the snicker on Jun Qian's lips.

A simple glance down made Tai Bu's heart skip a beat. A tentacle of wax was slowly wrapping around his foot.

How could it have gone unnoticed?! Unknowingly, Tai Bu had stepped in the remnants of Jun Qian's wax domain, which was enough for the latter to activate his technique.

"Luckily for me, my weapon has range" Tai Bu calmed himself, "Attacking the wax won't do any good. It is not the type of wax that my whip can burn down either. I just have to defeat him from here before the wax takes over me, right?"

The young man unfurled his Flaming Whip, making the air crack with every rotation.

Jun Qian stood in place, in a shallow pool of grey wax. He was trying to conserve his energy as best as possible.

"Tch. I'm still within his whip's reach but I can't get further away or I won't be able to control the wax anymore."

By a strange twist of fate it seemed like both cultivators reach were similar. But where Jun Qian had the advantage in that his technique was infallible once the wax tentacle had touched their enemy, Tai Bu had another advantage.

The Flaming Whip cracked once. The tip of the whip was much too fast for their eyes to follow. At the last moment, Jun Qian erected a wax shield in front of him.

The second crack of the whip resounded right after the shield had burst into hundreds of pieces. It happened so fast that when the sound reached their ears, the whip was already back above Tai Bu's head, twirling.

"A measly wax shield won't stop me, Brother Jun" Tai Bu said in a low voice while taking a deep breath, "Star-Sword Canon, first form: Cleaving Meteor!"

A ring of soft yellow light appeared above Tai Bu's head. In reality only the tip of the Flaming Whip was glowing as the technique was charging but because of its motion, an entire arc had appeared, casting light onto Tai Bu, making him look like an heavenly apparition.

Jun Qian condensed his wax into a large barrier above his head. In the face of Cleaving Meteor, the area that needed protection was relatively small. The power of the strike, though, added to the momentum of the whip was something that truly terrified him.

Tai Bu's leg had only been taken by the wax up until the knee. Could Jun Qian manage to resist the Flaming Whip's strikes until the wax covered his arms?

It was a risky bet.

C-CRACKK!

As fast as lightning, the glowing circle expanded into a line, crashing down on Jun Qian. The barrier exploded, dissipating most of the attack. Jun Qian spat out a mouthful of blood as his defence was broken.

The lash of the whip had traced a line of blood along Jun Qian's shoulder, straight to his hip. Had the wax not protected him, the force of Tai Bu's whip would have cleaved him entirely in two pieces.

Jun Qian was breathing heavily, clutching his side with one arm, a crazed look in his eyes that somehow remained cold.

Tai Bu closed his eyes for a split second. The technique he was about to use would end the fight but he needed to concentrate a bit more. He had never attempted it with a whip before, only with swords.

"Star-Sword Canon, second form: Pier-" Tai Bu opened his eyes just in time to see a blurry figure stop behind Jun Qian.

"Nice whip you got there. I wonder how hot its flames are."

Jun Qian's heart stopped for a brief moment. A voice had spoken behind him, and he instantly knew who the voice belonged to. Not sparing a look toward Tai Bu despite the terrifying attack that was coming, Jun Qian spun on his feet.

"Daoju Kai, you-"

Interrupting the second fighter, this time with actions and not words, Daoju Kai's palm spun to the side. Jun Qian had not managed to even start his sentence when the power of a war horse blasted the side of his face.

A single palm strike sent him flying a few meters before he crashed heavily onto the ground. The Beast Daoju Kai had sent the Wax Master into unconsciousness in one strike.

"-cing Heavens!" Tai Bu finished his incantation before the backlash of having his technique stopped from unleashing struck him. With the power of his wrist, he had managed to change the path of his attack at the last moment, ensuring his whip would go towards Daoju Kai instead of Jun Qian.

"Heh" Daoju Kai struck the ground with both his palms, propelling himself to the side in a rolling motion. The accelerated whip cracked in a deafening manner but only pierced the empty space.

Before Tai Bu could muster up enough energy for another finisher, Daoju Kai was upon him. The latter's speed, his instincts and his strange technique... All of these combined were definitely bad news for Tai Bu.

"Daoju Kai... So this is the kid, right, Master Breaker?" Patriarch Sen turned his head to look at the person on the large seat behind him.

Master Breaker grinned, "The oldest son of the subsidiary branch from the Daoju Clan. He couldn't inherit the main branch's beast taming techniques so he turned to the Beast Style."

Next to him, the old Gen She, the Keeper of Beasts, perked his head immediately. The Daoju Clan was known in the entirety of Blue Fire Country as the best spirit beasts cultivators. It was said that the head of the clan had a personal arsenal of over twenty fighting creatures.

They made a fortune by selling their beasts here and there, assisting governments and revolutionaries alike. Before their strength, one could only bow as the number of fighting beasts they had amassed was enough to overthrow an entire country.

"The Beast Style truly is a wonder. Who could have thought that this kid would manage to assimilate it so well in such a short time" the Beast Master said out loud.

Master Breaker answered, his face gaining another degree of seriousness, "Kai is a very special child. It is a blessing for us that the Daoju Clan kicked him out. From his youth he has always been with and admired spirit beasts. His instinct is on par with that of a ferocious fighting creature. What's more, his Beast Style, leaving strategy behind and fully relying on his instinct and strength is something only he can do."

Patriarch Sen blinked, although his eyes seemed to already know the answer "Why is that?"

Master Breaker sighed "The Beast Style is a constant all-out attack form. Every move he makes is an attack. Defence is not part of his vocabulary, neither is being passive. In such a constant state of physical strain, he would break after a few minutes of fighting but Daoju Kai... For a boy his age, his Sea of Shinsoo is three times as large as anyone else."

Three times as large... Although his Shinsoo was only of Liquid Realm third step quality, the sheer amount of it he had in his dantian was enough to constantly power-up a technique like the Beast Style. Only Shin Sumi, with her sixty four opened Shinsoo Doors, could maybe rival with such a deep well of energy. And even then, she had less Shinsoo in her Shinsoo Sea, instead having a higher grade of energy.

Daoju Kai... truly deserved his daoist name The Beast. As if he was spitting on the entire way of the clan who had rejected him, where they were beast masters he himself was the beast.

Daoju Kai enjoyed himself to the fullest. Like a Shadow Blossom Tiger, his claws were ripping the ground open with every move as soon as his instinct told him to move.

Tai Bu's Flaming Whip had so much trouble catching Daoju Kai that it seemed like it was avoiding him. Daoju Kai's instinctual fighting spirit was so developed that even the slightest twist of Tai Bu's wrist made him jump, before the whip could even start moving.

"He's my natural enemy, he might as well be predicting my strikes" Tai Bu thought. For some reason he was really calm, even though Daoju Kai was constantly getting closer to him.

On the opposite side, Daoju Kai too was very calm. He completely relied on his body to act, every move an attack, as always. But his mind wasn't void.

"I can't get too close. Even my reflexes aren't fast enough against his whip when I'm in a three meter... no, four meter radius. If I want to reach him there are three ways. Wait until he's drained, wait until that girl from the Cloud-Formation team gets here or catch his whip."

Daoju Kai grinned. On all fours, all of his muscles tensed, his long nails turned into claws imbued with Shinsoo, he really looked like a devilish human beast.

"I am not going to wait any longer, prepare yourself Tai Bu! I am unbeatable!!"

Taking advantage of one of Tai Bu's attacks, Daoju Kai steadied himself. Just like any other attack coming at him, Tai Bu expected him to evade using his insane reflexes.

But instead, Daoju Kai stayed in position and let the whip strike him.

BANG

The clash of the weapon against the Beast's arm was felt throughout the entire Underground Arena. Daoju Kai's mouth splurted a bit of blood and his vision grew dim for a split second but he endured it.

Because the attack had connected, there was a brief moment of latency before the whip would leave his reach and that was exactly what he wanted.

Ignoring the charred smell of his skin against the flames that ran along the whip, Daoju Kai firmly held the tip of the weapon inside his claws.

Tai Bu was speechless. Did-did he just catch it with his bare hands?!

He couldn't let his mind even try to comprehend his opponent's action before the latter suddenly tugged at the whip. Tai Bu was propelled forward, too late in letting the whip go.

Had his favorite weapon not been stolen by Shin Sumi so easily before, the young man would probably have let go of it, but unconsciously Tai Bu couldn't bear to part with the Flaming Whip again.

Once he was in the air, Daoju Kai released the whip, shaking the smoke and the smell of burnt flesh from his injured hand. Slamming the ground with the other, he leaped in a twist of his upper body, claws first.

Daoju Kai's body was a weapon in itself and his reinforced claws were similar to knives. Without being able to suppress his momentum in mid-air, Tai Bu was right in the Beast's trajectory of attack.

"It is not over yet" shouted Tai Bu!

In a last ditch effort, Tai Bu slapped his bag of holding, producing a short dagger in his left hand. Much like the Flaming Whip, the dagger instantly caught fire in contact with Tai Bu's Shinsoo.

Both fighters were three meters above the ground when they collided in a muffled and hard sound.

A shower of blood erupted from the middle as the two fell in a straight line.

Using his inhuman reflexes, Daoju Kai kicked down as he was touching the ground and proceeded to roll over and absorb the impact from the fall. He then stood there, looking at Tai Bu.

Tai Bu's shoulder had been pierced by Daoju Kai's Beast claws and bone was sticking out of the open wound. With a single glance at him it was obvious the fight was over for him. In truth, he couldn't even get up. His body was completely drained of energy and the last drops of Shinsoo he possessed were currently used in order to stop his bleeding.

And yet his eyes still had a gleam of defiance in them.

"Puuah! You bastard..." Daoju Kai held the handle of a dagger between his fingers, plunged deeply into his lung. His claws had disappeared, revealing normal hands underneath. In fact he seemed to have momentarily stopped his Beast Style.

"Brother Daoju, leave the arena and get treatment. I will step in your stead!" A cultivator from the Light-Breaker Pavilion was motioning him to go back to their bench.

"Are you kidding me? We have already used four people, counting me. The other two Pavilion have only used two so far, there is no way I can leave so early! JUST WATCH ME!"

With the willpower of a thousand soldiers, Daoju Kai put both hands on the dagger's handle and pulled.

Very little blood spilled from the deep wound that had pierced his lung in two different places, but it was only because Tai Bu's flames had burned a large portion of his insides before extinguishing.

The dagger dropped to the ground, its sound heard by the entire silent arena.

"Oh oh? This boy is determined. A little bit stupid but I can't take away his determination" Grand Elder Chu Xuanba chuckled, talking to Master Breaker.

"He's a beast after all" was the only response the large burly man could give, "Master Furnace, if you would please prepare to receive my boy..."

The woman at the end of the Pavilion Master's row nodded, her eyes firmly planted on Daoju Kai's wound, "Breaker, you should really teach your disciples to hold their lives in a higher regard. Lei Shon, Kang Yumei, as soon as Daoju Kai steps out of the arena I want you to take him in. He may refuse to follow you but use force if necessary."

The two disciples that had appeared upon having their names called, one male and one female, bowed and disappeared in direction of the Light-Breaker's bench.

Daoju Kai was standing in the middle of the arena, having drawn the eyes of everybody around. His face was drained of blood but his eyes still burned with will to fight.

Drawing from the deep well of his Shinsoo Sea, Daoju Kai forcibly closed up his wounds and reinforced his damaged lung.

"I'm not done yet! Who else is here to fight?!"

"That would be me" a delicate voice answered from almost a hundred steps away.

Daoju Kai turned to face the origin of the voice when his feet suddenly started glowing. No, it was the ground underneath his feet that had started to emit a greenish light.

Without any other tell that a technique had been activated, vines suddenly appeared, wrapping around the Beast's legs, torso and arms.

"Did you forget this is a three-way fight?" the young woman inquired as she leisurely stepped closer to him. "My technique, unfortunately, takes quite a bit of time to prepare. Unlike you I wouldn't have been able to face Tai Bu straight on so I decided to step back for a while. I hope you don't mind that."

The girl was dressed in dark red robes. She wore a touch of makeup that made her green eyes look like two emeralds shining in the middle of her pretty face.

Shin Sumi inhaled slowly, back in the Star-Sword Pavilion corner, "Rai Linxi. She is dangerous. Her presence is almost non-existent. Next to Tai Bu and Daoju Kai nobody even noticed her. I have never seen her use that technique before, maybe because it wasn't suited for the Cloud-Formation Pavilion's tournament."

Shin Sumi was about to advise her teammates to be careful but she remembered at the last second that she wasn't supposed to have that information. From what she knew, though, she was certain Sui Lin was the best fit to fight against her, especially since Daoju Kai was still standing too.

"Erm... Maybe you should go, Sist-"

"I'm going next." Bai Fulong's attempt to strategize was cut short by a cold but delicate voice, "I want to see more of this Daoju Kai. I'll deal with the girl too."

Unexpectedly, it was Sui Lin herself who had taken a step forward. Shin Sumi sighed, "I guess that works too..."

In the middle of the arena, Daoju Kai seemed struggling to tear apart the vines that imprisoned him while Rai Linxi was forming spirit formation incantation signs with her hands.

"I was sent instead of other stronger disciples in order to drain your energy faster. I don't have much Shinsoo myself so there's always the risk of running out before you, but look at yourself! You're already looking like a living corpse!"

Not about to commit the same mistake Daoju Kai had made by not paying attention to her, Rai Linxi made sure to look around frequently. Although she looked very confident in appearance, she was trembling inside, constantly wondering who the Star-Sword Pavilion would send against her.

Daoju Kai growled like an animal when his pupils expanded suddenly and his growl turned into a scream.

"Ah, yes. The vines that currently hold you are my precious Lost Guardian Vines. They just activated their second ability, Shinsoo Sinkers."

The luxurious green vines now bore short red thorns, piercing Daoju Kai's skin all over his body.

"The more Shinsoo the Sinkers get from you, the stronger they will be, the faster you will be drained, the stronger they will be, and so on" Rai Linxi smiled.

Her face was already pale, an indication that her technique indubitably consumed a lot of her Shinsoo too, but at least Daoju Kai was done for.

Her eyes constantly darted from Daoju Kai's vine prison to the white figure approaching in the distance, "Heh, so they sent Sui Lin. I need to restrict her too before anything else. A soon as she steps in my range, I'll trap her under the Lost Guardian Vines too."

Sui Lin's face was completely expressionless. She was walking slowly, her large paintbrush in one hand, until she looked at an invisible spot on the ground and suddenly stopped.

"The air is the canvas. The blood is the link. The energy is the ink."

A droplet of blood left Sui Lin's thumb to fall onto the paintbrush.

"Character Formation, Hole."