Jin opened his eyes in a familiar space. He could see his round core surrounded by hundreds of spears shaped through his will. It was surrounded by nothing but pure darkness. This was his soul sea. Different from usual though, he wasn't seeing it from 'outside' but felt as if a part of it. As he looked down, he noticed the reason why. He was 'there'. His 'body' existed in this place at this moment. Was this how death was like to cultivators?

His hypothesis was quickly given up on as he heard something. It was familiar too though in a negative way. He heard this sound many times in the last few minutes. A creepy wave of many laughter. He turned around, his back to the core, and saw it.

Corruption.

It was using its many jaws to eat at the darkness of his soul sea. It was preying on his soul. It already ate its body and converted into its own so, now, it was after his soul sea? What a greedy monster.

Jin gazed at the ever-growing jaws as they chewed on the darkness in some unexplainable ways. It was quite the sight. Yet he didn't feel much from it. It was part of the winner's rights to use whatever the loser left behind. That monster also fought with its life on the line and he respected it for that. Bestial and horrendous as it was, it gave him an incredible fight. He was grateful about that. He lost but enjoyed himself throughout. Since he gave it his all.

For a few more seconds, he watched.

Then, he moved. Even if he lost, even if he no longer had a body, even if his soul itself was going to be consumed...He didn't want it to end there.

He wanted to fight more!

He couldn't breath any longer and his heart was no longer beating. Heck, he might not even have a heart any longer. But who cares?! He could still think! He could still move! And he still had weapons at hand!

He roared at the jaws: "Come at me, monster!"

He willed a spear to come and grabbed it before rushing forward. The jaws stopped for a moment as eyes began to pop around. Then it laughed harder. The puny remain of the existence he was absorbing was trying to attack. It was laughable. It didn't bother about it and continued munching on the delicious soul sea buffet in front of him. He did expand a lot of his 'mass' and 'existence' but this would help replenishing a bit.

Jin didn't mind that he was being ignored. He acted like this many times in the past due to arrogance. And he learnt a lesson from this after being hit in the back a few times.

Even a starving predator remained a predator.

He didn't go too close to the corruption though. He knew how dangerous it was. Instead, he used the momentum of his rush to throw his spear with all his might. This spear was like all others in this soul sea. It was the image of the spear he used in his previous life. It had been a very simple and crude one you could find anywhere if you searched for such things. Basically, it had nothing impressive to it.

And yet.

And yet, as it rushed forward and connected with the bulk of the corruption, it exploded into it. The many jaws stopped gnawing at his soul sea for a moment as a scream of pain escaped from them. The corrupted being and Jin were both stunned by the result. Neither of them expected such a thing to happen. There was, however, a very simple reason behind it.

This was the soul sea.

Only souls could enter this kind of place that was on a different plane from reality. Whether Jin or the corrupted being, right now, they weren't physical entities. They were images of their 'existence' and were both vulnerable to the other.

Jin grinned.

Eyes popped out once more.

Jin began to will another spear to come to him. He was going to keep throwing them from a distance. The target was trying to eat the entire soul sea, it was impossible for it to dodge. He threw the spear and as it connected, it produced similar results as the first.

The corrupted being screamed out of anger and pain and he reduced his body. He morphed into a humanoid shape the size of Jin as he glared at him with its many eyes. From its many jaws, its many voices resounded: "I will devour you"

Jin grinned and began to augh as he willed another spear to come into his hands. Even after losing once, he could try to fight again, what a blissful opportunity!

...

Meanwhile, outside, the remnants and everyone in the grand hall had their eyes focused on the giant slug wave of corruption that flowed in the arena. There weren't any traces of Jin yet the barrier had yet to disappear. It meant that the sanctuary still considered there to be two different entities in the arena. As such, it indirectly meant that the battle had yet to end.

Cheng confidently smiled as he watched while Sarina's fists were clenched. She saw the 'mass' diminish twice in a row. The first time could have been an error but errors didn't have twice in a row in such situations. The youth was still fighting! He wasn't dead yet!

Cheng didn't bother watching intently and he was only seeing a corrupted wave idling around, enjoying a meal. He grinned at Sarina, gesturing with his hand for her to pay up.

She coldly told him: "He hasn't lost yet. The 'mass' diminished"

Cheng snorted. Then, he looked back and saw that it was true. It seemed to have reduced. Not by much but the fact that it did...It was enough for him to frown and his grin to fade away.