Qi is a natural energy that flows through all life. Like all things that exist in nature, it can be classified into five elements: water, earth, fire, metal, and wood. Most cultivators had a natural aptitude towards one of these elements, and channeling qi in a way that was aligned with it was easy.

For Wang family, such element was metal. And right now, their prodigious son was using that to his advantage, enhancing his tendons, bones, muscles, and senses, and achieving speed and strength beyond what lies in the realm of possibility for the average human.

His opponent was hard-pressed and forced on the defensive. Barley able to evade the barrage of his attacks, she couldn’t even deploy the dreadful ice flowers that finished Ming Libai so easily not long ago, and she found herself in quite a pickle.

However, Wang Shunji was in no better state. The constant strain of expanding qi in this fashion, combined with his unstable emotional state, directly affected both his health and cognition. His breathing was getting faster and faster, and his heart was beating like mad. He knew he’s letting his emotions take control of him, yet having led a life devoid of self-restraint, he didn’t know how to calm himself down efficiently. His every movement was steaming with hostile intent.

Only thanks to that Bai Lianfei was still standing. Being naturally of a calm disposition, and trained in internal martial arts, she had a superior ability to sense qi and killing aura. She could foresee where he was going to strike even before he made his move, and that near precognition allowed her to ever so barely avoid, deflect and get out of range of his attacks.

He felt like he was fighting his own shadow, except the shadow was wearing white robes and had significantly longer, braided hair. The loud clashing of swords echoed through the arena, as two superior cultivators threw everything they have against each other. This wasn’t just a clash of people, but also of two radically different ideals, lifestyles and ambitions.

He tried to feint a thrust, only to turn it into a slash midway. However, Bai Lianfei foresaw that, and parried effortlessly.

What she didn’t forsee is the action of his left hand, which fired a qi blast at her at point blank.

The crowd gasped- the granddaughter of master Lan was pushed several meters up in the air, truly becoming not unlike what her name implied. However, she regained composure mid air, and landed gracefully on her feet, just a couple of centimeters away from the edge of the arena. Had she failed to do that, she’d be out of bounds now, and lost the match.

However, her opponent didn’t escape this rash movement unscratched, either. His left arm absorbed a significant amount of recoil from his own force blast and was shaking unsteadily now. His fingers were numb, and he felt a painful, burning sensation in his left shoulder. He estimated he won’t be able to do it safely more than a couple more times, and his frustration grew stronger. It’s time to stall for time!

“I don’t understand you. Having fun in life is most important. Eat good food, play good games, have good friends. What’s the point of pursuing some *virtue* if it leaves you so miserable?”

Bai Lianfei answered that with a barrage of tiny icicles, which he barely deflected with his sword. If his blade was of lesser quality, it would no doubt get chipped or even dent under the terrible pressure and sharpness of these extremely fast and hard frozen bullets. Is this what Ming Libai had to endure?

This thought enraged Wang Shunji, and a terrible voice, born out of his darkest emotions, played a corrupt tune within his very soul.

*Provoke her*

“Ah, I see. It’s your mother’s suicide isn’t it!?” he felt losing himself in a whirlpool of darkness, and vocalized things he’d never speak out loud otherwise “Your mommy died and you’re overcompensating by being a bitch!”

However, this personal attack didn’t seem to have any effect on Bai Lianfei, who just continued barraging him with a hell of bullets, foregoing flowery deception, and settling on deciding the outcome of this match with brute force. Taking advantage of a greater range of her projectiles, she pinned him down and forced the young man on the defensive.

Unfortunately, the audience did hear his taunt, as he didn’t exactly whisper it…and soon enough the eardrum-shattering sound of frozen bullets crashing against steel mixed with chaotic shouts of disbelief and disapproval from the gathered crowd.

He knew he crossed the line there, but didn’t have time to reflect on his word or apologize. His enemy didn’t let him. In the end, who cares about what the common people think? Who cares about all this virtue, and convention business, who needs any of that? After all the only thing that matters now is….

*power*

…and…

*through power, victory*

Giving in to the whispers of his inner demons, Wang Shunji felt something switch in his very soul. The next time he threw a feint with his right hand, his left hand fired a qi blast.

It missed, so her threw another, and another, and another.

In the past, he’d always concentrate for a little while before firing condensed qi energies at any target. Generally speaking, his qi blasts are quite unorthodox, and he’s only able to use them thanks to his powerful golden core and enormous qi capacity. Most cultivators have to limit the expression of their power to one of the five elements, but he reached a level where he can manipulate the energy in life in its purest form.

Ejecting it from his body in its rawest form, that’s a qi blast.

However, since the energy of life in its base state is volatile, some level of focus is required to fire exactly the desired amount of force, in a calculated cone, at a specified target. That ensured that no force is wasted, and no needless destruction is caused outside of whatever area the attack is supposed to hit.

And now Wang Shunji was doing the exact opposite of that, firing blast after blast, wildly and chaotically, without even attempting to aim or control the ejected amount of qi. Despite wasting so much, he felt like his reserves are now unlimited, and he broke through some kind of bottleneck, reaching an even greater level of cultivation accomplishment that his contemporaries could only dream about.

……………

“What is this fool doing?” shouted Bao Zimo, his hands almost ripping out hair from his face. “At this rate….”

“I know” said Bai Yunru, and, understanding his master’s unspoken order, immediately set up some kind of transparent barrier, separating the Wuyun group from the battlefield. The other black-robed cultivators quickly jumped in, extending their hands to the front and adding their qi to his, strengthening and refining the barrier.

And not a moment later, a wave of invisible force hit it, shattering against its surface, like a droplet of rain against the invisible body of water.

Unfortunately, the barrier was quite small and didn’t extend beyond the group of black cloud cultivators. The other spectators weren’t protected by it, desks were flipped, people were tossed around like rag dolls, and a sense of panic quickly overtook the crowd, which only made the matters worse. The gong signaling the end of the match was beating madly, but none could hear it among the chaos, noise, and stampede of hundreds.

Zhanzhan used this confusion to quickly slip away from her “captors” and disappeared without being stopped or noticed by anyone. Having regained her freedom, she quickly made her way towards the safest place on the hill-the barricaded medical encampment!

……………

*This isn’t nearly enough*

I know, I know….!, thought Wang Shunji, desperately trying to silence the noise inside his head. His entire body felt numb, and yet his power seemed limitless. Weird, isn’t it? Funny, isn’t it?

Suddenly he had an idea. Instead of trying to hit his ever-elusive opponent, he directed the next blast at the ground directly below him. And moments afterwards, he was flying many meters above the air, initially using the force of the blast to defy the force of gravity.

However, after reaching a certain altitude, he suddenly stopped moving and then….instead of falling down like all things ought to…he remained suspended mid-air, as if he was….

“…flying”

Shouted one of the onlookers, shock and awe mixed in his voice. Soon, more voices joined him in unison

“He’s flying!”

“I can’t believe it…”

“He can fly!?”

The flight was one of the legendary abilities manifested by immortal cultivators of the ancient era. No one in many generations has reached the level that allowed such a feat. And yet here he was, this young and arrogant man who seemingly lost all senses a moment ago, doing the impossible!

The crowd went silent. The previous sense of panic was now replaced by silent reverence, as the onlookers felt like a scene from myth was playing right in front of their mortal eyes.

But Bai Lianfei wasn’t fooled, and she immediately set up a large ice wall in front of herself, not very different from the semi-invisible barrier her relative put up a moment earlier.

And soon after that, a supernatural storm engulfed the entire hill, with the floating man as its epicenter. It was as if countless qi blasts erupted from the invisible volcano instantaneously, destroying everything in their path.

Qi deviation. The state of losing control over one’s power, surrounding oneself to the inner demons, and being torn apart from the inside. If it was to happen to just some average cultivator, it’s unlikely it’d hurt anything other than his mind and body.

However, Wang Shunji was no average practitioner. He was a prodigy, his power was unparalleled, and now it was in full bloom. Before this flower eventually withers away, it will, without doubt, lay waste to both Chenfei and Shuangshan, and with it, Bai Lianfei’s dreams and ambitions.

She must stop it, now.

At first, she shot a barrage of ice projectiles towards the eye of the storm, but it had no effect. Her projectiles were too weak, too small, and too fragile, to pierce through the supernatural winds surrounding her opponent, each gust as strong as any individual qi blast he was so fond of.

She needs something bigger, longer, sturdier, stronger. At first, she merely thought of projecting a larger icycle bullet, but then….

She glanced at the pristine, white blade in her hand.

Covering her eyes with the sleeve of her arm, she pointed the sword in the general direction of the enemy, using not her eyes, but her qi sense to locate his physical body. And then she threw the sword, using all the willpower and qi available to stabilize it mid-flight and propel it towards the target.

And then the storm ended as suddenly as it began.

Wang Shunji’s motionless body hit the ground, a double-edged blade firmly lodged in his thigh.

Exhausted, Bai Lianfei slowly approached him. She didn’t pay any attention to the beating of the gong, nor to the cries, screams, and roars of the onlookers, many of whom were injured, scared and panicked. No, she was hyper-focused on the corpse of her opponent and somewhat relieved when the corpse blinked and slowly turned his head towards her. Soon, a group of senior warriors caught up with her, silently escorting her towards her destination.

The pain of having being stabbed in the leg seemed to have brought Wang Shunji back to reality, and it appeared he was slowly realizing what he’s done, as an expression of terror and urgency slowly appeared on his face. There was no more will to fight left in his eyes, and one of his arms was bend at a weird angle, most likely a result of an unlucky fall from a rather high altitude.

So what was he going to say now? Apologize? Make excuses? Taunt, remaining defiant even in face of crushing defeat? Cry, and beg for mercy?

A small crowd of onlookers gathered around, morbidly curious what words escape the miscreant's mouth.

“I….saw… up there…”

He coughed several times, his meridians so damaged, even basic speech was difficult. Someone in the crowd laughed, but this laughter was quickly cut short when Wang Shunji finished his sentence.

“…Master Lan’s house is on fire!”