They were soon led up the stairs and toward a private booth, where Wu Jian found several Zhou clansmen standing around, including the branch clan head, Zhou Zu. There was also another person present who Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu were surprised to see. Wu Taohua was speaking with Zhou Zu in a hushed tone.

“Father, is something wrong?” asked Zhou Lihua as she walked over to the pair.

Wu Taohua looked at Wu Jian but didn’t say anything as Zhou Zu gave his daughter a tender smile. “Nothing is wrong, dear. Wu Taohua was just telling me something important.” He paused to look at the injured Wu Jian. “That was a rather magnificent battle. I was impressed by your dedication to win. My daughter is no weakling, so being able to defeat her is an impressive feat.”

“Thank you, sir. Your daughter was an incredibly powerful opponent, the strongest I have ever faced,” Wu Jian said with a bow.

“Father, can we provide Wu Jian with a Healing Pellet?” asked Zhou Lihua.

Zhou Zu slowly shook his head. “I am afraid not. The rules of the tournament state that participants are not allowed to take any pills or see a healer until they lose, or after the tournament is over.”

Zhou Lihua frowned. “Do you really think Ming Shen and the Ming Family are going to follow that rule?”

“Whether they follow that rule or not is irrelevant. We are the ones who set the rules down, so we must set an example by following them. In either event, the Ming Family doesn’t need to cheat like that since it seems they have been rigging this tournament from the beginning,” Zhou Zu said.

Zhou Lihua’s eyes widened. “What?”

Zhou Zu and Wu Toahua turned to fully face the group of youngsters, their expressions quite grave. They looked around for a moment. A few people were looking in their direction, but no one seemed to be within hearing distance.

“Wu Taohua here came and informed me that the head elder of the Wu Clan and Ming Han have been working together for some purpose. I did some digging of my own, and it seems they bribed one of our elders to help them rig this tournament.” He nodded at Wu Jian. “That’s why you’ve been forced to fight against your own clansmen and the many stronger opponents. Meanwhile, Ming Shen has had a very easy time battling weaker opponents.”

“So I’m a weaker opponent…?” Hou Jingshu said with a depressed air about her.

Wu Meiying put a hand on her shoulder. “You get depressed way too easily. If you’re weak now, then you just need to grow stronger.”

“I… I guess. But it’s still not easy to hear,” Hou Jingshu muttered with a sigh.

“So, what are you going to do about this?” asked Wu Jian.

“We’ve gathered enough evidence to confront them, so we’re planning to do so once the tournament ends,” Wu Taohua said. “I plan on confronting Elder Wu Wei, Lord Yōushì will face Ming Shen…”

“And I am going to confront the elder who allowed himself to be bribed,” Zhou Zu said. He gave Wu Jian a look. “The question is: What will you do? There is no need to continue this farce of a tournament. If you want, I will declare you the victor right now and we can wrap everything up.”

“No.” Wu Jian shook his head. His response was immediate. “I can’t do that. Ming Shen also used dirty tricks to win the last tournament, and I’ve been resentful ever since. I need to fight and defeat him now, or I’ll never be able to move on. My pride won’t let me stop our match.”

Zhou Zu nodded while Wu Taohua looked proud. Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu were smiling. While she was wearing her veil again, he could also tell that Zhou Lihua was staring at him in surprise. Her eyes had become wide and round like saucers.

“I understand. If you cannot defeat him now, his very presence will leave a sequelae in your psyche that may prevent you from breaking through to the Hunger Realm. Very well. We shall continue the tournament. And after the tournament, we will confront the people who rigged it and force them to recompense,” Zhou Su said, a determined glint in his eyes.

***

Wu Jian soon found himself standing on the arena platform again. A smirking Ming Shen stood less than two meters away from him. The smug expression the other boy wore like a silk glove fanned the flames of Wu Jian’s rage and caused his mind to sharpen. If for no other reason than because he wanted to wipe that look from this boy’s face, Wu Jian would fight.

It doesn’t matter if he’s cheating. I’ll prove to him that no amount of cheating will be enough to defeat me.

“You don’t look too good, little Jian. Maybe you should quit,” Ming Shen suggested, his voice condescending.

Wu Jian smiled. “Thank you for your concern, but you’re not much of a threat even with these injuries. Please, don’t worry about me and worry more about yourself.”

A vein throbbed on Ming Shen’s forehead as his cheeks and ears burned red. “I see you still dare to be cocky even with those injuries. It looks like I’ll have to be the one to put you in your place.”

“You are welcome to try,” Wu Jian said.

The Zhou Clan elder stepped forward before their banter could continue. “If both fighters are ready, then please bow to me, bow to the audience, and now bow to each other. Let the battle begin… now!”

Wu Jian already knew he was heavily disadvantaged before the battle even began. He had been forced to fight against a lot of the stronger opponents in this tournament, which tired him out and left him injured. Meanwhile, Ming Shen was fresh as a daisy. It was clear the only person he fought who was even remotely strong was Juishi Son… and that boy had likely surrendered after putting up a token fight.

But that didn’t mean he was going to give up.

Wu Jian could not afford to.

Ming Shen raced forward. He was faster than Wu Jian anticipated, but he was still much slower than Wu Meiying or Zhou Lihua. Wu Jian back-pedaled to avoid getting struck in the face. Then he lowered his body and let Ming Shen’s high kick fly over his head.

“Hmph! It seems you can still move like a slippery snake! But let’s see how long you can keep that up!”

“Better a slippery snake than a slimy toad!”

With the clear intent to harm, Ming Shen attacked Wu Jian with everything he had, throwing punches and kicks at a rapid pace. Wu Jian was unable to block them since one of his arms was out of commission and the other damaged. He moved backward and wove side to side, avoiding each fist by the skin of his teeth. He was fortunate that Ming Shen only had a decent grasp of combat. Strength was all this boy possessed. His attacks were telegraphed and therefore easy to avoid.

“Hold still, dammit! Stop buzzing around, you fly!”

“A fly, am I? Then what does that make you? A frog stuck in a well who is unable to catch a simple fly?”

“Shut up!”

Wu Jian only had enough power left for one good attack, and he knew he would have to take it soon. That was why he purposefully riled Ming Shen up. The angrier this boy was, the harder it would be for him to make sound judgements. He just needed to wait for his opponent to make one slip.

A loud rumbling sound shook the stadium. It distracted Wu Jian, who was unable to dodge his opponent’s next attack. He hissed in pain as he took a punch to his shoulder. He was able to move with the blow, minimizing the damage, but he still had trouble accepting the pain. His body was already quite weak.

Several more rumblings echoed from somewhere inside the stadium, but Wu Jian refused to let his attention budge this time. Another strike grazed the side of his face. It didn’t hurt, but it distracted him long enough that Ming Shen was able to land a solid blow on his torso. As Wu Jian stumbled backward, Ming Shen crowed in delight.

“Look at you! You’re so pathetic! I guess all that bravado from before was nothing but talk! You don’t have strength to back up your claims! Why don’t you give up?! Maybe if you get down on your hands and knees and call me ‘honored grandfather,’ I’ll consider sending you an invitation to my wedding with Wu Meiying,” Ming Shen said with a laugh.

“You certainly like to yap a lot for a dog who can only rely on another person’s power,” Wu Jian said.

“You… YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!” Ming Shen shouted, face red.

Wu Jian’s chance came only a few minutes after Wu Jian’s most recent insult. The older boy threw a punch as hard and fast as he could, putting his whole body into his attack. He was likely thinking of nothing except smashing Wu Jian’s face in. Wu Jian ducked underneath the punch and slammed his shoulder into Ming Shen’s solar plexus. He put all his strength into this one attack.

“OOOF!”

All the air was expelled from Ming Shen’s lungs in a loud whoosh as he stumbled back. It would have been better for him if he’d fallen onto the ground, but Wu Jian grabbed him by the lapels of his collar, twisted his body, and tossed him instead. A cry of pain rang out as he landed on his back. Finishing his combo, Wu Jian leapt into the air, flipped around, and slammed the back of his heel into Ming Shen’s solar plexus. The sound of ribs breaking could barely be heard over the loud scream, but that cut off quickly as Ming Shen passed out from the pain.

“Huff… huff… haaaah…” Wu Jian gasped for breath as he sat on his butt, his fallen opponent lying beside him.

The elder charged with refereeing this battle raised his hand. “The winner of the finals is—”

“Hold on just a minute!” a shout rang out.

Several things happened in quick succession. The first was a massive figure slamming into the arena floor, cracks spreading across the stone. It was a furious-looking Ming Han. Beside him was the older head of the Juishi Clan. At the same time, three people appeared before Wu Jian as though to protect him. Those people were Wu Taohua, Father, and Zhou Zu. Behind Wu Jian, not on the stage but appearing next to Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu, was his mother.

The audience had gone silent, everyone staring down into the arena, wondering what would happen now that all the clan heads had taken to the stage.

“What do you want, Ming Han?” asked Zhou Zu. He stood at the front, showing his authority as the head of the Zhou Clan’s Zhan City branch.

“It should be obvious what I want! I want recompense! That brat obviously cheated!” He accused, thrusting a finger at Wu Jian.

“Hah! That’s rich coming from a man who rigged this entire tournament so his son would have an easy time getting into the finals,” Father said with harsh, barking laughter.

“What are you talking about?” asked Ming Han, a cold sweat dripping down his brow.

“Hmph. Trying to play dumb? Don’t bother. I already defeated Wu Wei not long ago and he confessed to everything. You offered to help him usurp my position as clan head if he helped you rig this tournament. He managed to escape with his life intact, but he is no longer a member of the Wu Clan. I was unable to kill him, but I can at the very least strip him of any power,” Father said.

“Father already took care of Wu Wei?” Wu Jian muttered.

“My lord husband confronted him shortly after your battle with Ming Shen started,” Wu Taohua explained. “He tried to kill him, but the elder… sorry, the former elder was quite tricky. He had been wearing low-grade spirit-rank armor. I don’t know where he got it, but it was enough to block my lord husband’s techniques. Thanks to that, he managed to escape.”

Artifacts like armor, cauldrons, and weapons were graded on the same scale as techniques: Earth-Rank, spirit-rank, and heaven-rank. Spirit-rank armor, even low-grade armor, was strong enough to withstand attacks from an Asura Realm cultivator.

Father certainly works fast. It sucks that Wu Wei managed to escape. Wu Jian sighed in admiration over his father’s decisiveness.

“And I have already received the confession from the elder of my clan that you bribed,” Zhou Zu added as Wu Jian recieved an explanation of events from Wu Taohua. “He confessed that you gave him several valuable alchemy pills in exchange for rigging the tournament to help your son reach the finals by fighting only weak opponents. Do not make this any harder on yourself, Ming Han. My patience with you is already wearing thin.”

Ming Han gritted his teeth and glared at Wu Jian with so much vitriol it was a wonder the boy didn’t burst into flames. Wu Jian’s breathing grew ragged as the killing intent emenating from the man constricted his heart with fear. It looked like the man was calculating whether or not he could kill Wu Jian before the others got to him.

In the end, however, he had no choice but to back down.

“This isn’t over. Mark my words, I will make you regret humiliating me like this,” Ming Han said as he picked up his unconscious son and left the arena. Juishi Feng took one look at the group surrounding Wu Jian, then followed his fellow clan head outside.

Wu Jian didn’t think this would be the end of his troubles with Ming Han and Ming Shen. Both of them were great at holding grudges. He was sure they would try something eventually, but for now, at least, he was protected well enough that they weren’t likely to attempt getting their revenge any time soon.

“Can you stand up?” asked Wu Taohua, holding a hand out to Wu Jian.

“I think so… thanks.”

Wu Jian allowed the woman to help him stand. Mother, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu climbed onto the arena and walked over to him. Wu Meiying immediately reached for his hand. Seeing this, Hou Jingshu grabbed his other hand, though she was blushing to the roots of her hair. She needed to be careful, though, since the hand she held belonged to the arm he broke during his fight with Zhou Lihua. Zhou Zu, meanwhile, took over for the elder and announced the results of this year’s tournament.

“The winner of this year’s Three Clans Tournament is… Wu Jian!!” he declared.

As the crowd went wild, Wu Jian closed his eyes and allowed the elation in his chest to burst forth. It had been a long road. He had worked harder than anyone else for several years to reach this point, but he had finally accomplished the first goal he needed. He had proven to himself that he had changed, that he was not a coward. He was no longer the little boy who needed to hide behind Wu Meiying when life got rough.

But I can’t stop now. I need to get even stronger.

He opened his eyes and glanced at Wu Meiying. She looked back at him and they shared a smile.

Wu Jian would get stronger from here on out.

This was the promise he made to himself…

…and to the girl who had held his heart since day one.