Hui opened his eyes as dawn broke over the horizon. He stood, stretching. Today’s the day.

Two days of cultivation. Two days of drills, practicing the few simple sword moves he knew. Two days of waiting. I’m weaker than Chang Bolin, but with only three days to prepare, he couldn’t have broken through into the third stage unless he was a much more heaven-defying talent than he is. If he was a whole realm above me, I’d stand no chance.

But as it is…

He dressed in his blue robes and hung the training sword from his waist. The dull blade wouldn’t cut or kill, but it would block.

I’d like a real sword, but… well, it doesn’t matter. I’ve never had serious sword training, and Chang Bolin was on his way to becoming a true sword cultivator. Much like I can’t overcome the latter half of Foundation Building in three days, neither can I become a sword cultivator overnight.

Deftly, he tied his hair into a neat ponytail, winding a navy ribbon around its base. He grabbed a white robe and wore it over his blue robe as a coat, temporarily disguising himself. Tucking the two pill bottles, one from his master, one from Xixing, into his innermost sleeves, he set Zhubi around his neck and headed down the mountain.

At the bottom of the mountain, an almost festival air took over the disciples. Some enterprising outer sect disciples sold snacks, paper fans, and other small favors from stalls lining the lower part of the mountain. Cultivators in white streamed into Starbound Peak, laughing and chattering.

“Just for today! Just for today, the barrier is lifted! Come see! A duel, a duel!” a crier called.

Is everyone that bored? Hui wondered, mixing in with his fellow disciples. It’s only two Foundation-Building disciples. Surely they have better things to do.

After a second, he smirked. I don’t mind it, though.

“I can’t wait to see that rabid dog get beaten,” one of the passing disciples muttered.

“Yeah, that talentless Weiheng Hui, who thinks he’s so much better than us because he got picked by Weiheng Wu?”

The first disciple shook his head. “Have you heard? We all had it backwards. Turns out, Chang Bolin killed Weiheng Hui! If it wasn’t for a miraculous intervention by Weiheng Wu, he wouldn’t have been able to come back!”

Hui blinked. Eh… huh? What happened, now?

“No way, Weiheng Wu used a revival artifact on Weiheng Hui? He had a revival artifact? Aren’t those incredibly rare?”

The first disciple shrugged. “I dunno. Just telling you what I heard.”

Shaking his head, Hui hurried toward the arena. The rumors have gotten out of control. At least they’re in my favor… mostly.

Hui followed the crowds, quietly lost. I’ve never actually been to the arena. I know they have one, but I don’t know where it is. Hopefully these people do, or there isn’t going to be a duel today.

A hand grabbed his shoulder. He startled and turned. Lao Gongren smiled at him, then gestured him in. Curious, Hui leaned in.

“Hui, you need to apologize and back out. Take whatever punishment they give you. It’s still honorable. No one will blame you.”

“Huh?”

Lao Gongren glanced around and leaned closer. “Chang Bolin is going to kill you. Killing is allowed in duels, and no one’s allowed to intervene. Even if Weiheng Wu is there, he won’t be able to do anything to save you.”

Hui smiled. “It’s okay. I’m ready.”

“No you aren’t, Hui! He’s practically a realm above you. You only just entered Foundation Building. He’s a peak Foundation Building disciple! That’s not something you can overcome, no matter how well your master taught you!”

Master, nothing! He bowed to Lao Gongren. “Thank you for your concern, but I’ve prepared adequately. All I ask is that Elder Disciple Gongren believes in me.”

Lao Gongren opened his mouth, then shut it. His hand slipped off Hui’s shoulder.

Marching off firmly, Hui passed into the distance. Left all alone, Lao Gongren watched that small back disappear.

“I always forget… how fast they grow up,” he murmured, looking at his hand.

--

The arena laid out before him. White stone marked eight neat squares in a field. A massive stadium surrounded one, large enough to hold the whole sect and then some. Today, the crowd filled a smaller stadium. Though not as fancy as the larger one, it still sported a balcony and a pavilion at its top drifting with gauzy skeins of silk. Hazy figures stood in the pavilion; he caught a glimpse of Lan Taijian’s stiff, upright figure, and of another, a girl in pink. Half-hidden behind her master, the silk and drifting shadows blocked her face.

A few other figures stood in the pavilion, but Hui didn’t recognize any of them. The sect’s bigshots? he wondered, squinting upward. After a moment of effort, he shrugged. They don't look like the Peak Lords... if they're higher-level Starbound Peak disciples, I wouldn't know what they looked like, anyways.

No sign of Master. Hui shrugged to himself. Not that I was counting on him in the first place.

He lowered his gaze and scanned the stands. Some faces stood out, disciples he’d run into casually around the sect. Elder sister Mei smiled and waved, and he grinned back. Toward the upper right end of the stands, Xixing leaned on a hand and chatted with another Cauldron Peak disciple. All the disciples around her had the same strange hair and eye colors, all from Cauldron Peak. Opposite them in the upper left, a group of beautiful, giggling girls clustered together; Hui glanced at them. Butterfly Pavilion Peak? I don’t know anything about that peak, except that it’s for female cultivators only.

Aside from Cauldron Peak, whose disciples clustered together in the same way the weirdos and freaks used to cluster in his high school, and Butterfly Pavilion Peak, who clustered the way the cheerleaders and popular girls used to, the other two peaks mixed freely. Peak Lord Liang’s Jade Garden disciples and Lan Taijian’s Starbound Peak disciples were only discernible by their demeanor. Starbound Peak disciples sat straight-backed, hands calloused and arms muscled, robes spotless, while Jade Garden disciples sat comfortably, robes stained from dirt no matter how much they washed them, not chiseled but somewhere between weathered and soft.

And then there’s me, lone disciple of Master’s peak.

Hui wandered toward the far end of the stone square and sat there, staring at it, taking in the grain of the stone and the height of the platform, the size of it. Satisfied, he crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

A slap to the back of the head knocked him back to reality. “Ready to die, trash? I give you ten seconds in the arena.”

Zhubi shifted around Hui’s neck, hissing.

Hui stood. He bowed neatly to Chang Bolin. “This disciple greets younger disciple.”

Chang Bolin sneered. “Still as haughty as ever.” He strode into the arena, waving to the crowd.

A cheer rose up from the Starbound Peak disciples, but not all of them. Some of them hesitated. A few shouted boos. Confused, Chang Bolin frowned at them.

Hui grinned to himself. It worked.

He stood as well. Carefully, he drew Zhubi from around his neck and set the snake at the edge of the arena. Silly upturned nose pointed at him, Zhubi turned his head and hissed.

“It won’t be safe for you here. Stay here and wait. I’ll be right back,” Hui promised.

Zhubi blinked slowly, then slithered over and coiled up on a nearby stone, basking in the sun.

Hui took a deep breath and strode forward. As he stepped onto the stone, he threw his white robe off. It caught the wind and billowed away, drawing the eye. Sky-blue robes fluttering, he stepped up opposite Chang Bolin. He neither acknowledged the crowd nor asked for adulation, eyes locked onto his opponent.

The crowd fell silent.

From the pavilion, a voice rang out. “In lieu of official judgement and consequent punishment, today’s combatants chose life and death in battle! Inner sect disciple Chang Bolin of Starbound Peak, bow!”

Stiffly, Chang Bolin lowered his head just an inch, hands cupped in a mockery of a sincere bow.

“Inheriting disciple Weiheng Hui of Unrivaled Under All Heavens Peak, bow!”

Hui jolted, startled. Wait, that’s what my peak’s been called all this time, and no one told me? Master, how ostentatious can you be? Who let this man name anything?

Abruptly, he realized the crowd was staring. He bowed deeply and sincerely to Chang Bolin.

Chang Bolin clicked his tongue. “Disgraceful.”

A gong rang out.

“Fight!”