I walked out of the cavern, stepping through an odd gate of fog that sent me back to the place I’d stepped in from. I sensed the Qi rustle behind me, as the gate closed to the cavern within the illusion with the lunar medallion gone from the inside.

“Alright, now where do we find the sun medallion?” I muttered out loud, taking a sweeping glance across the area. I let my Qi senses spread out, layering them with my sense for Gu as I tried to get a feel for things nearby.

I could feel some cultivators nearby, who quickly rushed away or hid their presence even further as they sensed my probing. I felt slightly odd upon trying to compete with cultivators where none of them were even at the peak of the third realm, and here I was halfway through to the fourth. I couldn’t help but feel like a big bully, stepping into a kid’s playing ground, trying to flex on everyone.

“Well, on the other hand, it’d be the perfect competition for you wouldn’t it, Labby?” I muttered out loud, as Labby let out a squeak.

“Labby will win!” she exclaimed, and I laughed out loud.

“You’ll have your chance again. It’s best to rest up for now. I’m quite proud of how much you’ve grown Labby. If you keep growing like this, I’m afraid that you’ll end up surpassing me one day,” I said with a grin, turning towards my little rat, who crackled in delight.

“Labby could never. Her great Master is the strongest. He just doesn’t realize how strong he is yet.”

I laughed, stepping ahead towards the thicket in front of me. Keeping my senses open, I slowly began to walk through. The sectioned-off area for the selection round was small enough that I could run a lap around it in five minutes if I ran. Which was pretty big, when I thought about it.

“Labby, can you smell anything?” I asked, as Labby stood up on my shoulders and took a sniff.

“From that direction. Labby smells fire,” she said, and I nodded.

Sending Qi to my feet, I activated Wind step and began to head in the indicated direction. Stopping every other minute, I waited for Labby to take another sniff and re-direct me towards where she was smelling the Qi come from.

Trees and bushes rushed past me as I ran, and in just a few minutes, I was at the location she’d been indicating. Slowing my steps, I concealed my presence and took a spot far enough to be undetectable as I watched.

Four pillars of metal stood in an open section devoid of trees. Each pillar had characters of glowing red carved upon them, with a fire that was lit on top of all four. A pedestal of stone stood at the center of all four towers, within which was a circular device of some sort and a slot inside. Likely where the sun medallion had been.

“The tokens are with the two cultivators. Labby can smell them!”

I nodded, having figured as much out myself. Two cultivators stood ahead, Qi flaring from both their cores as they lunged at each other with various cultivation arts being put on display. I sensed both of them to be at low 3rd realm.

Should I take the risk of going in? Or try to find the other sun medallion? No, there might not be enough time to find more.

I sat silently in the bushes, at a distance much further than I would’ve been able to see them without my bullshit cultivator abilities being on display again. I channeled a thin strand of Gu to my eyes every few seconds. Shifting between Qi and Gu like a pulsating AC current. The reason I was doing something risky like this? Because for some reason, Gu was a lot better at enhancing my physique than Qi was.

My edgy-demon lord eyes extended my vision quite a bit more, and if I pulsated the Gu enough, the white iris, black eye thing didn’t set in. My eyes instead just lose their usual dark color slightly. It was quite a neat trick, though one I’d never gotten to properly use before now.

I sat, watching the kids- or umm, cultivators, fight. I almost let out a whistle as I watched water striking boulders, and earth moving around in ripples as it rushed out. It made me realize just how different this world truly was, and what I lacked compared to these kids. No matter how much cultivation I had, I did not know how to fight, and I did not know how to do all the crazy martial arts these kids did.

“Master knows, does he not? He’d fought the wraiths, fought the thunder, fought the wolves, and fought many things. Master is merely kind and does not hurt those he thinks are undeserving. And if Master truly wishes to learn, he can join Labby!”

I turned to look at Labby blankly, staring at the little rat on my shoulder. She said oddly wise stuff sometimes doesn’t she?

“Perhaps,” I muttered out loud, turning back to look at the two cultivators fighting. “Perhaps I can.”

If I wanted to start my own place. Drug empire I may call it, but what it truly would be was a school, a home, and most of all, my lab. If I wanted something like that, then perhaps it’d be worth spending some time, trying to learn how to fight as well.

Lu Jie stirred within my chest, his emotions rising to reach mine. I heard a voice whisper in my head, as the Gu stirred in my core.

We could learn together.

I smiled in response. We could learn together indeed.

“Chirp!” Sheldon exclaimed, nuzzling his head against mine happily. I scratched his long neck slightly, as I continued to observe the cultivators that were fighting.

The girl using water techniques had one-half of the medallion. She was using her abilities to move around with speed, riding on her water as she shot torrents of it with appendages that struck like a whip.

The other boy on the other hand was much taller, with broad shoulders, as he stood sturdy in his place, taking each blow and shrugging it off. Bending down, the sturdy boy would grab at the earth and pull out chunks, before launching them at high speeds toward the girl.

Full on Xianxia cultivation battle, and it was only going to get rougher in the tournament itself.

I grinned in response. I’d made all my preparations, done all I could. I’d prepared a batch of drugnades, and had the ultimate card of Sheldon on my side. There was little to be afraid of.

And if things did go to shit, I could always nuke the hell out of things and run off.

“Alright, I think I have a plan,” I muttered, turning towards Labby with a smile. “Time to steal our way to victory.”

***

Lightning crackled in Labby’s core, as she waited in ambush for her Master’s signal. Her Qi was replenished by now by the bond with her Master, and Labby felt as ready to go as she could be. Her ears flicked in joy, as she felt the scent of the burning Qi of the sun coming from the two medallions up ahead.

It touched against her Lunar Qi, calling to it. Like the Yang for her Yin.

Joy filled Labby’s heart to finally be able to help out her great Master like such. He’d relied on her, back during the fight. He’d let her take the charge and show that she was worthy of being his spirit, someone to follow him on his path. She’d failed him once, back against the wrath of the heavens, and she’d sworn to never be so useless again.

It was time to prove that.

“Okay, Labby. Are you ready?” her Master’s voice asked her.

“Labby is ready!” she quickly sent by.

“Good, wait for my word before going in. Speed will be the key, remember that. Just go in and get the medallions, I’ll take care of the rest,” her Master said and Labby squeaked in response. She was hiding a lot closer to the cultivators in one of the bushes.

Labby had lamented her lack of Qi and her nature for the lack of strength in her Arts. Yet now, the very same nature as a rat let her move so close to the cultivators undetected. It further showed her how everything under the heavens had their place, but she would not be following her master, if she was content to merely be as her nature would dictate.

Labby felt her master’s Qi pulsate. His vitality stirred, heading towards Twilight, as the little plant spirit greedily ate at it. Labby felt her mouth watering but she controlled herself, keeping her mind focused. She had a task from her Master to finish.

With a pulse of Qi, she sensed the plants around the cultivators, rising as they wrapped themselves around their feet.

“Now!” her Master shouted and with a crackle of purple lightning, Labby shot off.

The world zipped by, as strands of lightning carried Labby. She raced, jumping as she dodged the strike of a whip of water, and chunks of rocks being barraged towards her way.

Turning midair, labby pushed off one of the rocks, aiming toward the cultivator girl, who now stared wide-eyed at her. Quickly rushing in, she grabbed ahold of the sun medallion from the girl’s clothes before leaping off.

“Back off!” her Master shouted, and Labby obeyed quickly jumping back.

Fire Qi exploded in front of the boy, as a loud scream echoed around him. A tornado of flame rose, and Labby waited for the explosion to settle down slightly, before quickly jumping in. Dodging the flames she rushed in, and with a powerful crackle of lightning, grabbed the second sun medallion.

With a thundering heart, Labby ran back towards her Master, shooting forward as she climbed his shoulder.

“Sheldon now!” her master screamed, watching tensely.

“Chip!” Sheldon chirped, as Qi burst forth in a wave. Water rose from the ground, rising to a tidal wave, as both cultivators in front were carried away by it, screaming.

Labby turned to look at her Master, the two halves of the medallion held in her mouth. With a smile, her master turned, patting her head gently.

“You’re the best Labby,” he exclaimed, and Labby swished her tail, squeaking back in delight.

She was the best!

***

I watched the girl cultivator being teleported away, but the boy with Earth Qi remained. I didn’t wait around to get caught by him, quickly grabbing the medallion’s other halves before making a dash for it.

Wind burst under my feet, as I ran ahead through the arena and soon, I was on my way outside. Slightly out of breath from running, I walked to the end of the formation and stopped when I saw the Elder appear in front of me with a flash.

“Medallions?” the man asked, and I joined the sun medallion, before digging for the lunar medallion. Silently, I handed both of them to him.

“Very well. You’ve successfully passed the selection round,” the man said, and I grinned happily. “A word of advice though, young disciple. This is merely the selection round, but it would do you well to not rely on your spirit so much, even in a tournament held for the sport of it,” the man said, Qi flaring as he vanished again.

I turned to look at Sheldon, before nodding. I’d suspected they wouldn't allow me to simply let Sheldon steamroll through everything. Oh well, troubles for later.

Smiling, I stepped outside of the formation, as shining light covered me, and the world vanished around me in the next moment.