Wu Jian arrived at the hotel with Mei Xilan and Hua Xue, where he was greeted by Yu Chenguang. Nothing of importance happened when they were gone. He split off from the two ladies soon after, claiming he wanted to try out the item Huǒ Yulie won at the auction for him. Neither of them denied him as they also planned to retire to their rooms.

The first thing Wu Jian did after entering his room was lock the door, but then he wandered into the meditation room, which was shaped like a con and covered in a sealing array. Wu Jian was not knowledgable about sealing arrays. However, he had seen this one before. It was designed to gather chi into the room. This particular sealing array could not gather much chi, so it would not be useful to him, but being able to block the world outside would. He wanted absolute silence for this.

He quickly summoned the item from his storage ring. Just like he expected, it was indeed a mat. After unrolling it, he set it on the ground, then sat down on it with his legs crossed. The mat was shaped like a circle instead of a square. His knees just barely remained inside of it.

I don’t feel anything…

Wu Jian furrowed his brow as he tried to medidate on the Dao of Space but felt nothing from the mat. Was it inactive? Defective? No no no. That couldn’t be it. An auction house would never auction off a defective product. It would ruin their reputation. This thing had to work somehow, but he just didn’t know how.

Out of curiosity, he began feeding chi into it. That was when sealing arrays lit up on the mat. He thought maybe he had discovered how to use it, but then the seals went silent again, and no matter how much chi he channeled into them, they did not light back up.

So that’s not the correct way either? Then what can I do?

He crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and pondered. With his eyes closed, he could easily hear his own breathing and heartbeat. He listened to the sound with half an ear.

This mat is supposed to somehow help people understand the Dao of Space. I guess that means it won’t just activate with a little chi. Maybe the Dao of Space is what activates it? Worth a shot.

Wu Jian took a deep breath, held it in, then released it.

I am one with the universe.

Everything exists within the universe.

If everything exists within the universe, then I exist within everything.

For I am one with the universe.

And the universe is me.

All things within the universe exist within their own space.

Space is boundless, which means I am boundless.

Wu Jian began chanting the matra for his cultivation method as he formed a hand seal and circulated his chi through his meridians. Barely a second had passed before something happened. It felt like his chi was swirling around inside of him, forming countless stars and strange shapes that spiraled about. Comets flew about and novas burst into existence like blooming flowers. Was this space? Was he seeing space? Wu Jian continued to diligently cultivate.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he had reached the seventh subrealm of the Human Limit Realm by the time someone began knocking on his door.

“Jian Wu? What are you doing in there? Come on. We need to hurry up,” it was Hua Xue.

Standing up, Wu Jian sealed the mat back inside of his storage ring, opened the meditation room door, and found the woman standing there with Mei Xilan and Yu Chenguang. He blinked.

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t ‘what’s going on’ me.” Hua Xue sounded somewhat exasperated, though her facial expression didn’t change. “You’ve been in there for several days now. We need to get moving, or we won’t make it to the tournament.”

“Ah?”

He had been meditating for several days? Really? It only felt like minutes! Wu Jian had once heard that some cultivators could get lost in meditation, but this had never happened to him before. Was this how true meditation was supposed to be? He didn’t know, but his cultivation had risen in the past several days, so he guessed complaining about it was pointless.

Wu Jian quickly got ready and left with everyone else. On their way to the arena, he learned from Hua Xue that Huǒ Shuchang had tried paying him a visit but left when he realized Wu Jian was meditating. He passed on a message to Hua Xua, which basically amounted to, let’s speak again soon. Wu Jian was looking forward to that. He also learned that Hua Xue had to register him, which caused him to apologize, though she just waved it off.

They soon made it to the arena, which was already crowded with so many people. Most of them were guests, he assumed. Many did not even have a cultivation base, meaning they were just normal mortals. There were a few among the throng who did, but they were not powerful enough to warrant attention.

The arena was a massive structure of several dozen stories and looked like a magnificent pagoda but on a much grander scale. Most pagodas weren’t that wide across. The brilliant red surface looked like it was on fire, and the colors shifted as one flew closer just like a flame. The many levels featured a roof with a phoenix statue at the four lateral points. While the building was quite tall, what truly inspired awe was not the height but the width, which created a majestic visual.

Their group flew over the heads of the crowd because they couldn’t be bothered, which caused people to point at them. They paid it no mind as they set down and entered the arena after confirming who they were with the guards. Wu Jian thought he saw one of the guards frown when Wu Jian announced his pseudonym, but everything proceeded smoothly after that.

Hua Xue and Yu Chenguang left him and Mei Xilan. They had their own seating. Meanwhile, he and Mei Xilan were led to the competitors booth, which involved walking down a flight of stairs. The interior walls of the arena had been painted with phoenix designs. That was to be expected, of course. Wu Jian studied the phoenix paintings as they walked through a hallway before ending up before a door.

“This is the competitor’s waiting area,” said the young servant girl who led them. A pair of guards opened the door for them as the servant bowed. “Please, go on in.”

“Thank you,” said Wu Jian.

Mei Xilan said nothing as she walked beside him.

They were blasted with numerous powerful auras the moment they entered the waiting room. It felt like every person in the room was trying to choke the life out of them with their presence. He glanced at the people around. The Xaio Continent had thirteen kingdoms, including their Shang Kingdom. He thought that would mean there would only be twenty-six participants.

He was wrong.

Not counting themselves, there were at least fifty-five other individuals within that room. Everyone else was in groups of five. You could tell they were together because they wore the same outfits. They were the only pair in the entire room.

“What’s going on here?” wondered Wu Jian with a frown. He wasn’t bothered by the pressure these people were emitting, but he was bothered by how many people there were.

“Did you not pay attention to Hua Xue’s explanation?” asked Mei Xilan. She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “The Shang Kingdom has always been the weakest of the thirteen kingdoms. That is why we are only given two seats in this competition. We are only given those seats out of obligation. All the other nations get five.”

“That… doesn’t seem very fair,” Wu Jian said.

Mei Xilan shrugged. “I heard we used to have five seats, but after getting consecutively beaten every time this competition comes around, it was reduced to just two. Supposedly, we’ve been given those seats to save face, but really, we’re given them because the Phoenix Clan has no choice since it’s written in their treaties.” She paused. “That said, there are less people this tournament than there were last. It looks like the Ming Province and Zhou Kingdom did not send anyone.”

Wu Jian furrowed his brow but nodded. He could see how this situation came to be, but while he was considering the brief history lesson, a massive figure came to block their path. The person in front of him was like a mountain. He wore dark gold and silver hanfu of expensive magical beast hide, though the sleeves had been removed to showcase his rippling muscles. Short cropped hair sat upon his head. He had brown eyes, a dark tan, and wore an arrogant sneer like a second skin.

“I see there are only two of you. You must be from the Shang Kingdom. I’m surprised your shitty little kingdom could even be bothered to send people to participate.”

What the heck was with this guy? Why was he picking a fight with them when they had literally just met? He glanced at the man’s robes and saw the symbol emblazoned on the front. It looked like a hand surrounded by a sun. Was it some kind of religious symbol? The people behind the big man all had the same symbols on their chests as well, though his looked the most ostentatious--probably a sign of his status.

I can’t sense his cultivation. He must be at the Deva Realm at least.

“Who are you?” asked Wu Jian.

“Hmph. I see you don’t even know who I am. That’s quite the shame, but it can’t be helped. I don’t give my name to plebs often, so clean the wax from your ears and listen up.” The man puffed out his chest. “My name is Xiao Shui. I am the foremost core disciple of the Undying Sun Sect.”

No one around them bothered to stop these people, so he guessed this was maybe a common occurrence. Perhaps this was some kind of hazing? He strained his ears and listened to what everyone else was saying.

“Looks like Xiao Shui is at it again. He’s been bullying everyone who comes through here.”

“I guess it makes sense. I mean, he is the strongest competitor in this tournament after the members of the Phoenix Clan.”

“That is true. No one else has reached the Deva Realm except him.”

“I feel kind of bad for those two. Their cultivation is so weak. They’ll probably get knocked out of the tournament in the first round.”

“Who cares? They’re from the Shang Kingdom. That’s the weakest kingdom around.”

“That might not be true. Haven’t you heard? The Zhou Kingdom and Ming Province tried to invade them recently and were defeated.”

Wu Jian stopped listening after that. He’d gotten what he wanted to know.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I guess,” Wu Jian said with a shrug.

Xiao Shui’s face turned red. “What kind of greeting is that? Do you not understand you’re in the presence of your betters? You should be getting down on your hands and knees and kowtowing to me!”

Wu Jian snorted. “I will only ever kowtow to three people. My mother, my father, and my emperor. You are none of those. If you want me to bow my head, then make me during the tournament.”

Xiao Shui’s face turned bright red. “You’re lucky I can’t do anything to you right now, or I would kill you where you stand.”

“If you tried, I’d remove all of your limbs and let you live the rest of your days as a cripple,” Wu Jian fired back.

“What was that?!”

Xiao Shui roared in anger as his aura flared to life. His cultivation burst into existence along with his chi. He was definitely at the Deva Realm, but it was only the first subrealm, and it was clear from how wild his aura was that he had only reached it recently.

Just before the man could fire an attack at Wu Jian, his aura was doused by someone else.

“Oi. Oi. Is there really a need for violence right now? Save it for the tournament, yeah.”