The profound spirit weapons being used were all swords and were only earth grade, but that was good enough to deal with most opponents. Profound spirit weapons greatly enhanced a person’s abilities. Wu Jian would know. He still remembered how much he had struggled against Mao Yuhan. The man himself hadn’t been very powerful, but his profound spirit weapon had given him abilities far beyond his means.

Yet even as Wu Jian was thinking that, Xaio Shui broke free of the bindings and went on the attack. His hand glowed brightly like the sun as he thrust out his palm. The attack he unleashed looked like a massive blast of pure light, which slammed into the woman who had been in the center of their formation. Even Wu Jian winced when the woman went flying off the stage. She struck the ground so hard he worried her back broke.

At that moment, Xaio Shui’s other companions broke free as well. He thought they would attack. They didn’t. All of them took a step back as Xaio Shui proceeded to decimate his opponents with his glowing fists. A punch to the nose knocked someone out cold. He spun around to block a sword strike with his open palm, then delivered a brutal punch to his opponent’s solar plexus. Blood spewed from his opponent’s mouth as they fell to their hands and knees.

“He’s really good,” Wu Jian said.

“...”

Wu Jian glanced at Mei Xilan. The woman’s face might have been covered and her eyes were giving nothing away, but she had clenched her hands so tightly that her fists shook and her knuckles had turned white.

He looked back at the battle to see that Xaio Shui had taken down another opponent. There were only two left, a man and a woman, and they had already backed off, putting distance between them and him. That was a mistake. It was when you were fighting against a stronger opponent that you needed to press the attack. Giving this man a chance to assess the situation was the worst idea they could have made.

Xaio Shui took a deep breath, tucked his fists into his elbows, and spread his feet wider apart. His two opponents still hadn’t done anything. Wu Jian shook his head. They had already lost the momentum they had gained from their initial opening. What’s more, they no longer controlled the flow of battle.

This fight is over.

Wu Jian sighed as the two from Song Country stood in place. Xaio Shui seemed to lose patience, for he thrust out his fists and launched two bright beams of golden energy that flew toward them. The man made the mistake of trying to block the attack with his sword, but the beam was so powerful that he was launched clear off the arena platform. While the woman made the smarter choice by trying to dodge, the beam curved quickly to seek her out. It struck her in the flank. The woman cried out as she was sent sprawling to the ground. Before she could get up, Xaio Shui was there, pinning her to the floor with his foot.

“This is my victory,” he declared.

Huǒ Yan nodded and raised a hand. “The winner of this match is the Sui Kingdom.”

The people in the stands went wild, cheering and clapping as Xaio Shui removed his foot from the woman’s shoulder. He didn’t help her get back up and instead walked away. Wu Jian grimaced in disgust. What poor sportsmanship. Still…

“He managed to beat all five of them more or less on his own,” Wu Jian thought out loud. “That’s very impressive. Everyone there is at the peak of the Human Limit Realm. Even a Deva Realm cultivator would have trouble fighting so many opponents like that at once.”

“...”

“Mei Xilan?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

Mei Xilan glanced in his direction, then quickly looked away. “I am fine. You are right. He has become quite strong.”

“Hmm.”

Mei Xilan had been out of it ever since they’d met Xaio Shui. She was always quiet, but she would normally take every opportunity she had to hit on him. That she hadn’t even done that once was cause for alarm.

“Will groups with the numbers three and four head down to the arena now?” called Huǒ Yan.

“That’s us,” said Wu Jian.

“Right.”

Wu Jian and Mei Xilan both alighted into the sky before slowly descending toward the arena. They landed lightly on their feet. Their entrance had been without any fanfare, and so none of the people present cheered for them. He didn’t mind, though. None of these people even knew who they were.

Mere seconds after they landed on the arena floor, their opponents came in. The first one to appear was Yue. Blood gathered around the arena, swirling upward like a crimson tornado. When it dispersed, the woman in question was standing there. It was an impressive entrance that invoked cheers from the audience.

The other four appeared in their own flashy way. This group consisted of two boys and two girls. The boys had a fire and earth affinity respectively. One of them appeared within swirling sand while the other was a ball of flame. Wu Jian recognized the technique they used. It was called Body Flicker. It was a very basic movement technique that anyone could learn. By using chi to temporarily vitalize the body, a person could move at extreme speeds. This technique had several variations that involved adding an element, but at its base, every variation was the same technique.

While the two boys used the Body Flicker to move onto the arena floor at high speeds, the girls did not. One of them stepped off the participants' booth as though she did not care that nothing existed there. A flame appeared underneath her foot. Sparks flew as she put her weight onto the flaming platform. Then she took another step, another, and another, and each time she did, a platform made of fire would appear beneath her.

This action earned even more cheers.

The other woman did something even more magnificent. Her chi swelled before a massive snake appeared on the arena floor. It was a vibrant purple and easily ten mi tall. A mi was roughly half the size of a human. The woman hopped onto its head, and it moved over to help her descend onto the platform.

As the two groups stood before each other, Wu Jian found Yue staring at him.

“I didn’t think we’d run into each other again,” he said.

Yue blinked, then smiled. “So it is you. I thought that mask looked familiar.”

“It’s me. Let’s have a good match, yeah?”

“Sure.”

“Are both teams ready?” asked Huǒ Yan. He received affirmatives from everyone in the group. “In that case, bow to me, bow to your ancestors, now bow to each other. You will fight on the count of three. Ready? Three, two, one… fight!”

***

Wu Meiying hadn’t been paying any attention to the people or the fight between Sui Kingdom and Song Country. She didn’t care about these people. Their plights, aspirations, and struggles meant nothing to her. Just like she meant nothing to them. Her eyes had been locked onto Wu Jian the entire time. He didn’t seem to have noticed, but she’d been watching him ever since she first appeared in the arena.

That girl he is with is… Mei Xilan. I see. She has a few paths open to her, but only one of them will lead her to where she wants to go. I wonder if she’ll take it? Hmmm? It seems there is one path that I cannot see. Wu Jian must somehow be involved in that path. That’s not good. I cannot see his future, and he has so many. It will be hard to predict what will happen if she chooses any path that involves him.

“That Xaio Shui boy is quite talented,” said Shui Meili.

“Are you interested in making him a part of Supreme Ocean Palace?” asked Zhou Xie’e.

Shui Meili shook her head. “No. He is too arrogant for our sect. I only allow in people who are humble. His cultivation method is also ill-suited to us. Our sect’s cultivation method relies on gathering yin chi from the ocean and moon. His method is about gathering yang chi from the sun. I doubt he could ever reach his full potential at our sect.”

“Well-spoken.”

“What of you, Master Dāozhe?” asked Shui Meili.

Zhe Dāozhe hummed to himself before shaking his head. “While his cultivation method is fine, it relies on using martial arts instead of sword arts, which makes him just as ill-suited for the Heavenly Sword Sect. I cannot in good conscience accept someone who stands to gain nothing into our sect.” He glanced at Huǒ Huangdi. “To be frank, he would fit best in the Phoenix Clan.”

“He would, and I am thinking about making him a part of my clan through marriage, but I will withhold my judgment until I see more,” said Huǒ Huangdi.

Wu Meiying listened to the sect masters talk with only half an ear as she stood behind him alongside Zhe Fengli. She wasn’t paying much attention to what they were saying, but she needed to be able to respond just in case they addressed her. Well, she could always look back in time if need be.

“Colours me?”

“Hmm?”

Wu Meiying jerked out of her thoughts and turned to Huǒ Yulie, the young woman whose destiny shone so strongly yet was shrouded in so much mystery. While she could see a few of this woman’s futures, most of them were unviewable. She was going to be heavily involved in Wu Jian. That was why Wu Meiying thought it best to befriend her. She needed to get a feel for what kind of person Huǒ Yulie was.

“What is it?” she asked with a kind smile.

“Is what thee hath spoken… true?” asked Huǒ Yulie.

Wu Meiying smiled. “Are you referring to what I said about the young man you were staring at?”

Huǒ Yulie’s cheeks became stained a deep scarlet and steam poured from her ears. This sight was endearing. As a member of the Phoenix Clan, Huǒ Yulie’s relationship with fire was far deeper and more complex than anyone else’s. She also had more drops of Phoenix blood inside of her than anyone else in the Phoenix Clan. She nodded once.

Because she didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation (Zhe Fengli was looking at them), Wu Meiying scooted closer to Huǒ Yulie so she could speak with the young woman more privately.

“I am. There are many futures in which you and he become inexplicably intertwined. I believe he will be the key to helping you attain the freedom you crave.”

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

Huǒ Yulie’s eyes were quite wide, but they were burning like fresh embers. “The Phoenix hath also said the same thing. I didst not dareth to believeth t’was true, but that gent hath said yond a mistress of destiny wouldst cometh and bid me the same thing that gent didst, and anon here thou art.”

“It seems the Phoenix has amazing perceptions to be able to sense me even though my cultivation is still so low,” said Wu Meiying.

“The Phoenix knoweth all! He spoketh to me about yourself and that young gent. He hath said thee wouldst playeth an important role in mine own future.”

Wu Meiying thought as the girl began rambling about what the Phoenix told her. She had known about the Phoenix’s existence for a long time since Wu Jian had told her about it after his lessons with Wu Taohua. She didn’t think the Phoenix was in the God Realm. It was impossible for someone in that realm to exist on this planet. She supposed he could have been using an artifact to suppress his cultivation, but such artifacts also should not exist in this world. Even if someone possessed the knowledge, the materials required did not exist here.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the first battle had come to a conclusion. The Sui Kingdom emerged victorious. She was about to return to her conversation when Huǒ Yan called the next group down, and she saw that Wu Jian and Mei Xilan were entering the arena.

“Excuse me,” she said to Huǒ Yulie, who stopped talking. “I just need to inform my sect master of something. I will be right back so we can finish our conversation.”

“Verily well. I shall waiteth until you have spoketh to him,” Huǒ Yulie said.

Wu Meiying returned to Zhe Dhaoze’s side. He smiled at her. “It seems you are getting along well with the Pheonix Clan’s heiress.”

“I am,” she acknowledged, but that wasn’t what she was here for. “You should pay attention to the next match.”

“Oh? Is there someone extraordinary in this match?”

“Yes,” Wu Meiying smiled. “Someone very extraordinary.”